Canada Day....a few days early

We celebrated our 4th annual Canada Day family day this past weekend. Mike and Robin missed this one of course, but Kris and Steve and the boys were here along with good friends of theirs: Adrienne, Peter and their son Ian, who happens to be Matthew's friend! Matthew loved having and someone his size and age to play with and show all the things there are to do and see at Nana/Poppa's house: like picking wild strawberries in the flower garden, or throwing stones into the pond; and of course a visit to the 'peanut store'; and the big lake wbere you can also throw stones into! And when it was dark, they tired themselves out running around in the dark and playing 'sparkling' (aka lighting sparklers). Jack, on the other hand, is new to this and so he spent most of his day watching everything the other boys did and probably wishing to heck that he could crawl fast enough to keep up with them. But what he lacks in speed he makes up for in smiles!

On Wednesday we celebrate Real Canada Day with our neighbours. Mearl and Judy Obee host a community Canada Day party so we are all keeping our fingers crossed that the weather genie does his/her trick and serves up another nice day.

Mike/Robin - the climbing rose picture is for you guys.

The Weekend Before....

This was the weekend before Mike and Robin left on their Mediterranean then Australian adventure. To maximize family time we went to Guelph for the weekend, and as you saw from the previous posting, we went bowling. Since Mike and Robin won't be here for their birthdays, Matthew and Jack got early bday presents. Mike was concerned that Matthew wouldn't be happy with a suitcase, Cars or not,(so he filled it with fun stuff) but was he wrong. Matthew lugged that thing around the house, to the bowling alley, to family picture day. And Jack, well....he sat in his. It was a weekend of great family time, including one of Matthew's favorite things (besides Wii Bowling, and watching Toy Story 1 and 2 over and over).....the hot tub. We soon discovered that it was also one of Jack's favorite things. If his Mom had let him go, his little motorbike hands and feet would have carried him across the hot tub and back. So here are some more pictures from that very fun weekend.

And hey.....we can't forget. The day before the weekend before was also special: it was Robin's convocation ceremony. Graduated in honours Computer Science with 2 majors. Congratulations Robin! And to a lesser extent her slave-driving husband who had some part in keeping her focused on the ultimate goal. Funny how he learned study discipline second time through!

Real Bowling!

On the weekend before Mike and Robin left for their honeymoon we all went bowling. This was a surprise to Matthew. He loves Wii Sports Bowling (in fact he scored 173), but when he saw a real bowling alley he was.....well....here it comes....bowled over! "Poppa....it's real bowling!" After a somewhat unsuccessful try at getting the ball the entire length of the alley, he agreed to use the 'ramp'. For those of you who have ever played Wii bowling, when the little Mii has a less than stellar performance he hangs his head and his arms down and looks real sad. Matthew does a perfect imitation. And when he scores a 'strike', or more importantly to Matthew a 'spare' (who knows why), he does the Mii happy dance. What a great time we all had! Final score: Game 1, team 1 (Mike, Steve, Robin) - Mike won; Game 2 - Mike won. Game 1 Team 2 (Matthew, Mommy, Nana, Poppa) - Poppa won; Game 2 - Matthew won - and this is no joke! He scored a legitimate 108, beating his closest competitor by 10 points, and his furthest competitor (poor Nana) by 50 points. Here are a few photos.

But before we went bowling, we had a family portrait done, a gift from Kris/Steve/Boys and Mike/Robin. Thank you guys. We love it!

Mike and Robin's Big Day

I am sure we are not alone in our delight and surprise to see our first born married! Yes, it has happened. Gamer, loner, go-his-own way Mike finally meets his match: Robin (nee Colbourne). Mike knew what he was doing when he decided to switch careers and go back to Uni to take a CompSci degree; he knew his odds of finding a soul geek were so much better than the pool deck. She is also a comp sci major and gamer. We snuggle up on the couch with a glass of wine; they snuggle up on the couch with their Nintendo DS's. Whatever works!

The wedding was great. June 6th, Queenston Heights, a warm and sunny June day. And two people very much in love. I don't say that lightly. In the middle of the ceremony, even with the pastor feeding her her lines, Robin got lost in Mike. And in his speech to the Bride, Mike forgot about anyone else in the room and spoke only to Robin about how much he loved her. Wellll.....even Dad choked up on that (and Mom...what else!). We feel so blessed to have two fantastic kids who have found equally fantastic partners to love. Do parents ever want more than for their kids to be happy?

Mike and Robin are, at this moment, off on a 20-day Mediterranean cruise. And after that, they head directly to Brisbane, Australia, not just to visit, but to live. For 2-n years. We are hoping 'n' is nearer to 2 than 'N'. If you want to see what they are doing (during the day) go to http://mikroadventure.blogspot.com. Having said that, I have checked 3 times already and nothing. Mind you, they are on their honeymoon.

We didn't have a camera at the wedding, so the attached photos are thanks to Jane Eaton our neighbour and friend.

And meanwhile!

If you noticed the date on the Easter blog you will note that Easter came very, very late this year. Not so! It was me. I have been distracted by a problem with my eyes that has necessitated surgery and an agonizingly slow recovery process. We are now over two months and it is only just getting tolerably comfortable to use the computer for more than a few minutes. Still can't drive! Still can't read! Still can't play golf #@%$&! But at least it is finished (from my lips to God's ears), so it is catch-up time. But that is it. We skip from Easter to the most exciting event since the birth of our last grandson. Sorry....see next blog.

No pictures this time.

Easter is Family Time

Easter certainly is family time! Even if one does not totally buy into the religious aspects of Easter, it is a celebration of Spring and Family in our house. Although this year it didn't exactly feel very Spring like, as you can see from the pictures. We thought an outdoor Easter Egg Hunt would be fun. And it was fun watching Matthew scramble around searching out all those plastic and foil covered eggs the Easter Bunny left in not-so-difficult-to-find hiding places. Nice Bunny!!

Despite the cool.....cold...temperatures, we had a lovely weekend. How could it be otherwise with Mike and Robin, Kristen and Steve and two of the cutest grandbabies anywhere. We painted Easter eggs - I think Mike won 'The Eggy' again this year....and ate way too much. Then complained about how much we ate; and vowed not to eat again for two days. Does biting the head off a chocolate bunny count?