Sugar Shack

Jill, Georgia and Finn on the Hayride

Kim and Pauly Walnuts on the hayride.

Sunbathers -Paul and Cameron

Two very muddy girls. Georgia and Finleigh

Finn's boot in the driveway when we returned home.

Kerri and Finn on top... Jill and Georgia climbing up.

Kerri and Finn in the maze.

It started out so promising. It was a sunny but chilly morning. The kids were co-operating and we were all ready to pile into the car at 9 for our planned outing to Proulx Sugarbush. We had a short detour to pick up our friend Kim who was coming along to help with the kids and to enjoy some maple treats. We arrived at our destination and I unloaded the strollers and started to get the kids into their winter clothes. That is when we realized we were missing a boot. Finn always kicks off her boots in the car. But when I tried to find them under her seat to put them back on... one was missing. I searched high and low... no boot. She'd obviously kicked it off before we'd got in the car. Oh crap!

There was no way to continue on our outing without a boot. The farm was as muddy as a farm could be. I checked with Jill, who had just arrived at the farm with Georgia and Cameron. No spare footwear.

So I handed Paul and the stroller off to Kim and Jill. Finn and I had to head back to Orleans to find some boots to purchase. Of course, kids rubber boots can be found anywhere... unless you are desparate to find a pair. After 3 other stops... I found some at Loblaws. Of course, they didn't have Finn's size... so I bought socks and some slightly too big boots. Naturally, I was rather frustrated. Our onboard GPS was chirping at me to turn around... "you are going the wrong way!". I made a small comment to Finn about wanted to throttle her. She wasn't sure what I meant by that. She managed to cheer me up during this whole ordeal by being so chatty and cute. She kept asking me... "we are going back to buy me some boots?" and "I lost my boot... eh?"

Finally, back that farm with new boots... we managed to salvage a great time. There were slides, a petting zoo, maple taffy, and sugar shack and lots and lots of mud. I've posted a few pics from our day. We didn't get home until 3. We were all muddy, tired and sunburned. The girls had a blast and the boys got some fresh air. I wasn't too surprised to find Finn's boot sitting upright, in the middle of our driveway, like a beacon welcoming us home.

As for memories of my Dad. He was a huge fan of maple products. I mostly recall maple walnut ice cream and fudge. I'm sure he'd have loved to have watched Finn running and jumping in the mud puddles... generally enjoying the outdoors.

A New Foodie

Quinoa Pilaf with Parmesan and a Poached Egg

I've recently joined weightwatchers, again. My goal is to lose the last 20 that I gained during my pregnancy with Paul. Last week, I lost a pound, so we are now headed in the right direction.

Since I have a limited number of points each day, I'm careful to make sure the food that I do eat is healthy and delicious. Here is a recipe of my own creation... quinoa pilaf with parmesan and a poached egg.

1/2 cup of organic quinoa, prepared as per the box instructions. (I used vegetable broth instead of water to give it more flavour)

1 cup (or slightly more) of diced and sauteed vegetables. I used peppers, onions, zucchini, and grape tomatoes. I sauteed them in 1 teaspoon of olive oil. I added some dried basil flakes at this stage.

Combine the quinoa and the veggies together. Shred some parmesan cheese into the pilaf. I topped it off with a poached egg which leaked eggy goodness all over the quinoa pilaf. Yum Yum.

This whole dish is 6 weighwatcher points. It would be only five if you left off the parmesan cheese (but why would you do that????).

An Expression I'd seen Before

When I saw this photo, it occurred to me that I'd seen Finn's posture and expression somewhere before.

And here it is.... Dave is holding the beer stein and looking on in amazement at it his buddy #35.

Just goes to show... that in a small way, we live on through our descendants.

Bahamas Part 2

Finn during one of her runs.

Paul first dip in the sea.

Our family heading for dinner.

Alex and Finn in the "bubbly pool".

Panorama from our balcony.

Stanford family visits Atlantis

Lounge lizards.

Finn and her big popsicles.

Paul at Atlantis.

Alex finally convinces Finn to swim in the sea.

Our vacation to the Bahamas turned out to be a great break for the whole family. It is a beautiful country with friendly people and terrific food. Here are our favourite memories, in no particular order.

1. A man on the elevator asks Finn what her little brother's name is. Her answer was... Pauly-wally.

2. A couple from Greely (just outside of Ottawa) bought Alex and I drinks at the steakhouse after watching us wrangle our kids during dinner in this fairly upscale restaurant. If you need to buy topsoil... look up Willy in Greely!

3. Watching Finn run around outside before dinnertime. She loved this routine!!!

4. Swimming with Paul and drinking a daquiri while Alex and Finn had naptime. Everyone thought Paul was so cute.

5. Our doppleganger family. We kept running into another family from Ottawa with a 4 year old daughter and 6 month old son.

6. Meeting Anne, Elan and Abby. We met another family from Ottawa with a 2.5 year old girl, Abby. After meeting on the plane, the zoo and on the beach, we realized they are good friends with Ben and Cal. Small world.

7. Building a fort out of beach chairs to make Finn feel safe enough to go near the ocean. By the end of the week she was brave enough to go in the sea with Alex. Then she even walked out to the breakwall at low tide and saw all kinds of little fishes.

8. The amazing fish at Atlantis. It was worth all the inconvenience of getting around this huge resort to see sharks, manta rays, sawfish, jellyfish and other amazing creatures.

9. Sitting and watching the junkanoo performer on the beach with Finn.

10. Alex: liked building sandcastles and swimming with Finn.

11. Finn finally got brave enough to come into the bubbly pool with me (hottub). As she was carefully climbing in she loudly announced "I peed". The three 20-somethings using the pool wisely cleared out leaving the tub for us.

12. Finn asking to meet Sharlene, the hotel rep. who booked us over the phone from Ottawa. Sharlene was friendly and gave Finn an angel ornament made of shells, which Finn treasured and carried everywhere.

13. Finn survived the week on Chips Ahoy, Lays Chips and huge popsicles while watching her shows on the laptop. She was in heaven.

14. Taking Finn on the waterslide. She squealed and said that was fun. But wouldn't get the nerve to try it again.