The Canadian Open - Sunday

It was just Curt and I for the final round - we knew we wanted to stay until the end, and if we stayed that late, we wouldn't have time to drive back to Acton to drop Nolan off at home - Nolan had a birthday party to go to anyway, so he didn't care either way.

The weather was a little bit better, it was still cool but at least it didn't rain!

Clear blue skies upon entering...

Although I've been to a number of PGA tournaments, I always get excited walking through the entrance!

And, we took some time to check out the Fan Experience area again - we both did the Golf Town simulator, and Curt even got his name on the Leader Board...

We spent a good portion of the day following Bubba; we met up with our friend Henk again (Amy wasn't there on Sunday) and enjoyed catching up with him a little bit more (they don't live in the Quinte area anymore, so we don't get to see them that often).  When Bubba's round was over, we made our way to the 18th green to watch the final groups come in.  I think this may be the first time we've actually done that; we normally don't want to fight crowds at 18, but I think the weather scared some people away because it didn't seem that busy.  So, we were able to find a good spot and we were there to watch Brandt Snedeker sink his final putt to win the tournament!

Brandt, about to shake his caddie's hand right after he won...

There were some pretty good names at the top of the leaderboard on Sunday afternoon - Matt Kuchar, Dustin Johnson and William McGirt, to name a few - and although it would have been good to see any of those guys win, I have to admit, I'm glad that it was Brandt in the end!

And, after Brandt won, I couldn't resist having my picture taken "with him" on the way out :)

The Canadian Open - Saturday

Curt and I were lucky enough to attend the Canadian Open again this year - this time as spectators rather than volunteers.  A few months ago, it didn't look like we were going to go...I really wanted to go, but Curt didn't seem all that interested, so it looked like we were going to be camping that weekend instead.  BUT, then Curt ended up winning tickets in a golf tournament, so that sealed the deal and we were in!

We had a wedding on Friday - Curt's cousin was getting married in Barrie - so we were only able to be at the tournament on Saturday and Sunday, but that was better than nothing!  We stayed in Barrie Friday night after the wedding; Saturday morning, we woke up and went to Acton to pick up my nephew Nolan, and then the three of us were off to Glen Abbey. 

There was a pretty fun 'Fan Experience' area set up when you entered the course, and we arrived at the tail end of a rain delay, so we had some time to check everything out.

Global News had an anchor desk set up, so Nolan and I pretended to be news anchors...

*I should have apologized in advance, all the pictures on this post are from my iPhone, so they aren't great*

Then we checked out the RBC corner...

Since Nolan is standing with Hunter Mahan's bag, I'll throw in a random little story about Hunter - he was in the lead going into the weekend, but when he was on the range warming up on Saturday morning, he got a call telling him that his wife was in labour...so, he did exactly what he should have done - withdrew and went to be with her!

Once the rain delay was over, the CN Junior Links area re-opened, so Nolan was able to hit a few balls there.

We hadn't been there long before Nolan was asking for ice cream (despite it being a cool and rainy day).  This Aunt can't say no...so, he may have had two of these while we were there!

Apparently the scratch under his eye is from his sister...he did not get that while under our care! :)

A few pictures from around the course...

Maybe his name will be on this wall one day :)

Or, maybe it will be on one of these signs during a round on the PGA :)

Nolan did so well again this year - he behaved so well and made me very proud!  Not long after we got there, we were able to meet up with our friends Henk and Amy - they were walking with Bubba Watson's group - so we hung out with them for a bit.  BUT, the walking was a bit too much for Nolan - and I knew that when the group went down into the valley, that if Nolan and I went down there, I might have to carry him up (and I wouldn't have been able to do that!), so we decided to find our own spot to watch. 

While Nolan and I were on our own, we were sitting near a green watching, and when Tommy "two-gloves" Gainey walked off the green, he handed Nolan his golf ball!  It was GREAT because that ball kept Nolan entertained all afternoon!  As he played with it around the course, people would ask where he got it...all he could remember was 'Tommy' and then I would have to remind him about the Gainey part :)  Then on our way out, someone said 'oh, Tommy two-gloves'...Nolan looked at me confused, so I explained that that was his nickname...after that, he had no problem remembering the nickname and said it with enthusiasm.

Eventually, we made our way to the 18th green to watch the groups come in.  Like I said earlier, the weather wasn't great, so it wasn't that busy around 18...so, Nolan was able to kick his golf ball around and I could watch.  Curt met up with us there, and we watched the final groups come in before heading out.

One last picture from the Fan Experience area that we got on our way out...

Nolan's smile is a bit cheesy, but it's a smile!  I think he had a good day, and I know that Curt and I did too.

Robertson Visit - Part 3

On Saturday, we got an earlier start to our boating...and, we decided to head back to Trenton to give the Bay a try - it was a good a good place to start in order to try out one of the locks on the Trent-Severn Waterway!

We started out just doing a little tour of the Bay, checking out some of the houses along the water.

Abby and I enjoying our cruise...

Tom and the kids, enjoying the ride...

After a little sightseeing, we docked the boat in Trenton, and while I stayed with the boat, everyone else went to order pizza.  Then we had a nice little picnic beside the river.

While we waited for the pizza, we took a walk down the main street of Trenton - they happened to be having a sidewalk sale/festival thing that day.  Then we had a nice little picnic beside the river.

After lunch, it was up the river to check out the lock.  

The kids getting their first view of the lock...

A group shot of everyone waiting in the boat for our turn to go into the lock...

While everyone else waited in the boat, I got out to get some pictures.  A closer look at the lock...

We're in, the gates are closed and the lock is filling up with water...

And, we're almost at the top...

I don't know how much the kids really understood what was happening while we were in the lock...but, the adults thought it was pretty cool :)  Surprisingly, Curt has never boated through a lock...odd because he grew up closest to water?!?  We only did the one lock because the same person works the next set of locks too...so, if we wanted to go through another one, he would have had to drive up to the next one and get it ready for us...didn't seem right to make a guy do that when we weren't really going anywhere, just wanted to try it out.  So, once we got through the lock we took a few minutes to walk to a nearby store for water and icecream (it was hot, and we had been in the sun a little too long by this time!) and then we just went back down the same lock.

In order to cool down before heading home, we went back out into the Bay and did some tubing...real tubing this time because Curt and I bought a new tube to replace the one we broke!

Abby and I all ready to go...

Nolan and Curt went tubing too, but, no pictures - we could actually go fast this time, so pictures weren't turning out.  Nolan did great and loved going really fast!  I told Tom to try to flip him off, just so he would experience falling off and know it was OK, but Tom didn't want to do it...Curt was thinking the same way I was, so he decided to make Nolan fall off - they hit a wave and Curt kinda scooped him off the tube and held onto him as they fell in - Nolan came out smiling, laughing and wanting to do it again!  Success!

Krystle and I did some tubing too, again no pictures!?!  Unfortunately we couldn't convince Tom to get on the tube...next time, no excuses, he's going on!

Obviously it was a great weekend, one that I wish we could do a few times every summer...unfortunately, it doesn't work that way, and this was probably a one time thing.  But, there's always next year to look forward to!  I have a feeling we'll be watching kijiji for a kids size wake-board!

Robertson Visit - Part 2

So, at the end of the last post, I mentioned that we spent a lot of time in/on water during the Robertson's visit.  Yes, there was the visit to our neighbours pool...but, even better was all the time we spent boating!

On Friday, we went to a section of the Trent River (near Frankford) to do some tubing.  We got a little later start than we were hoping for - we originally went to Trenton to go out on the Bay, but it was too rough, so we ended up driving to a second spot which worked out much better.

It was HOT, so we were all happy to be on the water.  Unfortunately, we had a little mishap with our tube...as in, we put it out to tow behind the boat with no one in it (it was huge and in the way in the boat)...but, it caught the wake and a gust of wind and ripped!  I was MAD, I'm not going to lie...I was so excited to give the kids the chance to go tubing, so when that wasn't going to happen I was really disappointed.  We tried anyway, but it wasn't the same :(  Of course, we couldn't go very fast...and we had to tie the rope to a random loop near the bottom of the tube, so it naturally pulled down into the water and the two openings for people to sit in filled up with water.  However, I will say, the kids still had fun with it...when the water came in to Nolan's area, he said the 'ocean was coming in on his feet'!  :)

Nolan and I getting ready on the tube...

Abby and I on the tube...

You can see that Abby is sitting lower, she's down in the 'hole' for people to sit in...once the boat got going, and the water came in, I had to pull her out and have her sit on the edge of the tube...the water would have been to her chin if she stayed like she is in the picture :)

So, after we did some 'tubing', I decided to try some wake-boarding.  I was very excited to get up on the second try AND to manage to stay up while going in and out of the wake!!!

Up and 'safe' inside the wake :)

And, drum roll please...outside the wake!

Now getting in and out of the wake really isn't that hard...but, it's something I've never been good at, so I was excited.  And, while I'm being honest, I tried to get up again later and couldn't even get up, ha!  I think I had tired myself out with the swimming we did...and, helping Nolan try wake-boarding!  That's right, he tried too!

This is how it started...

I'm a rookie wake-boarder myself, so helping Nolan try to get up was a learning curve for me too!  But, I would start holding him like this - Curt would start going really slow and I would let go and let Nolan hold the rope on his own for a few seconds (while still going really slow) - when I let go, I would then try to start pushing the board up while turning is length wise - and, Nolan would try to stand up!  Sounds easy, right?!?!  ;)  He did 'get up', but it was pretty much one fluid motion...he went from the position he was in with me in the picture above, to slowing standing up and then falling over! :)  But, he was sooo PUMPED about it...and we were all really proud of him too! 

Curt did some wake-boarding too, but there are no pictures of his time on the board.  Nolan was the judge, and he decided that he was first in the competition, Uncle Curt was second, and I was sixth?!?!  Out of three people...ouch!

Nolan and I after all our hard work...

Krystle and Abby enjoying their time in the bow of the boat...

Curt, the captain of our ship...

After a few hours of fun on the water, it was time to pack it in for the day and get home so the kids could have lunch and get in a nap.  We enjoyed our time on the boat so much, we knew we would have to go again on Saturday...so, that calls for Part 3...

Robertson Visit - Part 1

So, we pretty much went from a weekend of fun with the Wielemaker's to a weekend of fun with the Robertson's.  My brother and his family - Tom, Krystle, Nolan and Abby arrived at our house late Wednesday afternoon - so they were here waiting when I got home!

A few weeks ago, I came across a good sale at Old Navy and I couldn't resist bathing suits for Nolan and Abby.  I left them sitting out in the guest room, and when I got home from work, they were wearing them.  After being greeted with hugs and kisses from the kids, Nolan told me that I'm 'the best Aunt in the whole world cause you bought me this bathing suit!'.  Awwww, I love that kid!

I made the kids 'model' their bathing suits for me:

Nolan

(Notice the wristbands? They have the Chicago Blackhawks logo on them - I bought them at the dollar store a few years ago - and Nolan wears them EVERY TIME he comes to visit!)

Abby 

We didn't do much Wednesday evening, just had fun hanging out with each other.  Curt and I both had to work on Thursday, so the Robertson's were on their own.  I know their morning included a trip to the Frankford splash pad; and then while the girls stayed home for a nap, Tom and Nolan went to Trenton to see the Stanley Cup!  They are Chicago Blackhawks fans, and one of the Blackhawks players, Andrew Shaw, is from Belleville...so, when it was announced that he was bringing the Cup to Trenton and Belleville for people to see, I knew we'd be getting some company!

So, they had a fun day...and once we got work out of the way, Curt and I got in on the fun too - Thursday evening we went to our neighbours place for a swim!  (so the kids got to put their swimsuits to use)

It didn't take long for Nolan to ask to try the slide!

Abby wanted to try too, but she only went down a few times...probably because this is how she ended up going into the water...

Click on this picture and make sure you look at Nolan's facial expression (he's barely in the picture, over on the left side)...I didn't notice it at first, but when I did, I laughed out loud!

Nolan got pretty brave, and even went down this way...

It looked so FUN, even Auntie Boo got in on the action and went down the slide :)  No pictures of that though (there is video, but I've never been able to figure out how to add videos to blog posts...which I'm very thankful for right now).

And, before we finished our swim, a group shot...

We ended up spending a lot of time in, or on, water over the weekend...but we were only in the pool this one evening...more on that in the next post...

Wielemaker Camping - Part 2

One thing that I will admit I really enjoy about camping is how laid back it can be...even though we're camping with the extended family, each couple or family can do their own thing too - there were times I enjoyed hanging out with Dave and Sarah and the boys or various cousins, and then there were times where I could just hang out by myself and read.

This years 'contest' was bocce ball - if you wanted to compete for the trophy, you had to play ten games and report your points to the organizer.  It was REALLY hot, so after a few games I didn't really want to be in the sun anymore, so I didn't play a full ten games...but that was fine!

The kids had some games of their own, which is always fun.

Luke did awesome in the race where the kids had to carry an egg on a spoon...in their mouth!

The kids games wouldn't have been complete without a balloon toss!  When the girls organizing it announced it was going to start, they told all the kids to find their grandparents...but, that doesn't work for my nephews...there are five of them and only two grandparents...so, Aunt Mary Beth got to fill in! :)  Noah was thrilled each and every time a water balloon broke near me and I got soaked!

There was also some board games going on throughout the day.  Here, Curt, Aunt Eleanor, Josh, Anthony and Ben are deeply involved in a game of 'Ticket to Ride' while Malachi and Noah watch.

As I mentioned earlier, it was a VERY HOT weekend!  So, a lot of time was spent in the water...for the most part, the kids were in the water and the adults were on the beach watching, but by Sunday, even the adults were IN the water...including ME?!?

A few random pictures from the waters edge...

Owen...

Noah...

And Luke, trying to turn a boogie board into a surf board...

So, as you can probably tell from the pictures, it was a great weekend!  The weather was perfect and it was great spending time with family.  I've come a long way when it comes to camping and would go as far to say that I actually enjoy it now.  But, there's nothing like the hot shower when you get home!!!

 

Wielemaker Camping - Part 1

Last weekend was the annual Wielemaker camping (that's Curt's mom's side of the family).  Curt's Aunt Rena and Uncle Paul were hosting this year, and they chose to have it at the Christian Conference Grounds in Grafton, which is where is was held last year. 

We got things started on Thursday night this year, so once we got home from work we rushed around finalizing things and then hit the road.  We stopped for fast food on the way, and pulled into camp around 8pm, so we had lots of time to get the trailer set up.  There were only a few families there on Thursday night, so it was pretty low key...everyone was getting settled in, and then eventually we made our way around the fire.

More people arrived throughout the morning on Friday, and Curt and I finished setting up as people came in. We finally took the time to set up our dining tent - we've had it for two years and only set it up once in our backyard (to make sure all the pieces were there).  Unfortunately, some mice got to it over the winter and there are now two holes in it :(  But, it was still great to have all the extra space...and considering how hot it was, the extra shade was great too!

This is what our final set up looked like...

We were pretty pleased with our set up!  And although it's small, that little trailer makes a big difference to this non-camper!  Our nephews were asking us why we had such a small trailer :)  I told them that it's all we need because we have no kids...they told us that when we have kids we should get a trailer like theirs...

This is Dave and Sarah's trailer (Curt's brother and his wife), and the type of trailer our nephews are used to...

Friday afternoon, a bunch of us went to play golf at Shelter Valley Pines Golf Club - a bit of a tradition when we camp at this campground. 

My foursome consisted of Curt, his cousin Tim and his Uncle Anthony...whenever Tim is involved, there has to be competition, so, we decided on a little match play!  Curt and I were five up with five to play...and then won, one up!  Ooops :)  It was fun to have a little competition involved, and exciting that I made a par putt on the last hole to stay one up! :)

Curt, Uncle Anthony and Tim...

Tim and I on the 9th tee.  I feel like I should mention that Tim didn't play the red tees, he was up there using his range finder to give me the yardage. 

And post round drinks, courtesy of the losers...

Apparently Curt and Tim were too into their conversation to stop and look at the camera...Uncle Anthony gave a good cheesy smile though!

My father-in-law Gord, and oldest nephew Josh, checking out their scorecard...

They played in the group behind us with Uncle Paul and Aunt Rena...this was the first time that Josh played 18 holes.

Once we got back to camp and had dinner, we made our way down to the water to watch the little boys swimming (well, most of them).  The water was FREEZING, so not many adults made it in.

Friday night ended with the mandatory fire...last year when I posted about Wielemaker camping, I admitted that I find campfires boring, and this year was no exception...so, I didn't last long.  I also knew that we would not be sleeping in in the morning - by Friday night, everyone was there and our area had filled up, so we knew the kids near us would be up and out playing bright and early.  Plus, our little trailer is like a sauna - and once the sun is up, it gets HOT QUICK!