Homeward Bound

Talk about crazy...last Sunday Bill and Maddy flew back to Canada for Maddy's orthodontist appt. And Ali, Katie and I found ourselves in the truck with all the animals driving our way back to Barrie to meet them....a week later. Long story but circumstances beyond our control meant Maddy and Bill would be in Canada for at least three weeks...and that's too long for me! So we decided I would drive and bring Katie and the pets with me. Ali was not going to let me do this alone so he was on board with me too. A good thing as I realize how much easier he made this trip for me. I realize we lead a pretty adventurous life already, but this was a step out there for me. I really like to drive but I was somewhat concerned about hitting less than favorable weather, and how would Katie handle the long hours in her car seat? And would the cats and bunny even survive the trip? After eight days, two separate visits to a mechanic, only one traffic violation, too many hotels, and a freak snowstorm in Louisiana and Mississippi, we are back in Ontario with Bill and Maddy. It appears we will be here for two to three weeks...plenty of time to see all our friends and family...and enough time to appreciate the weather! Here's a short portion of our photo journal all taken with my i phone along the way...

Leaving the California sunshine behind

Nothing passes the time faster than just being goofy...

One of our many pit stops for food

Exercise time for Button

Sculptures in the desert of New Mexico

Somewhere in Texas...what a big state to cross

The Mississippi River...this is actually a color photo...just a really wintery day!

Our stop in Graceland!

Our first taste of Canada...literally!

Laguna Coast Wilderness Park

This week the kids and I had a chance to spend the afternoon hiking and exploring one of Southern California's last remaining coastal canyons. We followed one of the canyon trails up to the bluffs, with the scent of sage filling the air the entire time. It's one of the things I absolutely love about this area of California! The park also has a small nature centre where you can learn all about the area and how the land was carved. There's lots to touch... this is always a good thing with the kids! Katie really loved the telescope, Ali loved climbing the rocks and looking for lizards, and Maddy was the master of the scat on this outing...we saw lots of evidence of mule deer and bobcat! The day was filled with sunshine and laughter...and it can't get any better than that!

A Quick Review

This past week has been a little wild here. As many of you already know we had some crazy weather pass through here. On one day, in the course of one hour it went from storm warning to severe storm warning to possible tornado warning...yikes! One minute the news was warning people in mobile homes to seek alternative shelter...we put on our coats to leave...the next minute they are saying it's too late and to stay where you are and seek shelter in the interior of your home, away from windows, etc...If you've seen our motorhome you know that doesn't leave us with many options! For the next fifteen minutes we hunkered down, watching debris fly past the window. The tornado touched down about fifteen minutes from our place. Most of the week this area experienced high winds, heavy rain, flooding and mudslides. We were pretty lucky and didn't suffer any real consequences. Unfortunately we still ended up at the hospital this week. Madison and Ali both saw the doctor. Maddy is fine, required some antibiotics but is feeling great now. Ali has had two ingrown toenails for awhile and has been struggling with them. The antibiotics got rid of the infection but the ingrown nail was still there, and it ended up infected again an extremely painful for him. So this past week they had to remove the entire toenail. He watched the doctor do it and thought the whole thing was pretty cool! Unfortunately the novelty has worn off and trying to keep a thirteen year old boy tied down for the required ten days while it heals..not so much fun! So far this week....the sun is back!!! Yeah! Looking forward to getting outside and enjoying some normal weather!!

In Your Own Backyard

As some of you know my drivers license has expired, and we've been working with one vehicle for some time now... and while I feel like we have lost some of the freedom we like, the spontaneity of just going where we please whenever we want, it has also been a blessing in disguise. It's incredible the things you can find in your own backyard. The kids and I have been going for walks in our neighborhood and exploring all the nooks and crannies around us. We walk to the island and explore the shops, we walk to the peninsula to hang out at the beach, we walk to the coffee shop and people watch. For the past week we've been taking the camera and creating a specific task to accomplish while walking. One day it was taking pictures of anything that was a circle. Another day it was circles only found in nature. Katie really loves the shape days because she brings her own camera and just runs along snapping everything she finds...it can be challenging for her too when we pick a shape she may not be as familiar with! While we all have our own camera we seem to have fallen into a routine of one person taking the photos while we all walk and look. These pictures are from a walk along Upper Newport Bay. It's not even ten minutes from our door to get there and you could literally walk the trails around the bay for days. This day we were taking pictures of nature "close up"...with one of the general area to give you an idea of where we were at. The pictures this day were all taken by Maddy!

Our Christmas

It's been busy, busy,busy for the holidays here! Now that the crowd has cleared in the park we finally have good internet again...it's been crazy trying to upload pictures so I just waited it out. Weather was cool but sunny this year so we spent lots of time outside. It was great to have Dad and Cindy here...makes it seem more like Christmas when there is some family around! The kids were able to spend lots of time with them and Cindy even gave Bill and I some time to have a couple dates! Here's a few photos of our holidays and how we spent them...thanks Cindy for giving me some of these great pictures!



Katie loves her new toys...

Writing a letter for Santa with cookies and carrots for the reindeer...
Maddy's homemade wrapping paper....that's a lot of chocolate wrappers!

Fishing and climbing...

Sharing meals with family...

Loved the lights at the Boat Parade this year...

Katie loved to do the Christmas baking!

Tis The Season

It will soon be Christmas and we are busy preparing for the big day. I'm almost finished my shopping and that feels really good...no stress! When the kids go back to Barrie next week I will be busy wrapping! Katie will help me with the baking and we'll be done! This past week we went to the lighting of the bay festivities. They had a big fire on the beach with different choirs all singing Christmas songs. It was a cool night so they served chilli, soups and hot chocolate. And of course Santa made an appearance. Katie had already visited with Santa at the mall...she insisted we go to talk to him and she actually sat on his lap(this is a big deal if you know Katie). She didn't want to tell him what she wanted for Christmas...all she wanted to know was where his reindeer were. They took a picture but if it weren't for Santa it would be a great mug shot of her! She took it very seriously! The kids picked out a tree this year and we've set it up outside and the lights are up. It's looking very festive!

Katies First Photo

What happens when you let your three year old use the "really big camera"? Great things of course! Katie has been wanting to take pictures with mommy's camera for some time now. So the other day I spent some time with her and here is her best shot. She now officially has the photography bug that has bit her siblings. I can't wait to see what else she comes up with.

Swimming with Stingrays

One of the highlights of our trip was swimming with the stingrays...it was something we could all do together. It's hard to believe you are out in the ocean away from everything and there's a huge sand bar with fifty stingrays swimming around. Ali of course was jumping off the boat and gone before the rest of us even had our snorkeling gear on. Katie had no reservations either..she loves being in the water and because the water was so clear she could see everything. Maddy has done some snorkeling before too so she had a great time watching and touching the stingrays. We also did some snorkeling on the reef ...waves were a bit rougher here but lots of fish...and of course Katie and I hung out on the beach for a while.