We are back!

So where have we been.....you may think we are crazy but our little family of four decided that we would brave a road trip together for our summer vacation.  The entire trip lasted just over two weeks and we travelled through 14 states....spent over 50 hours in the car together....and this is what most will find shocking....had an absolutely fantastic time.  We saw some absolutely amazing spots, explored some fantastic cities and created more memories in a two week span then we ever thought was possible.

There's soo much to tell that I will break it down into several posts but at least I'll start with a little bit today.

We arrived late the first night at my sister’s house.  Instead of driving straight down we decided to make a few stops along the way.  We enjoyed a nice picnic along the shores in Huntsville.  I know it’s not very far from home and yet it is something we haven’t done before so added it to our things to see list. 

You can tell he is having fun!

Rocks!! Who doesn't love rocks!

Our next stop was at costco for some books and of course chapters for our travel guide.  We always use travel guides and enjoy reading about the next sites to see the night before in our hotel room.  I know ...I know....we probably should have bought it before the trip but hey life got busy so enroute was our first time to actually be able to get to a bookstore that actually carried it.

Birthday's

It’s funny how having a family changes what you find fun.  10 years ago when we celebrated our birthdays we had parties with lot’s of drinking, staying up until the next morning etc.  This year Jason had to leave the day after his birthday for a few weeks for work so we just wanted to spend it hanging out together.   I agreed that he could choose any outing he wanted that day....and what did he choose.....fishing.  Him, the boys and I spent four hours fishing that morning and had tonnes of fun and made great family memories.  The fish were biting like crazy and it’s nice to just have time to be able to actually talk and listen to our little family without all the interruptions of life. 

Our little family!

Thanks for sharing your special day with us.......we had as much fun as you did! 

Summer in the Park

North Bay has a festival every year called summer in the park.  I have to admit that I had a great time again this year.  I didn't do the big concerts and late nights....the twins and I joined some family to watch the country singing festival, enjoy more snacks then we ever eat, jump like maniacs on bouncy castles and enjoy each other's company. 

The boys rode a few midway rides and enjoyed some games

and enjoyed playing with their cousin and learning big boy video games :)

Give me some of that energy

Jason has been away for a little while now....and since he is usually the early morning riser on the weekends and I usually sleep in until about 7:30 or 8 it has been a slight adjustment.  By 9am we had two loads of laundry done and hung on the line, breakfast complete and were headed outside to burn off some energy.....oh the energy.....wish I could bottle some of that energy up :)

A pit stop

This past weekend we were out of town for my sister’s wedding.  I will post more on that later when I actually have some pictures J  The only comment for now was that it was soo much fun, the entire thing from the rehearsal dinner to the getting ready…..wedding and we had a blast at the gift opening too.  We left early in the afternoon for our 4-5ish hour ride home and decided that it was such a beautiful day we would take a detour to Wasaga beach.  This meant smaller highways there but the scenery was fantastic and since the twins slept the ENTIRE time Jason and I had some great conversation and laughs.  We were only at the beach for a few hours but I cannot believe how much fun we had in that short time.  We waded in the water and made san castles and most of all……created some great family memories! 

Ahh it's always nice to kick up yours heals and relax!

Strawberries!

Friday’s I get off at 2:30 so that is always a good time to sneak in an extra activity.  Last Friday Jason and I took the boys to Leisure Farms to go strawberry picking.  It had rained like crazy all day and the large black clouds in the sky were a little intimidating but we thought, what the heck let’s go check it out.  It started to thunder and lighting half way there but the boys were so excited we decided to press on and as a backup plan we would just stop at the chip stand.  The rain was just stopping as we pulled in and then....to our amazement....the sun came out!  Woohoo! 

I had started talking about strawberry picking with the boys on wednesday morning.  I had just got them dressed and said "hey boys do you guys want to come strawberry picking on friday?"......they seemed really indifferent but said "sure mom".  I then got their special agent oso show set up for them and went to shower (yeap I admit they watch 20 minutes of tv in the morning while I shower and get dressed for work ! ).  I came out of my room and the boys came running over shouting and all excited about strawberry picking....hmm why the change in excitement level....apparently special agent oso's show was about strawberry picking.  Perfect!  For anyone who has not seen Special Agent Oso he breaks every activity you could possibly do down into three easy steps.  They repeated a million times those three easy steps.

Step 1:  Turn

Step 2: Pull

Step 3: Put it in your basket.

Here's a movie of Mattie strawberry picking.....I know it's hard to hear but he's repeating the three easy steps to himself :)  I am sorry it's really quiet so you will have to turn up the volume.

Walking up to the building to get ready for the wagon.  We absolutely had a fantastic time and I can't say enough good things about this experience.  We have been to this farm for many different outings and the workers have always been extremely friendly and sooo nice.  They joke around with the kids and encourage everyone to taste and enjoy the berries while out in the fields. 

Aboard the wagon, getting ready to head out to the fields!  They were slightly excited :)

Busy Finding the perfect berries!

The boys sure do lot strawberries!  We have made some jams, smoothies, ice cream treats etc.

I have never seen someone eat as many berries as Zackie did that day.  We were there for twenty minutes and he only had 4 berries in his basket because he ate all the rest.  Every time we found a huge strawberry the boys would yell "Jackpot" and eat it :)

The farm also has more then just fields....it has Arnold the pig.  The boys had fun walking with him.  They couldn't believe the pig would just follow them and he snorted every time they pet him.

Teeter Totters.....I swear they were built for twins!

 These smiles say it all!  Another great local family outing!

Re-purposed toys!

I will admit the twins have lots of toys.  Knowing that we would be purchasing lot’s of baby/toddler things when they were born I usually do tonnes of research about their toys before I buy them.  I try to make sure it is something that they can grow with (i.e. The little people toys that they have played with for over three years!) or that you can learn different lessons (ie. The leap frog toys that go from colours, to letters, to numbers, to counting).  With that being said some toys we just buy because that’s what they are into at the time.  Two summers ago we purchased this water table.  It has a castle that set’s up in the middle and boats that float around in the moat area.  Two summers we used it frequently on our deck but this summer we decided to use it for something else.   The twins are soooo into cars hahahaha.  A new favourite is the cars that change colours in hot and then cold water. 

This table works perfect for that.  We fill one section with cold water, one with hot water and the boys go crazy! 

What toys do you have that you have been able to re-purpose?