We are really enjoing spending more time w/ Daddy, & doing all kinds of fun new things!
Archive for the ‘vacation’ Category
Updates On Life
Posted in Asher, birthday, family, kids, Travel, vacation on July 9, 2008| Leave a Comment »
The End Is In Sight!
Posted in Asher, hotels, kids, Travel, vacation on July 1, 2008| Leave a Comment »
Tonight we are in Regina, SK. Some may understand the title of this post as quite literal. Saskatchewan is said to be so flat that you can watch your dog run away fro days, so even though we have about a day of driving yet, the end may be in sight!
We are staying at another Travelodge. I realized tonight this is the 3rd one on the trip. I guess they must be pretty good. I couldn’t get a cheaper rate tonight, though I tried, but since we had gained an hour just before we stopped yesterday & then another one this afternoon, & we had driven almost 800 km, we decided that we’d just take the room here. It’s the first night on the trip we’ve had to pay over $100 for a room, which overall is pretty good. Chad still thinks that’s high, but I think he’s just out of touch w/ how much hotels cost.
The perks of our hotel are:
- Swimming pool
- hot tub
- waterslide
- kiddie play area
So, yes the perks are pretty much all pool related, but really, who has time to do much more in the evenings anyways? We have to tire Asher out after a day of sitting in the car, what better way than a pool? A bath just doesn’t cut it on days like this.
We stopped for coffee this morning in Kenora at a coffee shop called HoJoes. It was listed in our hotel book as a “Vancouver Style Coffee House.” It lived up to it’s name! It was some of the best coffee I’ve had in a long time. Strathroy had a coffee shop, but they seemed to go about things as cheaply as possible, & when you are making a latte for someone, that just doesn’t cut it, my friend!
Anyways, back to the pool! Asher enjoyed the waterslide a bit more tonight. It wasn’t as fast as last night’s was, & it wasn’t a brand new experience either. We have a pretend phone in the car for Asher to play w/ & he “called” Grandma Vos to tell her all about the pool & waterslide he went on last night. It was very cute & obviously left an impression on him.
In the kiddie play area there was a cave that lead up to a normal tube slide (w/o water) & it took some convincing & daddy to go w/ him, but Asher finally went down that slide as well. Chad said it was a good thing he had gone down the slide w/ him b/c since they were wet (the kiddie area was in w/ the pool area) the slide was really fast & Chad landed on his bottom at the bottom & it did not feel too pleasant. Plus it was quite a ways that you had to walk in the tunnel, & who knows if Asher would have made it the whole way up alone. It was pretty squishy in there as well, Chad reported.
So, we MIGHT be able to make it all the way to Lethbridge tomorrow, but it would be a long day to do it. We aren’t sure if we are up for that long of a day w/ the most boring part of the drive still ahead of us. Besides, why not have another night at a hotel w/ a pool & possibly a waterslide?
One Thing I’ve Learned
Posted in hotels, sleep, Travel, vacation on June 30, 2008| 1 Comment »
On this trip there are many things I’ve learned, such as:
- I’m not as patient as I’d like to think I am…. especially when I am tired & hot. I just get cranky & snappy.
- I really, really like specialty coffee & it’s not so easy to find when you are in the middle of nowhere (although I knew this before the trip too, but it’s VERY evident now).
- Hotel rates are not set in stone.
This last one is a tricky one b/c we all know about AAA/CAA rates being lower than normal hotel rates, but did you know that if you hem & haw just a little, they will sometimes offer you an even LOWER rate? Our first hotel’s rate was $120. They offered me $110 w/CAA, but then I asked how that compared to other rates in town & she said, “well, I can actually offer you $100.” It came through as “Rate of the Day” on the bill, so it’s worth asking for at Travelodges.
Tonight we stopped at a Holiday Inn & I asked about rates & they offered me $120, or $110 w/ CAA. I asked if there was anything cheaper & he simply said no, so we left. We went to a Days Inn & they offered $120 w/ CAA & I simply asked if she could give me a room for under $100, say $99 & she said, “sure.” So It’s definitely worth asking for cheaper or naming your price (as long as it’s a reasonable price for a room) They’d rather have you there for a little less, than not have you there at all.
I am a bit surprised that they have cheaper rates though b/c it is Canada Day weekend, but perhaps we are just stopping at hotels that aren’t full & that’s working to our advantage.
Our hotel tonight has a swimming pool, a kiddie pool, a hot tub & a waterslide. We took advantage of them & tired Asher out. he went to bed easily & has been sleeping for the last hour or so. Much better than last night. Chad had to lay on the floor by his playpen for nearly an hour until he fell asleep. He just hadn’t expended enough energy & wasn’t very tired. We made up for that today by stopping for lunch at a rest area & letting him run around for awhile & then going swimming this evening. (The waterslide was pretty fun for all of us, though Asher took quite a bit of convincing to go on it).
Are We There Yet?
Posted in Asher, kids, moving, sleep, Travel, vacation on June 29, 2008| Leave a Comment »
We are in Marathon, Ontario tonight. We have travelled about 1200 of 3500 kilometres on our trip. It feels like we’ve gone much further. Chad mentioned today that he already is not looking forward to making this trip again in 3 months. I agree.
Trips like this used to be fun, but now I am constantly having to turn around in my seat & being 7 months pregnant it’s not too comfortable to try to reach for toys & books that have been thrown down on the floor. Asher’s actually being fairly well behaved, until we get out of the car. He just wants to run & be crazy, but who can blame him? After 4 hours of having to sit still in the car seat we all want to run around & be crazy.
Driving is proving to be less than enjoyable for Chad as well b/c of the trailer. We can’t use the cruise control b/c it makes the car work too hard, so Chad has to drive w/ his foot on the accelerator the whole time rather than being able to move a bit to get more comfortable.
Right now Asher is standing in his crib saying, “hi, Mummy!” over & over. We have set chairs on the table & draped a blanket over the top so he can’t see us. Having to share a room w/ a toddler who has not expended enough energy over the course of the day, is not a whole lot of fun.
There will be no TV watching before bed. I always feel a bit sorry for the people on either side of us when we are in hotels. Asher is great at going to sleep at home now, but I think he saves all his bad nights for hotels. I suppose it makes sense since his routine is all askew.
Wish us luck on this trip, that we get the sleep we need…….
Grad Weekend is Here!
Posted in family, Graduation, hotels, vacation on May 15, 2008| Leave a Comment »
We arrived in Grand Rapids yesterday afternoon & checked into our hotel/apartment to find a nice cleaned floor. So freshly cleaned in fact that I was treated to soaking wet socks moments after removing my shoes. I believe the carpet must have been cleaned w/in an hour of our arrival. I called the office & they said the room was supposed to be ready at 3 (it was then 4pm) & it should only take a few hours to dry. So we went out for dinner w/ our friends Ben & Melody, & Jacob & Kami, & our 5 kids. We had a great time catching up w/ them all again. We haven’t seen Jacob & Kami in a year since they were doing their internship out in California & we were in Ontario.
After dinner we all went to the mall so the kids could play on the “Breakfast Food” play area. They had a great time sliding down the bacon, climbing the banana & jumping on the eggs. Don’t ask me why they chose that theme, but it seems to work for the kids! Chad & I did a little shopping as well since it doesn’t happen too often that we get to the mall together.
We got back to the hotel about 8:30 & the carpets were still wet, so we opened the windows again in the hopes of drying it out a bit faster. By this morning things were pretty much dry again, there were a few wet spots, but the majority was dry. At least we can’t complain that the apartment is dirty b/c it really is very clean.
We took it easy this morning since starting this afternoon we have meetings, graduation, parties, church & family busyness to deal with. The only thing on my agenda today was getting to Costco to buy more diapers for Asher since we were getting low just before we left Ontario.
My parents get in this afternoon & Asher is really looking forward to seeing them again. Chad’s parents & their entourage come in tonight so we have to go down to the train to get them as well. I think we’re going to have alot of fun all being together again.
Saturday Chad finally graduates from Seminary & this is the first time that he’ll be graduating w/o immediate plans to go to school. He’s actually going to get his first real job & we are all so proud of him! 🙂 Hopefully in a few months we’ll have a church lined up & we can move to a house & plan to live in it for more than a year or 2! I am really looking forward to being settled for awhile, although that means I’ll have to change my household cleaning routine of only dusting when we move!
We are really looking forward to catching up w/ all the friends we haven’t seen in the last year (or haven’t seen often) but it’s also going to be difficult to say goodbye to them again so soon since many of them we probably won’t see for years. Hopefully we’ll be able to stay in touch. It’s difficult as a pastor to have friends that really understand what it’s like, so I think it’s very important to hang on to the ones we’ve made in the last 4 years since these are probably the ones who will understand the best.
Scroll for Pictures
Posted in England, Ireland, photos, Travel, vacation on May 12, 2008| Leave a Comment »
I finally got the pictures from our trip loaded into the blogs they pertain to. Scroll through to see them!
Being a Single Mum
Posted in photos, vacation on May 10, 2008| 2 Comments »
For the past 2 days I have been a single mum. We got back from England on Wednesday afternoon, & on Thursday morning bright & early, Chad left to go on a men’s retreat for church. He’ll be back tomorrow night, & I’ll be quite glad to get him back.
Asher’s been really great I must say, but I do miss having Chad around. It’s nice to have someone ask if you’re coming to bed, if you’d like a bowl of ice cream, or how your day has been. I have been dealing with a bit of jet-lag still, more on Asher’s part than mine. He’s been waking up around 4:30am, but relatively easy to get back to sleep. He got up this morning at 7:30 which was really nice since I didn’t have to have the alarm set at all either.
We’ve just been hanging out at home the past 2 days. I kinda figured that since he hasn’t had much time to play w/ toys the last few weeks & we’ve been on the go pretty steady for the past month it was a nice break for us both, but I think we’re going to go out tomorrow. Part of the reason for my hibernation the past few days has also been the weather. The thermometer says it’s warmish, but as soon as I get outside, the wind freezes me to the core. Perhaps at our next house I’ll invest in a weather station so I’ll know both the temp & the wind chill.
Today I worked on getting our pictures from our trip uploaded to the internet, & I did something a little crafty. This may surprise those of you who know me b/c I am neither creative, nor patient for this type of thing, but I made a scrapbook online. I liked the fact that I will have a nice photo book complete with captions saying where the pictures are taken & what they are of, & yet I didn’t have to cut, trim, paste, glue, or tape any pictures & I really didn’t have to be all that crafty. I will have 56 pages of trip photos sent to my door for under $20. I think that’s a great deal.
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!
Posted in Asher, quotes, shopping, sleep, Travel, vacation on May 8, 2008| 2 Comments »
This morning Asher woke up at 3:30, 4:00, & at 4:30 he decided he’d had enough sleep. We couldn’t blame it on the room not being dark b/c it was pitch black. It was really nice, we slept really well, until Asher decided he was done!
So, we got up early, I had Chad make us some coffee from the coffee maker so thoughtfully provided in our room & then we went to Denny’s again for breakfast. Asher was quite excited to have pancakes for breakfast, but even more excited that they came with cherries on top. I think we’ll have to start ordering him things with fruit on them. Last night he was more excited about the grapes that came with his dinner than the Mac & Cheese. Although this morning when I asked him what he was going to have for breakfast, instead of his usual answer of, “Pancakes!” I got “Mac & Cheese!” I had to explain that he couldn’t have Mac & Cheese for breakfast & he was ok with that too.
We started on our way home & stopped off at a western store as I was looking for a new pair of Roper Performance shoes since I really liked mine, but couldn’t find a place that sold them. I struck out once again, except that the sales lady remembered she had been sent a sample from Roper, but didn’t want to order them, so she had the one pair. They were a size 8 & I am a &.%, but she gave me a really good deal on them, so I got them anyway. I was looking for a brown suede pair like the ones I have, but these are tooled brown leather & I really like them, they are a little less frumpy than the other pair.
After our little foray off the freeway, we got started again, only to stop at the next exit b/c Chad saw some stores that looked interesting. We spend time, but no money, then off again. We made it to London, ON, I decided since it was lunchtime to stop off at the mall. We began to window shop a bit & CHAD FOUND A COAT! I was very excited for him & he is quite happy with his purchase. I suppose it can still go on the record that he got it on our holiday, even though it is w/in an hour of home.
Once we got home Asher was very excited to get to play w/ all his toys again while we unpacked the car. However, he was quite upset 15 minutes later when I told him it was time for a nap b/c he wanted to play instead. He said, “want to play w/ firetruck.'” To which I told him it was time for bed. “Want to play w/ police car.” Time for bed. “Want to play w/ school bus.” I so it went while I changed his pants. He had such a good nap though that I had to wake him up 2 hours later so he’d go to sleep again at the end of the day.
Chad’s off on a men’s retreat tomorrow morning, so we’ll see how Asher & I cope w/o him for a few days. Our fridge seems to be on the blink as well. Everything in our freezer was melted when we got home & the fridge seems to be a bit warmer than it should be, so I’ll have to figure something out.
Our Last Day in England
Posted in dining, England, Travel, vacation on May 5, 2008| Leave a Comment »
We took it a bit easy today. It was a bank holiday, so b/w the less frequent buses, & most places being closed, it was a bit forced upon us to take it easy, which was probably good since we’ll be on the aeroplane most of the day tomorrow. This morning began at 6:30am. Asher initially woke up at 5:45, so we decided that it wasn’t so bad to get up then. He’s going to be so off schedule that it doesn’t really matter anyway.
We had breakfast and then went off to the park, but there had been a very heavy dew last night, so everything was really wet. We had decided to go to Chingford today in a last ditch effort to find a coat for Chad. We got there around 9:30 & almost every shop was closed, so we stopped at Cafe Nero to kill some time & have a latte. I ordered an iced latte & the next thing I knew she was blending it. It wasn’t overly icy though, so it was a bit like a melted milkshake. Not too pleasant. Another reason to not go to Nero.
Then off to shop we went, however the shops were still closed, so we made our way up the street & found nothing open, & caught the bus back to Highams Park. Then we went back to the park, since other children’s bottoms had dried off the playground. Chad was quite interested in getting an English breakfast before we leave, & had seen some signs at pubs for all day breakfast, so we took the car & returned to Chingford.
We stopped at a pub advertising all day breakfast & went in only to be greeted by a waitress telling us that they didn’t open ’til noon, & it was 11:45. We contemplated the “All Dayness” of their breakfast if they didn’t open ’til noon, then decided we’d go elsewhere b/c Chad doesn’t like to be the first patrons in a restaurant after it opens as sometimes the kitchen isn’t in full swing yet at that time.
So we returned to “The Royal Forest” pub that we had eaten at with Theres. I had a carbon-copy of the mal I had the other night & enjoyed it thoroughly. Especially the Sticky Toffee Pudding, this time I had it topped w/ Custard & it was DIVINE! I figured since it is so difficult to make & impossible to get at restaurants in Canada that I’d better take advantage of being able to eat it as often as possible.
Asher had a double burger & was doing quite well with it except it was a bit large for his little mouth. Chad decided to break it for him…. thus began a small meltdown where Chad & then I was instructed to “fix it.” We had to explain that it couldn’t be fixed, the crying actually stopped quite suddenly b/c a boy at a nearby table started having a tantrum of his own & Asher doesn’t like to compete at times like these, so he let the other boy do the crying from there on out. It may have helped that my dessert showed up shortly thereafter as well. He was a bit disappointed that there was no ice cream this time, but it couldn’t be helped, Sticky Toffee Pudding is better w/ Custard!
We came back to G&M’s for naps (yes we all enjoyed nap time) & then went out to the back garden to enjoy the grass & the sunshine for awhile. Chad wasn’t feeling well & didn’t want to leave the house so we ordered Pizza Hut (don’t we splash out?) for dinner & Asher quite enjoyed that the man came & brought it to the door.
So we are in for a long day tomorrow. After an 8 hour flight plus airport travel & waiting & am already looking forward to our hotel’s pool & my once-in-a-blue-moon chance to take a bath at the hotel. Signing off from England, Ta-Ta!