JD's Blog

2012-02-13T18:18:00.001-07:00

Cancelled Karma's day care play today - she's still sick and Hunter has it too. Took both to the vet and got more meds than a pharmacy has for the two of them and a fairly hefty bill.

Got home and read Inheritance with Spence, then worked on the driver's handbook, he watched a history show on Mexico City and then we did spelling and math. He continued with printing, essay drums and Italian.

He cleaned up his bedroom and lounge - then Karma had an accident :( So he cleaned up again.

When I got home, finished working on supper (hashbrown casserole, veggie chicken, gravy). Now we'll chill out and watch some TV for the rest of the night.

2012-02-12T17:41:00.002-07:00

The weekend was very relaxing - we chilled, went climbing and ate. Not much else new with us this weekend.

2012-02-10T19:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Spence!

Spence turned 14 today and he started off with a pretty rough morning. Stepped in dog vomit, getting out of bed (Karma = not feeling great), his g/f was sick and couldn't come to the party, he failed his driver's test.....but it got better from there. Slurpee as a consolation, off to South Street Burger for BD lunch and then laser tag for BD party - great friends showed up and they all had a great time.

We got home, ordered pizza for BD dinner and then he chilled with his buddies playing video games the rest of the night.

2012-02-09T19:20:00.001-07:00

We read Inheritance, watched Museum Secrets, did spelling, math, drums, driver's practice test and relaxed and then left for the orthodontist to get some elastics for his braces and then headed to parkour.

We ended up arriving early (no lights) and got in the gym ahead of opening (nice of them to let us in). The kids spent part of the time recapping last class activities and then worked on a few new things.

We left and headed back to pick up Karma from daycare - she is so wiped out that she had no interest in her favorite bone.

We had homemade pasta for supper with sauce and are watching our shows.

2012-02-08T18:48:00.000-07:00

It was a busy day today. We started early as Kimberly was coming over in the afternoon to watch a movie with Spence.

We started with Inheritance, then watched a history show on the Spear of Destiny. It was time for math, silent reading, some exercise, drums, spelling, printing and working on his essay. He finished off with a shower, doing some laundry, Italian and driver's test.

He then tidied up his room, lounge and cleaned up his bathroom - enough for a girl to use the bathroom if she needed to. I headed off to run a few errands while he did his chores and by the time I got back, Kimberley was on her way.

I managed to get Spencer's BD cake baked, strawberries turned to a sauce, popcorn made for the movie and bread made for our grilled cheese sandwiches which we are having tonight.

The kids watched a thriller in the living room and I made pasta (had a dozen yolks to use up) and caught up on my emails. After Kimberly left, we walked the dogs and headed off to the climbing wall. The boys went off to Peter's for an after climb milkshake and I got home a bit earlier so I could park in the garage.

We made our panini's and sat down to watch some TV and chill for the rest of the night.

2012-02-07T19:02:00.003-07:00

Spence decided he wanted a later bed time .... so he was going to get up on his own (without prompting) by 8:30. Well he got up at 8, then said he was going back to bed. So, I'm thinking still not going to get to stay up any later on school nights.

I popped Karma & Hunter back in his room, while I went grocery shopping (since he was going to go back to sleep anyhow) and got a text from him 10 min later saying the dogs woke him up :)

I got back by 9am and we started on History first (Gladiators today), as my iPad was out of juice. While it charged, he also did his situps & pushups and once the show was over we did math, spelling, printing and reading. As he was finishing his reading, Sam came over and we read Inheritance, Spence finished up with his Italian & his driver's test.

The boys then took Karma out for a play - but she totally wasn't into it - so they brought her back and she dropped for a nap while they played together. We headed off for drums just before 3 and once home, walked the dogs before heading out for a BD supper with Grama & Grampa. Although it is auntie's BD today, we're doing an early Spencer BD supper as grama & grampa are heading out to San Diego tomorrow.

We went to Salt & Pepper, but the food wasn't as good as it usually was - not sure if they changed the menu a bit, the cook or something else - still good though. For his BD, Spence got a t-shirt to wear with grama & grampa each time he goes out with them and $50 :)

Now it's time to chill - James is off to the gym for a bit of a workout and I'm back finishing up some work I have to get done.

Picture of Grampa :)

2012-02-06T19:19:00.000-07:00

Spence got up and we read some Inheritance, then we watched Museum Secrets and he did his situps and pushups. He read his Yes magazine, and then we did spelling, math, drums, printing and finished off with his driver's test and Italian.

While he finished up, I left for Sears and my client - Sears store was good, their service department not so good - we're escalating .... we'll see what happens.

Spence headed out with Grama for their date around 3:30 and James and I met at the climbing wall just after 4pm and once we were done climbing, we picked up Karma and had supper - veggie shepherd pie.

2012-02-05T16:46:00.000-07:00

Another relaxing day - we ended up heading to the mall to have James' macbook looked at (quick fix) and we did some window shopping while there, but otherwise it was a very relaxing do nothing day.

Doing appies for supper - cheese sticks, chicken skewers, nachos and veggies w dip.

2012-02-04T18:38:00.000-07:00

We relaxed today - James and I walked the dog about 5k this morning. I decided it was a day to catch up on my baking and made chocolate chip cookies and shortbread. I wanted to try a new recipe for soft granola bars - they turned out great - flax, oat bran, nuts, fruit and oats and it was very easy to make.

I also made some more truffle popcorn and that was gone before I turned around. James had headed out to the Bow Cycle expo this afternoon with some buddies and ended up staying out most of the afternoon, which worked out well - I got caught up on all my shows.

Now we plan to have a scrounge night and to watch some TV.

2012-02-03T20:53:00.000-07:00

Kelly getting into the Dance Central act - practicing before the mom against boys showdown

Paintball Fieldtrip (Cochrane Area) - Feb 03

2012-02-03T20:49:00.000-07:00

He was not impressed at having his pic taken - but I took it anyways :)

Getting ready to head out

Safety first

The clean up crew - the horses like the paintballs (all natural non-toxic food stuff)

1st match - getting out there

Having a great time!

Really, I need more paintballs!

Can you spot the gamers?

2012-02-03T19:47:00.002-07:00

Today was paintball field trip day. We left at 9:45 with Kelly and Sam and got there around 10:30. It was almost 11 when the kids got out on the field. The kids all seemed to have a great time, they played for about 3 hours before they ran out of bullets and were tired enough to consider going home.

We left around 2:30 and were home by 3:30 and Sam & Spence wanted to play Kelly & me on Dance Central. It was back and forth who won each round - Kelly has got the whole dance thing, while I was her handicap - she would have won all of them, if she didn't have me to weigh her down.

It was fun and we decided we were the victors and sang 'we are the champions' at the top of our lungs, until the boys clamped their hands over our mouths :)

Overall a great field trip - 9 degrees, sunny, kids outside and running around.

Thursday February 02

2012-02-03T08:27:00.001-07:00

So this morning I had to go into my client, so Spence got up and did drums, a bit of research on his next essay topic, Italian, printing practice, driver's test, watched a history show, did his math and waited on me to do his spelling quiz and read Inheritance together.

The Sears guy was supposed to come between 12-5 and he called just before 11am to say he was outside the door. I called Spence and said let the Sears guy in to fix the d/w or we wouldn't get another appointment for a few weeks.

So this Bosch super quiet d/w I bought March 2010 - has had two major repairs since we bought it and today's visit was #3 - turns out the timer is gone and that part will take between 4 - 6 weeks min (could be up to 8) and then another 2 - 3 weeks before the guy can come out to replace the timer. So - no d/w for almost 2 wks already and we're talking another 6 - 9 weeks so between 2 and 3 months total no d/w time....I called Sears up and they said to bring in my receipt and we'll start the paperwork on a lemon exchange. Hopefully that goes well and we can have a replacement here before the part comes in. Now to find time to go to Sears and spend time arguing with them.

James got home in time to get changed and then we headed off to dinner at a fairly new restaurant - Dolce Supori - family style dishes and all home made. It was very good, we ordered too much as usual, but that just means left overs for tonight. Thanks grama & grampa for the BD dinner, beautiful card and gift card.

2012-02-01T17:17:00.004-07:00

Not happy about getting pics taken, but it was my condition for supervising the date :)

Bouldering on a free climbing wall - the big wall in the background is the bouldering area which is blocked off right now

Finishing off a 2 hr climb with some burgers & fries

2012-02-01T17:15:00.001-07:00

So, today was the big day for Spence - he was having his first date....yes, he's that old which of course makes me even older than I'd like to admit :)

We decided to start with Inheritance, spelling and getting ready ... shower, smelly stuff to keep him from smelling, brushing hair, teeth, shaving - he pulled out all the stops. He even had a few outfits to work through in order to have just the right 'climber' look :)

We got going and made it down to the gym by noon and Kimberly was there waiting with her mom. The kids did their belay tests - both passed with flying colours and then went onto climb. They were initially planning on climbing and then bouldering, but the bouldering area was being redone and so the rocks there were off limits.

Two school groups came in while they were busy and pretty much took up all the space in the gym and so after almost 2 hours, they gave up and we headed to Harvey's for a post date snack. You work off a lot of calories climbing. Kimberly is a vegetarian and so she appreciated having a place where the veggie burgers weren't that bad.

Once we were done, I dropped Kimberly off at her house (it was on our way home) and then Spence did his history (we read more about Spain today), did math, drum practice, printing, his driver's test and Italian. He also took another swipe at cleaning his lounge and we'll finish that off tomorrow.

In the meantime, the ciabatta buns were ready to bake and I popped them in the oven and went off to get Karma from doggy daycare. When I got home, the buns were ready and the mashed potatoes were nicely warmed up. James arrived shortly after that and went to the gym for a workout.

Tonight we're doing curry chicken breast on ciabatta buns with garlic mashed potatoes on the side. I'm still trying to make some shortbread cookies - but haven't had the time to devote to making them this week. Hoping to be able to make a batch tomorrow.

2012-01-31T18:52:00.002-07:00

I had grand plans for today - rest, relax, take the day off, bake a bit, go climbing....then reality set in....need to finish stuff that is due at a client's place, groceries, school, drum practice.

So, although I didn't get most of that done, I did get the climbing in with my boys :)

For school we started with Inheritance as usual, Spence read Reven, watched Museum Secrets, did spelling, math and printing. Then Spence spent some time working with Karma, doing his driver's exam, Italian and he finished off with a few push ups and sit ups.

He went to clean his lounge next (that may be a multi-day project) and then we left for drum practice and headed off to climbing after drums.

We climbed for about 40 minutes - Spence was attempting C3 routes on the boulder wall (they don't have a key to tell you what V code that is in real boulder problems), but C3 is hard. I was working C1 & C2's and James did a bunch of C1s.

Now it's time for bad jokes from hubby and son while I watch some TV and do some more work.

2012-01-30T19:39:00.000-07:00

After breakfast, we read inheritance, did math and spelling, then watched Screaming Mummy (a history show), then he practiced drums, picked his next essay selection. He finished off with Italian & driver's test.

He took a break and then did his chores - laundry, tidying and vacuuming. We made veggie meat sauce with bow tie noodles for supper and then once James got home, we walked the dogs.

2012-01-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

After a bit of a sleep in for me, I made coffee and warmed up the cinni buns I made last night for breakfast (Spence of course had soup). We took the dogs for a walk and then the boys got ready and headed off for some paintball action - there was a show on today at the Stampede Grounds and they went to watch some teams play.

While they were gone, I cleaned the fish tank and discovered we had 4 baby fish - I just can't seem to kill them off....of course, Karma discovered the fish and was ready to snack on them - but I thought the tank, tipping over on her would not be good.

I also got the stew going for tonight's dinner and the bread organized for this week. The boys arrived shortly after I was done and we chilled for a bit before grampa came to get Spence for a night out. They headed off to hit some golf balls with Spencer's new driver and then off to Cactus Club for supper...they then played some card games, which Spence won some candy.

James and I walked the dogs again and then came home for supper - the bread wasn't ready, but we had salad with croutons and stew. Neither James or I were feeling great, so we decided to just chill.

2012-01-28T17:48:00.000-07:00

We were all up by 8:30 (ok, I was the last one up) and had breakfast (crepes today) just after 9am. We walked the dogs, got organized and went to the climbing gym. We decided that we were going to renew our membership and added the gym in the south so that we could vary the gyms a bit.

We all went and had a pretty good climb on the bouldering wall and then headed to Best Buy/Walmart to see if they had the XBox live memberships for sale still - they were back at the regular price, but I ended up getting the step stool I've been wanting for the past few months, so that I can use my hangboard again (too high for me to use without one).

Then it was time to have lunch at Kinjo's (and forgot to use our gift certificate) and then while the boys went to Memory Express for a controller for Spence, I got hotdog buns and hot dogs for supper tonight. They stopped at Starbucks and we all went home to chill.

I started working on cinni buns and took a nap and then got the potatoes in the oven (home fries) while I prepped for the hot dogs (onions, ketchup, etc).

Now it's time to chill and watch some TV for the rest of the night.

2012-01-27T20:27:00.001-07:00

We started off by reading Inheritance, then Spence went to read Reven. He continued with watching a history show about Rome & Gladiators - they draw different conclusions than some of the other shows we've watched.

Afterwards we did a math quiz, spelling, printing and drums. We had lunch and then he finished off with his driver's exam and Italian. He took his shower and did his chores and then we headed off to Jacob's place for a few hours and then went to get Karma from the daycare - she had such a good time and was learning how to 'speak' on command with another dog :) Now if only she would do that for us at home :)

In the meantime, the dishwasher decided to die and so we started doing dishes by hand. Sears is coming out next Thursday to see about fixing it.

James texted to say he was heading home because he was sick. Spence got out of vacuuming the house because we didn't want to wake James up when we got home.

2012-01-26T18:11:00.000-07:00

After getting up later than he originally planned, Spence decided he'd do his laundry after he got back from skiing today.

We read Inheritance after breakfast, did spelling and watched a show on Cleopatra and then he got on a pair of sweats and we headed out to meet up with Don and his mom for some ski time at COP. The boys went off and skied for nearly two hours and I only got a half hour in before I had to make a call. In the meantime, someone broke their back on the hill (not sure who - as there was a whole lot of schools there and lots of kids in the big park where they aren't supposed to be) and it was super busy. I ended up waiting about 10 minutes in line each time I came down - 1 min down, 10 min up. They really need to open that second lift soon.

Once the boys were done, we headed home and Spence took a shower and walked Karma (she was dozing in her kennel) while I popped into Shoppers to grab a parcel that they didn't bother to attempt to deliver yesterday - they now just drop off the notice in your box and don't bother with the whole delivery part of it. No line up, so that went quickly.

Got my new iPad case (it has a keyboard and turns it essentially into a netbook) and proceeded to hook it up when I got home. Spence took the case and read Reven, so I couldn't play with it until he was done reading.

He went on to do his drums - today he was really on the ball with the drums and then math and then a quick break while he got his laundry going. In the meantime, I got some chocolate chip cookies on the go, then some crackers, kale chips (not sure they are something I'll make again - funny aftertaste), got working on supper and made some popcorn.

Spence finished off with his driver's exam and Italian. I was busy making supper - peanut sauce and then udon stir fry to go with that for the boys and a mushroom miso udon soup for me. Once dinner was done, we walked the dogs and then he went off to chill, I'm waiting for James to come home and once he's done supper, we'll probably head out for a walk and then relax.

2012-01-25T21:24:00.002-07:00

I had a client meeting this morning, so Spence got to sleep in a bit. He watched the Patton Assassination theory, read Reven in our room with the dogs for a few hours.

He worked on math, spelling, printing and then practiced drums (seemed to be getting back into the groove today) and then finished off with Italian & his driver's exam.

I took Karma out to the tennis courts and tried to play fetch - the wind was hampering us - but we continued for a good half hour. I made some baby greens salad for supper with veggie chicken, nuts & a bit of fruit and for Spence I made butter chicken with rice.

After supper, James and I walked the dogs and then it was time to catch up on the shows.

2012-01-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

After breakfast, we read Inheritance and watched a history show on the Scorpion King. Once we finished that, we did math (conjunction) and then spelling. It was time then to head to Costco to meet up with Kelly & Sam.

We got a few things and then headed to Edo Japan for lunch and then over to our place for a play. Once it was time to do drum practice - Kelly & Sam left and we went off to drums. Spence was having another off day and struggled with the practice, but kept at it.

Once we were done drums, I dropped Spence off and he did his Italian & Driver's Test and I got the last of my groceries & James' dry cleaning.

We made some supper and then chilled until James came home. James and I walked the dogs after supper and now will relax and watch TV for the rest of the night.

2012-01-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

I got Spence up just after 8am and we read Inheritance while he at his breakfast. I headed off to meet with a client and he decided he needed some more sleep.

Once I got home, we read some history (Spain today), then did some spelling, drum practice (he was so not into that today), he read Reven and then we did math (more logic problems), then he finished editing his essay (posted earlier today) and he did Italian while I posted the essay.

He brought down his dishes from the lounge and made his bed and then we got ready to go get Karma from daycare and to get a new video game for Spence (we still had some gift card $, so that went well).

We got home and finished making supper (macaroni & potatoes with cucumber salad) and I brushed the dogs (they are shedding tonnes right now) and then after supper, James and I went for a good walk around the neighbourhood.

Ancient Roman Armour

2012-01-23T16:06:00.001-07:00

2012-01-22T18:06:00.001-07:00

We slept in a bit this morning and then Karma decided it was time to get up and jumped on the bed. Nothing like getting licked in the face to get you up quickly. After a doggie snuggle for the family, we got up and pretty much chilled for the day.

James and I walked the dogs a few times, I did some work, we went to Planet Organic to do some shopping and then I made some chocolate chip cookies and some crackers (oatmeal, flax seed, sesame & sunflower seed crackers), which both turned out pretty good.

For supper we made some salad - which was great and some soup (for James), I made soup - but was too full to eat it. Spence had chicken nuggets for supper.

2012-01-20T20:10:00.000-07:00

So, I let Spence sleep in a bit today as he was not feeling well last night and I thought we'd just stay home today...he had other plans.

He did his school quickly - Inheritance during breakfast, spelling, started on logic in math, printing, history - War of the Roses in England. He practiced drums, his driver's exam, Italian and I looked at his essay and gave him some areas to continue to work on next week.

We had lunch and left for Southland Leisure Centre to meet up with some of the H/S teens we know.

While the mom's chatted, the boys had conspired earlier to help Spence out in asking one of the girls on a date. He asked, she said yes - they are planning to go rock climbing.

So another milestone passed - I thought he'd be driving before he went and asked a girl out.

Once we got home, he and Sam went to Mac's to get slurppees and then after Sam left, he vacuumed while I worked on making pizza for supper.

2012-01-19T16:14:00.002-07:00

James was not feeling great last night and was worse this morning, but went to work to share his cold... but left some of it here for Spence.

Spence woke up with a sore throat, sinus' all stuffy and nauseous and a headache to top it all off. We decided that going to spread the cold at the archery centre today, probably wasn't a good idea, so we backed out of the activity.

Spence had breakfast and some meds and we started in on reading Inheritance, then we did some easy math - quiz today, spelling, we read about Joan of Arc - we were going to watch Through the Wormhole, but the cable guy had come and switched out our PVR and so all our shows were gone. Now we'll have to reset the whole thing up - but hopefully this new box won't have issues like the last one.

Then Spence did his driver's exam (90% today, I think he will pass), studied his Italian, did his drum practice, edited his essay and tidied up his lounge.

We stopped for lunch in between and I popped out to the post office to send Skullcandy the headphones we purchased in November in FL for Spence - they broke and so Skullcandy has a warranty program that will repair or replace the headphones.

I made some banana bread and popcorn for snacking on and put the potatoes in the oven for dinner. Now it's time to relax and see about setting up all our shows again to tape :(

2012-01-18T23:09:00.002-07:00

Busy day again. I had to go in for a client meeting first thing and Spence started school while I was out. For school - it was history (well half a show, the cable died part way through and didn't come back for a while), math - last of our geometry portion of math! YaY! Good introduction to the course, Spence got the overall concepts and ideas - definitely not his favorite math topic.

We continued with spelling, printing, editing his essay, drums, Italian, driver's exam and we read Inheritance.

We tidied the house, had lunch and then headed out to Corbin's for the afternoon. It was great of Rebecca and family to have us there - the boys had a great time together and we had brought some stuff for supper and had a potluck.

After supper, the boys went to their science class - the experiment didn't work for Spence and his team mates - the elastics were too short.

James picked Karma up from daycare, walked the dogs and had a night to himself. We got home in time for both Spence and James to head off to bed and for me to get a bit of work done.

2012-01-17T23:02:00.002-07:00

Another busy day :)

We started with Inheritance and went onto Genghis Khan (he was a mean one). We did spelling, math (more theories and proofs - we'll have to work more on those, as Spence didn't do very well on the problem set), then it was time to read the Driver's Handbook, work on his essay and do some Italian.

I popped off to grab the groceries for the week, while Spence finished cleaning his bathroom a bit and then chilled. By the time I got home, it was time to leave for drum lessons and once back, we walked the dogs and started on supper (taco Tuesday).

I was getting ready to take Karma out for another pee break when James got home and we had supper then relaxed and watched some TV for the rest of the night.

2012-01-16T18:47:00.002-07:00

During breakfast we read Inheritance, then we did spelling, math - more postulates / theorums (who knew there were so many in geometry ..... ok, so I never paid a lot of attention in class :] ). Then it was time to practice printing, watch how Hannibal was not a genius and was a real nasty fellow.

Spence continued with Italian, worked on his essay, read his driver's handbook, practiced drums and tidied up a bit.

While he was finishing up, I got read and headed out to my client's place. The parkade was full, so I ended up having to park outside...thinking the huge premium is worthwhile when it's cold.

Made perogies for supper and Spence went off with grampa for dinner at his place.

2012-01-15T09:46:00.002-07:00

Saturday was a nice easy day - we all pretty much chilled, did a big walk with the dogs and got ready for supper with grampa (buffalo burgers and home style fries).

2012-01-13T18:20:00.001-07:00

We had a busy day today - started with Inheritance, spelling, math, driver's handbook, drum practice, essay, Italian and finally got the laundry going.

While he finished up, I went to get a trim. When I got home, we headed out to COP to meet up with Don and his mum for some ski time.

We skied for almost an hour before heading home for a quick shower and heading out to the Library to meet up with the teen group.

We left just after 3pm and were home before 4. We took the pups for a walk (Karma was in daycare again today) and then they both laid down in exhaustion (well you know that Hunter is always exhausted).

We all are planning to chill for the rest of the evening.

2012-01-12T20:23:00.001-07:00

We started with Inheritance and moved to spelling, the theft of the Mona Lisa in the early 1900's and then he did his Italian and Driver's Exam. He decided he was going to stop reading Reven for now and concentrate on reading through the driver's manual before he does his exam.

We went over to Jake & Chris' place and had a great visit. We headed home and picked Karma up (who was exhausted) then he did his essay, drum practice, math and we bathed the dogs (who don't like baths).

While he did that, I made some stir fry / rice / noodles and we both walked the dogs in between all of that.

James in the meantime went to get his haircut after work and we are all chilling for the rest of the night.

2012-01-11T19:50:00.001-07:00

We started off with Inheritance, then spelling and then we got ready to get Spencer's hair cut. He decided on cutting his hair short today - which took me by surprise when I saw him. He looks great, but different from the look he's been sporting for the past year or so.

We came home and did math, printing practice, he practiced his drums, worked on his essay. He finished off with Italian & his driver's exam, while I got ready to head out to a client site.

He chilled with Karma & Hunter for the rest of the afternoon and I worked. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and then we made pasta with tomato sauce for supper.

2012-01-10T19:52:00.000-07:00

We started with Inheritance, moved onto Reven & Italian before taking both dogs for a big walk. While Spence read Reven and did his Italian, I took Hunter to the vet for his annual exam. Well - he's old (we knew that), his eyesight has started to go (cataracts are starting to show) and she wasn't sure if he's doing selective hearing or having a hard time hearing certain sound pitches (he's going deaf too). She said his hips were swollen and that he should start on anti-inflammatory meds and so she did up the bloodwork to make sure he was ok on all of his major organs. He got his annual shots and was pronounced a healthy old dog. Once he's on anti-inflammatory meds, then with his arthritis meds - he should be able to do the walks more comfortably.

Once I got back and we finished our dog walk, we did spelling, drum review, watched Ancient cars & planes - man were there some interesting inventions that were developed. Then it was time for math, printing, essay and then had a break before drum lessons.

We headed off for drum lessons and then I dropped off Spence and headed to Future Shop to return some stuff. Got home and finished making supper - I had the chili on the slow cooker since last night and rice in the afternoon. I just had to finish up by making some buns - had to make a second batch because the first one didn't turn out at all. Spence and I ended up going to Mac's to add some nacho chips to the dinner and then we chilled for the rest of the night.

2012-01-09T20:25:00.000-07:00

After breakfast, we read Inheritance, we read about the Hundred Year War between England and France and did math and spelling. Spence then went on to do his Italian - he' not doing great with Rosetta Stone, his voice is not being recognized on a regular basis and it relies on learning to speak properly - so we added some ipad apps I had downloaded to try out and he loved them. For printing practice he even wrote a sentence in both English & Italian for me :) I was so impressed.

He did his drum practice and then had lunch before grama came to grab him for a movie and dinner. They went off to see Mission Impossible and I was off at a client meeting and then went to Best Buy to try and see about getting a keyboard for my ipad to test working on it for vacations.

I found one option - but am not completely impressed with it....so I'm still looking. In the meantime, our electrician came over to check why our breaker kept turning off. Turns out it's the portable heater - 1500 watts - breakers are only rated to 1500 watts and will trip at 1200 watts.....so why do stores sell only 1500 watt heaters? He told us where to get a 750 watt heater, so we'll get that tomorrow.

I also was following up on a shoe repair estimate - I dropped off the shoes on Thursday and he said he'd call me later that day - so I waited till today.....i called him, got told to hold and ten minutes later he comes back and says 'what?' - so I'm miffed that he didn't tell me to call back, etc - while I listened to him wait on several customers. I asked him about the shoes and at the end of the conversation - I'm going to get my shoes and he's not going to do anything to them. He either was having a bad day or was simply rude - not sure which, but I don't need to be told that I can take my business elsewhere if I don't want to wait until he's ready to talk to me.

Once James got home, we ate supper (hashbrown casserole, veggie burgers, corn & gravy) and then walked the dogs just over 4k tonight. Now it's time to relax and get comfy.

2012-01-08T18:58:00.001-07:00

We got up around the time we had planned, had breakfast and headed out of the hotel. We arrived in Canmore, before lunch and walked around to all the stores we had planned to visit - running shop, hiking shop, grizzly paw for pop.

We ended up getting some ice spikes for our shoes (which would have been great in Banff), I got one more winter hat, Spence and I each got a back pack for traveling with and the dogs each got a new collar.

We stopped at the Railway Deli for lunch and had a great sandwich each and then got some bison burgers to go, along with a new veggie burger and some walnut oil.

We got home, unpacked and got some supper on the go (scrounge tonight). Grama & Grampa came by for a visit and we caught up on their travels and they caught up on our weekend.

We had supper after they left and then took the dogs for a big walk and now we'll chill watching some TV for the rest of the night.

2012-01-07T14:00:00.003-07:00

Got up nice and early today - took the dogs for a walk, then James went off to take some pics and Spence and I had breakfast. After James got back and we had coffee, the boys went off to the pool and I took Karma out for another walk.

We all got back about the same time and headed out to Eddie Burger for lunch - had a great lunch. Kobe beef burger for Spence (who said he decided he liked Bison better), James and I split a veggie burger and he had a salad, Spence had fries and we all shared chili cheese fries - which were done up like poutine but with chili. The chili was vegetarian, so I ate that with the fries and the boys ate the rest. Spence also managed a cookies & cream milk shake to top it all off.

We then went for a walk along main street with the pups and Spence scored a great pair of North Face slippers (they are down slippers - just like his jacket) and then I scored a great toque at Pategonia and once we got back to the hotel James and I get some neck warmers and I got a pair of gloves for the dog walks.

Excellent afternoon. We napped, chilled, walked the dogs some more and then while Spence stayed in and had room service, James and I tried Castello's in the hotel (Italian). The food was pretty good, way too much - James keeps saying "too full". After supper, we walked and walked some more and then headed to the pool for a hot tub. It was cut short by some very loud men yelling at each other (I'm not sure they realized they were yelling), so we left after 15 minutes and are now resting for the rest of the night.

2012-01-06T21:05:00.001-07:00

So Karma got up just after 6 and needed to go, then again at 7 and again at 8 and so on every hour until I called the vet and was told to take her to emergency as they couldn't see her and it sounded like she had a bug of some kind.

It was 1 before I got to the vet and almost 4 before I left - but she's better now. She does have a bug, she's a tired and sick little puppy. She had some meds and now on a bland diet for then next 36 - 48 hrs.

In the meantime, we did school - Inheritance, Spence read his book for a few hours and we did math and spelling. We also cleaned the house a bit, packed for Banff and got organized with the puppies.

James came home just after I got back with Karma and we headed off to Banff. The line of cars coming into Calgary all the way past Banff was pretty steady, while the cars going out to Banff was pretty thin... however, by the time we arrived in Banff we saw it was a pretty busy place.

We had reservations at Nurish, a vegetarian restaurant I saw great reviews on in Banff. We each got a choice this weekend and that one was mine. I had read it was really reasonably priced, excellent food. The place was cute, not reasonably priced and the food was good - but not on par with the pricing. I was disappointed and so although the food was good, it wasn't good enough for me to want to go back at the prices they charge.

We then headed to the hotel and found that when you check in online - you don't have to go to the check-in area...you get your key when you drive up to the front lobby door from the bellman (which is cool). We had opted to use our free suite upgrade this time as we're almost out of time to use our Fairmont coupons. We usually get a specific room at the hotel, which is a bit larger and has a sitting area - but because it has no separate room for the beds, it's considered a regular room. The upgrade is cool - but not much bigger than our regular room - so we all said that because it's free, it's all good - but none of us would pay the upcharge to stay in this suite over our regular room.

James and I walked over to the cafe when we were settled and grabbed dessert and coffee and walked back in time to take Karma / Hunter out for their nightly walk.

Now we're all chilling.

2012-01-05T22:07:00.002-07:00

It was another busy day for us today. I got Spence up and we read Inheritance and then he did his silent reading. We continued with math (more postulates), printing practice, spelling and then we started watching Machines of the Gods. We got only 1/2 way through before we had to leave for Panorama Hills to have lunch with Sam & Kelly and boulder a bit.

We got there and tried out the rock and found that even though it was a balmy 10 degrees and no snow was anywhere around - it was cold enough that we couldn't hold onto the rock for any length of time, so instead we just had a picnic lunch.

I dropped Spence off at home and headed off to my nutritionist. I stopped off at the pet shop to get a new lead for Karma's leash (she ate through the last lead) and then the bottle depot to drop off our bottles.

I got home at instead of our planned dinner (quinoa & grilled chicken skewers), we all decided on Chinese.

2012-01-04T17:44:00.000-07:00

Busy day today. We started early so that we had enough time to get school done and be ready for Nerf Wars.

We started with Inheritance, moved onto silent reading, History of the World (black plague today), spelling, drums, math and printing.

We tidied up the house and ate lunch before everyone started arriving. We ended up with 6 boys - they played for a good two hours before coming inside to snack/drink/play video games.

I ended up taking Karma for a big walk with the moms and then we chilled until the game time was over. Karma really wants to play with other dogs - but today we didn't see any who wanted to play while on any of our walks :(

For supper, we made Thai coconut curry sauce and some Butter Chicken with rice.

2012-01-03T17:43:00.001-07:00

It was a good first day at school for Spence. We started with Inheritance and then he went onto Reven and read for about 2 hours before he was ready to continue with school. In the meantime, Shaw showed up early and tried to fix our PVR setup. At the end, he said he did all he could and if the problem persists, they will replace the system.

Spence continued with doing his drivers exam and didn't do great (so he goes back to studying tomorrow) and then he took a break for lunch and decided on his new essay topic. We did spelling quiz and math quiz to start the week and then Spence cleaned his bathroom and vacuumed the house.

We then left for drum lessons and to get a few more nerf bullets for tomorrow's nerf war.

2012-01-03T01:05:00.002-07:00

Last vacation day for us all and so we spent it continuing to chill. We went to Kinjo's for lunch and used some of the GC that James got for xmas and then grabbed a few grocery items and headed home again.

Tonight we had potatos, grilled chicken and gravy for supper and watched a Mentalist marathon on TV - great way to end the holidays.

Tomorrow it's back to regular school / work / activities .... no more sleeping in :(

2012-01-01T23:22:00.004-07:00

Getting better, James is pretty much over the cold and Spence and I are still struggling getting over it (me more than Spence).

We took down our holiday stuff today, I made some potato/onion/cheese bread for a change of pace and we had penne with sauteed garlic & olive oil for supper.

Pretty much just hung out again, went for a shorter walk today (it was cold!) with the pups and then for a few more play / walks with them throughout the day.

2011-12-31T18:04:00.001-07:00

All still sick (various stages), so pretty do nothing day. We took Karma out and ran into a friend from James' work and the pups played for a good half hour - wearing out Karma. I got the guac ready, some bruschetta, made madeleines (they turned out sooo good) and got all the appy stuff out to defrost for tonight (wings, meatballs, calamari, mozza sticks, nachos and desserts - pies, cakes & cookies).

I also finished reorganizing my pantry and realized I didn't leave any room for my cookbooks - so I'll have to find a nook for them later.

After some naps, we walked the dogs again and started on the appies and mythbuster's marathon.

Happy New Years Everyone!

2011-12-30T20:45:00.002-07:00

This having a cold is getting old and sucks - James managed to give it to both Spence and me and is still recovering himself - so we're all in various stages of sickness.

James and I have been managing to walk with Karma & Hunter each day for at least an hour + we do a bunch of shorter walks / plays. I got Karma a 30' steel leash that attaches to her 5' steel leash (it's the only thing she hasn't eaten through) and we let her play in the park with other dogs now without getting your arm torn off and without having to join the doggy fray.

We also have been working on come and fetch with Karma and she's figuring it out - as long as she isn't too distracted.

We watched the last of the old Star Wars tonight after supper. Supper was quartered potatoes baked in the oven with grilled bison burgers and chicken breast.

2011-12-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - we chilled for a bit and then we had Roan & Sophie over for a visit.

Thursday - we chilled and then headed off to Corbin's place for a visit.

Friday - we plan to chill at home and get some appies for New Year's Eve

2011-12-27T18:30:00.000-07:00

Last day off for James - unless he takes more vacation days. He's still not 100%, so he may stay home at least part of the day tomorrow and Thursday.

We spent the day at home, ran a few errands and made papusa's and taco's for supper.

2011-12-27T00:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday, Sunday & Monday .....

The boys pretty much chilled and played video games the whole time. James has a nasty cold, which he seems to be trying to share with us.

We got up Xmas morning and opened all our pressies - we had some great stuff under the tree.

Today, while the boys were at home, I went into work and did a full day of photocopying/scanning (not my favorite task) and now I have to save all the files and label them (again, not a fun task) and hopefully I'll be able to head in on Friday for another at least half day and get at least partially caught up in between.

2011-12-23T20:58:00.000-07:00

Spence was up early, so we decided to start school early. We started with Inheritance and then went onto math - the web 10 math and found out that the next section we're doing is poorly written - so we're just commenting on that and skipping it. We did spelling, drum practice and then he vacuumed while I cleaned the kitchen a bit.

We left to meet James at Harry Rosen for his semi-annual sale shopping and did great with a sport jacket, 2 pants, 4 shirts, a sweater and some ties. We headed to Brooks Bros. for undershirts and I saw they had my fitted button downs in my size that I've been hunting for - so I got three different colours and should be set now for another year or two :) The girl said I could wait until the sale next week - but they never have my size, so I just bought the shirts full price (ACK! I hate paying full price).

The boys headed off for a quick food court lunch and then home to rest up and I headed over to a client's place to get some work done without interruptions.

The boys had scrounge night, while I dined on cookies and cranberry juice, until I got home and made a sandwich. We're just hanging out tonight and chilling.

2011-12-22T14:48:00.001-07:00

Well, everyone woke up under the weather today. James was debating if he should go to work or not, I was debating going back for more sleep to fix my stuffy nose & headache and Spence slept until 10:30 and got up still stuffy and feeling off.

James ended up going to work, I ended up staying up and trying to catch up on chores and Spence decided he needed a full sick day - until I said no video games if he takes a sick day.

Spence and I were supposed to head out to COP this morning to meet up with some h/s kids, but the hill was closed until further notice due to a power outage....so I let him sleep.

This is Karma's doggy daycare day and even she was tired and out of it. She lay down on the floor to eat and then went back to sleep when she was done - I had to get her up again and get her going.

Spence decided he'd better do school if he is going to play video games, but we decided to do light school. We started with math quiz, spelling, printing & light reading....he continued with drums and Ancient Discoveries - Mega Builders and then called it a day. He is wrapped up in his blanket and robe and chillin watching TV and playing video games now.

While he was out like a light, I decided I'd start working on supper - tomato sauce for our polenta tonight and as a pizza sauce for tomorrow's pizza dinner. I made some polenta with mushrooms and onions and I pulled out the chicken breast, so that we could have that as the main part of the meal.

I found a cookie that I wanted to try - it's like a mini pie made with a pastry dough....well it didn't turn out like the pictures at all, but they taste ok. I don't think I'll try this recipe again. I also made some sour dough french bread for dinner tonight, so we're all set for that and some TV watching.

2011-12-21T15:38:00.002-07:00

After breakfast, we read Inheritance, Spence did his printing, spelling, watched Real Pirates of the Caribbean (a history channel show that was really good). He practiced his drums, did some reading and did his math.

While he tidied up his room and put away his laundry, Nicole came with her two dogs and her and I went out back to let them play. I thought that it was all enclosed, but there was an exit by Bev's place - so we each stationed ourselves at an exit and let the dogs run.

The dogs played for about an hour before we were very very cold and the dogs were wore out. She has an electric collar on her young one and she's the third or fourth owner I've seen with them. She showed me how it worked and it really allows her pup to roam without a leash but still hear her. Karma was pretty good - but she completely ignored everything I said while playing....good the other dogs never really left the back area, or she would have followed. Hunter sat quietly, did his own thing and waited for the kids to finish playing - he had no interest in joining them.

When we got back in the house, we had tea and the dogs rested. After Nicole left, Spence and I got ready and headed out for groceries. We had originally planned to go sledding down south this afternoon, but people said they were sick and so were going to skip it. We thought we'd still go and called up Sam & Kelly to see if they wanted to join us and also Joanne & Jacob. Sam could come, but Jacob was busy and so we headed over and picked Sam up.

We thought we'd go to the University to sled, but decided to stay closer to home. We checked out a few hills and none of them ended up having enough snow to sled down on - maybe one did, but we couldn't figure out how to get there and that's probably why there was still snow on it. Instead, we headed back to our place for the boys to play. Tonight we're having veggie butter chicken and rice for supper.

2011-12-20T17:49:00.000-07:00

After breakfast this morning we started on the last book in the Eragon series, it starts off by recapping the other three books - which is a good idea at this point as we haven't re-read the other ones.

We continued with Ancient Discoveries (Robots - very cool show) and went on to spelling, working out the cost of driving for Spence (insurance - turns out no premium increase until he turns 16 and get's his class 5 license). Then we took the dogs for a huge walk as we weren't going skiing per our original plan.

Spence then worked on his math problems, printing, learning how to restring his bow, practiced drums, reading and tidying his lounge.

We had a bit of time before Jacob came over for a visit and then when Jacob left, James came home. I bailed on swimming tonight, but James went.

I made fish tacos, but James wanted a veggie chicken wrap and so Spence ended up with all the fish tonight - which he was pretty pleased with. Now it's time for the guys to play Star Wars and for me to catch up on some work.

2011-12-19T19:27:00.003-07:00

After breakfast, we read the Hunger Games, Spence did his reading, we read History of the World - Emperor Suleman. Turns out he had spies who worked for him to make sure his judges were being fair and just and applying the laws he set down for all, and he went around disguised and watched his judges do their work.

We did spelling, math and printing. Spence finished off with drum practice and lunch and then I headed off to my client and he chilled.

James and I met at the climbing wall and did some bouldering and then we headed home. I picked Karma up on the way and she was excited to get home....not as worn out tonight as she has been in the past week, so we'll take her out for a long play tomorrow.

Tonight was an easy night - burgers & fries

2011-12-18T22:18:00.001-07:00

James went off early to ski at Sunshine today with Graeme. While he was out driving to the mountains, the rest of us slept in. I got up at 8 and decided that was too early and then we all got up just after 8:30 as Karma decided she'd waited long enough to go pee.

The boys had gone to bed at 1am, but stayed up an extra hour talking, so they were pretty zonked. I got crepes ready with soup for Spence and while I did that, Karma went for a quick walk. After we ate, I took both dogs out for a walk and let the boys have some more play time.

Around lunch, we got organized for Jonathan to head home and took the dogs for one more big walk before leaving - we ran into Brandy, Bear and Misha who were all young and about Karma's size (ok - bear is a bear - he's a massive husky - built like a bear) and so they all played for a half hour with one of us attached to Karma the whole time as it was out in the open field. When she was played out, we all headed back and had lunch and then left for Jonathan's house.

We arrived there and stayed for coffee / play (because the boys didn't have enough time together) :) Coffee was great and the boys had a terrific time. We had taken both Karma & Hunter with us and they chilled in the truck for the whole time and we left them just roaming the back of the truck, which seems to have suited them both just fine. Seems like Hunter doesn't want to be left behind when we take Karma out, even though he hyperventilates the entire time in the car.

We got home, did some chores and then took them for another walk. We put Karma in the kennel and headed off to Kinjo's for supper. Spence and I shared some tofu, spinach salad and we each had an 8 pc roll and one more small roll for Spence.

James had texted that they were at Eddie's Burger Bar having dinner and he arrived home just before we did after supper. We all chilled for the rest of the night and James and Spence both went to bed early from a very exhausting weekend.

2011-12-18T01:08:00.002-07:00

Showing Jonathan how to shoot

getting setup and showing them how its done

a little more instruction is needed

Getting back into the groove

Done after an hour of shooting - time for a slurpee

Saturday December 17

2011-12-18T00:48:00.001-07:00

James went off to work at 8, and I went back to bed....this was after we had been up for an hour. James managed both a swim before work and a quick ski after work - much more active than either Spence or myself.

When we got up (me for a second time and Spence for the first time), we had breakfast and then walked the dogs. Hunter went back with Spence after a few pee's and I took Karma for a jog/trot. While doing our jog/trot - we ran into a few dogs, a little one that she played very gently with and then we found Lucky - she's a shepher/collie cross and about the same size as Karma - they rough housed for a good half hour - gentle bites, rolls, etc. Karma got distracted by another two shelties for a bit, but did remember that I had treats for her after a bit. She was so tired when we were done.

We chilled until Jonathan came over just after lunch and then after a bit we went to the Calgary Archery Centre for some archery time. The boys had a great time and Karma even got to come in (we decided to take her with us, as we didn't know how long we'd be).

We got home, started on supper (wings & pizza) and the boys went upstairs to watch TV & play video games and James and I caught up on some PVR'd shows.

Bowling with the teen h/s group at Chinook

2011-12-16T18:11:00.000-07:00

2011-12-16T18:09:00.000-07:00

During breakfast we continued with the Hunger Games. Then it was math quiz, spelling quiz, checking account updates, planning for next week's school and then he finished his paper on Canadian inventions (posted earlier today).

He watched Ancients Behaving Badly (Cleopatra) today and then did his Italian. It was time for lunch and then time to head to the teen bowling event.

We decided to take Karma with us and see how she did in the car in her kennel as it was 5 degrees outside. Spence had a great time and Karma was happy (until she saw us, then wanted out to play). We headed to Safeway to grab some coffee & yogurt. Spence took Karma for a quick walk while I got the stuff and then we all headed home.

I started working on supper - rice, stir fry & veggie ginger chicken and we both did our chores.

Spencer's paper on Canadian inventions

2011-12-16T10:25:00.001-07:00

2011-12-15T18:57:00.001-07:00

I let Spence sleep in today. James and I had gone for a swim at the pool first thing this morning and when I got home, I took Karma to daycare. She was so excited when she saw where we were - and couldn't wait to get into the dog pile.

I got home, got organized for skiing and then got breakfast organized for Spence. Spence got up and we read the Hunger Games, went skiing, went to Burger King, the pet store & once we were home again, we did spelling, drums, reading, math self test (21/24) and printing.

He took a quick break and then he started cooking supper - he made a tomato roasted pepper sauce with pasta and I made some fresh bread to go with it. I also tried out a new recipe - date & pecan squares, which turned out yummy.

I went off to get Karma, who was ready to sleep by the time I came and after supper, we're now all chillin.

Wednesday December 14, 2011

2011-12-15T01:06:00.000-07:00

It was an early day for Spence - he got up at 6:15 to take Karma out for a pee and then I got him up at 7 to do school before I left for a client meeting.

We ended up finishing the Hunger Games, drums, spelling and math before I left and then he finished reading, editing his essay and printing while I was out.

The dogs both chilled with him today and once I was home after errands & groceries, we went for another walk before supper.

Tonight was soup and salad - but Spence wanted left over tacos and James ended up with left over taco rice with steak.

James and I had planned on swimming tonight at VRRI - but once we got there and paid, we found out it was family swim night - not lane swim night as we were told numerous times (over the phone, before we paid, while we stood there watching them remove the lane markers)...hm....they need more up to date schedules I think. They said they would refund us our money (tomorrow as they didin't know how to do it) and we'll try tomorrow morning instead.

Tuesday December 13, 2011

2011-12-13T10:00:00.000-07:00

So, Star Wars the game came out today at 6am. Spence was up at 7am and already getting organized for a day of playing. He warned me yesterday that if he got in early - he wanted to do a Friday school day and to play the game.

So we got going for school at 8am - we read the Hunger Games, did a spelling quiz a math quiz and he did his drum practice. He got dressed and got ready for the orthodontist and he walked Karma for a good half hour.

Once back from the orthodontist, he settled in to play for the rest of the day and I got some chores and work done - so not bad.

Tonight is Taco Tuesday - so tacos for supper and then Star Wars for the boys and TV/work for me.

2011-12-12T18:04:00.001-07:00

Karma was up around 6:30, which worked out fine as I planned to take her to doggy daycare today. I took her while James was getting ready for work - I wasn't sure how she would do, but when I picked her up at 5, she was tuckered and really well behaved around the dogs.

I got Spence up just after 8, so we could be done school early. We read the Hunger Games, while he ate breakfast. We then did math - more lines & space & points, spelling, printing practice, reading, drums, and Ancients Behaving Badly - Nero (who wasn't crazy, just power hungry and goal driven...although anyone who tells wife #1, either commit suicide or I'll have my guards off you and then beats wife #2 to death - can't claim that he's all there).

Tonight we're having perogies and left over pizza for Spence.

2011-12-11T22:53:00.001-07:00

We all slept in this morning. When we finally got up, the boys went out for a ski at COP and I took Karma for an hour long walk/jog. When I got home, I got a few chores done and waited for the boys to arrive back home.

Spence had been smacking his toes in his boots the entire time and so it was decided once they got home, he'd be getting new ski boots. We put Karma in her kennel after another quick walk and headed to Pulcinella for lunch and then walked over to the ski store afterwards.

It took a while, but we got Spencer new boots and they got fitted. James got replacement skis for his old ones that are all warped and bubbled for COP type skiing and I tried on a few new ski jackets as the boys were telling me how old my current shell looks. I didn't find anything though, so we left with boots for Spence and new skis for James. James will pop in tomorrow and drop off Spencer's old skis so they can get fitted to the new boots and for them to swap out James' bindings from the old skis to the new ones.

We then headed home and found Karma relaxed in her kennel and Hunter chilling with her. We then relaxed for a bit and then started on supper. Tonight it was mashed potatoes with roasted garlic and gravy, steak with a Bobby Flay bbq sauce that turned out quite good and some tomato and buffalo cheese salad. We ended supper with ice cream and popcorn while watching TV shows.

2011-12-10T23:04:00.001-07:00

Karma found her living room nap spot

At least one of them is napping :)

2011-12-10T21:36:00.001-07:00

The boys got up before I did, they let me sleep in. Once I was up, we had coffee and pancakes for breakfast (Spence had soup as usual). Once we were done and walked the dogs, James and I headed down to 17th for a walk & shop for xmas stocking stuffers.

We realized we could have brought Karma along as there were lots of dogs out on the sidewalk and hanging out along 17th. We parked near Tubby Dog and walked down to 4th, thinking we'd get the last part of my xmas pressy at Gravity Pope (a new pair of warm winter boots). Turns out my feet are abnormally small - the smallest they have is a 6 and with my feet being a good size or so smaller, that was a no go. We went next door and I found the winter coat I'd been looking for - for a few years... decided that would be a great last part of my xmas pressy.

We started heading back and hit a few stores without any further luck and headed over to Kensington to hit Fresh for some more stuffers - no luck finding parking, so we continued to Best Buy to exchange the camera that broke.

We got to Northland and stopped at Jugo Juice for a snack and then off to Best Buy. The girl was good - gave us the paperwork (once she found the old camera in the back) and said go find a new one bring it to customer service and we'll exchange the camera. Our 2nd Sony died - this one lasted about 18 months before it died and so since I had a warranty, I took it back and they said they would exchange it (after trying to fix it). This time I got a Panasonic Digital camera that is good underwater (40ft), shock proof (7') and is does both video and picture - James will take it to COP tomorrow to test out.

We got some chocolate on the way out of the mall and then stopped at Safeway to grab a few things I forgot when I went grocery shopping the other day.

We came home, James tuned the skis and I worked on supper - jerk rubbed chicken with mango serano chili sauce, rice and sour dough bread. I also made some banana bread and made the sauce for the steaks tomorrow night.

Greg came over for supper around 5 and we watched some ski movies. Now we're watching the video game awards and chilling.

2011-12-09T16:04:00.001-07:00

I let Spence sleep in a bit and then we got started with the Hunger Games and we finished book 2 and discovered I hadn't downloaded the 3rd book onto the ipad. While I downloaded the 3rd book, Spence did some reading and we played Monopoly for math - he was the banker, the real estate agent and the fines keeper - a great easy math day. We updated his budget, figured out next week for school and then watched Museum Secrets (Museum of Natural History) on History Channel and it was a really interesting show.

He did his spelling, printing practice and we reviewed his paper and decided he could work on it a bit more. Then he practiced drums, vacuumed, dusted and cleaned his bedroom enough that if Karma escapes while in the kennel, she won't be able to do too much damage (we hope).

He took breaks, all throughout the day (as it was an all day school day) and we watched some TV in between while taking breaks.

I took Karma to the vet and she got her stitches out and cone off - but has to wear the cone if she's in the kennel for the next 24 to 48 hours as the area is a little tender still and she may want to scratch at it. She's looking great though. She even had an hour in the kennel today after a big walk with me.

She wants to play with Hunter, but he's having none of it, so we found a doggie daycare close by that has a large dog play area and we're going to take her there to play a bit and get some of the puppy energy worked out.

James went to get his eyes checked at 3pm and then is heading home. Grama/Grampa & Auntie are coming over for a drink before taking Spence with them for Kinjo's and James and I are going to a Christmas party for one of my clients tonight at the Marriott. Then it'll be home and bed :)

2011-12-09T06:15:00.001-07:00

Yesterday we had a pretty good day - we read the Hunger Games, did some more metric to imperial conversions, spelling, drums, painting, silent reading, we went through our old h/s stuff and have a bunch to give away now and we tried watching Ancient Aliens and decided the show was just bad - not based in fact at all and so we cancelled the series recording on the PVR and we stopped the show.

Spence had a bit more cleaning to do after lunch and then he had time to play. I headed off to a client meeting and was done early enough to grab groceries on the way home. James beat me home and headed off to the gym and then after unloading the groceries we got ready to head out to the BBLP xmas party.

Spence had pizza at home and we had buffet at the party.

2011-12-07T15:04:00.001-07:00

During breakfast we continued reading the Hunger Games. Spence read more about training Husky & German Shepperds to see if he needed to do stuff he wasn't doing. Then we watched Ancients Behaving Badly - Caesar (who was a nasty fellow and sounds like he was a bit on the nutty side). He went to clean his bathroom enough to have guests be able to use it.

I had been working on lunch (Ethiopian stew & crepes) and after cleaning, we did math - metric to imperial conversions again and then spelling practice.

Sam & Kelly arrived just as lunch was rolling around and so we all sat down to some warm food - home made beef barley soup for Kelly & Sam and we all had some Ethiopian.

Kelly and I had some tea, while the boys played and then after Kelly left, the dishwasher guy came to fix the dispenser. The D/W is just over a year old and the dispenser stopped working on it - glad I had the warranty.

The boys took Karma out for a quick walk and then went out to play in the snow, while I did some chores. The boys came back in and they played a free trial of Dance City and then Fruit Ninja using the 360 Kinect.

Tonight it's Mac & Potatoes for supper and left over Ethiopian for Spence.

2011-12-06T16:27:00.001-07:00

I had to go to a client site this morning, so I let Spence sleep for a bit. While I was out, he watched his history show (All your history belongs to us), he did his silent reading, worked on his writing, did his printing practice, and played as Napoleon on his game - and was having difficulty in winning against the Russians.

When I got home, we had lunch and then read the Hunger Games, did spelling and then math. We did some chores around the house and then relaxed for a bit. We had planned on starting up drum lessons again, but Spencer's teacher called to say he had heart surgery while we were on holidays and we needed to skip it until he got better in January....so we'll practice at home for the next few weeks.

Tonight we have chili for supper and we plan on watching some TV.

2011-12-05T15:09:00.001-07:00

Well it was a busy day today - after Spence got up, we read the Hunger Games & History of the World (Turkish Empire today) and then he did his drums, started working on a paper about rollerblading, did his printing and reading and then went to play a historical war game while I went to the dietician to speak to her about my food.

Just before I got home, I texted Spence to be ready to hop out so we could grab his glasses. We were a total of a half hour there and back and Karma was still pretty good in the kennel. We let her out and then she pretty much chilled while we finished math and spelling and had a quick lunch before grama came.

We are having to relearn where we leave stuff as it turns out Karma has no problem stepping up to the table and taking away stray meatballs. I caught her with one in her mouth and decided Spence probably wouldn't want the last two in his bowl, now that they had Karma slobber all over them - I divvied them up between the two pups and cleaned off the table and counters in the kitchen.

Spence left shortly after lunch and then I put Karma back in the kennel for a few minutes, while I ate and took a call. I took her out and the three of us chilled for the rest of the afternoon in the livingroom - them sleeping and me doing a bit of work. The house was super cold, so had the fireplace on for a good portion of the afternoon.

James came home and we had left over appies for supper and then chilled for the rest of the night.

2011-12-04T18:37:00.001-07:00

We had a nice chillaxing day today. Went out for appie supplies around lunch and then started to cook - made roasted garlic soup, hummus, bruschetta, roasted peppers, we bought goat cheese, some spicy jams, truffle & mushroom spread, meatballs, tomato sauce for dipping, roasted garlic spread, flat bread, baguette (sliced / toasted) and chicken wings.

I finished cooking just before supper. We walked the dogs and then ate some supper, put the tree and decorations up and watched Elf.

Good Sunday

2011-12-03T15:54:00.001-07:00

I went to be really early last night as I was not feeling great. James got up early to head to the gym, I slept in until 8:30 and Spence was up shortly after that.

We had breakfast (crepes and soup for Spence) and then we all chilled for most of the rest of the day. I made some home made gnocchi (took me ages, but got the texture right), modified some left over canned sauce, made some Nutella cookie sandwiches and tried the apple cinnamon loaf again (turned out good).

Took the dogs for a walk before it got dark and now plan on trying to get better - we were supposed to go out to a christmas party tonight, but both James and I are just sniffling away and have both the chills and fever - so we thought we'd spare the folks at the party from our sickness.

2011-12-02T18:41:00.001-07:00

Today was a fun day :)

So I started by getting Spence up just after 8, so that he could have breakfast and walk the dog before we had to go to the optometrist at 9am.

We got Karma all organized, got her toys in the kennel and left just before our appt. Now, I like the clinic - it has all sorts of machines to make sure they know our eyes are healthy - but I hate their service. They were a half hour late taking us in, and after 6 years of going there - they still didn't have our information right. They called to remind me I had an appt, but emailed me twice to remind me to make an appt - all in the same week....we make our appts a year in advance. Not sure we'll be keeping the clinic as our place.

Spence walked out of the clinic with a prescription for glasses - minor one, but the doc thought it would be better to get it filled and have him wear it for stuff he had to make sure he could read clearly (-0.50 prescription). We stopped next door and found glasses quite quickly and had them fitted within a half hour. They were going to be ready in an hour, but we thought we should start heading home.

We stopped in Walmart on the way home to get a fridge light, a heater for Spencer's room as we use the old heater in the basement for when he plays drums and we got a light for the dining room as I was reminded it is really hard to eat and do printing practice in the dark.

There were no line ups and we were out of Walmart in a jiffy. We got home 2 hrs after we left and found Karma waiting for us at the door with Hunter.....now, since she was supposed to be in the kennel - this was a surprise and she nearly escaped out the garage door when Spence opened it up, not expecting her there.

We came upstairs and found the kennel door broken, my mephisto slippers eaten (one, the other was in the basement put on top of the presents) and Karma trying to decide if my jammies were next on the menu - the sleeves were wet, but it didn't look like she had time to do too much damage. She also ate through some of her toys.....so any plans we had to leave her alone in the kennel were revised.

She had been visiting the kennel on her own - but I guess it's different when the door is shut. I called the pet store and they said they would replace the kennel.

We finished up a bit of school - math, spelling, reading, Hunger Games, planning for next week and had a quick bite before Sam & Kelly came over.

The boys played, Karma chilled with them and Hunter with the moms. It was a great visit. The boys took Karma out for a big walk and some training in the park.

When they left, I went to the pet store and got some more bones, a leader harness (the gentle leader doesn't work well with the cone) and two crates - one metal one for inside the house and one like the original one for car travel (the metal ones are not for use as travel crates).

Got home, made pizza for Spence and me - he had pepperoni & pastrami pizza and I had a flat bread with garlic butter and mushrooms.

James was out tonight with a work function and we plan to chill for the rest of the night.

2011-12-01T18:23:00.001-07:00

We had our facilitator meeting today and Joe brought his daughter along - this was a good visit and so nice to meet his daughter.

We went through Spencer's education plan for the 2011/2012 school year and also went through what he's already accomplished since May when we started our year.

I took Karma back to the vet after our meeting - she had some red marks around her incision and Hunter never did. Turns out it was bruising from the multiple surgeries, so we just have to keep an eye on her.

We read the Hunger Games, watched Through the Wormhole (Aliens), Spelling, Math, Printing & Reading.

We finished just after lunch and then I headed to the grocery store and Spence chilled with Karma & Hunter.

When I got home, I made an apple cinnamon loaf (which I had to throw out - it was nasty!) - I'll try again tomorrow. I broiled some eggplant in miso (it was ok) and I made a tomato, avacado and cilantro salad to go with it. I also tried a new veggie chicken finger from gardein which I really liked.

Karma is downstairs with Hunter and me for a bit and we're all chillin watching some TV together.

2011-11-30T19:49:00.001-07:00

So - I don't think it's jetlag anymore, I think it's a cold. I seem to be fighting a bug and am really tired - but otherwise good.

Spence got a good sleep with Karma last night - she didn't wake him until 8:30 or so. After breakfast we started reading the 2nd book in the Hunger Games, Spence trained Karma - they were playing the follow me game and she figured out quick - he has treats, therefore I need to follow him.

He was also working on stay - which doesn't work for too long, but she's getting the idea. We did spelling & math quiz (I hadn't found our math text yet - still had one suitcase to unpack).

We watched Ancients Behaving Badly (Alexander the Great) and then some reading, printing, and dog walking.

We picked Spencer's next swim class - we can't register yet though, but at least we know which one he wants.

Spence went to play some video games and I headed to Walmart & Best Buy. I got a new dog mat for the kennel for Karma, two more leashes (she eats them like candy), some more bones to throw around the house for her.

I headed off to Best Buy and stopped off at Laura Secord on the way for some non-dairy chocolate (they had cashew covered and some mint ones) and then I hit Best Buy to see about fixing our camera. The little Sony won't turn on any longer and it's under warranty ..... so .... the girl told me the camera should be black (it's blue) and then she also said that the warranty wasn't attached to the camera. The manager got involved and she wrote a long explanation to the repair department, added in the receipts and said if they give it back, she'll call head office to see what they can do as it was their fault for not doing the purchase right in the first place.

I got home and we tidied up, I finished unpacking (and found the math text) and then walked the dogs again.

Supper tonight was panini's made with home made baguettes, fries and a side of either salad or corn chowder. It was yummy.

Now it's time to chill and see if there is any TV to watch.

2011-11-29T19:52:00.001-07:00

Karma went in for surgery today - her stitches weren't doing too well and so we opted to have the doc look at her and fix up any issues she found and to have her shots, as the old owner couldn't find the papers for the vaccinations.

While she was in, I let Spence sleep in a bit - he's been getting up between 7:45 and 8am with Karma to walk her and feed her. We started with finishing the first Hunger Games book, spelling, math, printing and reading more of the dog training book.

I got ready to meet with a client and Spence got some alone / Hunter time. Karma came home around 4pm and she's been chillin ever since.

I had made taco stuff before I left for work, but the boys decided to have scrounge - while I was getting my car out of jail. I parked on a side street and didn't notice the sign that now says no parking after 3.. and my car got impounded :( The lady said they changed the signs a little while ago so all the streets are now no parking after 3...ick.

2011-11-28T18:46:00.001-07:00

It was an interesting day. Spence and the dogs were up by 8am and we did our math quiz and spelling quiz and after the dog walk and breakfast we headed to the dentist for our checkups. We were both told we needed to come back - Spence, because he can't get into the back of where the braces are to clean his teeth right and they need to do some maintenance so he doesn't get cavities while wearing braces and I got told I had a small cavity and so I need to go back to get that done.

We stopped at the pet store to get food, a crate and some more bone type chew things for Karma. I forgot a bed thing for the crate, but otherwise we did well (the crate fits her, even with her cone on).

We got home and Spencer found that Karma had eaten his headset. I started on lunch, Spence did some dog training and then we took a break to eat.

Spence did some more training and then it was time to head out with grama for a movie. I took Karma into the vet for a checkup and her stitches are not doing well and so tomorrow she goes in for a repair job and then another 7 - 10 days of cone time :(

I took Karma for another little walk with Hunter and then we headed back home so I could make supper (pasta & sauce tonight). James and I watched TV and chilled for the rest of the night.

2011-11-27T16:39:00.001-07:00

The clock is slowly resetting itself - stayed up just past 10 :) and woke up around 8:30am.

The new puppy slept all night and was ready for a walk when Spence got up. I made some more crepes for breakfast and after giving some to the dogs (getting in trouble for feeding the puppy by Spencer) and then walking Hunter, we chilled for a bit.

We went to Best Buy to get James a new mouse for work and then headed back home for more chill time.

2011-11-26T20:32:00.001-07:00

Today, we were up early (but not as early as the past few days). Spence and I took the dogs out immediately, so that Karma could go pee. She had a good sleep, but punted Spence from his bean bag :)

Shaw showed up around 10am to see if they could do something about the speed of our internet - they couldn't. Once the guy left, I headed to the grocery store to get groceries for the next week.

When I got home, we all chilled some more and then got ready to head out for supper with grama & grampa at Kinjo's.

We left the dogs in the lounge and came home to an intact room (except for a leash Karma found to gnaw on). Dinner was good as usual and we left over full :)

Now it's time to start clearing out the PVR and hopefully making it up past 10pm

2011-11-26T09:34:00.001-07:00

Yesterday, James went back to work and both Spence and I got up early because we were still on Florida time.

It was a day off for Spence and I was working a bit and unpacking / getting organized around the house.

I checked the times for pet adoption on Saturday and Spence had a few puppies picked out, when I saw a husky/sheppard cross on Kijiji. Spence fell in love with the picture and we called the owner who happened to have the day off.

Karma had just been spayed a week ago and he was asking to get the spaying costs back - so he brought her over after her vet check and Spence and her hit it off right away and she stayed. The poor guy didn't think he'd be leaving her here, so he has to come back with her harness and other stuff. In the meantime, we dropped off the pet forms at our management company to let them know we have a new dog, popped by the vet to get Karma introduced to her new doc and to see what they needed in order to add her as a patient. We got all that worked out, got her micro-chipped and headed out for a quick walk.

We had Graeme over for supper - grilled chicken ceasar salad with garlic bread and watched some TV before we all toddled off to bed early - still catching up on the time change.

2011-11-24T22:20:00.001-07:00

Both Spence and James said that it smells so fresh back home - I think it's the cold :)

It was much better than I had thought it would be - pretty warm for the end of November (-4 right now). We arrived without incident and the ride home from the airport was pretty fast.

We decided to order Chinese on the way home and it was ready for pick up by the time we arrived home. Hunter was waiting at the door - Bev our neighbour was great and had dropped him off after supper. She was wonderful with Hunter.

2011-11-24T12:20:00.001-07:00

We all got up this morning and after a quick breakfast headed to the pool. It was COLD (ok, that is relative to Ft. Lauderdale)...it took a while to warm up enough to take off my robe.

The boys spent their time between the 250ft waterslide at the hotel and the hot tub. I spent my time between the hot tub and sitting in the sun warming up.

We left after about 1.5 hrs as the wind was really coming up and the clouds had come out to provide enough shade, to make it cold again.

We packed up and while the boys took the bags to the car (and for the first time - no extra bags needed to be purchased!) and I checked us out of the hotel. We then walked over to Margeritaville for lunch (which was pretty good) and then walked around Universal City Walk for a bit.

When we were done, we walked back to the hotel and got the car and headed to the airport early. We arrived - thinking we'd drop our bags off, but Westjet wasn't open, so we parked ourselves and are taking turns wandering the airport.

Our flight leaves at 5:30pm and so we've got some time to kill at the airport before we leave :)

2011-11-23T18:25:00.001-07:00

We packed last night and so this morning we loaded up the truck and headed south to Miami (Oleta State Park) for our Paddle Board lesson & tour. The tour guide was good and the paddle boarding was interesting, but we all decided it was probably our least favorite thing we did this trip (ok - other than blowing chunks on the boat).

We went down the same inlet initially and then turned right into another one with our boards - we saw some birds (who were a bit miffed that we disturbed their lunch of fish), a huge school of small fish and that was pretty much it today - the neat fish were all hiding today. The boards were probably smaller than what we would get back home - a bit on the wobbly side, but ok. Panic of course sets in when the board wobbles everytime you paddle, so after a bit, the feet & legs get numb and trembly - so then you have to figure out how to kneel or sit down on the board to continue paddling without tipping...tricky.

We finished our tour and headed for Olive Garden and then to Starbuck's for a drink for the road. We got all that and then headed north on the Turnpike to Orlando. We arrived at the Hard Rock Hotel (which is operated by Loew's Hotels) just before supper and after unloading the truck, we left Spence with his in room meal and James and I went off to hunt down some supper.

James and I ended up at Margeritaville (which is where we plan to have lunch tomorrow) and walked around a bit. I got my a cup from Starbuck's that says Florida on it - so I managed a few souvenirs for myself even though I didn't manage to really get any new spiffy clothing.

After supper, James and I headed to the hot tub for a bit and then back upstairs to repack - needed to actually fit everything back in the suitcases we have.

Tomorrow we plan to head down to the pool, have lunch at Margeritaville and then head out to the airport and then home.

2011-11-22T12:24:00.001-07:00

Saturday we stayed home for the morning and then headed down to South Beach in the afternoon to do Lincoln Avenue and the beach walk before heading off to Nobu for dinner. Gotta say, when we heard it was the best Japanese food outside of Japan, we thought everyone was just saying that - but they are right, it was amazing. The delivery & presentation were similar to Rush in Calgary. The waiter told us what to eat and we were thrilled with virtually every dish (Spence and James said their lobster miso soup wasn't at the same level as the rest of the meal). Overall a super meal and experience.

Sunday we got up early and even though it was pouring, we headed south to Miami to Oleta State Park to go kayaking (figuring that like everything - the rain would be localized). We arrived and it was overcast, but warm. Haven't seen as many expensive mountain bikes as we saw there - they have a 20 mile trek for the bikes around the park. We headed out to a sandbar - only visible during low tide. We then headed across the bay to an island which was made by dredging the canal and took a break there. We headed back across in very choppy water and Spence motored so fast, that we had trouble keeping up with him. He has some good upper body strength. We got back to the sheltered area and went through the mangroves with the guide. Until that point, it had been overcast or sunny - but then it poured and poured and by then my not water proof camera had died from being so wet and wouldn't revive itself. James took his video camera along, so we still managed to get some decent footage. While touring we found out that Florida has a grape tree, various types of mangroves and other trees - they introduced australian pine a while back and now it's an invasive species that they are in the process of removing. I saw a spotted ray, we all saw a variety of fish - including the checker box fish, some alligator type fish, a bunch of crabs, a banana type spider and a variety of birds. It was a great day out on the bay and in the trails and we decided we'd eat in. Ethan came by after fencing and the boys had their first sleepover.

Monday we got up and headed off to Homestead for some bread at Knausse Farms. Originally we had planned to head to Key West for the day, but decided it was too long of a trip for lunch. The bread and other goodies we bought we awesome and we were snacking before we left for lunch. The lunch place was closed, so we found a fast food place to go to and after that we headed home for a rest. We got a bit of rest, ate, went off to Ramp 48 and met up with Uli - they have done such a great job with the reno's at the skatepark! It was great to see him again, after we headed over for some fencing at Ethan's club. The club owner is so nice, he let Spence drop in twice - Spence was really enjoying the fencing. James and I headed home for some TV time - I was going to work, but decided I wanted to read instead.

Today (Tuesday) we got up early and picked Spence up on the way to surfing. We headed up to Deerfield Beach and Island Water Sports for a lesson with Mr. Mike - the surfing was great. We thought we would go diving again, but the waves were perfect for surfing and so we did that instead. Spence was a natural and was able to paddle into the waves and stand up on his board. James got up on his knees (which is better than he's ever done) and I managed to stand up a few times myself. The water was great (we had our wetsuits on, so we could stay in the water for the full lesson), we forgot to bring snacks and water and were soooo tired by the end of the lesson and hungry enough to eat whatever passed by us. We headed back to the shop to rinse off and then after we stopped in the store to see what was there (we got a t-shirt and hoodie), we went to Subway for lunch. We grabbed the food to go and headed straight to Boomer's for an afternoon of H/S fun. The boys (Ethan, Dalan, Brendan, Spence - I hope I spelled everyone's name correctly) got cards, that gave them access to the whole place - go carts, video games, mini-golf, etc. We think we'll be here a while, so probably hit a fast food place on the way home.

Tomorrow we head back to Orlando before our flight home on Thursday, but plan to go for a paddle board lesson first at Oleta State Park.

2011-11-18T14:02:00.001-07:00

So quick update....

Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday I worked for a few hours each day. We pretty much chilled, hung out with Todd, Michelle & Ethan and had park day, mall day and hang out day.

Today, I did a bit more work and we did some shopping. Tonight we're off to Skyline Chili again and then tomorrow we're off to South Beach.

Spence had a bit of a cold over the past few days and is finally getting better, James also got some of the cold - but not as bad.

2011-11-15T11:36:00.001-07:00

Monday - We pretty much hung out. We went to Sawgrass to check out the mall for deals and Spence walked away with a bunch of great stuff. I did some work and the boys watched TV - we were all still recovering from the boat.

Today (Tuesday) - I worked all morning, the boys went swimming and then we all went to Bass Pro to check out the store and then over to Todd, Michelle's & Ethan's for a few hours before heading home. Tonight we're doing taco Tuesday :)

2011-11-13T14:28:00.001-07:00

We all got up early enough and headed to the boat - the instructor tells us 'it's a bit choppy' (he meant 4 - 6 ft waves....guess we need to define 'choppy' next time).

We get on the boat, get organized and off we go. Before we get out too far, I'm fixated on the horizon and the boys are starting to look as bad as I feel.

We ended up at a different wreck than we planned - we ended up on the Ancient Mariner (http://www.southfloridadiving.com/wreck-dive-sites/ancient-mariner.html) which was a boat, turned restaurant turned Hep A breakout and then sunk as an artificial reef. It was in 50' - 70' of water and it was Spencer's last open water dive. He only had one or two skills to do and then he got to dive the wreck - including going into the wreck and checking it out. James and I did the same and once down under 15' it was calm and beautiful.

We had a good 30 - 40' visibility and the number and variety of fish were amazing. We went up after almost a half hour under the water and met up with Spence and Dave his instructor at the stop line. Once the dive computer said we could head up - we went back to the boat. It was the easiest boat re-entry I've ever had and all thanks to the great guys on board.

We waited and while waiting - got more sick. We headed to the next dive site and Spence started spewing all over me - wet water - cold, then warm chunks .... I didn't want to turn to see who was spewing, so I patiently waited and then got rinsed off as much as possible from the spew. Then it was the guy at the back of the boat and it went around - James had his turns and the front of the boat was cheering and spewing too. I managed to keep it down - but only because I refused to take my eyes off the horizon. James and I both skipped the reef dive - even though we knew that it would be better in the water.

We finished diving and came back in and they called the 2nd dive of the day due to the weather. We dropped off our gear and Spence got his papers signed off and he's now a certified diver and has some extra college credits :)

By the time we got home, we were all feeling better and after some hot showers we felt normal again and were able to laugh about the whole boat trip.

The instructors Spence had in both Calgary (Aquasport) and here (Gold Coast Scuba) were terrific teachers and we would recommend both shops - the owners at both places were great in getting us what we needed for our dives.

We had a bit of a rest and then headed off to Todd, Michelle & Ethan's for a bit of computer time and then out to celebrate the dive certification at Skyline with them :)

Overall a pretty good day!

Dives 1 - 3 Tiger Tail Lake (Broward County)

2011-11-12T13:57:00.001-07:00

Yes, can't you tell I'm excited?

Getting my gear together - had to kick mom way out of the way, so she wouldn't 'help'

1st dive - open water

2011-11-12T13:52:00.001-07:00

James and I got up at the unglodly hour of 5:30 am to get ready for the diving class for Spence. We were at the beach by 6:45 and we parked at one beach parking and the instructor at another down the block. He finally figured we must have parked somewhere else and found us and by 7:15 we had all decided the beach was too nasty to dive at.

We ended up by Bass Pro shop, where the local college has a training lake and Spence did 3 out of his 4 practice dives today.

He was tired but very happy and even had a fish swim up to him during the dive. James was going to take some video, but discovered after the fact that you need to press the power button on the camera in order for it to actually tape.

While Spence was diving, James and I stopped off at Divers Direct and got me a 5mm wetsuit as the one I brought from Calgary was a 3mm not a 5mm - so I'll have to return that to the store for a credit. James also got Spence some food for after the dive as we ran out of food part way through the dive day.

We got home, had a snack and headed over to Todd & Michelle's. Todd, Ethan, James & Spence settled in to play video games and Michelle & I headed off to T-Mobile to check out their data plans. I got a 3GB plan for the ipad and am just waiting for it to turn itself on. In the meantime, we're all just chillin until it's time for supper - we're planning on popping by the grocery store for some frozen pizza and then some chillin at the hot tub, some TV and then early bedtime because we're diving a wreck tomorrow for Spencer's 4th dive.

2011-11-11T17:16:00.001-07:00

Thursday we drove from Orlando to Ft. Lauderdale and stopped off at Taco City in Cocoa Beach - one of our favorite spots. Great lunch and we arrived in Weston, FL just before supper time.

We got into our hotel room at the time share and settled in. We tried to get internet, but the hotel internet is so bad, we could only get a few bars if we were in one corner of the kitchen - so we got a refund. The phones don't have a data plan - so we are borrowing Todd & Michelle's when we come on by to their place.

Today was another relax day and we got our stuff from the local dive shop (Gold Coast Scuba) in preparation for diving tomorrow.

2011-11-09T19:37:00.001-07:00

Various birds

Shingle Creek / River

Baby Gator

Jethro - 11' long and hiding from the camera today

Pissed off he has to dry his wings

2011-11-09T19:30:00.002-07:00

Another great day today - good start to a vacation :)

James and I got up and headed out for a walk around the grounds and when we got back, got Spence up and headed downstairs for breakfast.

We then packed up and headed to the pool - the water was 81 degrees, but it was warmer outside, so I decided the water was too cold for me. The boys did a few laps on the lazy river and James practiced with the underwater video camera case we bought for the trip. We got some hot tub time in and near 11 am, we went back upstairs.

The boys took a break and had lunch while I went off to kayak for 2 hours with a tour guide on the local eco tour of Shingle Creek/River - which is on 550 acres of everglade. The resort has about 150 acres for resort facilities and the rest is everglades which they take care of, but don't build on.

It was a great 2 hours and when I got back, we all headed back down for another swim. The boys did another few laps and I chilled by the hot tub. We watched two gecko's gang up on a cockroach - it was as exciting as watching the bug wars on TV (ok, I might have been cheering out loud for the geckos).

The bug, was on its back and couldn't get back up because the 1st gecko was stalking it and kept it off balance. As the 1st one is circling the bug (which is almost the same size as this gecko) and 2nd gecko comes along to check out the entertainment and bang - when the other gecko was stalking and waiting, the 2nd one comes up to the bug and grabs it by it's legs or wing or something and scurries off with it, leaving gecko #1 without supper. They both left the dead cricket next to the cockroach alone - so I figured they like their supper living when they tear into it.

We went back upstairs and ordered Spence supper and James and I headed back out for a walk and supper. We stopped at the bar and had an appie & drinks - the appie was sub-par and so we decided to eat supper at another restaurant. We did our walk and ended up back at Primo (the same restaurant as last night). James had the dish they recommended last night after he had supper - which he said was great and I had a grain and grilled veggie dish that was really good. I overstuffed on bread - love their homemade artisan bread. James finished off with canaloni which he said was the best he's ever had. We also took a chocolate cake back for Spence.

We then went for another walk - to allow me to digest some of the bread and be able to breath comfortably again :) The walk was great and now it's time to nap :)

2011-11-08T19:48:00.002-07:00

James and I got up just before 5pm and Spence up at 5:30. We were ready to go by 6:30 when Jo'Anne arrived to take us to the airport.

We got to the airport without incident and then had no wait times at all going through check in and customs.

We waited for our plane at the gate, managed to snag coffee and breakfast while we waited and were in the air on time.

We had a really smooth flight - probably the smoothest I can remember and after almost 5 hours, arrived in Orlando. We got all our luggage and got upsold to a Cadi SUV for an extra $4 for the 2 weeks. I had managed to get the rate down from $1,300 to $600 for the two weeks and then they added another $200 to have a 2nd driver - but at least it was still less than the original rate.

We drove to our hotel and decided to have dinner as soon as we checked in. We went to the Italian restaurant (Primo) which was about as good as Muse in Calgary. Everything is made in house from scratch and from local producers - really good food. The prices were about what we pay in Calgary, but no complaints - both service and food was great.

We all headed upstairs to our room and left Spence playing on the computer while James and I walked around the resort. It was a good walk and we found the various pools, lake, river, hot tub, kids play area and of course Starbucks :)

I also found a great little apron - I've been looking for a 2nd one for years, so I can start retiring my old one that is now almost as old as I am and starting to really show its age.

Now it's time to chill and relax until lazy river time tomorrow morning.

2011-11-07T17:30:00.002-07:00

We all got up pretty early today as we had our NEXUS appointment at the airport. All went well and was faster than I thought it would be.

We headed off in separate directions - James off to work and Spence and I off to the hospital to drop off a box of chocolates for the staff that had helped James out before and after the surgery. Spence and I then headed home to do school and get the house organized.

We did math quiz, spelling quiz, drums, reading and called it a day - Spence vacuumed and I finished getting the bedrooms organized. Spence then had me helping him look for a disc and his lounge was still a mess, I cleaned that up while he left to go for a movie & dinner with grama.

While they were out, I finished with the fish tank, laundry, kitchen and managed to pull stuff out for supper. Fries & hot dogs for James and I'm having baked beans with veggie dogs. I'm getting better because I was starved today - but still cold, so on top of eating everything I could find in the house I drank loads of tea.

2011-11-05T19:21:00.001-06:00

James was up way before either Spence or me. I made crepes for breakfast, James had hashbrowns and once we were done we headed off for our chores.

We got our dry cleaning, a few grocery items to make it through to Tuesday, off to the liquor store to get Graeme his BD pressy and then home.

Graeme came over this afternoon and spent some time with James and then we all ordered Chinese for BD dinner.

We started packing and our dive bag is 33 lbs, Spencer/my bag is 40 lbs and we only have a few other things left to pack - almost done.

Got the bathrooms 3/4 cleaned up (need to still get the mats done) and Spence is going to vacuum and dust the house tomorrow.

2011-11-04T22:08:00.001-06:00

Today, was back to normal (other than we're starting to run out of food). James ended up having hashbrowns for breakfast, Spence had his regular soup and for lunch I pulled out some butter chicken sauce from the freezer and made the last of the rice.

For school we read Percy, Spence read another YES magazine - great facts today from it. Didn't know being in the middle of a penguin pack could keep you toasty warm (it's 40 degrees Celsius inside the pack of penguins).

We watched Through the Wormhole (what is the difference between Quantum Mechanics and Quantum Physics...really interesting show). We did a math quiz, spelling, drums and he played more Rome Total War.

He also did some more laundry and washed his tub (man did that tub look nasty) and we had Kelly & Sam over. I had planned to pack while they were here - but ended up having tea and chatting instead - much nicer way to spend the afternoon.

James got home shortly after Kelly & Sam left and Spence went off to take a shower and I got ready to head off to Muse for two BD dinners. Grama & James' birthday dinners - dinner was great. The boys started off with Duck, grampa had a tuna appie, grama had a beet salad and I had roasted brussel sprouts...we continued with lobster lasagna, lamb shoulder and a garlic tofu and mashed potato donuts dish for me. Dessert was a sampler plate and their chocolate mousse dish. Then grampa and James had a small tug of war to see who would pay the bill - grampa won, so we'll have to win the next bill.

Now we're watching some shows (James is watching last nights shows with me - even though he's watched them before) before we're off to bed.

2011-11-04T21:49:00.003-06:00

Yesterday, I had a big client day and so Spence was up just before 7:30 so that we could do our school together before I left.

We did math, spelling, read Percy Jackson and printing. While I was out he finished up with reading, drums, a history show, set up his mac for the trip, and played some Rome Total War - then he relaxed until James got home and they went out to Kinjo's for supper.

I got home around 11 and headed straight to bed - the boys were already in their beds all snuggled in.