Grandma Val visit!

So great for Grandma Val to come in the summer! Lots to do and so fun to have the pool to use.  Her last visit was in December, so this was quite different!

Mike had to go to the UK for a week, and GV arrived midway through his absence for some Girl Time (and Henry).  We had a very relaxing week, and only did one large outing to the science centre. The photos below are mainly from that day.  So nice to see GV and good thing we'll see her again next month in Edmonton again because the kids miss her. 

Mike's birthday. Family selfie.

Mikes gluten free birthday brownies with pumpkin in them.  So tasty!

Tooth loss July 31

Paige lost another bottom tooth! It came out just as her friends were leaving from a playdate, so it was quite exciting.  Look what the tooth fairy left.  The note and receipt were quite glittery.

Words

So far Henry isn't saying any real words.  He does say the same things over and over again though.

2 weeks ago he was saying this:
"Guppy guppy guppy"

Now he says this constantly:
"Ess go bah! Ess go bah!!

It doesn't mean anything at all, he just likes to say it.  One thing he does say though is "Scout"....but it sounds nothing like Scout and I'm not even sure he is trying to say Scout, or if he's just come up with a new word for that thing that is a dog.  It is "Gah-gah!".  He says it for all dogs.  We'll be in the store and a seeing eye dog will walk by and he says "GAH-GAH!!!" and does an extreme point.

So I think he's ramping up to talking one day.  He definitely understand a TON, and can follow commands, just doesn't have the need/want/understanding that he can talk yet. 

Family fun weekend!!

Rather than have a birthday party with her friends, Paige chose to go to Great Wolf Lodge for her birthday.  So obviously just our family. Everyone, myself included, was so excited leading up to the weekend away.  Since the girls had never seen Niagara falls (well, that they remember), we decided to just get up and go to the falls in the morning, rather than waiting at home until we could go to Great Wolf Lodge (you can use the facilities after 1:00).  

We got to the lodge shortly after 1:00 and our room was ready.  The below pictures are out of order.  Blogger still has no quick way to move around photos, so once again I will leave them in a random order, and explain first.  We headed straight to the water park after we unpacked.  After a few hours on the slides and in the wave pool, we got dressed and Mike took the girls to buy their magic wands for Magic Quest (an interactive game), while I stayed back in the room and put Henry down for a later nap before dinner.

All of the photos below are of day 2 of our mini vacation.  The girls woke up early and excited in their wolf den.  There was a small TV in there so I turned it on to keep everyone in bed while we waited for mike and Henry to wake up.

At breakfast the magic wands made a few things react in the restaurant.  Lights, moving objects, etc.  So great that the meals are buffets, which means minimal waiting around with Henry going crazy.  We all just eat ASAP and then leave.

Because Mike had bought a "paw pass", we had lots of activities to do.  Crafts, bowling, arcade, free fudge, etc.  We barely had time for it all, and actually didn't do everything the pass entitled us to.  After breakfast the kids did crafts in the cub club.  After that we went to the arcade and racked up lots of tickets to claim for prizes.

We headed to the watermark after checking out and putting our suitcases in the car.

Rather than get henry wet, I pushed him around until he slept--it was nap time anyway.  The lucky little guy had a nice long sleep in the warm steamy air with white noise surrounding him.  This meant that someone had to sit with him, but I was happy to read my book anyway, and we took turns taking the girls on "Wooly Mammoth"--a family tube waterside..soooo fun.  Rose was scared of it and we knew she would like it so mike tricked her and told her he was taking her on the lazy river.

Daddy lost a shoe on the way up to the chair

The mood was a bit different on the way home.  Pretty mellow compared to the drive up. 

Cool wristbands that doubled as room keys, and had the ability to charge things to the room.  

We can't wait to go back again.  Next time we'll take it a bit easier, and not try to do everything! We could have spent more time on the magic quest and done it properly.  At least the girls have their wands now, and can use them next time.  I was worried about all of us sleeping in the one room, but really the girls went to bed right away, as did Henry.  Mike and I just read on our phones in the dark until we were tired.  Such a great time.  Can't wait till we can do a few more slides at the girls height level too.