The Big 10

This week we got settled back in following our trip to Canada. It's always a chore to get unpacked, do the laundry and get everyone back on schedule. We were glad to have something to look forward to this weekend- our tenth wedding anniversary! Katie was very insistent on helping us celebrate, so Jamie coordinated a nice dinner for us at home on Friday night. We all toasted (Caroline said her version of cheers: "Do!") and then once Caroline was asleep Katie organized another special dinner for us in the playhouse (which kept her busy and allowed us the chance to finish our wine from the comfort of the patio). You can see the playhouse is now complete. Aunt Ellen sewed curtains, a tablecloth and even cloth napkins, so Katie used all of these things for our fancy dinner. Thank you, Ellen!

After our playhouse dinner, we showed her pictures from our wedding and she was very intrigued about the groomsmen dancing in their underwear. I am in the process of having our wedding videos converted to DVD (yes, ten years ago videos were done in VHS!) and she is anxious to see this performance for herself. I will have to refer her to Uncle David for the "why".

Saturday we did our usual stuff (gym, grocery store, naps) and then Jamie and I went out for our anniversary on our own. We tried a new restaurant in Cincinnati that was terrific (It's called mesh- and it is a lowercase m). The food and service were excellent and they made a big point of recognizing our anniversary, including a package of cookies to take home. And, as many of you know, dessert is definitely the way to win me over! After that we went to watch the semifinals of the ATP tennis tournament in Mason, OH. We had my company's tickets and the seats were great. It was fun to see Nadal play, although I am still baffled by his choice of capri pants.

Sunday we took the girls to a local park to go to the butterfly house. None of the butterflies landed on us, but the girls did get to pet a caterpiller-- and it was very fat, just like The Very Hungry Caterpiller. After that we enjoyed a quick snack in the shade and then headed home for naps.


Later in the day we had the sprinkler out, and eventually progressed to the pool. I think the girls played in it for about the same amount of time it took to blow it up-- which is why Jamie is always trying to sell the girls on the sprinkler!

We have another big event next weekend: Caroline's second birthday! In lieu of a big party we are going to celebrate at the zoo with my parents and my sister's family. August 9 is also Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary, so they have been gracious enough to agree to spend their 39th wedding anniversary with monkeys and polar bears.

And speaking of the birthday girl, she is really turning into quite a character. She is talking up a storm and has some strong opinions- and a little temper. When she is mad about something she will lay down on the floor and say "night, night" (with a big pout). She will do this wherever she is-- the kitchen floor, garage, bathtub. She loves to be funny, and as you can see in the photo third from the bottom, she will even repeat a funny face upon request.

To Canada!

If you missed us last week, we were off to Prince Edward Island, Canada to visit Jamie's family. We arrived Friday evening and our first outing on Saturday was to the indoor pool at the University of PEI so that Katie could go on the big water slide that she's been talking about since last year. She was hoping that she was tall enough to go on the slide on her own (even though I wouldn't have let her anyway) and after each trip down the slide she went up to the mark to remeasure herself-- just in case she had grown 6 inches in the few minutes since the last time. Caroline also went down the slide many, many times (in a life jacket on one of our laps) and had a huge grin on her face every time. As soon as she came off the slide she would say "more!" Jamie and I got a great workout taking them. The girls also got to play with Aunt Suzie and Jamie's friend Brad's girls there.

On Sunday the girls enjoyed the beach in front of Jamma's cottage. We went to lunch at our favorite little place for fish and chips. The girls liked seeing the live lobsters there and we followed that up with an ice cream cone from Cows. The weather was kind of rainy and gloomy at the start of our visit, but the girls enjoyed hanging out at the cottage and playing in the sand/water table and on the swingset. Caroline was obsessed with the swings, and would get on them every chance she got. At one point she was crying about something and mid-sob, she looked out the window, stopped crying, pointed and said "Swing!"

Dave and Jenn were already in town when we arrived, but Cousin Bates was away camping until Sunday. When he got there the kids were thrilled to see each other, but unfotunately none of them napped that afternoon and we had a hectic family dinner at Grammy Pammy's new condo.

Monday was rainy and Jamma took Katie and Bates to see the movie Wall-E. That night we had fun at Jamma's beach when the tide was out looking for hermit crabs and clam shells.

Tuesday was the burial ceremony for Jamie's dad. The kids stayed with Jamma during the brief ceremony at the cemetary and then joined us for lunch at Grammy Pammy's so that they could see the family. Barry's parents and sisters came over to PEI (Great Poppy, Great Grammy and sister Mo are pictured below). That night we took the kids back to the pool for more time on the water slide (and got them nice and tired!)

Wednesday, Jamie, the girls and I attempted to have a Tim Horton's picnic in Victoria Park. It was very chilly down by the water, so we pretty much ate donuts, took a few photos and then left. Jamie and David fit in a round of golf that afternoon with two of Barry's friends.


Thursday was a beautiful day and we went to the beach with Grammy Pammy. The girls found a number of kids to play with and enjoyed themselves. Caroline was obsessed with drinking the water and consumed a fair amount of sand along with the snacks. She got so sandy that Jamie had to give her a good dunk in the ocean (see bare butt photo below).

That night there was a memorial race in Barry's name at the horsetrack. We got to watch the race from a special viewing tower that is inside the track. Katie must have inherited her dad and Grampy's love of horses. She had a terrific time and won a number of bets that Jamie placed for her. She was very excited about her winnings and Jamie was pleased to get a photo of her "placing her bet."

Thursday morning we got some carrots and went to see Grampy Bear's old horses. The girls enjoyed feeding them, but I think Jamie had the most fun out of all of us. After that we went to see Bates at hockey school (he was there every morning last week) and enjoyed seeing all of the 4-year olds playing. Bates did a great job and enjoyed skating over near where his many fans were. After that we went to see a noon-time outdoor musical production about the music of Quebec. Katie was absolutely entranced (despite the fact that it was mostly in French!) We had a picnic there with Jamma, although Caroline and Jamie left early for a nap.


Friday night we had a family cookout at Jamma's and celebrated a year's worth of birthdays. Since Caroline's is right around the corner, we did sing to her and she just lit up (it was either the singing or the frosting from the cupcake) and she proceeded to sing "happy to you" until she was falling asleep.

Saturday we went swimming at a friend's pool, enjoyed a nice dinner with Pammy and then Katie bought us all ice cream with her racetrack winnings.

One of the things that we had to do while we were home was clear out some old stuff from Jamma's shed. In going through old photo albums Jamie discovered a photo of himself that looks amazingly like Caroline (see the last photo). In this photo Jamie is almost exactly the same age as Caroline is now, and they even have a similar hairstyle!

We left first thing Sunday monring and thankfully we had a pretty smooth trip home, although Jamie had to do a lot of diaper duty as Caroline was very "productive". She burned through all three spare outfits and we were down to our last diaper after the flight from Charlottetown to Detroit--but we made it. There were three separate incidents of getting toes pinched under the tray table (involving a total of 7 toes) and two occurences of getting hit in the head with the tray tables. Ideally they would have remained in their locked and upright positions, however sometimes you have to play with whatever is of interest at the time.

Overall the girls were pretty good traveling and we were glad to see Lily and get home. Katie is ready to go back to PEI next week and asked if she could sleep out in the tent with Jamma tonight (which is what she did all week). As I was putting Caroline to bed she asked to see the family picture on her shelf near the rocking chair and named everyone as we sang our night night song. Hope you enjoy the pictures of our trip.