Branson - Getting There & The Resort

Why Branson, you ask? A few reasons I guess...we had heard it was a good golf spot...knew it had some live entertainment/shows...we found a great resort to stay at...and to us, it was within driving distance (granted, an 18 hour drive may not qualify for everyone!).

Our drive down went really well. We left on Friday night, spent the night in Acton, and then got up bright and early on Saturday morning to hit the road. Our trip down took us through Michigan, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois (briefly) and then into Missouri. The whole drive went really well; Curt and I took turns driving, and because we took the Jeep we had room to set up a little bed in the back, so when we weren't driving, we could get a good rest.

Here's Curt sleeping on the way down. As you can see, we put all the luggage and golf clubs on one side, and then we had a futon mattress doubled up on the other side, and that's where we slept. It was great!

I know people are going to think we're crazy when they see this - and, I agree, I was really against the idea at first, too. I know it's not safe, but now that we've lived to tell about it, no one can really say anything.

Arriving in Missouri - crossing the Mississippi River and seeing the Gateway Arch, all at the same time!

We stayed at Willow Ridge Lodge, a Marriott Vacation Club, and it was A-MAZING!

From the Main Lobby, looking down to the pool area.

From our building, looking down to the pool area.

We decided to take it easy on our first day in Branson - after breakfast and grocery shopping, we just hung around the pool for a few hours.

Curt and I enjoying the pool area! Or, Curt and I getting a sunburn. Ooops! And, OUCH!

And now for a funny story from our first morning...we got up around 8:30am but we weren't really in a rush to get anywhere or do anything, so we took our time getting showered and ready. Around 10:30am we went up to the main lobby to get some coffee; on our way, we noticed that the pool wasn't open, and thought that was weird because we were pretty sure that it was supposed to open at 10am...we figured we better double check that when we got to the lobby. As we continued walking, I realized our stupidity...we were in a different time zone, there was a one hour time difference, and we hadn't even realized! You'd think our first clue would have been the two clocks in our room...but no, I just commented that they were wrong and went about changing them the night before! Once we clued in, I couldn't believe that I had gotten up at 7:30am on my first day of vacation! I'd like to think that I'm pretty well traveled, but this little story kinda says the opposite, doesn't it?!?!

Just as I figured, this is getting long...so, I'm going to stop for now, and I'll try to think of a fun way to break up the posts about our trip.

Oh Happy Day!

Friday, May 20th was the last day of my contract at work - I've been working for the Ontario Disability Support Program since November, I've had two separate contracts during that time - and it really seemed like I was leaving for good this time.

Now, for the first five or six months, I really didn't like the job. And, to be honest, I had a countdown going to my last day. But, surprisingly, things changed, and when I was down to the last six weeks or so, I realized I didn't mind the job so much anymore, and I didn't want it to end.

So, Friday, May 20th is not the happy day I'm referring to in my title.

Knowing that my contract ended on the 20th, Curt and I booked a trip from May 21st to May 28th...so, we were off to Branson, Missouri (more on that soon).

I left not knowing if I would have a job to return to, but tried not to let that bother me. I think every co-worker told me that I would probably get called back for another contract, but the managers never said that, so I just couldn't be sure. I knew I could go back to work at the golf course if I needed to, but that certainly wasn't my first choice.

Anyway, fast forward a week...as soon as Curt and I crossed the border, and arrived back in Ontario, I turned my phone back on and checked my messages. And, guess what?!? I had a message from my manager at ODSP, and she was asking me to come back to work on Monday, May 30th! A few months ago I would have dreaded that message, but at that point, I was really excited!

I actually ended up taking Monday off, just to get organized back at home after our trip, but went back to work today - and it was great to be back! I was excited to see all my co-workers, and they seemed pretty glad to see me, too!

Oh Happy Day!

Now, of course I'm on another contract, so, I've got my job back until September 30th (which is longer then I expected!), and we'll see what happens from there?!?

Friday the 13th

Friday, May 13th was a special day - and it had nothing to do with the superstition that it will be a day of bad luck - it was because my niece, Abby, turned ONE! Wow, I can't believe it's already been one year?!?

Curt and I made the trip to Acton on Saturday so that we could attend her Disney Princess Party.



A few pics of the birthday girl and I. This is before the party started - she was so cute in her birthday dress, and her hairband and flower were adorable!

And, no first birthday party would be complete without a mess of cake and icing! There was a cute princess icecream cake for the adults, but Abby got to enjoy a cupcake...with lots of icing!


Digging in, with no hesitation!


Now that it's all over both hands, she's not sure what to do.


And, she's officially a mess! I don't think she actually ate any of the cupcake...she played with the icing, and maybe tasted a little bit of it, but then she started throwing the cupcake around so we had to take it away :)

After dinner and cake, Krystle decided that Abby should try on some of her new clothes - more specifically, her new bathing suits (she got three). Here she is modelling the bathing suit that Curt and I gave her.


She had the best reaction when Krystle got this on her - it seemed like she really liked it!

Now, these guys aren't as cute as the birthday girl, but I had to include this picture anyway.


This is my dad and brother, they had to BBQ in the rain - but, as you can see, they didn't seem to mind too much!

And, now I have to apologize for the picture overload! I had planned on making more collages with Picnik, but it was taking too long.

Anyway, it was a great weekend and it was great celebrating with so many people who clearly love Abby as much as I do!

Weekend Happenings - Day 2

We woke up to another bright and beautiful day on Sunday morning.

It was my turn to help in the church nursery, something I always dread on my way to church, but usually end up enjoying once I get there. This Sunday was a quiet one in the nursery - there were only 12 little ones! ha! I've been in there with 18 kids, now that was busy!

I've been helping in the toddlers nursery for a few years now, and one thing I'm enjoying this year is the fact that some of my friends kids are in there. My little nephew Luke was there on Sunday, so it was fun to hang out with him, too!

After church we went over to my in-laws for lunch - we were celebrating Mother's Day and my nephew Joshua's, ninth birthday!

I'm pretty sure my MIL was happy with the laptop bag we got for her. And I know for sure that Joshua (and his brothers) were thrilled with the electric guitar we got for him! Yup, we are that Aunt and Uncle :)

Our neighbour was having a garage sale on Saturday...he didn't seem to be selling a lot (maybe because he wasn't set up until 11am), and Curt and I felt sorry for him. Curt went over to see what he had, and spotted the guitar and little amplifier that came with it. It was in good shape, and a decent price, so he bought it.

Luckily, I don't think my brother and sister-in-law were too mad! Actually, I think Dave thought it was pretty cool, and Sarah just commented that it wouldn't be too bad because Joshua's room is in the basement, so he wouldn't disturb everyone while practicing.

And now, here are some pictures of the boys enjoying their dessert...

Joshua, the birthday boy, blowing out his NINE candles!


Noah, who obviously got distracted and looked away right as I took this picture!


Isaac - gotta love those blue eyes...and his mohawk!


And, Luke, ready to dig into his dessert!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of baby Owen...he slept the whole time we were there, so it was easy to forget about it while the other boys were running around!

Weekend Happenings - Day 1

Ahhhhh, two day weekends are a great thing!

We had a great weekend, a good mix of stuff to do and time to relax...so between that, and the great weather, it was almost perfection.

We didn't have anything to do Saturday morning, so we just took our time getting into gear. Eventually, the sun drew us outside, and we decided to do some work out there - we cut the grass and then started doing some clean up work on the back garden.

By mid-afternoon Curt and I had to get organized for our afternoon plans - Curt was going to play golf, and I was going to watch a skating show.

Rather then having their own carnival this year, the Quinte Figure Skating Club joined forces with another area Club, and together they put on a Celebration Gala. Coaches had the option as to whether or not they wanted to get involved and choreograph group numbers, I opted OUT! I think it was back in February when they asked us to commit - and I couldn't really imagine adding to my already busy coaching/work schedule. So, it was great to go to the show and see my skaters in their group numbers, but not have the added stress of being behind the scenes.

It was hard to walk into an arena on such a beautiful day, but it was a great show, so I was really glad that I went. There were some unique aspects to the show - a graffiti artist who created spray paint art while groups were skating, and four local teenage musicians who sang during the show.

But the best part of the show, in my opinion, was the guest skaters. They had a pairs team, Dylan Moscovitch & Kristin Moore-Towers, and a dance team, Vanessa Crone and Paul Poirer - both of these teams were in Moscow for the World Figure Skating Championships last week!

They also had the Synchronized Skating Team 'Nexxice'. This team was at the Synchronized Worlds competition in Finland this year, and placed fifth. I am always impressed to see synchronized teams skate - it has come such a long way since my day, when it was known as precision skating.

So, the show was great, but it was a little long, so I had to leave early in order to get ready for the next event of the day.

We had our Year-End Curling Banquet on Saturday night. We enjoyed seeing our teammates again, and it was nice to visit with them over a great dinner.

There were also awards presented for all the different leagues - and, despite finishing second in our competitive league, we didn't win anything :)

The night also included a dance, but Curt and I both forgot our dancing shoes, so we didn't stay long!

Reader Participation

I really don't think I have a lot of readers, but, if you're out there, I'm looking for your opinion.

This is one of my favourite recent pictures of Curt and I; it's from our trip to California in July 2010. You may have seen it before, it's in the right hand column of my blog - like I said, it's one of my favourites :)

Anyway, I had this picture framed in our house for awhile, and then I took it out of the frame so I could hang it in my cubicle at work. It had been there for months, and no one had really said too much about it...until two weeks ago, that is.

Two weeks ago, a co-worker said that it was a nice picture, and then asked me if the guy in the picture was my Dad?

WHAT?!?! Was she serious you ask? Yes, yes she was. She honestly thought it was my dad...or my brother...she felt he had to be related, because we look alike. WHAT?!?! We look alike?!?! She said that we had similar dimples, and our noses were kind of alike...I didn't see it in the developed picture, but, I have to admit, I see those two similarities in the picture on the computer. That's it though...and I don't think that's enough to think we look like relatives!

I laughed, and she laughed...but I thought the whole thing was kind of weird.

I took a quick poll of four of five other people in the office, and at least one of the people I asked thought that yeah, we did kind of look alike - that person did say that there was no way Curt looked like my dad though, maybe a brother.

So, now I need to take a poll on here...let me know what you think, honestly!

Easter Weekend

I guess our weekend started on Thursday - Curt actually had the day off, so he left first thing in the morning, with his dad, to go to his brothers house to work on the renovations.

I had to work, so I didn't leave until later - on the way to Acton, I picked Curt up in Toronto, so I had a chance to see my brother and sister-in-laws new house. It's nice, and I'm happy for them, but, I wouldn't last three weeks in their location! Just not a city girl, I guess.

We didn't get to Acton until after 9pm, but when we arrived, Nolan was still awake...so, I obviously had to go up to room to say hi :) And, having him jump out of bed and run into my arms to give me a big hug was the best start to a weekend!

-Friday-

Curt was off to Toronto bright and early, and my brother had to work, so it was just Krystle and I with the kids. I don't think we did much in the morning, just visited and played. Nolan and Abby went down for their naps after lunch, and then Krystle had to go out for awhile, so it was me and the kids. I knew I was going to look after the kids on my own for a bit, and have to admit, I was a little nervous about it! But, the timing worked out perfectly considering they were asleep the whole time I was alone with them...and, once they woke up, I took them straight to my mom and dad's, and Krystle was there waiting for us. We had our first of many good meals - chicken parmesan - courtesy of my mom. Once we were back at Tom and Krystle's, the three of us had a game of 'Ticket to Ride', which I'm mentioning because I won :)

-Saturday-

There was no sleeping in for us on Saturday - we were up and out the door by 7:30am!?! Not my first choice, but worth it on this day because we were going to watch Nolan play lacrosse!!! He started a few weeks ago, and Saturday was supposed to be his first game, so I was pretty excited to have the chance to watch. Once we got there, we discovered that it wasn't going to be a game, just another practice, but it was still SO FUN to see. As soon as Nolan stepped into the rink, he took off running - most of the other kids were slow getting on, and just gathered around the coach, but not Nolan, he was pumped! He did really well - and was really proud of himself because he stayed on for the whole time (one hour, which is impressive). The kids were allowed to shoot on the net throughout the practice, and every time he 'scored' he had this great celebration routine - there was some jumping up and down, and arms were thrown in the air - it was sooo cute! Curt was still in Toronto, so he didn't get to see the practice; when he heard that Nolan was starting lacrosse, he had a hard time picturing Nolan with a lacrosse stick in his hand, and not using it as a weapon - I was able to reassure him that Nolan kept things under control.

After lacrosse, I tagged along while Tom and Krystle ran some errands. One of which was getting Abby's ears pierced! She did so well - not a single tear! Krystle had put some numbing cream on her ears about half an hour before they got them done, apparently that stuff works.

After afternoon naps, which I participated in, it was back to my parents for another good meal - this time it was ribs, Curt's favourite, so he enjoyed those when he got back from Toronto.

Once we were back at Tom and Krystle's, Curt and I had a soak in the hot tub, and then we helped Tom hide eggs for the morning.

-Sunday-

We had another early morning...usually, Curt and I don't get up when everyone else in the house does, we stay in bed until after 8am, even though the kids get Tom and Krystle up a lot earlier then that...but, on Sunday morning, we wanted to watch Nolan hunt for his Easter eggs. He had a great time this year, he's at the perfect age. He found most of the eggs on his own, and only needed little clues for some of the tricky ones. Curt put a few eggs up high (on the edge of picture frames, in a wall sconce, on a shelving unit), and when Nolan saw those ones, he commented that 'the Easter bunny jumps up high sometimes'. Ha! Abby got in on the hunt too, she picked up a few of the smaller eggs, but didn't want to put them in her basket, she wanted to hold on to them.





Once all that excitement was over, we got organized and went to church to celebrate the real reason for Easter weekend - Jesus - I am so thankful to worship a God who loved us so much that he sent His only Son to die for our sins, so that we could have abundant life eternally with Him. My parents church, the church I grew up attending, is currently seeking a new minister, so they have an interim moderator until the vacancy is filled; it was my first time hearing him preach, and I really enjoyed his sermon - it was a great Easter message.

The Robertson's, all dressed up for the Easter Sunday church service.

Abby and I, ready for church.

After church, Tom and Krystle fed us a nice big brunch! We eat so well when we're in Acton, we probably put on a few pounds each time we're there!

Sunday evening, my mom hosted our family dinner - there were ten of us for dinner, and this year, my Uncle Doug and Aunt Helen joined us (my dads brother and his wife, an aunt and uncle we don't see too often). My mom out did herself again, and I think we all enjoyed the great meal and having the chance to visit and catch up.

-Monday-

Monday was our last day in Acton, so we enjoyed our favourite things...visiting with the family, playing with the kids, and a quick soak in the hot tub :)

Curt had one more little job to do at his brothers place, so we left just after lunch so we would have time to go into Toronto so Curt could get that done.

The drive home wasn't great...the roads were busy, so it was slow, and the weather wasn't great, lots of rain. So, we were glad we had lots of time and didn't have to rush home.