Family Reunion (#1)

Last month we went to a family reunion on Daniel's mom's side in Unity. I wasn't too sure how things would go seeing as that was only 4 days into potty training, but they did awesome! We carried those potties with us everywhere: to the ball diamond, the hall, the playground, etc and it went really well - I think only 1 accident.

The kids put on a bit of a piano performance. If any of them actually do have any musical talent they definitely didn't get it from Daniel or I.




Our attempt at a picture of the 5 of us. Some day this should be a simpler process.


The kids had a great time at the playground, they recruited Auntie Robin to join in too.



I think Mitchell thought he died and went to heaven - there was a do-it-yourself excavator - his favorite thing!





With all of the travelling that we've done with the kids, this is the first hotel that we've stayed in. They had a lot of fun in the BIG beds but actually slept in their pea pod tents on the floor and finally crashed around 11:00pm.

We are heading off to family reunion #2 tomorrow. The kids are SO excited to go camping again, each day they ask if today is the day that we go and then they list off everything that we are going to do and eat, like have a campfire, go swimming, eat marshmellows and hotdogs. It's so cute!

Catch-Up & Camping Trip

The past 2 months have been a bit of a write off as far as getting much done, we've just been so darn busy! I actually starting writing this post over a month ago!Camping trips, potty training, a family reunion and other out of town trips plus our usual work and life with 3 toddlers has consumed us. Going away is great and we always have a great time but it always takes at least a day (often 2) on either end of the trip to pack, unpack, do laundry, etc.

Okay, enough whining, onto a great camping trip we went on back at the end of June. We took our trailer to the provincial park at Jackfish Lake. The kids had an absolute blast but wholy lordy did they NOT go to sleep at night!!! We have 2 bump-outs in the trailer so we put Mitchell and Maggie on one end, Casey is just a little step down on the bed over top of the table, all in their pea pod tents. Last year it worked pretty good - this year I think they were just too darn excited. They were bouncing and jumping around in their tents which was fine but then Mitchell started to jump down onto Casey and Casey would jump (or fall I'm not sure) down onto the floor. Not good. So I eventually went and laid in the trailer with them until they were close to falling asleep which worked okay.

Another thing that we noticed didn't work quite as well as last year is the LISTENING! Oh man! They are definitely in an flat out defiant stage right now along with dragging any and every situation out as long as possible.

Overall, we really did have a great time but both Daniel and I agreed that camping with 3 almost 3 year olds is a lot more challenging that with 3 almost 2 year olds!

Onto the pictures...

They were excited to cook hotdogs and roast marshmallows. That's still the first thing they say when we talk about camping.


Gotta love the nutritious mini boxes of cereal that are great for camping, Froot Loops, Frosted Flakes, Corn Pops.

We spent lots of time playing in the sand and water. Daniel helped them catch little minnows in their pails which they were so excited about!



The kids spent lots of time playing in the sand and building sand castles. They carried a lot of pails of water from the lake up onto the beach. Their little muscles were working hard and Casey said a few times, "This is a really big workout!"





Mitchell spotted a little skid steer tractor just down from where we were on the beach. He was so cute - he saw it and then slowly just started inching his way back towards it until he was right beside it, and then he just stood there. You could tell he wanted to pick it up and play with it so badly, but knew he shouldn't. This boy is SO into tractors!


The kids are starting to say such cute things. While we were having a picnic Casey said, "This is like a big party!"


My mom and dad live on the other side of the lake that we were camping at so they came over one afternoon for a visit. Ice cream and water guns - what better way to try and beat the heat?



The next day we packed up and spent the last night at their place. The 5 of us all had a great sleep that night!
3 little monkeys in a hammock = FUN, but a recipe for disaster!





This meeting is adjourned!

Potty Training Success!!!

They did it! The kids totally have this potty training thing down pat!!

We started July 1st and we put them in straight undies except for naps and bedtime. There were a number of accidents that first day - they would tell is when they had to pee but it would be too late. Smarties were our reward for going and boy Maggie was sure determined to eat as many as she could. She would sit and pee, we would do our dance, celebration, flush, etc. and then she would pick the one she wanted. We would go back to doing whatever it was we were doing and 2 minutes later she would say she had to pee again, which was great of course that she was learning and wanting too but she had another motive. She would squeeze out a drop or two and then of course we would do the whole routine again with dancing, celebrating and smartie.

By late afternoon on day 1 Mitchell already had the hang of it, he did really well! On day 2 Maggie and Casey started to also recognize before they had to go and I think we only had 2 or 3 accidents between all 3 of them that day. Since then they have done absolutely awesome! On day 4 we went to a family reunion on Daniel's side a few hours away. We brought the potties with us and they went at the ball diamond, at the hall, the park and hotel room.

We were (and are) so happy, proud and surprised that they have caught on so quickly. I think we waited long enough until they were really ready and understood what to do. And I also really think that just going straight to undies was key for them.

As I mentioned Mitchell caught on in no time at all - look at this proud look on his face!

Maggie was the Smartie Queen, it was so funny!

Casey on the other hand felt left out a few times when the other 2 got smarties and he didn't.

Part of me is sad in a strange way that my "babies" are out of diapers (for the most part). Time has just gone so quickly and it seems surreal that they are old enough to be at this stage.

I have a lot of catching up to do on here but just haven't had the chance yet. We have been away a lot these last 3 weeks, home just for a few days in between to get unpacked, laundry done, work for a few days, re-pack and back on the road. I'm leaving in a few hours to a lia sophia conference in Toronto for 4 days so hopefully once I get back can get caught up.

SPOTTO Summer Party

Our twin and triplet club had a summer party at the Forestry Farm a few weekends ago. It was a great setup with a big playground, tons of open space to play in, face painting, etc. The kids went down the slide over and over and I even managed to get one shot of Maggie and Casey holding hands, which doesn't happen often.





There are no swings at this playground which actually makes it easier for us with Maggie because she claims complete ownership if there are any. Instead, she thought that this pink basketball belonged to her.



She did eventually let go long enough to play soccer.

Aww, a flower for mommy!

The kids have had their face painted a few times this summer and now when they're coloring they say that they are painting faces.



Group shots are nearly a thing of the past but we did manage to get one back at home. It's not wrong to lie to your children to try and get them to look at the camera is it? The only problem is the kids are totally onto me and usually don't all look at me regardless of what I say anymore.




It was a busy morning but I did manage to get a picture of a few of our buddies, Ruby and Leah and Bronwen and Gilbert.


If anyone in Saskatoon hasn't checked out this new(ish) Forestry Farm playground I'd definitely recommend it!