Back into the swing of things..

It seems that James and I were a bit shaken up after our accident.  It took us a few days to really get back into normal life.  We're back though, and going strong.

We are now driving around a 2010 Dodge Grand Caravan (the rental we got through our insurance).  We were unaware that we had this as part of our insurance coverage, and so my parents had offered to lend us their matrix.  We took them up on it (and loved driving the matrix, will probably be the kind of car we replace the echo with) until we spoke with our insurance agent on Monday (which, BTW, next time we crash a car, we will be calling them asap - we had been waiting for a quote before we decided if we wanted to go through them......).  Our insurance agent set us up with the rental, and instructed us to move the van from the Chrysler dealership (where we had it towed) to this other, pre-approved, shop in Milton.  Anyways, haven't heard from the shop, so we have no idea when the van will be fixed.  To be honest, I don't care....am LOVING the grand caravan!!!  So roomy!  Will be hard to give it up.

Today, Drew went to school and Hunter and I headed to Indigo for "baby" book club through momstown Milton.  It was really fun, a few of our playgroup friends were there, along with some new friends.  Hunter seemed to enjoy the songs at first, but then decided he would rather play with the huge display of rubber balls.  He has now learned to say, "no", so whenever I would say, "Hunter, please come back and sing"...he would reply with, "nooooooooo".  It's a very dramatic, very drawn out, very cute, little no.

My mom had to go to a meeting this evening, so the boys and I took Toy Story 3 over and watched it with my dad.  Drew asked me to turn it off a few times (during the scary parts), but we stuck it out and he watched the whole thing (some of it while hiding behind the couch).  He was really excited about it at the end.  The most exciting part of the night for him though, was the monster truck he got in his happy meal.....that he is sleeping with tonight.....REALLY like that monster truck!

Hunter is not feeling the greatest now.  He puked twice while we were at the Glen, and did not eat any supper.  I'm not sure what is going on with my little buggy.  I hope he feels better tomorrow.  He didn't feel warm, or anything.

Some photos from the day...

Hunter at Indigo

The theme for the day was "Hats".

Movie time!

Thanking our lucky stars

Today was to be one of our patented super-fun-cram too much into it-days.  I had a foot appointment (all of my warty-friends are gone...hurray!).  While I was at said appointment, James drove the boys to his parents place in Brampton.  I got home and cleaned while I waited for James to get home.  Once he was home, we loaded up the van with lots of crap from my brother's old room (which we're cleaning out to make into either a bedroom/office or a playroom/office, we haven't decided yet) and headed for the dump.  James took me out for a fun lunch at Ned Devine's in Milton where we spent 50$ on our food/drinks.  I nearly fainted when I saw our bill.  This mama is used to spending 15$ at McDonald's or Subway....50$ seemed a bit much.  After lunch we headed back home so James could change and then headed to pick up the boys.  Our plan was to pick them up, head to Yorkdale to beat the traffic and then on to L and N's at around 5 to have dinner with them.

Today was very windy and there was blowing snow all over 5 sideroad.  There were drifts of snow every so often, and both James and I were thinking in our heads how glad we were that we shelled out the money for snow tires, as the van was driving through them without any trouble.  Apparently thoughts like that can only lead to trouble.

I was reading my book on my I-phone (shopaholic ties the knot - loving it!) when I felt the van swerve and heard James say, "uh oh"(we had hit one of the snow drifts, which apparently had some ice underneath it).  I looked up and felt so out of control as I watched us head straight for the ditch.  The ditch we rocketed into was quite deep, and we did quite a few bumps and thumps as we skidded along.  We came to rest about a metre from a large tree.  Once we had stopped, we both looked at each other to make sure we were ok, which we were, thank god.  I felt like my chest was going to explode my heart was beating so fast and I was shaking like crazy.  After a few moments, we both asked, "what the f@#$ do we do now???  The first call was to James' parents to let them know that we were going to be a little late picking up the boys.  Roadside assistance was the next call, where we learned we had to call the police too, to report the accident.  Once the police/tow truck arrived, James called my dad to come and pick us up.

After the phone call to roadside assistance, we were waiting there for a while (maybe 30-40 minutes).  During that time, there were numerous cars that drove by.  Only a handful stopped to make sure we were ok.  I am so grateful to them, but it really surprises me that so few stopped.

We are so thankful that the boys weren't with us, that there wasn't any oncoming traffic (we crossed lanes when we went into the ditch) and that we missed hitting the tree.  I'm sure the repair of the van is going to cost us a pretty penny, but I'd rather that than one or both of us hurt.  It really does go to show you that you never know what's going to happen, and time is not something to be taken for granted.

Scary, scary day.

Happy Birthday Nana!

Today is my mom's birthday.  We celebrated it in style, East side mario's style!  Papa took us out for dinner, where we had a chaotic, but wonderful birthday dinner with her and then came back to our place for cake and ice cream.

Opening gifts

Twisty straw!?!?!?

Cotton candy on my drink?!?!?

Ice cream with Papa

Free birthday cake for the birthday girl!

Happy birthday Nana!

 For whatever reason, the pictures loaded all screwy.  Anyways....

Happy birthday, Nana!  We love you!!!!!

Birthday Painting

The boys spent a good chunk of today painting a picture for Nana as it is her birthday tomorrow.  Paint ended up everywhere (some even made it to the painting!).  Drew used paintbrushes and Hunter opted to use the tip of a pencil crayon to spread his paint.  We used the dollar store paint that came with the canvas.  Never again.  It was really hard to get off of things.  Hopefully she likes the painting!

Today was a......headachy, messy, snickers pooped on the floor, lose a truck in the snow and freak out, fort building, cookie dough disaster in the kitchen, train playing, firetruck playing, sledding, snowstormy, mommy wishes she could just have 5 minutes of peace, big brother teaching little brother to throw his food, rice krispie squares stuck to everything........kinda day.

H was not too impressed to be outside at first

Drew clearing off the snow from the slide for Hunter

Drew clearing off the snow from the roof of the playhouse

Beach Vacation

Our family vacation this year was spent at the RIU Bachata in Puerto Plata, Dominican Republic.  We went January 2-9, and spent the week with my parents and brother.

Our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:20am Sunday morning, which had us at the airport at 3:30am.  We were all standing in this huge line that seemed to be taking forever when James noticed the priority line.  We were given the "silver service" package, for whatever reason (we're not sure why), and that package included priority baggage handling.  Hellooooo shorter line.

After our bags were checked, we headed through security and then to the playground right near our gate (Terminal 3 at Pearson).  The playground is just a climbing structure with a slide, but it kept the boys happily playing for quite some time.

Our flight left 10 minutes late, but went pretty smoothly.  Hunter slept for the first 2 hours and Drew fell asleep on the descent (making getting off the plane tricky).  The flight was just over 4 hours (not sure I could handle a longer flight with the boys).

Once at the Puerto Plata airport, we went through customs, gathered our bags and met a bus that was waiting there for us to take us to our resort.  The bus ride was 45 minutes long, and we were greeted with some drinks at the entrance to the resort.  Happily, our rooms were ready for us, so we headed straight to them to get unpacked and change into our swim suits.

We had a quick lunch and then Jamie took Drew swimming while Hunter finished eating, then we all met up at the pool.

The week was essentially a repeat of that.  We'd wake up, head for breakfast, swim, play in the sand, eat lunch, Hunter would have a nap (sometimes Drew would too), then we'd play in the sand/surf, maybe swim some more, and then dinner time and bedtime.  

Most nights, Nana came to our room and read the boys bedtime stories, and some nights, James and I sat on our balcony and watched movies on one of our phones.  

My wonderful husband booked me a massage on the beach which was the BEST massage I have ever received.  I just went for a shoulder/back/neck one (the cheapest) but it was wonderful.  

The boys kept us on our toes the entire week.  Hunter would wake up like clockwork at 3:30 each morning.  We'd stick a bottle in his mouth and bring him into bed with us,  most mornings he would fall back asleep.  Drew was exhausted the entire trip, and was therefore a wee bit cranky in the evenings.  He napped most days, which helped, but I think all the swimming and playing in the sand really knocked him out.  Plus, I'm sure Hunter waking up screaming didn't help the situation.  Drew wouldn't eat there either.  He would have a good breakfast, and then would hardly eat anything for the rest of the day.  By the end of the trip, we stopped fighting with him and would just let him eat whatever he would eat.  He really loved the Pina Colada "smoothies" (non-alcoholic).

All in all, it was a great trip.  We had to put my brother on a bus on Saturday night.  There was a big snowstorm here in Toronto that weekend, and his flight home was slowed up a bit...he was catching a flight a few hours after he landed (at 8am) for his training in Regina.  I haven't heard the whole story, but I'm sure it was kinda stressful being held up on your flight home, when your other flight is so close.  He made it though.  When saying goodbye, Drew gave him a big hug and told him he would miss him.  None of us cried, although I had tears in my eyes.  We miss him already, and can't wait to see him!

Our flight home was delayed 2 hours (supposed to leave at 12:20 and left at 2:30).  We were in the waiting area of the airport when we found out, and I nearly started crying.  We heard some people talking about the VIP lounge, so James nearly sprinted to find out what it was all about.  5 minutes later we were sitting in the VIP lounge, sipping our drinks, eating snacks and watching cartoons.  Stress levels severely reduced.  It cost us 25$ each (the kids were free) and we got unlimited drinks (alcohol included), sandwiches, chips and cookies.  It was an enclosed area (kids couldn't run away), clean bathrooms, comfy chairs, english cartoons, and free internet.  AWESOME.  Suddenly we didn't mind being held up.

Our flight home went smoothly.  Hunter slept for the first 2 hours.  Grandma and Grandpa met us at the airport to say hello for 10 minutes, and then we took the boys to McDonalds for dinner.  

Fun times had by all!

Here are some more pics from the week...

check out my brothers socks.  His sandals hurt his feet, so he had to wear his "dress" shoes and socks around with his beach wear for a day.  Stylish!!!

I'm in the little cabin near the top of the photo getting my massage in this photo!

Our building