Big C and Daddy's Day Out

The Easter weekend provides a chance for some good down time on the Saturday and the Monday. Daddy decided to take a few passes out from the library and take the boys each on their own adventure. Saturday, it was Big C's turn.

We started the trek by driving to the local mall where we could catch a bus, a huge favourite for Big C. We had to stop off at the big blue car in the cell phone store display area to take it for a spin (guess I'll need to remind him to open his eyes once he starts to learn how to drive!)

We started off by getting a white hot chocolate to share. Here's Big C waiting in line showing off that he's big enough to carry the backpack (which included a special surprise that I wasn't allowed to see).

We hopped on our bus and went straight to the back (I can't even remember the last time that I didn't get onto a bus and go straight to the back with my boys).

After an hour long bus ride we ended up at the Museum of Civilizations. We'd never been here before and we were both quite eager to see what it offered.

We headed straight for the kids area and grabbed our 'passport' so that we could be sure to check out the entire space. Big C was very excited to explore the theatre area. There was a dressing room in the back where he picked out a king's costume. He made the announcement to the stage director that he was ready and then made his grand entrance to fanfare. It was quite the cool set up.

Next, he stopped at the classic phone booth to call his grandparents

and then checked out the bus from Thailand.

So far, we were three-for-three on things that Big C has always loved!

We stopped by the Robert Munsch exhibit before lunch. It was really cool. Here's Big C sitting for a photo on the Big 'M' that you could crawl all over and explore.

We tried changing our voices into 'Robert Munsch storytelling voices' at the big sound wall. Daddy told Big C about how Robert Munsch came to visit his school when he was about his age.

We stopped for lunch and enjoyed the surprise snack that Big C had packed. He said that he wanted to put in a yummy snack just like I do for his lunch every day. How heartwarming!

We returned to the main part of the museum and checked out the Great Hall

and then the postal museum.

Big C was overjoyed to discover the jeep that used to deliver the mail and how a letter goes from his house to anywhere in the world.

The back of the postal museum leads right back to the kids area. Big C found an area to make shadow puppets. He told a cool story about a frog who went off to explore the world.

We finished up stamping the last of his destinations in his passport at the ocean port.

He waited very patiently for his turn in line,

daddy was quite impressed based on his level of excitement, to get a turn at the big crane. Here's Big C moving a load from the big ship onto land.

He saw daddy headed to the right spot to take a photo, which was conveniently placed on the loading dock, so he tried to have the load land on my head. Silly boy!

We went down to the water to take one last picture at the museum and then ran to our bus to head home.

We snacked on the bus ride back,

but felt that wasn't quite enough nourishment for the day. We grabbed a Booster Juice to enjoy on our car ride back home and called it a day.

I'm already looking forward to our next day out!

Grown ups

Doodle: "Mommy, when you grow up will you sew?"

Mommy: "Uh, sweetie, I AM a grown up."

Doodle: "no, more grown up, like when you are a grandma"

Making my own running gel-experiment #1

There are no children featured in this blog post :)

So now that I am training for a half marathon I started looking at buying running gels. They are really expensive so I thought that I would try my hand at making my own. A quick google search revealed that I was far from the first person to try it. So, here I am. Dave was able to find the ingredients for this recipe http://www.summitpost.org/home-made-power-gels-energy-for-less/239378, so I'm starting with it.

I used 1oz of agave nectar, 3 oz of brown rice syrup, a dash of coarse (pickling) salt and a half of a tea bag of green tea. Dave couldn't find the green tea powder that I asked him for so this was the solution, let's see how it works.

There was really nothing to mixing these things together in the bottle and in about 60 seconds I had them all together. I did note that the salt is still sitting at the bottom of the bottle looking pretty solid, so I put the bottle in really hot water to see if I could heat it up to get it to dissolve. I wont actually need it until my long training run this Saturday (aiming for 16K-that is almost 10 miles Christy) so I'll let you guys know then how it goes.
If we can track down some blackstrap molasses we can try out the next recipe.

Also, we can't find powdered Gatorade, if you know where I can find it locally that would be great!

Making Grandmas Birthday Cake

I would like to point out that this is likely my third post this whole month! It's like following us minute by minute ;)Grandma's birthday party is this evening (though Monkey and Daddy are stuck on a Cubs Camping trip after the person giving them a ride put them all in a ditch and they might not make it back in time-stay tuned!) So back to Grandma! Her party is tonight and the doodle and I are making her cake (as per the recipe that she provided to us :)
He's a great helper and is being trusted with lots of steps in the baking process.
Back to grandma-this is her favourite cake and we sure hope that she enjoys it!

Boogie Board Videos

March Break 2012

We came back to Great Escapes Waterslide Park in Queensbury NY. The boys are having a BLAST!!! Videos to come :)

Crazy Hair Day

I make this post largely for the effect that it will have when we show it in his wedding montage one day.
Here's Big C all rarin' to go for the recent 'Crazy Hair Day' at his school.
Love you buddy!
You have the most awesome mom in the whole wide world!

What the boys are up to when Mommy is away

Mommy is rarely away, however when she is it's time for boys' nights.
What might boys' nights be?
Well, let's see:
Work on a hot rod
Cook meals outside in the middle of winter
make super-meaty pizza (oh,and Pogos, but no photo was made for that one!)
play wii (photo not available, daddy was playing wii too)
make pink pancakes with berries n cream cheese and then have ice cream with almonds, chocolate chips and chocolate sauce for dessert
play with the foster dog and be silly
bond. I love my boys.

Monkey Learns to Cook!

A couple of weekends ago Monkey wanted his usual scrambled eggs and toast, so I told him that I would show him how to cook them for himself. He was a bit hesitant, but I promised I would be right by his side.

He was so pleased with himself when he was done :)

What is old is new again

The boys having picked the camera back up that Grandma and Grandpa gave Monkey a couple of Christmasses ago. They are having a blast!

This morning

I will admit that I am curious to know how they negotiated this trade after the doodle wet the bed last night. This is what I found this morning.

A new poll, and a threat...

So the WB Family has been blogging less and less. We are connecting with lots of you on Facebook, Twitter or Google + and find ourselves on here less and less. Plus, the blog was originally meant to keep up with family that are far away and it turns out that Dave's family is all on dial up and doesn't often have the ability to check.

With all of that in mind we may wrap up the blog...Out of curiousity, would anyone even notice? Please let us know in the comments section or by voting in the poll to your right.

Family photos 2011 Edition

Here is a sample of the photos that we had taken over Thanksgiving weekend. The photographer was Ilona Freill of Freill Photography. She can be reached at 613-837-5657 or freillphotography@rogers.com.

Monkey's Investiture into Cubs

Proud Grandma Carol witnessed Monkey's investiture into Cubs. He also received his first badge -- Recycling. Memories went way back to when Mommy enrolled in Brownies in 1984 and received her Gold Bar in '85.