Father's Day, 2013 style

On Sunday we were back in Erieau - not for beach time, but for lunch at Bayside Brewery. The food was excellent, every bit as good as we'd heard it would be. I had the perch sandwich because naturally, when you're sitting beside Lake Erie, you eat perch.

Afterwards we went out to the trailer, where the kids had spent the night. We had to drop something off and it turned out for the best because Liam was really sad to leave the trailer on Sunday. I think he has a ball out there, running around and looking for frogs and snakes and building campfires and otherwise doing good old fashioned outdoorsy boy stuff. I would rather have him do that than play video games so it makes me happy to see how happy it makes him.

As it turns out, it was a great time to go out to the trailer. The next door neighbours discovered a baby turtle and they weren't kidding when they said it was a baby - that's it in the palm of Liam's hand. It was a hit with the kids.

Here they are letting it go back into the wild... with the whole family in on it. Maybe this just means we are easily amused?! 

Back at home, it's time to give Chad some Father's Day love. He gets lots of crafty items from the kids. (Mostly framed photos of themselves - that is always a popular gift!)

We also give him a bouquet, but we figure flowers aren't really his thing, so we give him a candy bar bouquet instead. The kids loved this idea - you should have seen Liam with the shopping basket trolling the candy aisle for the chocolate bars. Like a kid in a candy store, I tell ya! And the fact that it's something Chad can share with them is just the icing on the cake.

To be fair

Liam is not the only kid in town with a year-end field trip. Last week I accompanied the kindergarten class on their end of year trip, too. Their destination was Point Pelee.

The difference between the pictures from Liam's trip and the pictures from Mallory's trip strikes me as funny.  On Liam's trip, everyone is wearing shorts and t shirts, as is befitting a June event. A few days prior to that, people were bundled up in winter coats, and we were still freezing out there on the beach. So much for spring and at this rate, summer is not looking good, either.

Mallory was not bothered by the cold weather. She proclaimed her field trip to be the 'best day ever'. She was happy to wander on the beach and search out shells, which found their way into MY coat pockets for the trip home. I had to wash my coat when we got back because quite a few were pulverized along the way.

Mallory is an A day student and the B day kids had their trip the day prior. The teacher remarked on how different the shape of the point was between the days. We also got hit by a lot of bugs, which they managed to avoid.

Mallory started out as a reluctant model, but eventually she wanted me to take her picture everywhere, including this sign marking the 42nd parallel - as far south as Rome and Barcelona, as the sign said.

Another class photo. I think everyone was there that day. Funny how nobody gets sick on field trip day!

After we went out to the point, we strolled the boardwalk marsh trail.

Well, the adults strolled. The kids took off.

No complaints though, because the bus driver had to be back at school to do the high school pick-up at 2:15. So the fact that the kids were out and back in record time served her well.

And with that... another vacation day bit the dust! I'm sure the day will soon come when the kids don't want me along on their trips, though. Until that day comes, I will try my best to be there.

I don't think general stores really sold Angry Birds wallets in 1871, but whatever

It's that time of year again - kids everywhere are setting off on their year-end field trips. Our school may have cancelled the Grandparents' Tea and the kindergarten graduation photos and who knows how many other 'extras' this year, but I was glad to see the field trips did not get the axe. 

For Liam and his friends, this meant a trip to Fanshawe Pioneer Village. I'd never been before and Liam wanted me to sign up to chaperone, so I made the trip with him. It turned out to be a very fun day.

I think it was fun for Liam, though I am sure he wondered what he had gotten himself into when we first arrived. The first order of the day was a trip to the local dance hall where the kids were taught how to dance like pioneers. All the bowing to the girls business earned a lot of snickering. After that the kids went outside and had to wash a load of tea towels by hand - another "You must be joking!" moment.

There was eventually some fun to be had, like when the class played tug of war... boys against girls. Unfortunately, the girls won. Probably due to the fact that our group consisted of the boys from one classroom, and two classrooms' worth of girls. The numbers weren't exactly fair.

Then again, life's not exactly fair. Another good lesson learned!

The kids went to school in an old one-room schoolhouse with a very strict schoolmaster. Here Liam is during hygiene inspection. He was ordrered to go wash his hands. That wasn't too bad; some of the kids had to stand in the corner.

Everyone had to sit straight up, hands folded, feet flat on the floor. You could only raise your right hand to get the teacher's attention. He led the class in singing the national anthem and the kids were bewildered when he launched into a rendition of "God Save the Queen". This was 1871, after all.

Penmanship and arithmetic lessons on a slate. No iPad or Smartboard in sight. Not even a sheet of foolscap!

Liam and his buddies on their lunch break.

Back to work... grinding corn into chicken feed, and then feeding the animals. This was a big hit. Those boys still love chickens!

The biggest hit of the day was saved for last: a trip to the general store. There's nothing like turning a huge group of little kids loose in a gift shop! Man, that was madness. Liam chose a giant lollipop and a piece of fudge to take home for the rest of the family. Ever the thoughtful little lad. The general store was mostly stocked with gifts appropriate to the era, like cast iron skillets and slingshots (many boys chose these... ugh... sorry, parents!)... plus a weird selection of Angry Birds themed wallets. Not sure how those got into the mix.

All in all, it was a great day. This was the grade 3 class trip, which Liam made it into because he's in the 2/3 split. However, I hear there is no 3/4 split, i.e. Liam will likely be a straight grade 3 next year. Which might mean another trip back to Pioneer Village next June. While it was a fun day, I hope for his sake that they get to go somewhere else.

Great Lake swimmer

On the weekend I met some friends at Erieau for an open water swim. I need all the practice I can get and am too chicken to swim on my own so when the suggestion was made, I jumped at the chance.

I sold this to the family as an equal-opportunity event. Chad could ride his bike to the beach, I would drive with the bike rack and meet him there, the kids would bring their swimsuits and sand toys and we'd all go for ice cream when we were done.

The first hitch came with blustery winds straight out of the south. Chad's pace for his ride was relatively dismal. It was supposed to be an enjoyable ride but I think it turned into a chore.

(Here we are passing Chad on our way out to the beach - Mallory begged me to pull up behind him and honk - then we passed and pulled over to let him catch up to us again. Photo not taken while driving!)

Then it was my turn to struggle - the lake was freezing. FREEZING. We were all wet-suited up but the water was painfully cold for the first few minutes. After that I think I just went numb. It was originally going to be closer to an hour-long swim, but we threw in the towel after half an hour. I had to take a long hot shower back at home. Of course, the kids didn't get in the water due to the temperature, either.

And then, to top things off, the Erieau ice cream shop was closed. I've heard that they are struggling out there with the cold weather so far this year... the tourists are not flocking in as they usually do. I get that it's cold, but still - a weekend afternoon, and the ice cream shop is closed? Come ON. We drove back to town and went to our local joint instead.

So... not a resounding success. We will try it again in a few weeks - at least, I hope to. I would like to swim at the beach regularly this summer and I'm hoping the rest of the family is game for another try. This might become an enjoyable way to spend a few hours every few weeks... if only the weather will cooperate.

Proving that Disney is not the racket it's rumoured to be

 Earlier tonight, we went to the fair.

We'd planned to do this last night, but Liam came home from school not feeling well; which didn't really come as a surprise, since Mallory was sick for several days earlier in the week. So we stayed home last night instead, and Liam fell asleep on the couch at a ridiculously early hour. He'd wanted to watch the Penguins game but couldn't muster the strength to stay awake.

Today he had a mid-afternoon rest and then felt much better; well enough to eat a normal dinner and so we headed out to the Kinsmen Fair which comes to town each year at the end of May/start of June.

We don't go every year and this year was a good reminder why. It's kind of a depressing affair. The crowds of shady looking people, the even shadier carnival workers (I am pretty sure the woman who sold us Mallory's sno-cone was on meth), the rusty and faded old facilities and the exorbitant price tag for the privilege of being there at all.

The kids loved it, of course. Liam rode several rides and loved them all. Mallory only went on one ride, but she was thrilled to run into a friend and took the task of deciding on a fair treat very seriously. Cotton candy? Sno cone? Caramel corn? Decisions, decisions.

It cost us $16 to get in and then most of the rides were 4 tickets. A ticket cost $1.25. You got a slight discount for buying tickets in multiples of 20, but not much. So the rides were all in the vicinity of $4-$5 for three minutes of fun.

An hour later we were nearly $70 poorer, with sicker bellies from all the spinning, congested lungs from all of the smokers and full of sugar from the fair food.

Disney World raised its prices this week, which has been headline news, but it is still the far better value in my book. The sophistication of its attractions, the cleanliness, the lack of smoke, the lack of garbage and even the piped-in smells to evoke a particular reaction in a particular location... I love it all. Sorry, Kinsmen Fair. Your proximity may make us suckers every now and then, but you will never really compare.

Last weekend, right in time for this weekend

All went well last weekend. I did not pick up whatever bug it was that was bothering Mallory - a bug that wound up bothering her for about 4 days all told. She was only sick the once, but off her food and otherwise a little punky right up until yesterday. I went to Belle River on Sunday morning and finished my first race of the season. The conditions were tough - it was extremely windy out, which made for a slow bike and had whitecaps on the water - but I finished in well enough stead to pick up the 3rd female overall award. (Note that this was a small race and there were only 7 competing in my division!) It turns out that awards are not all they're cracked up to be; I received a framed piece of paper proclaiming that I'd won first in age group (i.e. wrong award), three extremely oversized cotton t-shirts (that I will probably cut up and use as rags for a project I'm working on) and a water bottle (which I will actually use). 



After the race I booted it home to the family, and we headed out to our annual Family Day at the local stables. This year Liam was old enough to skip the pony-riding ring and go on an actual trail ride. (Well, truth be told, he did both.) They gave him a small horse who was well-trained to follow the horse bum in front of him, and Liam really enjoyed the experience.

Mallory wanted to ride a pony and get her face painted, and she spent some time in the craft gazebo, but she clearly was not feeling 100% as she didn't have a bite to eat for lunch and she also skipped the bouncy castles (which she normally would have been all over.)

I didn't get a lot done last weekend - I tried to take it easy on Saturday with the race on Sunday - but we are continuing to chip away at some small tasks in the yard. The stone needs a bit of evening out still, and we have some pervasive weeds that need attention. A couple of weeks ago we installed some new plants including some peonies. This one is "Bowl of Beauty" and I just love it.

Yesterday this little fluffball had to go back to the OSPCA for a shot. We found out that she is a little runt; she is due to be spayed since she is now 2 months old, but they won't do it if she's not at least 2 lb, and she's only 1.25 lb. She needs another shot next month so they'll re-assess at that time.

One more day of work today, and then we're into another weekend - I am taking Friday off to help chaperone a kindergarten field trip. Hoping for nice weather and lots of fun on our adventure tomorrow.

The most wonderful time of the year

Triathlon season is upon us. Actually, triathlon season started last weekend, and I had planned to do a race, but the freakishly cold weather scared me off. So I am substituting that race with a different one tomorrow instead. This kind of messes up my schedule, because I'd planned to do one race per month all season. But now I've skipped May, I'm doubling up in June, I have replaced my July tri with a road race and my September race with a gran fondo... so my season is quite messed up right from the start.

We'd planned to go to Belle River tomorrow morning as a family, since it sounds like they have some nice facilities there; but about an hour ago, Mallory puked her guts out all over her bedroom floor. (The carpet. Of course.) Right now I'm thinking the best case scenario is that I go alone in the morning, and the worst case scenario is that right around 3 a.m. I start puking, too.

If not, then tomorrow is my chance to ease back into the sport. My only goal for tomorrow is to be comfortable and strong because I want to put in a good showing at Tomatoman this year and I want a race under my belt before then to work out any kinks. I am not feeling underprepared, necessarily, but it's not lost on me that the late start to spring this year means I am probably further behind than I was at the same time last year. So it's kind of foolish for me to be targeting a race that's only two weeks off - it's not like I can accomplish that much more before now and then. I should be targeting something at the end of the summer. Oh well, there's always next year.

Speaking of kinks, I have added this photo of Liam (which was taken last weekend) to this post because did you know that snorkels are legal in triathlons? You don't often see them being used though. The positive to them is that they keep you more streamlined if you don't have to turn your head to breathe, and if you have problems with neck kinks then they can allow people with limited mobility to race... but the downside to that is that there is no lane line on the bottom of the lake in an open water swim... you kind of have to watch where you are going, and a snorkel would make it hard to do that. Anyway, time to get my gear packed up - even without the snorkel, there's a lot to remember.