ANOTHER YEAR OF SURPRISES

It all started with the hat....

Every year my father is dared to do something totally stupid and again this year during our camping trip after someone being smart (my mother) put a nice pink hat on his head he was dared that by the end of the week we wanted to see him in a bathing suit. Surely enough the next afternoon he comes prancing out of the tent wearing a bathing suit and skirt along with his pretty pink hat. What a character he can be and he had the campground laughing! Oh and the hat he wore pretty much the entire week. If someone knows how to have fun in my family it's my father. The dare is on already for next summer so we might just see him in a bikini????? God help us then LOL

Now he just needs a new name???? Right now I am calling him Johnny Pearl!

Shopping Online

Have you ever purchased anything online, it is certainly becoming a more popular form of purchasing goods and services. One of the leaders in the online shopping game is the Cable shopping network, which prides itself on providing customers with unique shopping options like president dollars and other collectibles. They provide an excellant shopping environment and bring a secure checkout system that will ensure your protection with online shopping. There is also fast shipping available so you can get your selections quickly and reliably. The cable shopping network provides a unique product line with something for everyone, whatever you are looking for you can certainly find it quickly.

GOOD BYE TRAINING WHEELS!

Sense we had some extra time on our hands during one of our camping days we decided we would take the training wheels off of Kohl's bike and teach him to ride a two wheeler! At first I thought it was hopeless and that the training wheels should be put back on, well at least until we got home and were a lot closer to a hospital LOL but mom insisted that he could do it and took over and spent some time with him. Well let me tell you that by the end of the evening he could actually ride his bike without the training wheels and had a lot of scraps and cuts to show for all his hard work and he was some proud of the one on his knee! Unfortunately he hasn't had time to ride his bike since.

THE LONGEST BREAKFAST MENU LIST

I was tagged by Tammy for The Longest Breakfast Menu List Meme a while back while we were on vacation or just getting ready to go and I am finally getting around to doing now, so here it is...

*Start copy here*

The Longest Breakfast Menu ListEveryone likes to start their day with a comfort food for breakfast. What kind of food do you take? This would be a good way to find out your blogger friend’s favourite food for breakfast.All you need to do is to put your name down, the country you are in and your favourite breakfast meal. Let’s see how we can have this breakfast ‘menu’ travelled all around cyberspace and learn what each blogger living in different country and what do they eat for breakfast. This meme was created by a little lady with a penchant to spy around little baskets while marketing. Her favorite breakfast of the day is none other than Roti Prata, an indian flat bread. What about you? What is your favorite breakfast meal of the day?

1. Spymama, Singapore - Roti Prata 2. Yyun, Singapore - Wantan Mee 3. A Simple Life, Philippines - Tapsilog (tapa, garlic rice & egg) 4. It Is Nap Time, America, Biscuit with sausage gravy 5. Mom Knows Everything, Canada - Coffee 6. Rantings of a Woman, Canada - mini wheats

Denver Excitement

In a city like no other you will find all sorts of excitement in the city of Denver Colorodo. There is so much to do and see in this beautiful city next to the Rocky mountains and to find out what is going on all around the city you need to turn to the best source of information in the Denver Magazine. You will find coverage on everything in the news from around this beautiful city. If you are interested in sports there is coverage of all the major teams, from Baseball, Football and Hockey. You'll also find coverage of all other sports from around the city. You can also catch up on real estate, banking, developments and retail information from all around the city. For those of more an automotive nature you can find all kinds of information surrounding all types of vehicals and recreational things like planes, boats etc.

AROUND THE CAMPFIRE

Most nights while sitting around the campfire the kids fell asleep one by one and I think I have to say that the puppy was the biggest baby of them all. For us to get the puppy to sleep at night we had to cover her with a blanket. They only last about 30 minutes around the fire before the first one would fall asleep then it had the domino effect from there.

IN THE SKY

One of the things I look forward to while camping at Murray Beach is the sunsets. I didn't get a picture of the sunsets every night but I did get some good ones. I would have to say the best ones were right after a thunder storm. These pictures were all taken right from our campsite! What a view!!!!

Radiator Specialist

When looking for replacement parts for your vehical sometimes it is better to turn to a specialist to ensure you are recieving the best possible prices along with great quality. For your Toyota Radiator replacement needs you need to turn to the experts at Radiator.Com, they specialize in everything with radiator systems. They have developed a system of distributors all accross the country that can quickly locate your radiator and get it shipped in most cases it will arrive in your location the next business day. They provide great prices because they have eliminated the middle man and work with clients like you directly. Don't be fooled by other competitors that use import lower quality parts Radiator offers a lifetime guarantee on their products.

CAPE TORMENTINE BEACH

Even though we are camping right on at the beach we took a small drive up the road to Cape Tormentine. This is a beach that my dad goes to quite often in the summer because of the memories. My grandfather grew up in Cape Tormentine and they spent a lot of time at that beach. We had a great time and the view was amazing. While sitting on the beach we could see the cars cross the Confederation Bridge going to Prince Edward Island and the best part was that the puppy was allowed on this beach. She wasn't too fond of the water but loved digging in the sand. I think this was the last nice day we had before the rain.

This was my last day to sun tan and my tan was a bit red...

GETTING SOME SLEEP

Matt is the kindest hubby ever! Usually when we are camping I will get to sleep in for a bit. He gets up with the kids and gets them breakfast then it's off to the park they go. This year our puppy crawled into bed with me and got a bit more sleep. What a baby she is!

Coin Collectors

When you are searching on starting or working on your coin collection whether for a hobby or for investment purposes it is important to have the best resources working for you. When finding a coin dealer you can trust it is important to have someone with a strong reputation on your side. The team at Monaco Rare Coin is exactly that, there team of specialist will work with you to determine your exact needs and what products will match up with your interests. They have access to coin and investment opportunities that other sources won't even be able to access. They also provide the best prices available on rare coins and can help you locate special coins.

CAMPFIRE FUN

Now you can't go camping and not have a campfire. With it being the weekend a lot of my family came camping for the weekend and what wild fun we had. Trinity and my sister Robin led the campfire with Robing playing her guitar and Trinity singing her little heart away. Man that girl has talent, not only can she dance but she can sing. Some of the songs they sang were, Tear Drops on my Guitar, Foot prints in the sand (Leona Lewis), Dixie chicks and so on. We had a great time and loved the entertainment but if that wasn't enough some of us got up and dance to the cha cha slide. I even managed to finally get my mom up and what a hoot she was. Now that she has lost some weight she will get up and have fun with the rest of us! Go mom!

I am in this picture doing the slide. Dressed all in black on the end to your left...My god we had fun! You should have seen the other campers, did they ever get a laugh out of us all weekend LOL. We are just campers who know how to have fun!

CHIPMUNK TROUBLE

Alvin, Simon or Theodor?

We thought is was great that we had some trees on our lot. A great spot to hang a line for the wet towels and a spot to tie the puppy. Well it wasn't long after that we realized that the chipmunks also liked those trees and the first couple of days they tormented our puppy and kept steeling her food. She was good though, she just said there and watched as the chipmunks ran up and down the trees in front of her then would just sit on a branch and stare down at her.

WEDDING IDEAS

I have been married to my husband now for 7 years and looking back at our wedding day just reminds me of all the work and planning that is involved with planning such an event. I wish that I had the help from weddingchannel.com to help with some of the Wedding Ideas to make things a bit easier. With the future plans of my sisters wedding she can take advantage of this great website to make her wedding planning a lot easier. From wedding planning to local vendors, the online registry, free interactive planning tools and so much more this will make her wedding planning as stress free as possible.

GETTING SET UP....

......AND GUESS WHAT???? IT RAINED!

That is no surprise but who would have expected it to have rained as much as it did during the past two weeks. It sucked :0( but that didn't and hasn't stopped us from having fun and with my dad around there is always lots of fun and very funny moments! When we arrived at the campground my parents were already there and had their things set up. We were later arriving as we got held up with Matt's parents and a down pour of rain. The rain let up a bit so we tackled the biggest job of vacation which was setting up camp for a week. We did get wet getting set up but at least it wasn't cold! Yep that character below is my father. He came prepared with his rain hat. Oh and watch for more pictures to come because that isn't the only hat he brought with him. (warning...just keep in mind I did say that he is a character LOL!)

Thanks for the help dad!

THE BEGINNING OF OUR VACATION

And we're off!

The vacation begins....

Getting to our vacation destination point is always a challenge for us. When going away for 2 weeks with four children where in the heck do you put of the gear and clothes etc... that we will be needing. Well we have always managed over the years to get everything in the van (including the kids) and this year was no different but I think we will be making some changes for next summer. I hate travelling with the kids packed in the van so tight with stuff shoved under there feet and barely any room to breathe so we are looking into getting a trailer to store some of our gear. Now we would really like to get a tent trailer so that we can put the years of tenting behind us but that will all depend on how many hours I decide to work when I start hopefully in the fall. But if that doesn't work out by Spring we have a back up plan. My FIL has a small utility trailer that we can buy off him so haul our stuff and that will make a huge difference. I know one thing for sure we WILL have a trailer of some sort.

Our puppy is great when travelling. She has her own little spot between us in the front and just sits back and enjoys the ride.

This was one of the best moments while driving. Blake finally fell asleep and it was quiet. He was so excited to be going camping that he just wouldn't be quiet. LOL Unfortunately it didn't last long.

TIME FOR A HONEYMOON

It has been 7 years since I married the man of my dreams but unfortunately we have never gone on a honeymoon. Well I think it is time to get away just the two of us from the busy, hectic life with four young children. We have been trying to decide where to go and are leaning towards going to Cancun, the place we originally had chosen to get married. While looking into the cancun hotels we have come across some really nice secluded white sand beaches along the Riviera Maya. There is so much to do and see and with their all inclusive packages we are sure to find time for fun and relaxation.

JUST A FEW YEARS BACK...

Growing up I spent most of my days and weeks swimming. It started off as a recreational sport then not long after I joined the competitive team and from then on Synchronized Swimming became my life. I trained 5 days a week from swimming laps in the pool, working on routines, weight training and so much more. In this pictures it was mine and Francine's first year doing a duo together at the competitive level and I can remember all the fun and hard work that went into that routine.

A member of our swim team hosted a reunion for all us swimmers on the weekend so that we could catch up on what everyone has been doing but unfortunately with our wet vacation we couldn't make it. It would have been so fun to get together and talk about old times. I will have to check out facebook later to see if there are any new pictures posted of the reunion.

WHAT A HOUSE!

I can only imagine what is looks like inside, apparently there is a running brook or something that runs through this house covered so that you can see it. It is a beautiful property. This house is near where we live and we see it every time we come home to visit. It is known as the Moffatt Castle and is well talked about in Cape Breton. These pictures were taken during the winter but during the summer it is amazing. I did take pictures of it without the snow but can't seem to find then on my computer. I will try to get some more on our way home in a few days.

PLANNING OUR NEXT TRIP

When it comes to a family vacation we always find ways to make the most of our time together and always create lots of fun memories. Usually we just do the simple camping trip with my family and we are fine with that but now that the kids are getting older we have been considering planning a family trip to Florida to take the kids to Disney. Saving and planning for a family of six will take some time but we are hoping to get the kids there in the next couple of years. Then they will all be at a good age to enjoy all the rides so in the mean time I will spent my time looking for the best deals out there to make this trip more affordable. I will be watching orlandofuntickets.com for discount Disney tickets and all Orlando theme parks tickets, attractions and dinner shows. Every little bit we can save will get us that much closer to a fantastic family vacation!

WHERE TO START?????

It has been a crazy week and the weather sucked. This is unusual for us as we normally get nice weather while on vacation. Last year we didn't get one day of rain and this year we are lucky to get a day of sun. Oh well we have back up plans to keep the kids entertained now this morning we are sitting waiting trying to decide if we will go to Magic Mountain (water amusement park) or wait until tomorrow. I think it will be tomorrow. If we can't get the weather to cooperate we will use our back up plan of Crystal Palace (an indoor amusement park with rides) and a movie night at the theatre. We will have to do something soon as we are running out of time and will be heading home in a few days. I can't wait to get back into my own bed!

Planning a dream home

Once you've made the decision to have your dream home built it is just the beginning of a wonderful journey you will embark on. The best advice I can give to anyone thinking of building a home is to spend a lot of time planning and thinking out the design and functionality of your home. It is important to have the proper House Plans to match your lifestyle and needs to ensure you get the most enjoyment out of your new home. Our homes are generally the biggest investment we make in our lifetimes and it is important to get it right. To plan out your next move many people will contact a architect to design your plan but there are other alternatives to get the house plans you are looking for while saving money. House plans and more is set up to help you find the home layout and size that matches up best with your needs and also provide a contact source for builders in your area to help make your process easier. They have a wide variety of home plans available from Country House Plans which typically feature a welcome porch and dormers in the roof. If your more of the outdoor type with a flair for adventure there is also log home floor plans. Whatever your taste might be they will have a home plan to match up to your budget, size and architecture design choice.

The Vacation Continues

We are moving into the final part of our vacation, with camping, Anniversary and Birthday behind us we are traveling onto our Amusement section of the vacation with a trip to the zoo and the water park on the books for the next few days we have been trying to catch up on some sleep the last few days and trying to dry out our camping gear as we got caught in a rain storm the last 2 days of our camping trip. We set it up again at my in-laws the last few days but it has been stubbornly showering every couple of hours since we arrived here. We are packing up today and will have to pack up the wet tent, etc again and try to set it up again at my parents house when we arrive later today. Surely we can get 1 sunny day in the next 4? Let's hope for the best, we'll see how things go. I'll be back home next week and will fill up the blog with lot's of pictures and stories from the road. It's been a lot of fun.

House Planning

When trying to build our new home a few years back we found we really didn't know where to get started at, it is a big job to undertake and we really needed to have some expert advise to get us through the process of designing our Home Plans that would incorporate everything we needed to function as a family and enjoy our new surroundings. We spent days pouring over floor plans trying to come up with something that would work. Now there is a website that you can use to have experts spend the time to narrow down your search for you. When you enter in your design criteria, house size, rooms and other features you are looking for than the team at house plans and more will go through their database to find selections that best match to what you are looking for. You can use their design or tweek it to match perfectly. They also provide features to provide you with approved builders in your area to ensure you have a quality job done. They provide many catagories of home plans for your from the Contemporary house plans which features modern ideas asymmetrical design and irregular window sizes to allow maximum light. There are other designs available as well like the French Country House Plans which originated in the France country side and feature brick or stone exteriors and high steep roofs. There are so many choices and as the plans are already created they can be sold to you for much less than what it would cost for you to get an architec to design for you.

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY KOHL!