More Weekend Visitors

I guess my Mom and Aunt Mary were jealous when they heard that the Robertson's were coming to visit - so, they decided to come for their own visit this past weekend!

They arrived early Friday afternoon and again, my weekend got off to a pretty special start!  My Mom arrived with my birthday gift...and although my birthday isn't until December, she pretty much insisted that I open the gift right away! ;)   I was thrilled when I unwrapped the paper, opened the box and pulled out a.....COACH PURSE!  I was actually in shock when I saw what it was...at first I thought it was a knock-off...but when I saw the tag and the serial number, I knew it was real! 

I tried to find a picture online, but couldn't find the exact style so I took a quick picture of my actual purse...nice, right?!?

Last Christmas, my mom received a Coach purse from a friend, and I was pretty jealous :)  I bought a knock-off Coach at the Florida flea market a few years ago, and it always seemed a bit cheesy...but, now that my Mom had a real one, there was no way I could use the knock off!  We've had an ongoing joke ever since that she would leave me the purse in her will.  And, now that won't be necessary...although I won't complain if she does anyway ;)

Friday afternoon, we went for a drive to Campbellford (for a chocolate factory and a great bakery) and then once Curt got home from work, we took Mom and Aunt Mary out for dinner.  We took them to a spot on the water called 'The Boathouse'.

Aunt Mary on the left and Mom on the right:

Enjoying the view after dinner:

Saturday morning, it was off to the States for the ladies - Curt stayed home because he had a golf tournament to play in on Saturday afternoon.  Watertown, New York is only about two hours from our house, and although it doesn't have the greatest shopping (no outlet mall), it had enough to keep the three of us happy!

Our first stop was the mall - we all found a few goodies at Burlington Coat Factory, JC Penney and Bath and Body Works.  After a quick bite to eat at the food court, it was off to Kohl's and Target!  It doesn't sound like a lot, but I think all of that kept us busy from around noon until about 5pm!

After checking into our hotel, and having some down time in the room, we decided to go out for dinner.  And, we got to go to my favourite spot - Ruby Tuesday! 

Once we got back to our hotel, we didn't last long before calling it a night.  All that shopping really tired us out, more specifically, it tired Aunt Mary out ;)

We did a little more shopping the following morning, but it ended up being mostly groceries?!?!  I thought my Mom was crazy for wanting to go to an Aldi grocery store, but I ended up coming out with a few bags of my own.  And, the same thing happened when we went to the grocery section of Walmart later that morning.

Unfortunately, we had a little issue coming back across the border :)  We thought that because we had been there over night, we were allowed to bring back alcohol and cigarettes.  So, when we got to booth and were asked if we had anything to declare, I told the lady that we were each bringing in a bottle of alcohol and that Mom and Aunt Mary each had a carton of cigarettes.  Well, turns out you have to stay 48 hours to bring those things back to Canada...so, we were sent to the "cashier" and forced to pay tax :(

I think I ended up paying around $50, and Mom and Aunt Mary paid around $75 (they had the cigarettes too)!  We were TICKED, to say the least.  And, just to make it extra annoying, the customs agent that looked after us had this annoying smirk on his face and seemed to be enjoying it way too much.  What made it extra annoying for me was that I had only picked up one bottle, and I was paying tax on that one bottle....however, Mom and Aunt Mary each got two bottles, but because we said they only got one, they only paid tax on the one.  So, they seemed to be getting off easier than me!?!? :) 

We all vented A LOT when we got back in the vehicle - and probably said more than one curse word :)  But, eventually we laughed about it...A LOT...to the point we were crying!

And, we laughed even more when we told Curt the story.  After hearing the story, Curt decided he should have a drink to make it all worthwhile (oh yeah, I don't even drink!)...and, when he pulled the bottle out of the bag he pointed out that it is a 60 oz. bottle...and we only declared a 40 oz. bottle....HA!  That was an honest mistake though, we really didn't know what we bought :)

Thanks to Mom and Aunt Mary for making the trip to Belleville to visit, and for allowing me to tag along on their trip across the border!  I hope you enjoyed yourselves as much as I did. 

Oh, and Mom, thanks for cooking the turkey while you were here too!

xoxo

Weekend Visitors - Part 2

My last post covered the first two days of the Robertson's visit, and it was long - I'll see if I can keep this post shorter because I'm only covering one day :)

The 'big plan' for Sunday was to go to the Stirling Fair, but, that was an afternoon/evening thing, so we spent some more time at the park across the street (I hardly ever see kids in that park, but we use it a lot when my niece and nephew are here!?).

I just have to share a few pics from the park - I can't resist, they're just too cute :)

And now, on the fair - we did all the typical 'fair' things, including rides!

First, Abby and Nolan drove some trucks...

But, driving was a little boring...so, they decided to try flying a helicopter...

Then it was time for a 'roller coaster'...but, this proved to be a little too much for Abs...look close, she is crying - it must have really freaked her out :(

The man running the ride did stop it and take Abby off, then Nolan (and the other little boy on the ride) got to go around a few more times.  

The main reason we wanted to wait to go to the fair in the afternoon/evening was because the Demolition Derby didn't start until 7pm, and we HAD to go to that!  That's something that is kind of unique for us, the town I grew up in had a pretty good fall fair every year, but there was never a demolition derby.  I don't think I saw my first one until University.  It's actually very entertaining, and we all enjoyed it...especially Tom and Nolan. 

The only picture I got (the stands were facing west, so the sun was setting in our eyes)...

It was late by the time we got home from the fair, so Abby went straight to bed but Nolan got to stay up late and have a campfire with us :)

So, it was a VERY BUSY but VERY FUN filled weekend! 

Tom and Krystle, thanks for coming to Belleville for a visit...can't wait until we do it again!

Weekend Visitors - Part 1

This past weekend we had some special visitors, my brother and sister-in-law and their kids - we had three full days together, and we had a great time together and did lots of fun stuff while they were here!

They arrived on Thursday afternoon while Curt and I were still at work, so, they went to the mall the pass some time; when Curt and I were done work, we each made our way to the mall to meet them and go out for dinner.  What a great start to the weekend - I was walking down the corridor in the mall, and when Nolan spotted me, he came running towards me to give me a big hug...and, Abby was right behind him with a hug for 'Auntie Boo' as well...AWESOME!

Friday morning was pretty low key - the kids didn't have a great sleep because it was their first night away from home, so we decided to stay close to home and make sure they had good naps.  Aside from an hour or so at the park across the street, we spent most of the morning inside.

Thankfully, the kids both had great naps!  Actually, they were a little too long :)  The original plan was to take them to a reptile zoo in Peterborough after their nap - the zoo has a special dinosaur exhibit for the summer and we thought Nolan would enjoy it - but, by the time they got up, there wasn't enough time to make it all the way to Peterborough.  So, we went with our back up plan and went to nearby Batawa to the 'Dino Dig'.  (my Mom, Nolan and I went to the Dino Dig last year when they visited and it was a hit then)

Cheesy smiles!  (notice the 'tools' in their hands - you have to bring your own tools to dig)

This picture makes me laugh out loud - the looks on their faces, priceless!  You'd think they were looking at a real live dinosaur - but no, they're watching some other kids playing a game.

 

Tom, Krystle and Nolan diggin' for Walter the T-Rex

Unfortunately while we were there, Abby took a fall and hurt her nose.  The poor thing, she tripped over the root of a tree and went straight down on her face...she didn't put her hands out to stop herself either, so her nose definitely took the brunt of the fall.

Look at her sad eyes :(  

Thankfully, this little guy cheered her right up :)

Saturday morning, we decided to hit up some local garage sales and then go to the local Farmer's Market.  The garage sales were a fail, but the Farmer's Market was OK - we didn't buy a lot in the way of fruits and vegetables, but we did buy some pretty good baked goods!  These activities were enough to tire the kids out, so from the market, it was straight home for lunch and naps.  The kids had good long naps, so by the time they woke up, we were ready to head to the water...we were able to borrow a boat, so Saturday afternoon we went out on the Bay of Quinte - probably the most exciting 'event' of the weekend! 

I think everyone enjoyed the boat ride, despite some rough water!  Originally, we had hoped to take the kids tubing, but the tube we borrowed had a leak so that didn't happen (the water was probably a little too rough anyway).  So, we toured along the shore from Belleville from Trenton instead, and that seemed to be good enough for everyone :)

Nolan absolutely LOVED when Uncle Curt drove REALLY fast!  Abby seemed to enjoy it too, at first...the wind eventually seemed to be too much for her, but sitting in behind the windshield helped keep it enjoyable for her.

Nolan and Krystle...notice the smiles, and the wind blown hair!

Tom and Abby; this is Abby's preferred spot - behind the windshield!

I didn't get a lot of pictures during our boat ride - the rough water made it hard to keep the camera steady!

So, that was our first two days...as always, this post has gotten really long (and there are a lot of pictures!), so I'll do a separate post to cover our last day together.

A Salon Experience

Here's a little known fact about me...I don't like getting my hair cut!  It became a task I don't enjoy when I moved away from home - before that, I had gone to the same lady for as long as I could remember.; I was familiar with her, and she was familiar with me - or, more specifically, the weird things I was particular about when it came to my hair.  Once I moved, that familiarity was gone and so was the enjoyment from the salon experience!

Over the last seven years, while I've been living in Belleville, I've only ever gone to two people on a regular basis - for awhile, my mother-in-law cut my hair (she used to be a hairdresser, and would do it at her house) and then I started going to Curt's cousin when she was working at a salon in Belleville (but, she went on maternity leave and then decided to change professions).  Other than that, I've just gone to 'whoever'.  I've really only had one BAD experience - I went to a spot in the mall and ended up with VERY UNEVEN ends - but I've never really had a GREAT experience either.
 
Anyway, I haven't had my haircut in months - partly because I wanted to grow it out, partly because I just didn't want to bother going through the hassle of having it done.  But, I felt like it was time for a trim, it just needed cleaned up.  So, I called and booked an appointment at the salon Curt's cousin used to work at - you get the salon experience and a hairdresser I feel I can trust, but it's not the most expensive salon in town.

I booked last week and the appointment was for Wednesday after work; then on Monday, I got a phone call from the salon owner asking if I would be willing to be a 'model' for them during a session with a Redken educator - I wasn't sold until I heard the words 'FREE CUT and COLOUR'!  I told the lady that I wasn't very brave when it came to my hair, so I wasn't sure they wanted me....but, she reassured me that it didn't have to be drastic, they just wanted to be able to try new products on someone - so I said sure and made arrangements to get off work early for the appointment.

It ended up being a great experience!  The Redken educator was awesome, and I was really glad to have her giving me advice on a suitable hair colour.  I was also glad that she was there giving advice to the two salon employees - they were both young, and seemed pretty new, so it was good to have someone with a lot of experience and knowledge.  Going into the appointment, I was thinking about going lighter - although I've never coloured my hair, I have had blonde highlights - but, the educator suggested going darker, and I'm so glad I went with it!

Now, I usually think it's kind of silly when people post pictures that they take of themselves in a mirror...but, the morning of my appointment, after Curt left for work, I thought about getting a picture for my blog - so, here it is....

A self take of my hair before...

And, a self take of my hair after (the next morning)...

Unfortunately, the lighting is a little different in the two pictures...and, I don't think either picture really shows the colour all that well...but, that's all I could do.  You can see that the length didn't change too much, but that was my choice...I just wanted a trim and for the layers to be cleaned up.

Curt didn't think the cut or the colour was all that noticeable, which is kind of what I was going for...but, my friends at work noticed that it was darker :)

Anyway, it was a great experience!  And, I may just have to do it again - it may not be as exciting next time though, because I'll have to pay for it :)
  

  

Getting Ready

Where did July go?!?!  I can't believe we're already into August...and the first week flew by...and, we have lots of plans this month, so I know the rest of the month will disappear before I know it!

Curt and I are both VERY busy at work right now - for me, it's because of the time of year (summer/vacation time), so on any given day we're usually short staffed - so, this past week, our 7th Anniversary came and went and we didn't really have time to do anything special. 

This weekend was also busy for Curt and I, but, we made sure to take some time to relax too.  We spent a good amount of time getting things around the house ready for our upcoming guests - my brother and his family are coming for the weekend in two weeks, and my mom and aunt come the following weekend!

Saturday, after spending the morning cleaning and organizing upstairs, it was time to tackle stuff in the basement.  I haven't done a complete post on it yet, but a few weeks ago I painted another room down there...we're using this room as a guest bedroom.  I'm not going to go into a lot of detail here, I want to leave things as a surprise for our guests...but, here is a little peek from early on in the process.

We purchased a new bed for this room, and Curt had set it up on Friday night, so we made the bed and shifted things around until we settled on a furniture arrangement.  I pulled together a few 'decorations', but this room is still a blank canvas, so I'll be working on that over the next few weeks.

We had accumulated a lot of furniture in the basement, and once we started shifting things in the bedroom, we just kept going.  So, we rearranged everything in the rec room and in doing so, got a pretty good start at setting up Curt's office (another room we repainted, but I never did a final post on...oops!).

Overall, the whole basement is feeling more like ours now...when I go down there, I don't think of it as going to 'the apartment' anymore.  Hopefully our guests will agree when they see it and have to sleep down there :)

Sunday was our more relaxing day - we both puttered around a little, and Curt did some work for Three Hills Engineering.

And today, we spent most of the afternoon outside getting things out there in order!  Curt borrowed a tractor from his uncle, so he got some work done with it - a neighbour had some leftover gravel he wanted to get rid of, so Curt picked it up and used it to fill our 'pond' (which he started to do last year, so it was really more of a puddle...and, it's been such a dry summer, it was bone dry!).

I cut the grass - this job went a lot faster than usual considering I really only had to do a third of the yard, the rest of it is BROWN.  And, I  finally got the gardens weeded, that was long overdue!  Tell me, why is that weeds are still thriving when the grass has been brown for weeks?!?!

I picked these from the vegetable garden a few days ago...

You can't really tell, but they are HUGE.  I put them next to a bottle of Coke, hopefully it gives some perspective...

Unfortunately, I think I waited a little too long to pick them...and, they've gone a little yellow :(  Which, according to Google, means they are overripe and will taste bitter.  Darn.  Oh well, lesson learned; and, there are still three or four other cucumbers on the vine, so I'll be sure to pick them soon!

And, there are LOTS of tomatoes...they are still green, so I'm hoping by the time our guests are here, there will be plenty of red ones ready for picking!

I realize this post has been random, and probably boring...thanks for sticking with me until the end :)  In keeping with that, here is a random picture to end with, I just found it when I downloaded the above pictures onto the computer.

This picture is from last weekend, when Curt and I were staying with Tom & Krystle in Acton.  On Thursday morning we wanted to go in the hot tub before leaving for the golf course...so, we took the kids in with us!