The family converged on Barrie this weekend to celebrate Janey’s 37th birthday chez Fowler, and then to check out Grandma & Grandpa’s new ride and KOA accommodations. Sam loved it all (with the possible exception of two sad facts: grown-ups don’t hand out goodie bags at their birthday parties, and “grandpa & grandpa” don’t actually live in a giant playground now).
It’s always fun to get the four boy cousins together and watch them
pretty much spin in continuous circles until we load the protesting Ottawa half in the car for departure. They splashed in pools, climbed rocks and trees, bounded on the trampoline, monkeyed around on three playstructures, ran with sticks (we can’t watch them all the time), played Spiderman videogames, staged not-so-stealthy “wake up sleepy parents” operations, dressed in costumes, chased bad guys, and stopped every now and then to wolf down everything on the table. We expect it’ll go this way for another decade or so. By then, some of them should be able to get a basketball through the hoop, so the games may change but I imagine the intensity of the reunion won’t.
As f
or getting the four sisters together, well we may not spin per se, but we can talk circles around any takers, so we spent the weekend catching up on each other’s stories, enjoying good food and wine, losing and finding the family dog, and marvelling at how big the kids are getting. Factor in “the girls” (Savannah, Jasmyn, and Anabel), Jeremy and Darren, Grandma & Grandpa, and four special guests — John & Barbara, and Fantastic Granddad (he’s not just Great) & Dorothy — and there was a four-generation full house to sing Brett in with the birthday cake. It was a lot of noisy and yummy fun that carried on around the dinner table until midnight.
Day 2 at the nearby KOA campground was the first of many such stops for Grandma & Grandpa, who have traded in their bumpy fifth wheel for the smooth (and sumptuous) ri
de of a beautiful Magellan motor home. The whole family piled in for a look-see. It’s astonishingly large: somebody (Jacquie) can go ahead and “get more kids,” as Sam terms it. They’ll fit! From the soft white leather couch, Sam called out to Charlie: “This is just like a house, hey? Only it has seatbelts!” The campground was an even bigger revelation: people can live like this? Pools. Playgrounds. Giant checkerboard sets. A picnic for every meal. Sam was impressed. And Carter’s face nearly fell right off in shocked despair when we told him it was time to pack up. I think he felt we’d moved in to Paradise (we had brought suitcases…). So we may be in the market for a tent trailer next summer.
Somewhere in the fun family chaos, Babybel took her first assisted steps down the length of the coffee table (we baited her with Cheerios). She’ll be tearing off in the direction of the playground with the big boys in no time. With cousins a-plenty, there'll never be a dull moment! (On a sidenote, we got Janey a full Nordic spa day with her sisters. Apparently, there's no admittance to anyone under 18. We barely noticed that when we picked it out.... ;-)
It’s always fun to get the four boy cousins together and watch them
pretty much spin in continuous circles until we load the protesting Ottawa half in the car for departure. They splashed in pools, climbed rocks and trees, bounded on the trampoline, monkeyed around on three playstructures, ran with sticks (we can’t watch them all the time), played Spiderman videogames, staged not-so-stealthy “wake up sleepy parents” operations, dressed in costumes, chased bad guys, and stopped every now and then to wolf down everything on the table. We expect it’ll go this way for another decade or so. By then, some of them should be able to get a basketball through the hoop, so the games may change but I imagine the intensity of the reunion won’t.As f
or getting the four sisters together, well we may not spin per se, but we can talk circles around any takers, so we spent the weekend catching up on each other’s stories, enjoying good food and wine, losing and finding the family dog, and marvelling at how big the kids are getting. Factor in “the girls” (Savannah, Jasmyn, and Anabel), Jeremy and Darren, Grandma & Grandpa, and four special guests — John & Barbara, and Fantastic Granddad (he’s not just Great) & Dorothy — and there was a four-generation full house to sing Brett in with the birthday cake. It was a lot of noisy and yummy fun that carried on around the dinner table until midnight.Day 2 at the nearby KOA campground was the first of many such stops for Grandma & Grandpa, who have traded in their bumpy fifth wheel for the smooth (and sumptuous) ri
de of a beautiful Magellan motor home. The whole family piled in for a look-see. It’s astonishingly large: somebody (Jacquie) can go ahead and “get more kids,” as Sam terms it. They’ll fit! From the soft white leather couch, Sam called out to Charlie: “This is just like a house, hey? Only it has seatbelts!” The campground was an even bigger revelation: people can live like this? Pools. Playgrounds. Giant checkerboard sets. A picnic for every meal. Sam was impressed. And Carter’s face nearly fell right off in shocked despair when we told him it was time to pack up. I think he felt we’d moved in to Paradise (we had brought suitcases…). So we may be in the market for a tent trailer next summer.Somewhere in the fun family chaos, Babybel took her first assisted steps down the length of the coffee table (we baited her with Cheerios). She’ll be tearing off in the direction of the playground with the big boys in no time. With cousins a-plenty, there'll never be a dull moment! (On a sidenote, we got Janey a full Nordic spa day with her sisters. Apparently, there's no admittance to anyone under 18. We barely noticed that when we picked it out.... ;-)
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