What happened to me???? Where did I go???

Wow! Looks like I kind of disappeared for a little while. What can I tell you about the last couple of weeks?

I was supposed to go to New Jersey last weekend to see some "sisters" and to have some time enjoying some American R&R. Well, needless to say I was not enough of a planner and we just couldn't do it financially and I wanted to be close to home for a couple of people who are important in my life and who may have needed me to be available for them.

Instead I went to my mom and dad's for a couple of days but not before we went down to the Lakeshore in Toronto and watched the grand finale for the Canada Dry Festival of Fire on Saturday, July 05th. We managed to get down the the park (we were too cheap to pay to get into Ontario Place so we went to a public park just west of OP and watched from there) early enough to enjoy a lengthy family game of badminton. (Doug and I used to play badminton years and years ago -- as we had a HUGE back yard to allow plenty of running room that was good for Frisbee too -- and now the boys are old enough to join us so we are back at it.)

Once the darkness set in we made our way to the beach and laid out our blanket as well as setting up our beach chairs. We had snacks and visited while we waited for the show to start. It was a really great show. Added to it was the sea of boats and boat lights out on the water from people who had moved to the water to see the show. They must have had a GREAT view!!

We head home in the traffic and Sunday, after a huge fry-up, the two boys and I made our way to my mom and dad's. The boys had never been to Sauble Beach and I hadn't been there since I was a kid. Sauble is a lovely expanse of sand beach on the Canadian shore of Lake Huron. We spent time on the beach laying around, digging in the sand, and splashing in the great waves. We stayed until just after noon (this was on the Monday) and then we went to the Go Kart track. (The breeze was pretty chilly on the beach, despite a forecast high of 28 degrees Celcius -- about 80-85 F)

Fergus was delighted to see that he was tall enough to drive the Go Kart himself. Papa said he would take Quinn with him. There were two steering wheels in the kart that dad and Quinn had so I didn't think Quinn knew that he wasn't controlling the wheels. Duh, mom!! When we spoke about it last night he told me that he knew he wasn't in control because the two times he spun the wheel right around the car didn't turn at all. Hmmmm, I wonder why the little ones aren't allowed to go by themselves???

We head back to Nani and Papa's shortly after Go Karting and having some Dairy Queen so that we could rest, refresh and get ready for dinner with AD and UD. My AD turned 65 the week previous to our visit so we were going out to celebrate her milestone. I love seeing them so it was a great opportunity to catch up with them.

Tuesday I was able to enjoy a catch-up visit with the womyn who was my best friend in grade school, Teesha. She has a new little girl and I was given then chance to have a snuggle with her while Teesha and I caught up on the past 20 years. I really have only seen her once, at a funeral, since we left high school. There has been a lot that has happened in that time.

We came home on Wednesday so that I could be home to have a couple of meetings with clients. That also allowed us the chance to be home on Thursday and to go into Toronto to see Christi, Owen and Frankie as well as spend some time at High Park. The play structure there was built by several members of the community about 15 years ago. Everyone donated their time and energy and created this masterpiece.

I must admit that I prefer to go to the "Castle Park" (as my kids call it) during the school year as it is much quieter and I don't feel quite so edgy. Last Thursday there were so many people around that I was constantly worrying about where the boys were. It didn't help that I had borrowed a the youngest son of a friend of mine too so that she could take her third to a doctor's appointment. Quinn loved having Liam with him at Owen's. It was a special gift for him to be able to spend that kind of quality time with two of his favourite friends.

Friday would have been quiet except we were scurrying around to get things organized so that Fergus could be ready in time to be picked up by his best friend, Adam, for a weekend away with them at their cottage. My eldest is obviously old enough to spend weekends away, I guess.

Quinn found solace in the reality that his brother had jumped the family ship by being invited to his friend's house (Alex) for the night. Alex's mom planned to take the boys to a movie too so he got it in spades.

And in case you were keeping track, yes . . . that did mean that we were without children for the night. So, we called Karen and Larry to see if they wanted to go and have a drink. Nah, they invited us to theirs and we dined, drank and played cards until WAY TOO late and had a FANTASTIC TIME doing it!!

Saturday Paulette dropped Quinn back at home and we made our way to the Farmer's Market downtown. I love just browsing each of the stalls. I am pokier than my MIL though and since she was with us we had to keep moving. Oh well.

Saturday evening we went to a BBQ at the home of my business partner and ate, and ate, and ate!! OMG! The food was amazing! And Quinn spent time wowing some of the adults with his Wii prowess. Many of the adults at the party are IT individuals and gamers too. They were amazed with how Quinn kept winning.

Sunday was a more relaxed day, finally. We hung out in the back yard, visited with one another and just enjoyed not having to go anywhere. Fergus got home around 10:00 p.m. or so and we just spent some time lounging on the bed as a family catching up on the excitement and adventures of our respective weekends.

Yesterday was a nice, slow day. The boys have started swimming lessons this week and other than that, we are not really planning to do much of anything. I have some meetings planned and of course we have baseball on Thursday. Other than that though . . .

This weekend I teach both days. Saturday night we, some of the female folk, are getting together to celebrate my sister and her plans to get married this summer. Doug and the boys will likely go and do something fun together since I will be gone from Saturday morning to Sunday evening.

Doug's holidays start a week from this Thursday so we are pretty excited at what the next few weeks will bring.

Thanks for reading! Hope you are having a GREAT summer!!