July 2021. I cant fit it all in (Thats what she said)

Nowadays, it takes so much effort to get my arse on a seat and sit and write down what's been happening. Kids are keeping us so busy and with work, house stuff, actually having a life as a partly grown adult baby and also trying to keep the house from looking like a disaster zone in a toy factory or the remains of what happens after feeding 34 angry baboons it can be an effort to put on clean clothes, find a clean spot to sit and actually tap my below-average length digits on a tippy tappy keyboard in any kind of sensible order to be able to generously accentuate the goings-on and the day to day growth of our two monster children. 

But here I am again and I will do my best. 

Tomorrow. 

Yep. I can't be arsed today, so I am going to finish off my red wine and go get my oddly shaped bone dome settled on top of a bag of fake feathers that sits at the top of the sweat-stained sleep trampoline I laughingly try to rest in every night. 

Tomorrow I will fill you in on camping, cabins, kids and whatever other nonsense passes as 'news' in my scarily real fantasy world. 

Night night.

GOOD MORNING!

Before I post anything newslike, can I just say that there isn't enough Oliver on here, because there is just not enough of Oliver full stop!

He is just soo damn cool. 

He is a giggler, he loves to copy whatever we do. He tries to walk and can crawl faster than I can run and I am sorry for all other parents in the world because is the cutest little boy I know right now. 

I am so in love with him. 

I just love this photo so much!

t the cabin he wouldn't sleep one afternoon, so I cuddled up with him on the bed....

Wait for us to both look at the camera at the end of this video

More bouncing!

And he nearly talks in this one (He DID say Hiya before we started recording)

Oliver is the partner in crime to our other little human, Hannah is just getting so big (and heavy) and although she insists sometimes that she is a 'baby', she is a proper little girl now. Just yesterday she climbed up and over a 10 foot high climbing frame all by herself that involved turning round at the top and coming done backwards. She just did it all by herself. (Then cried on the way home because I wouldn't let her bring a broken brick that she found into the car) She is crazy but also very clever. 

I couldn't begin to tell you ALL of what has happened this month, but here is a smattering of bits and bobs that I hope you enjoy.

We went camping a couple of weeks back and she loves the beach, learning to ride her bike and the actual camping part  - she loved - sleeping right next to Oliver and just loving the outdoor life. 

This is her victory dance!!

Snoozing together.

So you can see we went camping - with the new car and the kids. We had a lovely time in Grand Beach - a little community about 90 minutes north of Winnipeg on the shores of Lake Winnipeg itself. 

If you haven't heard of Lake Winnipeg, I will just tell you about it in Comparison to Windermere, the largest lake in Lake District - Windermere has an area of 14.8Km2.  Lake Winnipeg is 24,514km2. So, It is a fucking biiiiiiig lake!

The largest lake by Volume in UK is Loch Ness - at 7.3km3. Lake Winnipeg is 284km3.

It is actually the 12th largest lake in the world! 

The beaches are really nice too - clean white soft sand and with it being a lake, the clean unsalty water is much nicer than the salty seawater I usually swim in at the seaside!

We were up there for 3 nights and stayed in our 12 x 12 tent in the campground a short walk from the beaches. The weather was hot, but the campground was shady, so we all had excellent sleep and a nice peaceful family holiday! Hannah got really good at riding her bike, Oliver just loved being outdoors and it felt like a much longer holiday than it really was. 

After 3 days away it was a quick drive back into the city - laundry, everyone clean and washed and then pile back into the car the next day for a 4 day stay at the cabin. Luckily, the border between Ontario and Manitoba is open once again and so we are legally able to come and go as we please - we are both fully vaccinated now too, so all the worries about covid and its associated bullshit is slowly but steadily draining away from every here. Patios and restaurants are opening and the province is slamming its vaccination targets  - so it's all looking good for the rest of summer as long as nothing goes wrong!

We have even enjoyed a couple of nights out with beers (and a hastily bought sparkly face mask - don't ask)

 

Out at the cabin things are busy - Jon and Susan have decided to remove the from porch from the cabin and replace it with a room more than twice the size - so walls have been taken down, windows removed, flooring ripped up and the new walls and windows are being built, Then the roof will be attached and hopefully, one day soon, there will be a huge big sunny but cool porch with magnificent views to enjoy over the lake. 

Heres a few photos of the progress - including Hannah helping to remove the old flooring!

As well as helping to knock down buildings, Hannah has also been taking to the water -- She loves the local splashpad at home and has also bee swimming in the lake. She is very good at lifting her legs up and lying in the water getting a really good position to learn to swim. She grows up so much every day!

She is also very cheeky and has been teaching Buffy how to read properly...

Back at home we are a little squeezed into our house at the moment. 

Teh street at the front of the house is having 2 bike lanes installed, so there is 2 less lanes for cars and nowhere to park now! And in a planning masterclass - the back lane is being dug up and repaired (for 8 weeks) so we cant get a car into the garage and have nowhere really close by to park it! Its not as if we were also planning on getting a new fence installed this week - oh wait --yes we were and now that is delayed till September! 

Luckily, I just dropped off the little works car - the Hyundai Accent, today and we now are a one car family again with the new Kia Seltos. So at least we only have to find one parking space!

This is our back lane at the moment!

At least Hanny is happy as she loves diggers!!!

I think I will leave you all there for now. There is a lot more i could tell you about - such as the front porch at home on the brink of collapse, Hannahs new Kitty shaped cycling helmet or Oliver trying to eat Elmo. 

But I will leave you with a few more photos and one video. 

The photos show Hannah watching as we took the old works car for its final wash at the chamois car wash - as she was dressed as a doctor  and the first photo of all the family together for the first time in a year or more. 

and the video shows Olivers first and very good attempt to walk with the little mail truck. He will have it really soon!!