Wet & Wild

This time last Thursday, we were on our way to OH! Canada for a little trip to visit Niagara Falls.  Since none of us had ever seen the falls in person, we were all quite excited.  Our plan was to arrive around 11:30 Thursday night.  We actually arrived at the border closer to 12:30 Friday morning and then patiently waited in the customs line for ALMOST.  TWO.  HOURS.

Really?!?  There are that many people that need to be crossing the border into Canada in the middle of the night?  Who knew?

Our view from the hotel made that wait {almost} worthwhile.

The little bit we saw of Canada was beautiful.  And expensive.  And friendly.  And expensive.  And clean.  Did I mention expensive?

And I'm thoroughly convinced they think it's hilarious to soak their guests.  Every thing we did {okay, maybe not everything} was preceded by the handing out of a rain poncho.  We all ended up with three different ponchos.  Quite comical.

BEFORE THE MAID OF THE MIST:

AFTER THE MAID OF THE TROPICAL STORM:

Poncho Incognito:

Poncho Cutie:

Poncho Ninja:

We also ventured a bit further north to Niagara on the Lake.  It was this adorable little town with quaint shops, including this yummy Irish Pub where we had dinner and about 15 ice cream places to choose from.  Do not be distracted by the claw my hand in this shot.  Don't know what that's about?  

Overall the trip was fun.  It was a wet whirlwind and we were exhausted, but now we can all say we've seen the falls.  Been there.  Done that.

skippyjon jones

I apologize for the delay in posts.

I had the opportunity to be a part of the Millersville Writing Institute this week - one week, every day from 8 am to 4 pm for 3 credits. Every morning was spent with a nationally acclaimed author of teacher resource material and today was a children's book author and illustrator.

You may of heard of her...Judy Schachner!

Yes, Skippyjon Jones' "Mama Junebug" entertained us for several hours this morning with her humorous stories, photos, and readings from her books and others. I could have listened to her for hours! So many things she spoke about I could completely relate to...I wanted to sit with her and pick her brain. But I settled for a photo instead :)

Our afternoons were spent in grade-like groups writing and conferencing with one another.

I think I discovered my inner-writer and I don't want to lose her again!

I have stories that need to be told! :)

I can't wait to tell you more after I've had time to decompress...

Christmas in February....again

Nathan loves to dress up and play pretend, so I found and ordered this great robot hat from Target online to give him for Christmas. They said it was on backorder.

I ordered it and forgot about it.

Fast forward to January. I get an email from Target asking me to approve a package delivery. I think it's a phishing scam, so I don't respond. I get another and another and another email. Finally, I decide to click on the email to see what's going on.

It is only then that I remember that I ordered the robot hat that never arrived in time for Christmas.

It came in the mail this week. Merry Christmas in February!

I think the boys like it. :)

{Please ignore the pile of laundry behind Ryan in the middle photo. At least it's clean...I'm waiting for the robot that will fold AND put my laundry away without having to be told}

3D

Last weekend, we took the boys to see Toy Story 1 & 2 in 3D to celebrate my birthday. :)

Toy Story 2 is one of my absolute favorite animated movies ~ TS1 is good, too, but I prefer TS2. The boys love watching them at home, so I thought this would be a fun Saturday afternoon family activity.

This was Nathan's first theater movie and he did great. Didn't always keep the 3D glasses on, but that was o.k. He didn't seem to mind watching without them.

Now, my boys ALL have BIG heads, but these 3D glasses were humongous on them....

Did they not think that little kids might be coming to see this movie?



We came.
We saw.
We sported the Roy Orbison glasses.
We ate 2 tubs of popcorn.
We survived....

and only Nathan threw up at the end of the night....

All in all, it was a great success :)