Back 2 School

Sigh.

A beautiful summer, in its events not as much as in its weather, has come to an end.

I'll miss my boys.
and the silliness.
and all the fun that we had.

It was great.

10 months to go to the next one.

Trace BPA found in SIGG water bottles

Below is the full article from the Ottawa Citizen. Bottom line, there was BPA in the lining of some of the SIGG bottles. You can check here http://mysigg.com/liner to see if you have the old or the new style (the old ones were manufactured prior to August 2008). If you do, send an email to liners@mysigg.com and request replacement bottles. Apparently they are sending out the shipping lables to send your old ones in and a voucher to get a new one. I sent in an email about my two bottles, we'll see what happens.

As an interesting aside, while they were testing the SIGG bottles they tested a lot of the "no name" metal bottles with liners and found BPA in many of them. More BPA than they found in the SIGG bottles.

News article....

OTTAWA — When the anti-plastics movement gained steam a few years ago, Brandi Nicholauson tossed out all the plastic water bottles in her house and coughed up the extra cash to buy her kids metal bottles.

Today, the Nova Scotia mom is one of thousands of consumers trying to make sense of the latest news. SIGG Switzerland has revealed that until last August, its Swiss-made aluminum reusable bottle, an iconic symbol for the health-conscious consumer and the outdoorsy environmentalist, was lined with an epoxy liner containing trace amounts of bisphenol A, which the federal government considers a toxic substance.

"Never did I expect them to have BPA in a liner. To me, it's pretty obvious that people are buying metal bottles because they're afraid of plastic and the BPA issue," Nicholauson said Tuesday.

"I feel a little bit mislead. That's how I feel. Whoever is making metal bottles out there are definitely benefiting from people being afraid of BPA and plastic."

Welcome to the post-plastic world where consumers are left wondering where remnants of plastic or bisphenol A could be lurking with more companies trying to cash in on the metal craze.
The SIGG aluminum bottle quietly switched to new a "BPA-free EcoCare liner" in August 2008, but broadcast the change last week in a notice posted on the company website.

CEO Steve Wasik reassured customers that all tests of the older model made with a liner containing trace amounts of BPA show no leaching of the toxin. He also explained the timing.
"The primary reason that I am writing this letter today is because I believe that the BPA conversation has changed dramatically in the last 12 months. Last year, the primary concern was that of BPA leaching from bottles. Since that time, the dialogue has evolved such that now some people are concerned about the mere presence of BPA."

In an interview, Wasik also noted that some retailers had been marketing SIGG bottles as BPA-free, so the company wanted to set the record straight about its transition to a BPA-free liner.
"Our goal is to clean up the communications to make sure that the retailer has all the facts, so in turn, the consumer has all the facts so he or she can make an educated decision," said Wasik.
SIGG stopped shipping old inventory made with the old lining on Tuesday. The company is also offering a free exchange to any customer who mails in their old bottle.

Meanwhile, Whole Foods in Canada has pulled all inventory made with the old liner from store shelves. It is also offering a full refund to any customer who returns a SIGG bottle to any of its stores.

Rick Smith, executive director of Environmental Defence and co-author of the book Slow Death by Rubber Duck: How the Toxic Chemistry of Everyday Life Affects Our Health, said SIGG's "belated move on their part is good," but the company could still suffer permanent brand damage.

"I think SIGG is in some difficulty here, and rightly so. They were knowingly benefitted from consumers trying to avoid BPA plastic bottles and still using BPA themselves. They're really playing with fire with their brand," said Smith.

In April 2008, the federal government labelled Bisphenol A, a hormone disrupter that can cause reproductive damage and lead to prostate and breast cancer in adulthood, as a toxic substance. This paved the way for an imminent ban on polycarbonate plastic baby bottles; unlike other plastics, BPA is a building block of polycarbonate plastic.
By then, retailers in Canada had already begun to pull polycarbonate baby bottles and reusable water bottles from store shelves.

That's when Jeff Cresswell started noticing a flood of metal reusable water bottles in the marketplace.

The co-owner of Klean Kanteen, the original BPA-free reusable stainless steel water bottle, said the latest development with SIGG is a good reminder for consumers to stick with name brands and to conduct research about bottle manufacturers.

"We answer to ourselves. If we're not doing the right thing, I don't sleep at night," said Cresswell of the family-run business based in California.

"At the time, there were already questions about what is exactly in the liners of aluminum bottles. With stainless steel, there is no need for the liner. Instantly, we got rid of the problem."
Laken USA, which manufactures aluminum reusable water bottles, finds itself in a different predicament. Anticipating a flood of questions from customers in the wake of the SIGG revelation, the Montana-based company is drafting an open letter to customers to explain that "Laken should not be lumped in with the denials and inaccuracies of competitor's claims."
Until June 2008, Laken also used a bottle coating with a high-density phenolic epoxy that contained traces of BPA — and "fully disclosed" this fact to retailers and customers, said Greg Garrigues, who also points out the company quarantined old stock at the time and only filled new orders with its new "100 per cent BPA free liner."

SIGG took a different tact.

In 2007, the Environmental Working Group published a guide to BPA-free product that listed SIGG water bottles as containing BPA. After SIGG complained its bottles did not contain plastic liners with bisphenol A, the environmental group removed SIGG from the guide.
In April 2008, SIGG declined to reveal any specifics about its liner, citing proprietary rights with a third-party producer of its liner formula.

We really went camping!

The weather held out for us on Friday, so off to the campground we went!
We set up the tent in the heat and humidity with the mosquitoes all around. Thankfully everyone had coated themselves in Off Skintastic before getting all the way out of the car. The group helped with the tent while the kids went off to play. Here's Big C breaking out the construction vehicles and dinosaurs with BNK. We had a fabulous time playing in the sunshine and hanging out with friends. The burgers, corn, juice boxes and chips put a smile on everyone's face.
This however was outdone by the marshmellows and smores! Yummy!
Here's the only time that the camera came out - everyone making marshmallows! I think that Monkey would still be there cooking marshmallows if we let him.
The boys had a great time in the tent for 8 (they had their own half of the tent with plenty of room and a divider separated us from them). Who knows when we'll be at it again??

Monkey and the Amazing fruit tray

Yesterday we went to grandma's house for supper. Monkey was already there ahead of us as he'd had a sleepover the night before. When we arrived grandma was eager to tell us of Monkey's activities for the afternoon. They had done some beautiful artwork with markers and glitter glue. They had lots of snuggle time in the morning. The highlight of the day however was that grandma was able to make a stunning dessert (plum and nectarine crumble with nuts in the crumble.....mmmmmm) because Monkey had put together the fruit tray for the main course. In grandma's words:
"He did ALL of the work, including using a sharp knife to cut the mangos and cucumbers. He arranged the oranges, tomatoes mangos and cucumber to look attractive on the platter. When Monkey was peeling the oranges, he noticed one regular segment with a tiny one attached to it. He showed it to me and said, “Grandma, it’s just like me hugging you.”

Here's our young man showing off his work.
I call the first one 'The professional shot':and the second 'The five-year-old shot':


Wow.
Great work little guy.
It was deeeeelicious!

Budding artists

Monkey and Big C spend a little time every morning doing some educational activities. We often read books, play some simple sharing games and do some numbers or words. I've also included artwork form time to time, but nothing caught Monkey's fancy until recently.
I stumbled upon a book called 'How to Draw Dinosaurs'. Monkey and E-man were all over it on the last visit. I renewed it once, but then it had to go back. So I searched for more and found 'How to Draw Dinosaurs (for 8-year-olds or so)', 'How to Draw Sports Stuff' and 'Draw a Circle Draw Anything'. Here's Monkey's pride in his artwork at using the last book and making some "space guys" - first the drawing:
then matching the colouring of the whole picture:
Big C , not to be left out, is doing a really neat preschool book with 365 pages. Here he is hard at work.
And the best way to celebrate on a summer day?
Smoothies.

The best park in the universe!

Today we ventured out in much better weather than yesterday. Thus, we were off to Andrew Haydon park. It came highly recommended from grandma so we were in.
When we pulled into the parking lot I realized that it was bigger than I had pictured. Much bigger.
We were looking for the water park section.
I didn't know that there was so much to see. We started by passing the regular playstructures - all 3 of them.
Next came the little waterfalls by the bridges. The boys were totally into it. The water that was.
Each wanted to see how cold it was. It was pretty cold.
Next came the real waterfalls. Keeley falls it said on a stone in the middle of the water.
It was so cool! We spent about 15 minutes climbing around all of the rocks, checking out the water and being totally in awe of it.
Here is my new favourite picture of the boys.
We continued westward towards the marina. The view was just spectacular.
Maybe the waterpark was there. On some level it made sense.
Nope.
Just boats.
Lots of them.
Big C loved it!
We walked back by the water and saw lot of geese, ducks and even a great blue heron.
We passed back in front of our car, now heading east, and saw a path between the trees that seemed to continue the park.
Within moments the sound of laughter and water running made it obvious.
It was sooooo cool!
The boys spent 3 1/2 hours there playing in the water, moving around the devices with the sand that allowed you to change the path the water takes, boarding the pirate ship, going down the firemans pole.
It was by far the most fun and the easiest day of my summer. The kids played really, really well with each other and everyone else there. I slipped on my iPod in one ear and just hung out on a bench for most of the time.
On the way back to the car the boys checked out the mysterious tunnels that lead under Carling Ave - a real treat for them. They'd certainly earned it.
I'm going to miss summer.

Hangin in the 'Frew

We quietly played in the basement for a good part of our day on Tuesday. We read some books and broke out the Zimbo - a stacking game - and Chutes n Ladders. Monkey and I had a great time playing our game and then I shifted to Big C. We took our turns and I was really impressed with his stacking ability. The result was so good that he asked for the camera to take a picture. Here's the proud builder.
We took to the upstairs where the kids pulled out the Mr. Potato Head. Monkey had far better luck than Big C, which he wanted to show off here.
We were supposed to head to Andrew Haydon park, however the weather looked somewhat ominous. On the way there the phone rang. We had an errand to run to help out our family, so off we went.
Off to Renfrew.
It was farther than I thought, but loads of fun.
We did the errand and then hit the tourist centre. I think you can see why we stopped to have snack where we did.
The boys got out of the car and had loads of fun.
Here they are playing around the caboose (in the gentle rain):
you can see Monkey here staying dry by keeping the tourist guide over his head:
Sticking their heads through the silly picture cut-out:and finally the oversized lumberjack:

We headed back home for a playdate with E-man.
Another fun-filled day for the little guys.

Smile mommy!

Here are some shots of your beautiful garden to help you smile at your desk.
Your gorgeous hibiscus is out in bloom.

Three years in the making to get the trumpet vine to bloom. It was worth the wait!oh, and the mystery plant says Hello too. A bigger hello every day.

Monday morning snacktime

I asked the boys what they'd like to do this week. I offered up the wave pool (since we have some free passes that run out at the end of summer) and the Dinosaur museum (aka Museum of Nature). Monkey said 'Can we just stay home and fill up the pool later?'
Sure....why not?
So if you'd like to be in for either of those two activities please let me know in the comments section.
This gave us some time to read books, play games, watch a little SuperWhy and just hang out this morning.
Then came snack time. Daddy gets bored easily, so without activities on the go I thought that I'd make snack time more interesting.
Bring on the bananadillas!
What's a bananadilla?

Here's the idea: tortilla shells with bananas and chomocolate chips.

Here's how the boys made theirs. Monkey was all about speed and getting to good stuff.

Big C was more about appearance, making sure that each banana slice had an equivalent pile of chomocolate chips.


Fold 'em over and put them in a frying pan for a few minutes and there you have it.
Here's the boys getting ready to enjoy the fruits of their labour. Here's Monkey digging in:

And let's just say that Big C got really into it.

Really, really into it:

Check out the promotional video we made: