Wonderful Canada Day Memories...
Yesterday was a wonderful day of celebration on our Nation’s birthday. We took our picnic lunch and headed out on the back roads to Hatley for the Canada Day celebrations. Everyone making a donation to the town’s events got one of the special yearly wooden nickels, a Canada Flag and a little pin. We got there in plenty of time to get a fairly decent parking spot in one of the hayfields and then staked out our spot along the edge of the main road to the parade at 11 am. Once we had our groundsheets, lawn chairs and sit-upons to reserve our spots, we took turns exploring the many booths and tables of everything from homemade goodies to wonderful craft items. Nick found the lady who makes such wonderful fabric ties and we expanded his collection again. We found an adorable dress on sale for only 8 dollars that looked as if someone had made it by hand for a wedding. It was just the right size for Bethany to grow into this summer, but I think Erin was a bit jealous, despite the fact we’d helped her pick out new earrings the day before to replace the ones that broke on vacation!
The parade’s theme this year was celebrating Canada’s Multi-cultural Heritage... and the floats were certainly creative!! Everyone from individuals to service groups entered floats. There were horses of all sizes from Shetland Ponies to Belgians and you should have seen the look on my two “city girls” faces when one of the big Belgian horses had a dump right on the road in front of us!! They spent the rest of the parade waiting to see if any of the marchers or float vehicles would get all “poopy”!
Right after we sang “O Canada” at high noon, my step-father John played and sang with one of his friends on the keyboard. The girls were very proud to see Grrr up on stage. (He got the nickname when Erin was little and could only say that part of Grrrrrandad)
After our picnic lunch and dessert of fresh strawberries over ice cream (or the cotton candy that Erin opted for) the grownups all needed to escape the heat and head home for a nap, much to the dismay of our girls who wanted to stay for all the races and games. We coaxed them home with the promise that we would do our own races and games after nap time.
Sure enough, by the time I woke up, Erin had set up the most elaborate combination of Scavenger/Treasure Hunt imaginable and we did some egg races with plastic eggs on spoons, bean bag tosses and races... but then the heavens opened and the lightning drove us inside for supper.
We all played a board game called the Enchanted Forest after supper (which regretfully didn’t have a dragon in it) and then got them tucked into bed. The day ended with the storms clearing off enough for Nick, Grr and I to walk to the end of the street and look out at the Fireworks in the sky over the park beneath a full orange moon. Happy 137th Birthday Canada!!
Friday, July 02, 2004
Wednesday, June 30, 2004
Technology is Cool!!
Sometimes the way technology has changed by leaps and bounds amazes me. Here I am on vacation at my Mom’s... and yet I was still able to send my files from the computer here to the server in New Brunswick so that the Dragon of Air sample chart could be up for the July 1st deadline. I’m even able to blog from here too!! Of course Erin and Bethany were a bit miffed that I spent over 2 hours on the computer today instead of playing with them. I got lots of “I thought you were on VACATION!” wails.
Nick is feeling a little more human but still not his usual Tigger-ish self. Poor guy!! Hopefully the next few days of rest and relaxation will help. I know that the novelty of getting lots of sleep has yet to wear off for me!!
Sometimes the way technology has changed by leaps and bounds amazes me. Here I am on vacation at my Mom’s... and yet I was still able to send my files from the computer here to the server in New Brunswick so that the Dragon of Air sample chart could be up for the July 1st deadline. I’m even able to blog from here too!! Of course Erin and Bethany were a bit miffed that I spent over 2 hours on the computer today instead of playing with them. I got lots of “I thought you were on VACATION!” wails.
Nick is feeling a little more human but still not his usual Tigger-ish self. Poor guy!! Hopefully the next few days of rest and relaxation will help. I know that the novelty of getting lots of sleep has yet to wear off for me!!
Tuesday, June 29, 2004
Monkey Bars, Colouring Books and Contracts...
One of the things I love most about being at Mom’s is that she and John loan us their room and sleep in the basements with the kids. For them, the novelty of being pounced on in the morning is still something fun and for me, sleeping until I wake up on my own is heavenly!!
Despite Nick still feeling icky and pretty much being quarantined to our room, the girls and I had a great time. We wandered down to the park nearby for a play this morning and saw a real bunny munching the clover!! I managed to make it all the way across the monkey bars but not two bars at a time or with my eyes closed like my daredevil oldest child. Bethany has also learned how to get on the swing and get herself going!! She still requests the odd push, but what a leap to independence compared to last summer...
We also had a wonderful session colour in our 3 identical Barbie colouring books that we bought at Walmart along with a huge brand new box of crayons. I can’t remember the last time I just sat and coloured. It was SO much fun!! It totally recharged my batteries in a get in touch with your inner child or get lost in those creative brain wave moments.
I also went over the proofs of my class descriptions for the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival this fall in Toronto. I think I am going to have a lot of fun from the half day co-colaborative sampler class to the one of the dragon in her bubble bath!! The wizard with his fuzzy bunny slippers is even back for a small design to help people learn how to stitch over 2 and the Blackwork Princess pattern is going to be a blast to stitch with the Silk Bella..... For me, the most fun is spending time with stitchers in that more limited class environment. Designers can never forget that some of the most important feedback we can listen to is from stitchers who are involved in the industry for the sheer pleasure of it instead of as a business. That is a big part of what keeps our own sense of fun and wonder alive... the other is remembering to take time to play!!!
One of the things I love most about being at Mom’s is that she and John loan us their room and sleep in the basements with the kids. For them, the novelty of being pounced on in the morning is still something fun and for me, sleeping until I wake up on my own is heavenly!!
Despite Nick still feeling icky and pretty much being quarantined to our room, the girls and I had a great time. We wandered down to the park nearby for a play this morning and saw a real bunny munching the clover!! I managed to make it all the way across the monkey bars but not two bars at a time or with my eyes closed like my daredevil oldest child. Bethany has also learned how to get on the swing and get herself going!! She still requests the odd push, but what a leap to independence compared to last summer...
We also had a wonderful session colour in our 3 identical Barbie colouring books that we bought at Walmart along with a huge brand new box of crayons. I can’t remember the last time I just sat and coloured. It was SO much fun!! It totally recharged my batteries in a get in touch with your inner child or get lost in those creative brain wave moments.
I also went over the proofs of my class descriptions for the Creative Sewing and Needlework Festival this fall in Toronto. I think I am going to have a lot of fun from the half day co-colaborative sampler class to the one of the dragon in her bubble bath!! The wizard with his fuzzy bunny slippers is even back for a small design to help people learn how to stitch over 2 and the Blackwork Princess pattern is going to be a blast to stitch with the Silk Bella..... For me, the most fun is spending time with stitchers in that more limited class environment. Designers can never forget that some of the most important feedback we can listen to is from stitchers who are involved in the industry for the sheer pleasure of it instead of as a business. That is a big part of what keeps our own sense of fun and wonder alive... the other is remembering to take time to play!!!
Monday, June 28, 2004
Santa’s Village Memories and Safe Arrivals...
Road trips are SO much fun with the girls at this age!! We spent Sunday on the road and made it to Gorham, NH before supper last night. Nick wasn’t feeling that well and had driven most of the way, so I took the girls to the pool for an hour-long swim while he slept. We then had a picnic supper in the hotel room with the groceries we’d picked up at the Super Walmart along the way and my poor “Basic Cable” kids went into fits over all the choices on the television!! When the hotel found out we were returning again this summer for their package deal, they gave us the room with 2 king sized beds!! Somehow even after a second swim to tire them out, they still managed to kick each other until I put pillows down the middle of the huge bed. This morning, we went over to the breakfast buffet as part of our package and then took our passes for Santa’s Village with us when we checked out. We drove there and had a GREAT time exploring the place... even though Nick was feeling worse as the day wore on. I drove the winding roads up to Mom’s in Sherbrooke... but Nick recovered enough to take us up the one hill I hate and into the city to Mom’s. Now we can relax and enjoy some family time.
Don’t worry.... the Generosity Dragon AIR will be up on the site on July 1st along with pictures of the new designs... I can do stuff like that remotely!!
Road trips are SO much fun with the girls at this age!! We spent Sunday on the road and made it to Gorham, NH before supper last night. Nick wasn’t feeling that well and had driven most of the way, so I took the girls to the pool for an hour-long swim while he slept. We then had a picnic supper in the hotel room with the groceries we’d picked up at the Super Walmart along the way and my poor “Basic Cable” kids went into fits over all the choices on the television!! When the hotel found out we were returning again this summer for their package deal, they gave us the room with 2 king sized beds!! Somehow even after a second swim to tire them out, they still managed to kick each other until I put pillows down the middle of the huge bed. This morning, we went over to the breakfast buffet as part of our package and then took our passes for Santa’s Village with us when we checked out. We drove there and had a GREAT time exploring the place... even though Nick was feeling worse as the day wore on. I drove the winding roads up to Mom’s in Sherbrooke... but Nick recovered enough to take us up the one hill I hate and into the city to Mom’s. Now we can relax and enjoy some family time.
Don’t worry.... the Generosity Dragon AIR will be up on the site on July 1st along with pictures of the new designs... I can do stuff like that remotely!!
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