Labour Day Weekend

We have a HUGE list of things to do around our place and slowly but surely we're getting them done. Ron was really busy yesterday working on the very back section of our yard where the grass had died and he needed to finish planting the cedar hedge.

Thank goodness for the roto tiller - made his life easier

Rachel wanted to help plant the cedars

"Daddy, over here"

Rachel would give Natalie a push and then she'd run over to see what her Daddy was doing. Then she'd run back to Natalie, go in the shed, go down the slide, etc. No wonder she had a great sleep last night!
All the cedars are planted - about 77 in total, although he only planted 15 new ones and replaced 5 old ones yesterday. It's so nice to have the hedge all across our back yard. It looks so much better. Don't you just love Rachel's chair - she was supervising for awhile :)

Ron was finally ready to put the grass seed down. Of course Rachel had to help.

Our subdivision had a Fun Fair today so we thought we'd go check it out. Hot dogs, chips, pop, and water were only $0.25 each. They had a dunk tank, face painting, rock climbing wall, inflatable castle, etc., etc.

We told Rachel we were going to the park and she immediately went to the laundry room to get my shoes.

"Yay-we're going to the park!!!"
We ran into our neighbours while we were there so Breanna took Rachel in the inflatable castle a couple of times. I wasn't sure if Rachel would even try it at first but she loved it.

Natalie was just chillaxin' in her stroller
Gabby, Rachel & Breanna

Rachel even managed to catch a fish :)

So here it is, Sunday night and we still have all of tomorrow! Ron & I spent a bit of time in the basement while the girls were sleeping and we cleaned it up a bit. We still have a LOT to do down there though. One day we'll get to it. Tomorrow is the computer room clean up. It's the last room in the house (other than the basement once it's finished) that needs to be painted. First of all, I need to get my scrapbooking 'crap' (as Ron calls it) organized and actually find a good home for it all (in a new cabinet I bought a couple of weeks ago) so I'll be working on that tomorrow while Ron is 'on duty' with the girls...should be interesting :)

The move to the 'big girl' bed

Grandad & Daddy putting the rails on while Rachel watches
Testing it out
Time to say bye to the crib
Helping Daddy & Grandad again
Good Night, Rachel. Pleasant Dreams! We love you so much and are so proud of you! What a big girl you are now!!!

A trip to St. Catharine's

We headed to St. Catharine's on Tuesday to visit my friend Lora & her kids, Owen & Ashley. Rachel was VERY excited to see the kids and I was excited to see Lora because it's been too long.

Just before we left for the day

Rachel thought it was pretty neat that Owen & Ashley had a slide in their basement playroom but she thought she'd play with the ball first.

Didn't take her long to figure out it was faster to walk up the slide instead of using the little stairs on the side of the tower.

Belly first - by the end of the day she knew enough to lift her arms up so she would go faster

Ashley & Rachel at the picnic table - waiting for lunch

Owen liked playing with Natalie. He was so good with her, too

Thinking about going for a swim

Rachel decided she would play in the sand/water area first
She's got some water wings on...is she ready to go in the water yet?

I LOVE her belly button - it's such a cute outie :)

This is as close to the water that Rachel would get. She wanted me to go in with her but I didn't bring my bathing suit with me. In addition to that, someone had to take care of Natalie :)

We had a great visit with them and we can't wait to see them again. Hopefully in the fall before the snow flies!

The cutest dress & Storybook Gardens

Rachel's Godmother Donna bought her the cutest dress awhile ago and I'm so happy that it fits her now. It is just too stinkin' cute...

Gotta love the cheesy smile :)

I took the girls to Storybook Gardens here in London on Monday afternoon. It's not quite how I remember it when I was a kid but it wasn't too bad. It was a perfect day - a little on the cool side actually so I was hoping most of the animals would be outside (and they were). I think the girls enjoyed it - well, not sure about Natalie but she seemed happy for the most part. Rachel liked riding around in the wagon and then walking for a bit, too. She LOVED seeing all of the ducks & Canadian geese. She was a little freaked out by the peacock though.

Rachel loved it in this wagon but she would not let go of the cookie for a decent picture

duck, duck, duck
watching a puppet show
more ducks
Yummy toes - can't get enough of those

"London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down..."
How cute - sitting on the frog's leg
A little girl took a picture of the three of us with Humpty Dumpty. We've noticed that when Rachel is shy or uncomfortable, she puts her hands in her mouth. I hope she grows out of that.

I just had to get a picture of this because Rachel does this all of the time. As soon as she sees our Escape, she starts calling out 'cop-eh' and runs over to kiss it and hug it. When we get home and come in from the garage she says 'bye cop-eh', waves & blows kisses to it. When we go out for the first time in the day that's when she says hi and gives it a big hug & kiss. Probably not many vehicles out there with lip marks on the bumper. :) I've always had names for my cars (Betty for my Mustang, Sunflower for my Sunfire and Ruby the Red Rocket for my Grand-Am. When it came time to name the Escape, my friend Annette suggested we name it "S-cop-a" just like how Dory said 'Escape' in the movie Finding Nemo. It just stuck so that's how the Escape's name came to be and of course Rachel picked up on us calling it that.
Playing peek-a-boo? Nope - sound asleep!

One more week of summer...

I am a little sad that there is only a week left of summer vacation. I guess summer isn't officially over until the end of September but once the kids go back to school, it feels like it's done. I have mixed emotions over this being my last summer at home with the girls. I get 4 weeks of vacation at work so I can't complain and on top of that I still have vacation time from 2007 & 2008 to use up as well. What sucks is that Ron only gets 2 weeks of vacation...sucks as in...SUCKS TO BE HIM! ha ha Seriously though, at least we'll have a couple of weeks of vacation together as a family once I'm back to work next year. The other good thing is that I have flex time at work and I prefer the 7-3 shift so I'm home by 3:15 every day - that still gives us lots of time to play and do fun things...and with a real pay cheque :)

We had a great weekend...it was awesome weather and we didn't have a lot to do. We went to The Pinery to visit my cousin, his wife & their 3 month old daughter. It was so HOT but at the same time, it was great to just sit and visit. The Pinery is a provincial park here in Ontario and it is HUGE! I think it was a 20 minute drive INTO the park to find Kevin & Jenn but well worth it. We hung out all afternoon and had dinner and then we headed for home around 7 since it's an hour drive. We've been trying to keep the girls on their bedtime routine as much as possible so it was nice to be home in time for that.

Ron took Rachel for a bike ride last night after dinner since the weather had cooled down.

The bubble machine Donna & the boys got Rachel for her birthday is so much fun. Ron put it on the swing set near the slide and the girls had a blast while swinging. I love the look on Natalie's face - she is so excited.





The neighbours a couple of doors down came over to see where the bubbles were coming from and then they played with the girls for awhile as well.

Rachel is a big girl now when she brushes her teeth. She doesn't need to sit on the counter - she stands on the little stool we got her.


Mommy & Natalie having some cuddle time with the beloved bottle

I had to take a picture of Natalie when I went to bed last night. I thought she looked so cute with her legs crossed and her one arm behind her head.