Weekend Rewind

And just like that another HOT weekend has zoomed on by!

Friday M was done works little early, so after I finally got Emilya down, the rest of us went for a swim! The pool was 80 degrees, which is my kind of temperature - I'm a bit of wimp when it comes to pool temps! We had a blast playing in the pool! 

Friday night I was brave and decided take Noah and Emilya down to the ball park to watch some of Daddy's game, since it was a home game. I armed myself with the double stroller, snacks, and toys. I knew he would be staying up a bit late and we were willing to forego the bath routine. 

He actually did pretty well. He played with another little boy, sharing his toys nicely. He cheered for the "blue Jays" - any baseball team is the blue Jays lol. He shared his snack with a little girl and listened pretty well. But of course I knew it was going too smoothly and just as I was giving the 5 minute warning because it was almost 9 PM, he fell off the bleachers. Luckily or not... He didn't fall too far and actually fell rather slowly and didn't end up hurting himself, but it did scare him. This was
not his first time falling, but I think he gets embarrassed, so you bet we left the ball park with a screaming kid and Emilya didn't take long to join in because she was getting hungry! Luckily it's just a short walk home! 

I will say he went to bed pretty easily after I wiped him down (from all the dust at the park), got him in his pjs and he didn't even want a book read, he just crawled int bed and was out like a light! His sister on the other hand was fighting sleep like crazy and was still awake when M got home.

Saturday morning we all slept in! I love how happy Em is in the morning, I mean she is just generally a happy baby, but her smiles are soo stinkin' big in the morning, that it just brightens my day! 

After breakfast, Noah and I had a little Mommy/Noah date. We decided to go shopping, one of his favorite things. It was soo nice having a little one on one time with him again - crazy how much I miss hanging out just him and I! I did let him pick out a new toy while we were shopping and he couldn't  wait to get home and play with it! When the kids went down for thier nap, I headed back into town to hit up the dollar store! Check out my haul:

Saturday afternoon M went and got the kobota to do some yard work with. He grinded down the tree stump on Friday morning, so we had all the shavings to get rid of. You bet Noah loved every kobota ride he had to the yard waste depot! Even I took him down to dump it and we went on a little tour! 

We had ribs on the BBQ with green beans for supper and it was soo yummy!! After supper went went for a family village tour! 

Before coming inside for bath time, we had an important task of dinosaur egg hunting... Aka rock hunting, but this time I had a fun plan up my sleeve! We put the rock in a container with water over night:

Sunday morning after another sleep in, we found a dinosaur in the jar!! He was soo excited, however M he isn't e a toy into dinosaurs, so maybe after we do this a few times, he will be? Boy just loves his trucks and cars! But he did seem to love the experience, so we will try it again this week! 

After a yummy pancake breakfast, the boys headed outside to do some gardening. We finally planted the front garden - for now. Here is the before:

And the durings:

And the after (taken this morning after we finally got some rain!!): 

While the boys were outside working, Emilya was rolling - literally around on the floor while I got the floors all cleaned on the main floor! Crazy how much she moving already and pulling her knees under herself! It won't be long before she is crawling! 

We attempted to put Noah down for a nap early, but it was a bust, he is just used to napping at the same time or later, but never earlier! When he woke up, we headed to a family BBQ to welcome my cousin home from Belize before she heads back out west in a few weeks. 

It was nice to introduce Emilya to everyone who hadn't met her yet and baby girl had soo much to say, she didn't stop babbling away and loved interacting with everyone, especially my cousins baby boy, who is a month older. Noah pretty much swam the whole time and did soo well!! He had soo much fun as do and really loved the cupcakes!! 

I just love how much fun we all had and I seriously just love these ages!! 

When we get home, I got Emilya settled, while the boys ran the kobota back to the farm and when they got home it was bedtime! 

We had such a fun weekend!! Soo much fun that we all slept in again, heck Noah didn't get up until 9!!

NINE

Wow, soo crazy to think it has been 9 years today that M and I said "I Do".

Nine whole years. It seems like it was just a few years ago that we were landscaping the farm for our outdoor wedding and picking colors, our wedding party, etc. And heck we were engaged for 2 years before we got married! 

What I will say is that in these last 9 years, we have had some of the best days of our lives and some of the worst. But together, hand in hand we have accomplished soo much and we couldn't be at a happier state in our lives. Life these days literally feels like our dreams coming true. Having not just one
child now, but two is such a blessing. I know, I say it a lot, but sometimes I wonder when I will wake up from this dream, especially having gone through soo much to get to this point in our lives.

I couldn't be a prouder wife than I am these days. To have such a supportive and helpful husband seems to be a rare thing these days. Mike puts in 150% into our family and it shows. I secretly love watching him with the kids and seeing them enjoy him just as much as I do!

In 9 years, I have watched my husband become such a amazing and stronger man and maybe I don't tell him enough how much I appreciate all that he does for us. Life is beautifully chaotic around these parts these days and in a blink of an eye the day is done and I find myself wondering "did I tell him I love him", "did I hug him today", "does he know how much I love and respect him" or "how lucky I feel to have him as my husband"?

I think that is one of the keys to our successful marriage is respecting each other, knowing each other's limits and stepping up when each other needs that break. We work well as a team and have the same goals. I'm not saying he doesn't drive me crazy some days, because we of course drive each other crazy, but at the end of the day it is a good kind of crazy.

It's crazy to look back and see how far we have come. To see how we have faced our hardships and came out on top. 

These are the best days of our lives and they just keep on getting better! 

Happy Anniversary to my love, my partner in crime, my best friend. I know that I will never be able to put into words just how my heart feels, because everyday it is growing fonder and deeper. I am so lucky to have you, our children - yes, OUR children are lucky to have you and I just hope you know how loved and appreciated you really are to me and I am going to work harder at making sure you know that. Here is to several more years together!! 

I love you like crazy - promise promise.

Ashley

MANEV Summer Vacay - Week 1

I seriously think I might need a vacation from our vacation - vacationing with kids is no joke, especially when they aren't feeling well!!

As I posted last, our long weekend was pretty busy and we really just needed some down time, so we did just that! Monday and Tuesday we hung around home, swam in the pool and tried to stay cool! 

Noah learned how fun crushing cans can be - see Instagram for the hilarious video. But we also had some bubbles fun! 

Emilya decided she would roll over from back to front and now she just keeps rolling right off her mat, so she is officially on the move now, and never where I leave her anymore! 

Noah took the beer cans back from the long weekend and we let him keep some of the money from the return and instead of buying candy, he wanted to stop at the strawberry stand on the way home! 

On Wednesday Miss Emilya tried her exersaucer for the first time and loved it!! I can hardly get over how strong she is at just 3 months!! That's right, she is 3 months already, her post is coming up!! 

Wednesday afternoon, Greyson and Chloe came over for a play date and ended up staying for dinner! You bet I failed at photos! It's right after they left that things took a turn for the worst! 

Noah ended up with a fever of 103 - the highest he has ever had and he was not feeling well AT all!!! We have been soo lucky and have not had to deal with any sickness really with the kids, so this was a big deal for M and I. 

Thursday we had a fun day planned, but ended up cancelling it because Noah still had a crazy high fever and was super sucky. I had told my sister I would watch Hannah for her, as B had an appointment. Noah was super happy to have Hannah over and seemed to perk up a bit, so we allowed her to stay over night! The kids had lots of fun:

Friday morning I met my sister in town, we did a little shopping together, I managed to get myself some new sunglasses and a few shirts and some wall art for various places around the house, including the basement and Noah's room!! 

Noah was still sporting a high fever, but with no other symptoms! He is getting 2 of his 2 year molars, but has never had a fever this high before, so I decided since we were heading out on vacation that I would take him into the clinic just to make sure we weren't dealing with an ear infection or something. The doctor couldn't see anything of concern. 

Friday night we attempted to try out our new babysitter!! Noah was right out of sorts, but was excited she was there, so my plan was to show her the bedtime routine and then I would leave with Emilya to goto M's ball game. Well we got him up and in bed, I was just starting to pack things up and got the call from Mike that they were calling the game because of the the thunderstorm! Soo, I didn't make it out of the house, but we will try it all again!! 

Saturday morning Noah developed a cough to go along with his cold and was absolutely miserable. I had plans to be out of the house by 8 and well let's just say that didn't happen! 

I met my sister and my Mom at the Art In The Barn show. I was soo impressed with all the little shops our area has to offer and loved meeting some of the shop owners I have done reviews for!! My haul:

Saturday afternoon was spent packing and getting ready to head to the cottage.

We could have been there for 2, but made it by 8! Organization is not our thing and this was the first time we had rented a cottage and had no clue what we actually needed. Emilya didn't travel well at all! I ended up stopping 7 times in the hours car ride in attempt to give her a pacifier... 

More details on our week at the cottage to come! Stay tuned! 

Long Weekend Rewind

Vacation has officially started and the fun hasn't stopped!!

Thursday evening our company for the weekend arrived. They brought supper with them, which we enjoyed poolside, they set up thier trailer and the kids swam and played. After we got the kids in bed, a few more friends joined us and we decided to do a fire, being very careful of course, becaus you bet they posted a fire ban for the weekend because of how dry we have had it, so we kept water on hand just incase. We were crazy and stayed up until 2 AM! 

Friday morning everyone seemed to sleep in until 8 AM. It was a rainy morning, which was much needed, although not enough fell. 

The kids colored, we made cupcakes and just had a bunch of fun. 

We had more company come over for dinner, they set up the tent before we headed to ball park for their first ball game. 

While they were playing ball, the kids dance was on at the park! Noah had a blast dancing the night away. He even scored a trip to the playground with friends of ours! He managed to stay up until 9:30, but boy was he tired! We put him right to bed and there wasn't much movement after that! A couple other friends came over and we had a bonfire and hit up the hot tub after getting the kids to bed and stayed up until 1AM! 

Saturday morning we attempted to do our strawberry waffle breakfast, but everyone kind of ate in shifts. M had to leave early because he was in the parade, so we cleaned up, got ready, another team mate and his family arrived and we all walked over to watch the parade at our friends house! 

Noah was so excited, I loved seeing the excitement, I'm glad we watched it instead of going in it! Emilya slept most of the time, but I ended up having to wear her, as she did not like the sirens. 

And yes, Noah insisted on wearing his fire chief hat to the parade instead of his ball cap! 

When we got home after the parade, this guy was so busy! He ended up having a quick shower and didn't want to get out: 

We went down to the park for lunch and Noah had a blast in the bouncy castle - soo much fun that M had to go in after him! Of course M has the video to go with this, not that I can load a video on my blog anyways (not sure how). We had lunch, watched M's game and then came right home with one tired little boy. I stayed home for the next game, as it was naptime around these parts and that is just something I am not willing to forego! 

They ended up winning the game I missed and had a 5:45 game, which put a damper on the dinner plans. M had been smoking brisket all day! But we managed to keep it warm during the game! This time I decided to bring trucks down to the game to entertain Noah and keep him with me. I definetely learned why I don't take two kids to the ball game, although bringing the toys made the big difference for Noah. 

They ended up winning the C division! It was great to see some wins under the teams belt now, since they had won any games all season so far! 

The team came back to our place after the game for supper, the kids swam and everyone seemed to have fun! We had one person bounce through our patio screen, which was humorous. Time seemed to fly by, because next thing I knew, it was well after 8 PM and we ere scrambling to get the bed. 

I did make up a new drink I'm calling "Moms Night Out", which was passion tea lemonade (similar to Starbucks - made at home, with either raspberry vodka/rum or sour puss. It was soo good!!!

We had a bonfire again, lots of laughs and fun and everyone had gone home by 12 AM, and that is when the real fun began - when we started a water fight with the neighbours behind us, by filling up 150 water balloons - thank you to the bunch of balloons hose attachment that fills them up automatically and ties them! We had them made in no time! Turns out they had their kids out still, so we had to be careful! The clever neighbours had a hose that reached all the way to our yard, so needless to say, we did get wet! 

We had some left over, and there was a big dance going on down the street at the ball park, so we decided to sit on the front porch and launch water balloons at those walking home. Clearly this wouldn't fly in a big city, but in our little village, it was all fun and games. Even when 2 people brough buckets of water back to throw at us!! We did see a lot of interesting things, but my favorite was the 2 drunk guys with a beer on a bike trying to double ride. It was clearly 15 minutes of pure laughter for us as they tried to figure out how to make it work. That was another 2 AM night.

Let's just say, I was really happy to have kids that sleep well and sleep in this past weekend!! 

Sunday morning was the firemans breakfast and Noah insisted on wearing his fire hat again! Our house guests tagged along and left just after lunch, when my Dad arrived from camping. 

Let's just say, I had nap when the kids did and when we all got up, Noah was soo happy to play with Grandpa!! 

After we put Noah to bed, my Dad, M and I sat out on the front porch and watched the fire works with the perfect view!! 

It was an awesome weekend filled with soo much fun and laughter. Despite how busy we were, and having company around all weekend, I was really proud of how well Noah handled it!! 

This past week I will recap eventually. We are off to the cottage tomorrow for a week and will be without the internet, but you can keep up with us on Instagram :)