Birthdays, Broken Bone, & Adventures

Once again August has proved to be a month to remember.

First the fun stuff. Camping was accomplished and we attended 4 birthday parties in 2 weekends!

• August 8 - 12 - Hubby and Son went camping with friends in Harrison Hot Springs. I had to work. It might sounds like I was abandoned, but honestly I was kind of relieved not to be tent camping in the rain. I don't sleep as well in an empty house though, so I was pleased when they came home safe and sound.
  
• Saturday the 15th - We attended the 6th birthday party of Son's best buddy in the park. Much fun was had by all on the tire swing, climbing equipment and running through the water park. Of course the kids enjoyed destroying the piñata and eating the cake too. :)
• Sunday the 16th - Son & I walked onto the ferry to Nanaimo to attend his Great-Granny's 91st birthday. This was our first time on the ferry without Dad and also the first time he didn't want to spend the whole time in the Play Area. We spent a lot of time on deck and wandering from place to place on the ferry in both directions.
  The party itself was great, everyone came that could and Son got to spend time playing with his cousins whom he hadn't seen in about 6 months. All the kids moved as a group, total pack mentality. It was fun to watch. Lunch wasn't served till after 3pm so the kids were directed to the veggie and fruit plate. Son focused on fruit and cherry tomatoes of course. :) Great-Granny was thrilled to have so many kids running around.
• Friday the 21st - Grandma arrived to spend the weekend, she wanted to be here to attend both her grandchildren's birthday parties. Son was thrilled!
• Saturday the 22nd - We attended my niece's 5th birthday party at a different park. Her father had taken the time to set up a treasure hunt, each group of kids had to find the hidden keys then follow the directions to the buried treasure chest. The kids had a blast going through all the treats and prizes in the chest.
• Sunday the 23rd - Son had his birthday party at the rec center of Brother-in-law's townhouse complex. All the kids and about 1/2 the adults had a good swim in the indoor pool then came up in time for a lunch of hot dogs/smokies, veggies, and chips. We also provided the kids with the fun of destroying a piñata and the parents the fun of watching them. Grandma left for the ferry with Brother-in-law after the party.

Here is where life starts to get even more interesting!

• Wednesday the 26th - Oma (Grandma in Dutch) came to visit, she wanted to visit with her aunt and uncle during the day and to be here for Son's actual birthday. While she was off visiting with other family, Son was playing in the playground outside his karate class. Nothing odd about this, he loves to climb all over the equipment and go down the slides. This time he is sharing a spinning wheel (has replaced monkey bars in many playgrounds) with a friend and falls. Again, nothing new, but this time he lands on his arm instead of his feet. He complained that it hurt but there are no lumps or bumps and he can wiggle his fingers so I just took him home, gave him some advil and let him watch some TV. I figured it was a sprain or strain and would get better on it's own. When Hubby got home he took one look at Son's arm and noticed how swollen the elbow was. It was decided to take him in and get that elbow x-rayed. After a few hours in the hospital it was determined that the humerus was fractured near his elbow and he would need a cast. The doctor on call in emergency was pretty confident that we would only need to leave it on for 2 weeks. Son was pretty freaked he had NO idea what a cast was, but he knew he didn't want one! Once he saw what it was and noticed that it didn't hurt as much now that he didn't have to hold his arm up with his other hand he was a bit happier. Son declared this his Worst Birthday Ever! We kinda agree, at least he had his pool party before he broke his arm
• Thursday August 27th - Son's actual birthday! He got to open Oma's present to him and one of mine first thing in the morning but had to wait for Dad to come home before he could open the rest of our present. I was happy to see that he was able to use his new Tag pen and books with just 1 hand. Son got to take the day off from Kids Club and visit Science World with Oma, at least there were activities he could do one handed there. Oma went home after dinner and birthday cupcakes for desert.
• Friday August 28th - My sister and her 3 kids (1 girl 1 yr old, 2 boys 5 yrs & 7 yrs) come to spend the weekend with us. They were sorry to have missed the party and actual birthday but understood that there are just so many people that can fit into our townhouse at one time. Cole was sooo happy to see them and thrilled to be able to come with me to pick them up.
  
• Sunday August 30th - The Boys had a big adventure!
  My sister and I left Hubby with all 4 kids while we went shopping so that the kids wouldn't be bored. He sent the 3 boys out to play in the back yard while our 1 yr old niece napped. After a while he couldn't hear them anymore, quickly checked the outdoor pool and was relieved to see that they weren't there and that a couple of families were using the pool so that they would be noticed if they went there. He had to go back to the house though as niece was still sleeping. He called to get us to check the school playground on the way home and send the kids back.
  About 45 minutes later I got a phone call asking me where the park was that had "4 slides." Apparently the kids had left our complex, crossed 3 main streets and 2 streets leading to other townhouse complexes, followed a path leading over a bridge, past baseball diamonds, and finally arrived at a playground with 4 slides with other good climbing stuff. They enjoyed the park, maneuvered over the rocks in the creek and generally had a good time. They felt very proud of their adventure, after all they had followed all the rules: they looked both ways at the streets, held hands crossing the street, and the oldest child was tall enough that the cars could see them! It was, of course, explained to them that as good as all that stuff was, it didn't negate the fact that they should have told Hubby where they were going. Son had only been to that park about 10 times in his life and usually rides his bike there. It probably took them about 20 min to walk there.
  Privately I'm pretty proud of them all. The oldest wanted to bail and come back, but stuck with the younger kids when they wouldn't hear of giving up. They made it to the park and back with no mishaps. This says a lot for Son's sense of direction and for all of them for remembering the rules for crossing the road. Can't let Son know quite how proud I am of them though, that might give him more ideas. :D
• Monday August 31st - Sister and her children went home, the house was quiet again.
• Wednesday September 2nd - Son had his 2nd bath since getting his cast and somehow managed to get a lot of water in it! None got in the top, so there must have been a hole in the bottom of the bag we used to protect his cast. Poor kid went to sleep clutching a cloth to his cast hoping to soak up some of the water.
• Thursday September 3rd - We called the Cast Clinic to see just bad it was to get his cast wet. It was recommended that since it wasn't a waterproof cast we should go in and see how bad it was and perhaps replace it. I arrived with Son at about 8:30am. The cast was removed, his arm cleaned and tension bandaged in prep for x-rays. After finally getting the x-rays we had wait for the Dr too look at them and determine how the fracture was healing. I was pretty sure we needed another cast since the Dr who looked at his x-rays on the Tuesday follow-up said we needed at least another 2 weeks. This was confirmed and we got to go back to the cast clinic to have a new waterproof cast put on. Son got to pick what colour he wanted, his first choice was red but he finally decided on orange as signatures would show up better on the lighter colour. All of this took about 3 hrs, Son was finally dropped off at Kids Club in time for lunch. *sigh*

I'm glad it's September now, hopefully the next month won't be nearly as eventful as the past few weeks were!

Camping

If given a choice, going camping would not be my first choice for a vacation; I like hotels with housekeeping and casual dinners. When it was suggested that I go on a multi-family (ours and one other) camping trip 3 yrs ago I was quite sceptical. My memories of camping as a child were not good; cold rivers, cold mornings (Vancouver Island in August), and smoky fires. Most people would say that the smoky fire memory was due to sitting in the wrong spot or using the wrong wood for the fire. This would be an incorrect assumption. No matter where I sit, the smoke will follow. Even my husband tells me to move so that he can have a smoke free spot near the fire. It doesn't seem to matter which way the wind is blowing, the smoke will still find me. Despite these memories I have managed to survive 3 July camping trips.

The first year was a 'trial' camping trip of 4 days which went by fast and was acceptable. We camped on a private lot in Fintry, BC above the provincial campsites. Lovely warm weather with a short drive to the beach. A good time was had by all.

The second year we camped at Lac Le Jeune Provincial Park, this was not so much fun. We checked where the campsite was on the map, but forgot to check the elevation. Therefore we packed for warm weather and found ourselves in the cold and the rain. The nights were so cold that the other Mother and I drove into Kamloops to get sub-zero rated sleeping bags so that we could sleep at night instead of shiver through the night. The boys, then 4, attempted to swim in the lake once but froze in the wind when they got out. They didn't ask to swim for the rest of the trip. Thank goodness for the Play Park across the lane from our campsite. The woman who recommended the campsite was prepared, she brought her winter tent and parka along. She thought it was a wonderful site and a great night sleep. I would have too if I had planned for Winter/Mountain Camping in JULY!!! Oh well, we survived and it only took 2 weeks for my voice to come back. Sitting with your feet almost in the fire and having "Smoke Karma" like mine is not good for vocal chords I've found.

This year we went back to Fintry, this time to the Provincial Campsite. The weather was a bit wild, we had strong winds which threatened to take down our shade canopy. We finally ended up taking it down ourselves so that it could survive to offer shade another day. For the most part the days were warm, even when it rained for 1/2 hr here and there it was still warm. Once again we got a campsite across the lane from the Play Park and the kids loved it. We also brought their bikes along for the first time ever and told them which lanes they could ride down to make up their lap of the campground. It was great to be able to send them over to the play park or off on their bikes while meals were being put together. They would ride by and ask "how much longer" to which we would reply "2 more laps." The water was nice, though I tend to sit on the beach and watch more than anything else. The kids had a blast in the small inflated boat we brought along, Hubby and the other Mother would a rope to the boat and to a floating mattress drag the kids around while they floated in the sun. A large shovel was used as an oar for part of the trip, then real oars were purchased. Great fun to watch. I managed to read 4 books while we were there, gotta love the BeBook. I was able to try out a few books until I found exactly the ones I wanted to read. Who knew that Romances would be the genre I prefer for camping?

I do think that 1 week is about as long as I can manage for a multi-family camping trip. By the end of the week every little quirk of the other family was starting to get on my nerves. Things that I can live with the rest of the time cuz it's only a few hrs a week start to niggle after 5 days of 24 hr contact. Hubby didn't notice as much as I did and would probably be happy to go on a 2 week or more camping trip in the future. Perhaps we can bring 2 cars so I can leave earlier... But then I'd miss him too much. Might be better to suck it up and just be sure to get more 'alone time' at the campsite while the others are at the beach. Right now it's a moot point as my yearly vacation time doesn't allow for me to take long breaks in the summer.

Great Day

I had a wonderfully relaxing day today. The weather was warm and sunny, a great change after the *Snow* that arrived on April 1st!

I woke up at 10am and read until about 12pm, Hubby was kind enough to keep Son occupied for the morning. I am very lucky to have him! I got to wrangled the kid to eat as much of his lunch as I could persuade him to. Then I convinced Son that he had to get dressed if he wanted go out for a bike ride. We went for a 45 min. bike ride, well he rode and I ran behind him. We then headed home so that he could rest for a bit before his swimming lesson. This gave us a delightfully sleepy boy who should stay sleeping this nite. Of course plans don't always work out, Son has been up 3 times since we put him down. It's been over an hour since the last time he got up so perhaps will stay sleeping now.

Hubby and I have been watching "Inkheart," it is always interesting to see how the movie makers change the story from what it was in the book. There are quite a few changes, where did all those flying monkeys come from anyway? Over all it seems like they stayed true to the key points and the 'feel' of the story. I will be keeping an eye out for Inkspell and Inkdeath when they come to the theater.

Busy Month!

August was pretty crazy, every single weekend was spoken for and going to work was actually relaxing at times comparitively!!

Friday, August 3rd we took off for camping in Fintry for 4 days. We camped on a private lot and drove down to the Fintry Camp Site, www.env.gov.bc.ca/bcparks/explore/parkpgs/fintry.html, during the day to swim and enjoy the lake breeze.

Monday, August 6th we arrived home and spent the week with my Mum who had arrive Saturday.

Saturday, August 11th we left Mum home with Spooky and took off for the Island to visit with my In-Laws. 5 Adults and 2 toddlers... the Adults were still out numbered! While on the Island we took the kids to the BC Forest Discovery Centre, www.bcforestmuseum.com/. My son was thrilled to be able to ride the train around the park, twice. The kids both enjoyed climbing all over the scale machines they had set up for a play area in the park.

Saturday, August 18th we went to swimming lessons with my son and his best buddy then hiked over to the playground for Best Buddy's 4th Birthday party.

Sunday, August 19th we went to my Niece's 3rd Birthday party.

Saturday, August 25th we went to swimming lessons with my son and his best buddy then hiked over to the playground for my Son's 4th Birthday party.

Whew!! I'm feeling tired again just reading that. No wonder I sucummed to a bad viral infection and cough last week! I'm feeling much better now that I had a few days off and a long weekend to rest up. Now all I have to deal with is 4 days at home with a 4 yr old and no Daddy to help me with him! Hubby is taking off to Vegas for a conference on Photoshop today and won't be back till Saturday evening. Bedtimes should be fun! Hopefully the bedtime routine we have in place will help things go fairly smoothly.

My son starts Pre-School tomorrow, this is a very big step. I feel a bit wierd because in the Pre-School orientation they were talking about the parents staying with the kids for the first day or so. However, we drop off Son at daycare in the morning and daycare brings Son to Pre-School, so I won't be there for him. Now I'm wondering if I should make sure I'm able to attend the Pre-School part of his day tomorrow so that he is like the other kids, or if I should let him be independant and go on his own.

New Eyes

It seems that the quest for clear eye sight without the benefit of glasses is catching. Hubby goes in Thursday to get his eyes fixed. He is sooo looking forward to this, especially since Son kissed his glasses the other day. Hubby has Photoshop Podcasts and Sci Fi Audiobooks all ready for the few days that he is not allowed to read or watch TV.

Not Boring

I had quite a scare on Thursday when I discovered that I couldn't read the screen of my laptop from the couch. I had been able to read it from that distance on Wednesday. I found that if I put drops in my eyes and rested them for a bit I could see clearly for about 10 min, and then I would have to put more drops in my eyes. So I took a sick day and had a nap before my appt with the optometrist. I drove to my husbands work place because I knew the route well, and had him drive me downtown for my appt so that I wouldn't have to deal with crazy traffic and parrallel parking.

It turns out that I have really really dry eyes right now. They gave me an eye gel to lubricate my eyes and suggested I get some eye plugs put in to keep the tears in my eyes longer. I went ahead and got the temporary plugs put in and things seemed better. The only down side is that by the next day I had already lost 1 plug, and as of Monday I had lost the other. :( After doing some reading it seems that about 50% of the plugs are lost in the first 3 months (mine were suppose to dissolve after 3 months) and if you loose the plugs once you are more likely to loose them again. *sigh* So getting more temporary plugs is really not an option. From what I've read there is a fancy new kind of permanent plug which conforms to the exact size and shape of the punctum so that it won't fall out or be expelled or be rubbed out. I just hate to spend more money on it. Then again, they are my eyes, I gotta take care of them.

We went to the Island to see the In-Laws this weekend. It was actually pretty stress free. Cole is old enough now that we don't have to be watching him every second and he can entertain himself quite well with the toys Grandma has for him. She has lots of books there for us to read to him as well. Also, for once hubby didn't spend most of him time in the computer room. This meant that we both watched Cole instead of just me.

Cole got to go on his first ever boat ride on a fishing boat. The trip out he stayed right beside me and held on the whole way, even when we stopped to drop the crab and prawn traps. After lunch, on the trip back, he was running up and down the small isle trying to get out into the back of the boat and almost skipping. He was fascinated watching Grandpa cleaning the crabs and prawns that he had caught in the trap. It was a good day. Very bright for my eyes, but a good day.

We had lunch with Mum on Monday, just a quick 2hr visit before we went home and Cole got yet more presents for his birthday. I don't think he has a real idea of what a birthday is. He has gotten presents scattered over 2 weeks! First a birthday party with his best buddy the week before his birthday, a party at daycare, then presents at Grandma's then more presents from Oma, and yet more present from Mum and Dad when we got home! That is quite an extended birthday!