Holidays

 Happy holidays to all my friends and family out there who take the time to read my blog. I know that keeping a blog keeps my loved ones who live far away in the loop.

This Christmas was a special one since it was Grayson's first holiday season. He, and sister Mira, were spoiled rotten by grandparents and friends. We tried to keep things low key this year, but somehow, the kids always get more than we anticipate.

Mira's big presents were a set of golf clubs (she was surprisingly THRILLED by these), a trip to Great

 Wolf Lodge, tickets to see Shrek the Musical (thanks Grandma and Grandpa Seymour!) and a Furby (any parents of a younger kid will know what I mean and will also understand my inner desire to throw it off the nearest bridge onto a set of train tracks---wow they are annoying and LOUD).

Grayson's big present was an exersaucer. He lived in it all Christmas morning. Grandma and Grandpa Seymour came up on Christmas morning to spend time with the kiddos and watched them open presents before Mira set off to spend time with her Dad.

We took a trip to Great Wolf Lodge where Mira enjoyed exhausting herself with Geoff on the water slides. Grayson spent some time in the wading pool with both Mama and Geoff, but also spent some time napping in front of the fireplace in the lobby. Mama liked this part the best :)

Great Wolf Lodge over the holidays is both good and bad. It is super busy, but not too busy that you can't enjoy yourself. On Friday nights they have a dance party which was very similar to a rave. Glow sticks were available (at a cost of course) and kids were sweating and pink in the face after going ballistic to the music they played (which was straight from 103.5 I think). Even Grayson got in on the dance action.

Mira enjoyed some time sledding and snow playing yesterday with the kids on the street and now we are ready for 2013 to roll in. Grayson has been on puffers for bronchiolitis, but luckily has maintained his little happy spirit.

 Our little family has a lot to be grateful for. We are happy, healthy and we have a lot of love to give one another. We can laugh at ourselves and my children love one another immensely. Life is good.

Engaged!

On Wednesday, Geoff was upstairs changing Grayson. He came downstairs and handed me our son. I immediately wondered what outfit he had put our son into as I didn't recognize the shirt.

I looked closely at Grayson's shirt and read the words "Will U Marry Daddy".

It took a minute for the words to sink in and make sense.

Then, there was Geoff, standing beside me, a ring box in his hand. He pulled out a gorgeous diamond ring. Mira stood next to us, a little confused.

Of course I said a tremendous YES. I hugged and kissed him, as well as both of the kids. Geoff then said "everything is complete now".

I agree. Our little family has another milestone to share together. A wedding in paradise and a lifetime of happiness together. xo

Yogi In Me

Back in the summer, I had mentioned my desire to take up a new hobby, preferably one that was physically beneficial. With 2 kids and bus schedule to adhere to, it has been difficult to find something that is a) cheap (or free)-being on maternity leave is costly, b) kid-minding friendly and c) physically beneficial.

One option has been sitting right in front of me all along and it went unnoticed. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't consider it earlier, other than there is always a fear or hesitation of the unknown. I had a fear of trying something new with a group of people who have been doing it for a long time. I'm not sure of the protocol, what type of people partake and how I would feel physically. Would I be able to keep up?

I'm talking about yoga. My gym provides group classes called Yogafit and Bodyflow.I have always wanted to try yoga but I didn't want to spend the outrageous money it would cost to belong to a yoga gym. Cost effectiveness is at the top of my "must-haves". Well, included in the price of my gym, I can do yoga!! They have AT LEAST one or two options per day for either of the classes. Yogafit is yoga. Pretty traditional and standard. It seems to be quite a bit more relaxed than the Bodyflow, which is a combination of Thai Chi, pilates and yoga. Both have their benefits and I have enjoyed both classes.

These classes are included with my gym membership and the best part is that I already have the "child minding" condition met. My gym provides great childcare that works really well with all of the classes. Grayson loves going to the daycare and I'm happy to have great girls working in there to play with him while I do something for myself. This is important to me knowing the rest of the day is all about Grayson, Mira and Geoff. 

Even more than enjoying the class atmosphere is the way I FEEL. Already, I feel the benefits. After having two babies, my joints (especially the pelvis/back) are all out of whack. I have successfully lost the baby weight and toned most parts of my body, but I need to be functionally balanced and strong.

Yoga is my perfect fit. My running plus yoga/pilates/thai chi will produce a very healthy and strong body that can keep up with anything I throw at it (including chasing after two little kids). Yay for yoga!

Mi-a-kon-da Mira

The start of a new era is in the works.

Mira is 6 and will be 7 years old shortly after the summer. As you know, my parents own and direct an all girls residential camp up in Parry Sound. My stepmother has been going to this camp and involved in some capacity in the Camp Mi-a-kon-da experience since she was a little girl and eventually came to own it and take over camp operations from the previous owners.

I started going when I was 11 or 12 years of age and continued until university life took over.

When I found out that I was pregnant with a girl, I was immediately thrilled at the thought of my daughter going to camp like I did. I spent years there, enjoy the tranquility of being in the middle of a lake on our own private island. I learned to appreciate nature. I learned to appreciate hot showers and electricity (we bathed in the lake and had no electricity). I loved the new friends that I made and the friendships I maintained every summer over the next several years. Even now, I am still friends will some of the girls from camp. One even lives in Georgetown and our kids are in the same class together!

This isn't just a camp, it's like a family of girls all living together on this little birch island. The girls get to just be girls without the pressure of trying to impress boys. No makeup, no hair salons, no malls. Just enjoying everything natural with some really good, down to earth girls.

I cannot wait for this summer as Mira spends her first session at camp. I have waited years for this and come August, as I send little Mira away on the camp bus, I will be so proud of her and the journey she will take with other girls her age who are just setting out on the path to camp. Ah the memories she will have and the things she will learn.

Happy Weekend

Just a few photos from this weekend. Grayson has tried some peas and loved them. We went to Geoff's jiu jitsu tournament in Scarborough. Geoff did a great job as always and fought his heart out. It's always awesome to see him compete. I love seeing all the hard work he puts into his training be put to the test in competition.

We had dinner out at Capina's in Georgetown, which is our favourite restaurant here in our little town. Amazing Italian food and the owner, Claudio, always plays the perfect host. Tonight he let us try some caribou sausages. So delicious!

The snow has begun to fall outside and it means that soon we'll have to get ourselves into the festive season. Well, Geoff should get into the festive season. I'm almost completely done my Christmas shopping so I can avoid lines and angry people as we near December 25th. :)

Happy weekend everyone!

Deerhurst Weekend

 This weekend we took the kids out to Deerhurst Resort in Huntsville. My aunt and uncle own a condo out there and they had offered for us to use it one weekend.

I had never been to Deerhurst (but stayed nearby) and loved the idea of having a little fall getaway somewhere beautiful.

Friday afternoon we took Mira and Grayson three hours north to Huntsville. Mira fell in love with our "hotel suite" as she continuously called it, making it sound like we were staying in a palatial manor. The condo was perfect for our little family of four. We were able to eat our breakfasts and lunches in our condo and save some money to treat ourselves to a super nice dinner at the restaurant in the resort. Ah the food....most amazing, delicious food I have had in a long time. Escargot, venison, creme brulee (a favourite of Geoff's), lamb meatballs...oh I could go on and on about the food. 

The first night, we explored the vast resort and saw all that it had to offer. Wall climbing, stores, pool and an arcade/games room were the highlights for Mira. The first thing we did Saturday morning was go for a swim in the resort's indoor pool. She called the "kiddy" pool the "kitten pool" for some reason (I think that she thought I called it a "kitty" pool). We took Grayson for his first swim and he seemed to enjoy it. 

I took full advantage of the hot tub they had :)
We never did make it to the spa, which had been on our list of things to do. We each wanted to get a massage and take advantage of some pampering. However, as any parent will tell you, sometimes you just can't pull yourself away from the fun you are having with the kids.

After some swimming and hot tubbing, we went into Huntsville to do some shopping. Geoff and I are looking for a nice rustic dining room table and we've been having a hard time finding one. We figured that the one place we were likely to find it would be Muskoka. We were right! We found some gems!

We enjoyed a beer (and hot chocolate) in an adorable pub right on the water. It was the most cozy pub I have seen. We warmed up and took in the stunning sights of the still water, sunshine and the Christmas decorations while Grayson took a nap on the pub seat next to me.

After our shopping trip, we went for our second dinner at Eclipse and made plans to take Mira horseback riding the next morning-as a surprise. A surprise it was!! We took her to the Deerhurst Stables where, for $25, she got a full riding lesson! She got to brush and tack up the pony and then got a full lesson in the sand ring. She felt like such a young lady and it was well worth the trip out to the farm.

What a great weekend we had together this weekend. Family weekends mean so much to me. Although Grayson is still little, I love doing things that create memories for my children. I want them to experience things more than I want them to have fancy things. Experiences and good memories are way more valuable.

Closing to an Opening

Our house now officially belongs to someone else. Our house closed today and although we'll still get 3 months to enjoy it (we've arranged to rent it from the new owner until our new place closes), there is a part of me that is sad to see my little house move on to someone new.

Our builder is making great strides with our new place. We are excited to see the progress being made. Every week we take a trip to the site to see how much they have done and we get another jolt of adrenaline and excitement :) I can't wait to host our first party !! 

It'll be the start of a new era. Our Weavers Mill era. The era that begins with a house that Geoff and I chose together. It's not him moving into my place or vice versa, it's a home that we have chosen together, as partners. That's a pretty cool feeling. We can make it "ours". That will be the fun part- especially since its a new build and nobody else has ever lived in it before.