Family memories

I love when we have family visit us. It's not very often due to how far everyone lives! But once in a while, we have my mom drop by.

We usually have a routine when she comes. She loves certain stores that they don't have out there, so we shop during the day.



Then my mom often decides to bake pies for Bill! Well they are for everyone else too... but he is the one who really likes pies.



Sometimes my mom also brings a friend along. It makes the travelling part easier. This time she brought her friend Johanne. We had never met her. She was really kind and Maelie liked her instantly. We went out to see the fireworks on Saturday evening. We were content to watch them from afar!





Maelie fell asleep while watching them. Poor baby! Once back at home, she just wanted to go to bed!



We went to bed pretty late, and poor Maelie was up really early! She was sleeping on a mattress in our room. This morning I was on the couch trying to sleep a bit more, and she runs downstairs in a PANIC. She was almost in tears! She said Bill farted so loud and it scared the crap out of her!! LOL Poor baby!!

Sunday morning, her friend Naomie was having her first communion at a church in a nearby town. Maelie really wanted to go see what it was all about. Naomie is SUCH a sweet girl. I really appreciate how loving and kind she is towards Maelie. They play so well together, Maelie allows herself to be herself. She is happy, excited and playful when she is with Naomie. She doesn't have to worry about Naomie pouting or being mad... Naomie is very pleasant and I am thankful that Maelie got a chance to develop a friendship with her. That little girl really has a love for life and friends are very important to her!





Right after that, we came home, ate lunch and off went Maelie with grand-maman. She is gone until I pick her up at the end of the week! I miss my baby already!!!

Reasons why Maelie doesn't want summer to end

It was FINALLY Friday yesterday! I was looking forward to it all week. I was exhausted as it was quite an emotional week for various reason. To top it off, Thursday night, we had one of our chinchillas pass away and so it was a very sad time. Especially since it happened after we came home from such a fun night out at the Buskerfest. Poor Chichi Boy is resting in peace now in the comfort of our backyard. Needless to say Thursday night I barely slept, so Friday at work I was extremely tired. I came home a bit early in order to rest. Naomie had slept over so the girls were playing. They decided to fly kites today and collect snails. Here they are stopping for 2 seconds to pose. Maelie of course had to make silly eyes!



Naomie collected a small bowl full of snails. Do you see the imposter?



Here they are in the woods trying to find some more.



This was part of the loot. They are SO cute to watch walk around.

There was a big field in the school yard so they flew kites for a bit.





Naomie decided to try the water games but got really cold! Maelie didn't want to try this time. The wind had a chill even if the sun was hot.



After Naomie left, we just relaxed for a bit. I had a small nap in the living room to try and get reenergized from my lack of sleep the night before! I didn't even make a proper supper. We basically had toast and a bit of salad. I would have loved to go to bed right then and there for the night... but Maelie had other plans! She REALLY wanted to go to the Buskerfest again. So I obliged. It was an awesome evening. Though very draining spending 5 hours on pavement either walking around or standing in one spot! I figured if I sat down though, I wouldn't be getting back up! LOL When we arrived, we got to see Bendy Em. All I could say was "OUCH!"



She was really amazing and had a great personality. She entertained the crowd pretty well! She managed to squeeze her whole body in this 16 inch box. WOW! I could probably only fit my head in there!!



Fireguy was also very entertaining. and cute!



The last show of the night was the Fire Show. All the fire acts came together as one to give us an amazing show. Maelie was sitting right at the front where you could even feel the heat from the fire! I was just standing about a foot back to let the smaller kids sit in front. They kept us entertained for almost an hour!



I had to add this short clip of Inferno the human dragon who blew us away with his fire breathing!!! It was truly amazing!!!



Oh yeah, just a note that he is sideways as I can't rotate it! haha But you get the idea of the size of the flame!!

All in all it was amazing! I am so glad that I am able to bring Maelie to these events. There is always a fun message passed along during the shows. It was awesome! So many things to do , so little time!!

and this my friends... is why Maelie doesn't want summer to end!!!

Buskerfest 2010 & the beach

Thursday started off with a little visit to Lac Beauchamp. I was working so Bill took Maelie and Naomie. I of course insisted that he bring the camera to take pictures!! and they ended up decent... so that's good!

Here are the girls getting ready for the hunt!



not sure what they found here....



A little boy found a snake. Maelie LOVES snakes.



Here are a few of their findings... no animals or amphibians were hurt. They were all returned to the lake afterwards.



After supper, the girls and I headed off to the Buskerfest. They had HUGE plants all over Sparks Street so I couldn't help myself, I told the girls to pose.



I really LOVE the Buskerfest because the presentations are usually incredible! I wish that some from last year had returned ... mainly Flame Oz. They were seriously unbeatable.

The first act we saw was the Bike Guy who was another Australian. Each year, they seem to have at least 2 or 3 Australian groups. He was very chatty with the audience and made lots of jokes. Poor kids don't always get them! But they still sat right at the front watching.



Sonia called to check up on Naomie so after the show they sat on a bench to chit chat for a few minutes.



The girls wanted to see Thom Sellectomy. Since the crowds are not that big on the first day of the Buskerfest, he was patiently waiting to start his show. We were the first three people there. Since it was dusk, I figured if I waited for a picture after the show, it would be too dark and possibly overwhelming when he passed the hat. So I akes him if we could get his picture with the girls before the show. He gladly obliged and stuck a nail up his nose!! You will probably have to blow the picture up to see it.



When it was time to choose a person from the audience to help him out, Maelie bounced up and down with her hand in the air. He chose her saying she was the very first person here waiting for the show so she deserved to go up. She was SO happy, but I think she was very shy inside. She WAS in front of about 150 people.



All she had to do is inspect the sword to make sure it was real. He made a few jokes at her expense as all buskers do at the festival! Not nasty ones, just cute ones. The instructions were clear. He was gonna swallow the sword and when he was ready, she was to pull it out without shaking or wiggling. I caught it on video but it was dark out and he was facing the lit up signs! So the lighting reallreally sucks... but you can see her pull it out!! The crowd cheered her on! It was really cute.



We had a great time. We for sure will go out and visit the Buskerfest again this weekend! I honestly must say that the Ottawa/Gatineau area is a wonderful place to be! Always so many fun things happening!

Friendly frog, food and fun

Today I asked Maelie to find another recipe in a Taste of Home recipe book. This is what she chose.... yum yum!! She says she didn't like it that much. Then when I asked her what she was going to make tomorrow, she said she is kinda tired of making supper! I asked her "what about me?" She said "Well you're a mom". LOL



Once we were done eating, we headed off to the beach. Lac Beauchamp is not the cleanest but it has great swampy areas to find frogs!

I love this picture of Maelie as she is walking, we see her complete reflection in the water.



Look how tall these guys are! Taller than Maelie! What are they in english? In french we call them "quenouilles". Probably not the real name either!



Maelie searching by the lilypads...



A-ha!! Hello Mr. Frog!



This guy was really friendly. As long as Maelie didn't touch him on top of his body, he stayed put. He didn't even try to jump off her hand.



I told her to kiss him to see if he was really a prince. No such luck!! So we let him go....



Once back home we jumped in the pool. Ok, maybe jumping is overrated. Let's say I walked around the pool without wetting myself above the chest. That's more realistic. At least we don't smell swampy anymore!

Is the summer half over??

Not much time to simply post this summer it seems! we have just been out and about and busy!

On Wednesday, Sonia, Natalie, myself and 3 of our kids went to Ottawa to run a couple of errands. While we were there, we decided to make it enjoyable for the kids so we packed some food and had a pic nic at Brewer Park.




It's a great park and they have a small waterslide.



They also have a few more water games!



Thursday Maelie, Bill and I played Cadoo. That game is a lot of fun for our family! Poor Bill got the sculpting card 5 times in a row! He is not the best at playing with dough!



Maelie tried to get a closer look but we still had a hard time figuring it out. She loved playing so much that she tried to not ever win! She made sure she milked our time together as much as she could!



It was a great day in the mail! I got 2 Taste of Home magazines and 1 Stampin' Success. I had to take a bath so I could sit, relax and read my magazines!



Friday I have the day off! Hurray! Sonia came over with Naomie. The girls had a blast!



A little bit later, Natalie and her younger boys came over as well. Here is Myran posing with the pirate cap!



The kids all swam together and then did their usual routine on coloring on the trampoline.



I made waffles for supper so we figured they could eat outside due to potential maple syrup messes!! Yum yum!!



Naomie stayed over for a sleep over. Maelie was so excited she could hardly stand herself!!

This morning, I walked into the kitchen and saw that they were making a list of their friends. It was so cute that I don't feel like taking them off my cupboards!



Our screen has issues and opens on its own once in a while... So before I was able to close it properly... both girls had climbed out and wanted to draw on the windows with our window crayons!! LOL I told them they could but from the inside only!



Once we were all dressed, I took the girls to Thunderbird go kart. I had a 2 for 1 coupon so they each had their cars! Maelie's face changed when she drove by after about 11 minutes. There were a lot of people and I guess someone's kart crashed a bit in hers so she did not understand why someone would want to crash into her!! It was very minor .. just someone who tried to pass too close. Maelie was NOT happy. On the other hand, Naomie was very pleased with her experience! She almost didn't want to go... I had to kinda coach her and push her a bit telling her she would love it! I am relieved that she did! :)



After that, we headed off to Lou's Patate to have hot dogs. What a small world... we ran into Naomie's parents there! What were the odds of that! The girls decided they wanted another sleepover but this time at Naomie's house.

So what do moms do when their babies are gone?? I miss Maelie already! But I know she will cherish her time spent with friends ... so I make an effort and let her go!

More fun coming soon!