The Waterfront - Spring Pictures

Hardy Park

For a number of reasons I dragged my family to the waterfront this Sunday afternoon. I don't think they were properly impressed. However, I was excited to get there and take some pics.

Hardy Park Bandstand

Why, you ask?? Thank you. I love open-ended questions that make me chatter on.

Tunnel Bay Marina - empty boat slips. The big red building is the Boardwalk Landing. It's kind of a lone, modern pimple on our more traditional waterfront, but not for long. It is soon to be joined by the controversial Maritime Discovery Centre.

I have a new camera. It's not fancy. It was a great deal at the local grocery store where they had a tax-free deal over the weekend. Plus, it was already $10 off. So, -$10 + (-13%) = a good deal. My loving husband, trying to spend money for my direct enjoyment and pleasure, dragged me, kicking and screaming to the store for this camera. I told him we would just be looking. I like my old camera. It just doesn't work so well anymore. This means that with increasing frequency, the afore mentioned loving husband could be found at the kitchen table dissecting my mostly-dead camera. He would fiddle with it, shake it, remove a part here and there and then put it back together. Once, he even put back the extra screws he had from a previous tear-down. Good times. Loving Husband made the point that if I bought this camera, I wouldn't need new software, a new dock, a new and expensive rechargeable battery or anything else. This camera was an upgrade of my current model, yet a model the store is selling off to make way for the most current model. So, new camera for pictures.

Tunnel Bay Marina and Blockhouse Island Pier on the right.

Matt and Michelle in Korea have just attended a Cherry Blossom Festival in their Korean community. I have to say, I'm a little jealous. I think my favourite part of spring would be when the apple trees blossom, so I can just imagine the cherry blossoms. I needed to get out and collect some evidence for Matt and Michelle about the current spring-like conditions we're enduring in their hometown.

St. Lawrence River looking West

My less-than-enthused family also needed something to do on a lovely Sunday afternoon. Outdoors. because I said so. The Boy Child ran off and found a street hockey game to be part of so I borrowed a different boy child so The Girl Child would not be lonely during our outing. Just kidding. She had a friend over.

Along the waterfront portion of the Brock Trail and, below, the gazebo at the Yacht Club.

And that was our Sunday walk by the river. It was cold. The wind was out in full force. But it was bright and lovely and we all got a good dose of Vitamin D. Much needed after all the hibernation that's been going on around here.

That's all for now. Now we wait patiently and wait for Matt or Michelle to grace us with an anon Blogger comment.

♥Bonni

No News Is Not Always Good News

I wish I had some good, exciting news or photos to show off for you.

Even my update will be boring. But, here goes.

No kayaking on the weekend for me. Kids are still sick. I'm having a hard time getting this neck pain under control. Blog changes are progressing along in the background. Not as quick as I had expected, but I'm working on it. K is now an official 'babysitter'.

I had been remarking of late about the 'economic downturn' and questioning whether it would be so apparent in our small town as it seemed to be in the larger centers. Because in my little world, things had been ticking along all happy and regular-like. Leave it to me to open my big mouth. Last week a beloved cafe closed it's doors. This week, it seems the economic downturn will strike closer to home. It will take some time before I learn how the changes on the table will effect my extended family, but change is here and it is not welcomed.

We're all feeling a little sad, tired and discouraged. It will pass. One day at a time.

Rideau Canal Skating

Thursday was remarkably Spring like. With very little planning, the kids and I, with my mom, jumped in the car and drove the hour and a bit to Dow's Lake Pavilion in Ottawa to do a little skating on the Rideau Canal. It's great the way they make skating on the canal so convenient. It lessens the blow of a $12 parking lot.

We stashed our boots in the white dome everyone is headed to in the pic below and we started out.

For those of you who have been so kind as to post pics of your adventures (Cristina and Marina) and your wonderful countryside (Dorothy) I figured I'd throw in some stark contrast. Having a scant 400 years of history in this country, there's little in the way of 'ancient architecture'. But, the canal itself is a marvel and the other bits are interesting.

Here we have the football stadium and below that, Lansdowne Park.
A bit closer to downtown you can see the YMCA tower to the left of the old Museum of Civilization 'castle' behind the bridge. There's another canal access point as well. They are all over the place. There's little to no official parking for the canal, but there's a lot of steps and seats and 'you are here' maps.

There's K skating by the University of Ottawa building. There's a big, lit up greenhouse on the top of the high rise.

I think anyone who has seen any advertising at all for the Rideau Canal Skating Rink has seen a picture like this. The roof line of the Chateau Laurier can be seen on the horizon.

Here we are in the heart of Ottawa. The Parliament buildings to the left and the old train station on the right. How I ever got to the ripe old age of 34 without ever eating a Beaver Tail, I don't know. But I couldn't let the same unfortunate thing happen to my kids. R's not a fan of sticky-sugary-sweet, so he held out for fries. I tell you, one Maple Beaver Tail is about as much stick-sugary-sweet as any one person can take. And that's saying something coming from this professional sweet tooth.

R eventually got his fries. Most of which were eaten on the go.

A kilometre from the end of our skate, all 13km of it, the kids took a brief break. The temperature had started to drop noticeably and we were definitely done. It was a great afternoon. Really, so easy to do. Living so close to Ottawa, it's really something we should do more. But, it's not to be this year. It was the last day of the season to skate. I'm glad we were able to fit it in.

Out Vacuuming. Be Back...Later

The Dyson has landed.

It's light. It's powerful. It's quieter than my last vacuum. Its hose reaches a full flight of stairs without having to lift the main unit off the floor. It sucks up things in the general vicinity of the powerbar. Amazing.

I'm busy vacuuming. When I can wrestle the silly thing away from others. I'll be back to blog once the novelty has worn off.

And, of course, I must post the requsite picture of the nasty bits we've been living with for who knows how long. There's less of these now.

♥Bonni

The Vacuum Is Dead. Again.

The vacuum is dead.

Again.

This is the third one in ten-years-minus-three-weeks. And I was trying to be oh-so careful with this latest model. Especially after B told me - in the gentlest terms possible - that I was a teensy bit hard on things, that I wasn't the most graceful housekeeper and that it would make his life complete if I could please, please be careful with the newest member of our appliance family. But that was a little more than two years ago.

I felt a little sick when the vacuum just sort of droned to a stop three quarters of the way across the rug. I felt a little sick when it wouldn't turn on even after I emptied out all the filters and spoke gently to it and gave it a time out and plugged it into a different outlet. I felt a little sick when B took it apart, right there in the living room and began stripping it of parts and wires. I felt downright nauseous when, two and a half hours later, B announced the vacuum was no more.

Not only can I be clumsy and graceless when cavorting around the house with a vacuum in tow, but I can curse myself. The day before this wretched event I was visiting with my sister. We were talking about house-y things when I told her that me next vacuum was going to be a Dyson. And that I was sure I'd get another two or three years out of my current model giving me ample time to save up my pocket change in anticipation of the big event.

Sure enough, 12 hours later, the Universe decided to have a big laugh at my expense.

So, after both B and I came to terms with the fact that the vacuum could not be economically resuscitated, we sat down to have another little chat. In all seriousness, it was a two sided discussion about investing in something that was going to do a good job for us for a number of years. Hopefully enough years so that when K flies the nest, she can load it up in the back of the car when departing for her post-childhood adventures.

Given our daily use of a vacuum due to our copiously shedding dog, we decided on the Dyson DC25. Works well on all floors, lots of power, large receptacle for dust and dog hair, not too heavy and a good long reach. I'm excited to try out the ball it rides on. I'm hoping it's manoeuvrability will mask some of my clunking around.

The vacuum delivery man, Mr. Purolator, is supposed to arrive with this precious package sometime this coming week. I'm very excited. B is excited that I am excited. I'm even more excited since I used the shop-vac on the living room area rug this evening. That was an exercise in patience if there ever was one. Why must the husky shed in the winter?? And why must each hair weave itself into the fibers of the rug? Is it necessary, really?? I digress.

I know you're all as excited as I am for the arrival of our investment, my birthday present, K's future housewarming gift, the dog-shed-containment-system. I'll keep you posted.

♥Bonni

Christmas 2008 Pictures

I promised I would put up some pictures for Uncle M. and Almost-Aunt M. who decided to go gallivanting off to Korea for a year or so. They managed to miss Christmas by about 10 days. Of course, we had a full-fledged Christmas dinner for them before they left. I hear that Christmas in Korea is a lover's holiday rather than a commercial gift-grab/religious celebration ala North American standards.

Without further ado, here's some of our Christmas pictures: full flash, no photoshop, taken on the fly.
This is a pic of the kids' first 'Christmas Pageant' (Dec.19/08). Together with a couple of HSing friends they learned a French carol and played out the Nativity. K got to be Mary as she was the only person able to provide a doll to be used as baby Jesus. We have a very male dominated HSing community!

Here's a pic of K in snow past her knees on the 21st. We got quite the blanket of snow just in time for Christmas. Of course, in the last week it has rained and warmed so much that most of it is gone.

A lovely pic of the kids in front of the freshly decorated tree. They're so co-operative.

Here they are receiving a lesson from B. in how to properly hang candy canes on the tree. Apparently there is a particularly successful technique that should be utilized.

More to follow...maybe tomorrow...

♥Bonni

Shamefully Negligent or Fall Photos

I must admit that there has not been an adequate amount of Fall Appreciation going on around here. We're not out enjoying the colours or playing in the leaves nearly enough.

The colours are gorgeous here in our corner of SE Ontario - I noticed the other weekend as I drove to Thanksgiving dinner at my parent's place in the country.

Since then, many of the leaves have fallen. Instead of the intense, warm, bright colours, we're starting to get the muted browns and yellows of later Fall.

Today I took our first Fall pics of 2008. It was only outside on our tiny postage stamp of a lawn, but pictures are pictures. To redeem myself, I feel I must direct you to the Fall pictures of my friend Jennifer. I was a little surprised at how much Nuk-Dog liked the leaves. But then again, she does like the smell of dead rotten things.

Checking In...

I've been so focused on staying on schedule that I've not been doing anything else. No knitting, no creating, nothing.

I suppose I'll be posting some 'A Day In The Life' because I have nothing else of interest to blog about.

Let's Recap September:

• Sept. 1 - Family BBQ at Chuck's new house.
• Sept. 2 - Officially 'Back to Homeschool'
• Sept. 3 - Kids to RCMP Musical Ride with Uncle B and Aunt K. Some School books arrive.
• Sept. 6 - Birthday dinner for Grandpa at my parents'.
• Sept. 7 - Homeschooler's Family Picnic
• Sept. 8 - CHEO
• Sept.10 - CHEO again. Green Light for R on all fronts. Register for Indoor Soccer Leagues.
• Sept.11 - First Hockey practice for R.
• Sept.13 - Community 'Treasure' Hunt. Cleared out some basement clutter.
• Sept.15 - Daytime skating starts. Price went up 300%. Yikes.
• Sept.18 - Hockey again. Coffee & Chat at local coffee house with homeschool moms.
• Sept.20 - Dog to the Kennel. We're off on a late season camping trip with B's boss' family.
• Sept.21 - Home Again. Packed a lot of fun stuff into an overnight trip.
• Sept.22 - Treats after skating with friends.
• Sept.23 - Grandma M. visits from MD, USA.
• Sept.24 - Belatedly begin our weekly library visits.
• Sept.25 - Belatedly take R for a haircut. Why are 2 dinners required on hockey nights??
• Sept.26 - Dentist appointments (and a convenient excuse to go shopping) in the big city. Family dinner with family friends. Wine, good company and dessert. Awesome.
• Sept.27 - K's grandparents visit. R off to a friend's birthday party.
• Sept.29 - Interview potential French teacher.

Everything school-wise is on the anticipated track. R's math hasn't arrived yet. The kids are doing Science, History, Vocab and French more or less together. K is doing two math lessons a day, WriteShop and is working on improving her handwriting. R is doing some printing every day (under duress), some math practice here and there and his reading is really taking off. He even read a joke from the Reader's Digest to me today. Out loud.

I've organized the first of our monthly field trips. I've tracked down a potential French teacher. Now I just have to find a location to hold our French gatherings.

September's momentum is holding for now. I'm fairly impressed.

What I Did On My Summer Vacation.

So, September made it after all. I thought it may have been washed away with all the rain we've collected this Summer.

I've missed my blog. I hope I'll be able to get back to it and record our homeschooling year along with a smattering of other bits and pieces of daily life.

It was a big summer for us. Lots of firsts.

And ninths. We celebrated our 9th wedding anniversary this summer. After having plans in place for a year, we ditched them to spend an evening at home with the kids. We watched a sci-fi flick, a favourite show of ours and we treated ourselves to a strawberry shortcake. More personally, I internally, quietly and privately celebrated ten years of family life. Ten years ago I had taken a whirlwind trip into parenthood, responsibility and general drastic lifestyle change. B was there, jumping in head first with me. So as I did a lot that first year, I expect I'll do a lot of thinking and evaluating and projecting this year.

R's first foray into some serious medical care. 2 surgeries - the second completed last week. In another week or so we'll have all the post-op check-ups done and we'll see what future kidney care - if any - is required. Just recently R surprised me by trying out a kayak all on his own at a community picnic. The kayak club had the boats out for anyone to try and R was uncharacteristically right in there - without his sister - to give it a go. Guess who didn't have the camera? I've noticed a few times he's stepped out of his usual box to venture into independent waters.

K enjoyed a full season of outdoor soccer - her first. I'm sure she thought she was going to die with all the running involved. She did mention it a couple of times. She improved all season, even volunteering to play keeper. She totally stepped out of the box the last game or so to play forward, in the hopes of scoring. No goals were to be had, although there were a few good kicks directed at the net. K also met a neighbourhood friend and enjoyed the whole pre-teen hanging-out thing...which shows no sign of slowing down now that school has officially begun.

We're seeing lots more of B at home - which is great. When he's around, I'm more motivated to accomplish stuff in my day. When he's gone, I just miss him. I tend to mope. We had a good hashing out of our homeschooling expectations for the year. It makes me feel a lot better when I hear how interested and committed B is to this blind venture I'm undertaking. And as anyone who does it knows, homeschooling bleeds over into daily life. Once the kids are aware that both mom and dad are on the same page regarding all the day-to-day activities, things just putter along smoothly. For the most part.

We were homebodies this summer. The kids had some nice opportunities to get out and about with various family members and friends. Worried that K would get bored in the quiet, homebound days after R's surgery, I booked her into a couple of days at a historical site. She fought me tooth and nail about going on the first day, but was chomping at the bit to go the second time around.

We did our first family bike rides at the beginning of the season. Hopefully we'll fit a few more in - now that R's up and about - before the snow flies.

As we get closer to Fall, there's still a couple of things to fit in on the calender. Perhaps a cottaging weekend, the homeschooler's picnic and a visit with Grandma.

I'm looking forward to this Homeschool Year. I'm sure as I get back to the blog, I'll impress you all with stories of organization and planning, with reviews of new resources and with compelling news of day-to-day activities. Really. Or not.

And that's what I did on my summer vacation. Although, summer certainly doesn't feel over. And that's a happy, looking-forward-to-things kind of thought this year. Because twenty years ago, I was thinking the very same thought while stuck in a classroom in a new school embarking on grade 8. And it wasn't a very happy thought because I wasn't looking forward to very much that year. The end.

Merrickville, Ontario