RAINY DAY FUN!

It POURED rain most of the day today, but that didn't stop the insane fun with the FitzLeavSon's (Fitzpatrick, Treleaven, Thompson kids).  We started with a solid Trampoline Show, an outstanding breakfast, some Bingo, Charades, Swim in the rain, in to get dry and warm while watching half of Tarzan paused for a kids lunch which included (16 hot dogs, 55 PeaPods, 27 Baby Carrots, 1 Red Pepper, 1 Yellow Pepper, 1 Cucumber, Hummus, 8 Iced Tea's and 1 bag of Miss Vickie chips)  the rest of Tarzan was shown post feeding, 3 rounds of Scattegories, Owl Crafts and Rock Painting before kids needing a snack while parents packed and cleaned to get the heck off the island!  Even with the rain, we shared a ton of laughter today.  Thanks to everyone for chipping in and keeping everyone in good spirits.

Benny!

Ben and Nora jumpin' in together

Pouring Rain, but who cares?

Yahoo!  I love it here!

THOMPSON TIME

Leslie had a brilliant brain burst and decided that given the late night that it was for all 4 of our kiddos, the excitement factor and also because we didn't have any kids books with us she decided that her husband Jason would tell all of us a bedtime story.  The brilliance didn't end there...  We all got to pick ONE WORD that Jase had to work into the story.  I don't know how he did it, the creativity that flows out of him is astonishing but he kept us on the edge of our seats, worked all 8 words in and had us laughing out loud!  The chosen words were:  Moose, Blood, Bubba, Boogers, Rhododendron, Rhinocerous, Granny Smith, and Fire.  What a fantastic way to end a day for kiddos.  Thanks for sharing your creative juices with us!

When I was 10 years old I went on a camping trip with my friend Colin...

All we packed to eat were Granny Smith Apples...

While sleeping in our tent we saw the shadow of a Moose...

Is this guy for real?

Kieran was keeping track of how many words Jason had used.  J - you're up to 5!

Quinn just heard his word, Bubba!

Yep Dad, you got my word in there too.

Are you serious?  Is this story true?

The deal Colin and I made was that you couldn't tell this story until we were 41 years old!

SUNNY SATURDAY!

We slipped out of town at lunch time on Friday and hit the highway to the cottage.  Thankfully, the cousins had a PD Day and we were all on track to arrive in time for cocktails on the dock.  Our great friends, the Thompson's joined us on Saturday.  Ben and Ellie fell into the fold of 6 cousins with ease and before we knew it, we had 8 kids ages 10 to 4 taking over.  Swimming, tubing, laughing, hot tubbing, jumping off the diving tower, stories, games and giggles.  Amazing times had by all, even despite all of the rain that fell today (Sunday). 

Kaitlyn and Kieran sharing a laugh

Yippee!  Ellie has arrived!

I seriously cannot stop laughing!

I love these 2 guys!

Kait flying in the air.  Look out Kaitlyn, you are about to splash down!

I'm going to get you!

Lounging in a hot tub on a dock at the edge of the lake.  Do you see any unhappy faces in here?

Life is good.  No, Life is GREAT!

Thumbs up from Elles and QBall

3 of my favourite boys.

A serious moment between serious friends.

A post dinner, pre bed tube.  Ben and Quinn shared some hilarious laughs together.

FATHER'S DAY

Dave, you are a FABULOUS FATHER!  We are grateful for all you do and love you oodles.  xoxo

Before the boys went to bed they handed Dave this Room Service Card for him to fill out and hang on his bedroom door.

The presie - a few of his favourite things.  New coffee mug that we hand painted and had fired, coffee beans, beer, chocolate cigars, written work from his boys, a book with writing prompts for him to do as a gift for his boys and some cards.

all about my Dad - fill in the blanks, from Quinn

all about my Dad - fill in the blanks, from Kieran

Quinn's art, framed with a magnet

Kieran's beautiful letter to Dave

Love.

Our Happy Father's Day Tie sign

GYMFEST

Yesterday was Gymfest at TGI.  This was our first experience of gymfest and we were blown away!  They sold just under 500 tickets to yesterday afternoon's show, with an evening performance and a Sunday performance to follow.

Quinn and Olivia found a quiet spot to colour under the trampolines

That's a lot of people!

Boys Development Team perform to Hey Hey We're The Monkey's

K-Man

Another medal - 2 in 2 weeks!

ANOTHER KIERAN!

Sheryl was Kieran's SK teacher at Humberside Daycare.  She is currently pregnant with her third child, first son.  She was adorable when she pulled me aside and asked if I wanted to hear her "short list of names" for this little boy.  I said, "sure" to which she replied, "we are naming him Kieran, after your amazing son."  So, at only 6 years of age, Kieran will have a young boy named after him!  Pretty cool!  Baby Kieran is due in early July.  We cannot wait to meet him.

Sheryl's daughter Regan, Sheryl and Kieran

ASSAULT ON THE SENSES!

Great Wolf Lodge is a remarkably fun place, but an assault on all of your senses!  There's way too much to see and do, the scent of chlorine and humidity, people everywhere, kids (my own) constantly jumping to swim on your back or have you catch them as they jump in,  but most of all the noise overwhelmed me.  It wasn't until departing GWL that I realized, all I wanted was complete and utter silence!  Sadly it never came, at least not until I put my head down on my pillow at the end of the night. The weekend was the best, at least until I hit my need for silence!  :)

Hanging out on a post overlooking the Niagara River

The Wolf Den - special BOYS only sleeping spot!

Excited to go back to the slides and swim area for a pre-bed swim

Done!

Totally Exhausted!

PROUD PARENTS

This weekend had us traveling to St. Catharine's for Kieran's first ever gymnastics competition at a club called Gymnastics Energy.  We set multiple alarms for 5:20am on Saturday morning to ensure that we got up and were pulling out of the garage by 6am so we could be there for the 7:30am check in.  This first competition could not have been more fun or more impressive.  The youngest boys performed first, competing from 8am-10:30am.  After a big athlete parade into the gym, the singing of O Canada and a welcoming address all of the boys were split into six different groups.  Each group started at a different apparatus and all of the boys followed the formalities of waiting for their name to be called, raising their arm for the judge before performing their routine.  Kieran's group started on the High Bar followed by Floor, Pommel Horse, Rings, Vault and finishing on Parallel Bars.  Dave and I were very aware that it could have gone either way in terms of loving every minute of it, or hating it and never wanting to do anything like that again.  Kieran did UNBELIEVABLY well, performing all of his routines, sticking most of his landings, but most importantly he had a blast!  We were overwhelmed with pride for this little guy who put himself out there and did the very best he could.  Quinn loved cheering on his brother.  A big shout out and THANK YOU to Coach Tamara for all of her hard work, dedication, patience and kindness.  Kieran adores you!  Many of the families went straight from the competition to Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls which was a fantastic way to spend a Saturday afternoon, evening and most of the day today.  A very fun weekend to say the least!

Warm up bridge

Meeting the High Bar judge and understanding what the red, yellow, green flags mean

High bar routine

Head stand - get those feet together...  :)

Still smiling after completing 5 of 6 routines!

Excellent form on the rings!

Swings before his big dismount.

A sweet, yet missed moment.  Just before his final routine Kieran came over and hugged Quinn over the barrier.

Final routine - parallel bars.  Judge in background watching form

Congratulations Kieran!

Yahoo!  Medal around his neck and certificate in hand.  A job well done!

Coach Tamara after the competition, celebratory ring pops all around!

The Certificate

His medal, he is most proud of.