Oh Baby!

Time flies when you're having fun and it's hard to believe that I'm 2/3 into my summer vacation already. 

I've had a ton of great time spent with family and friends so far and it's been a real treat to see everyone so happy and healthy this time around. I've been truly spoiled by my family who have made every effort to get to see me in my short time here. I am very grateful :)

The last 2 weeks have been soooo busy with preparations for my sister Hilary's baby shower which I organized and threw for her this past weekend. It was supposed to be an outdoor event held in my mom's newly landscaped backyard but weather reports leading up to the day had me really concerned we were going to be rained out. That and the predicted 35+ temperature had me change the venue pretty much last minute to a fabulous rec room at a new Town of Oakville sports facility. My experience with rec rooms have always been lack luster. Dungeons with no windows and fluorescent lighting, cement walls and ugly chairs and tables. However, this new facility and its rec rooms boasted walls of floor to ceiling windows, walk out to a beautiful courtyard, ample room and lots of nice seating and tables as well as access to a kitchenette. It was even cheaper than renting a tent to cover my mother's deck in case of rain. The guests agreed it was a much better choice to have the event in a nice air conditioned room where we could mill around and avoid the intense heat of the day and threat of rain showers. 

I had tons of fun games planned and nice little activities to keep the guests occupied and it really went off without a hitch! Hilary was totally spoiled by a ton of close friends and family and it was really nice to be able to celebrate her and the upcoming arrival of little Robin (the baby). Since I live so far away, I'm sadly going to miss a lot so I wanted to be able to give Hilary a nice party. My aunt Traci generously contributed to the party and I had a lot of help setting up and getting things ready from my family. 

Some games and activities we had were:

- Guess the Baby Poop (melted chocolate bars in diapers)

- How Many Jellybeans in the Baby Bottle?

- Guess the Baby Food (5 different kinds)

- Who Knows Mummy Best? (A questionnaire) 

- What's in Your Purse?

- Diaper Raffle (every diaper brought was worth a ticket in the raffle!)

- Don't Say Baby! (Guests each got 5 clothespins and every time they said "baby" whoever caught them takes a pin, person with the most pins at the end wins!)

- Decorate a Bib (plain white bibs and fabric markers)

- Make a Mini Baby from playdoh (best baby wins!)

- Baby Name Race (as many "real" names in the time allotted wins, one name for each letter of the alphabet)

- Wishes for Baby (wishes and messages for the baby)

Shoutout to Costco cakes holy it was delish and so cheap lol. 

Hilary and Mike :)

The winning baby 

Probably one of the nicest things about organizing this shower was getting to spend so much time with Hilary. We haven't had a lot of opportunities in the past to spend quality time together and this summer has been a real change in pace for us. It's been nice running just errands and getting dollar drinks and hearing all of the new and exciting things she's learning about becoming a new mother. I'm really banking and enjoying the family time this year :)

This Friday I am attending a wedding of a two co-workers, Science Shelby and Epic Beard Man Alex!!! A ton of Wemindji friends are attending and staying at a hotel close to the venue. It's going to be a TON of fun I can already tell and I'm really looking forward to hanging out with all my work friends again and having a great time celebrating the love of my two good friends! 

Until next time...

So much summer!

Well it has been a relaxing and fun past couple of weeks since I arrived back in Oakville to start my summer holidays!  I have been busy with preparations for my youngest sister's baby shower (yes I am going to be an Auntie!!), seeing friends and family, shopping and relaxing both at home and for a weekend at Marsha's fabulous cottage.

A few days after getting back from Wemindji, I headed off to Marsha's cottage which is about an hour outside Kingston with Monika and Carmen.  It was a great girl's weekend with a ton of laughs, lots of deep conversation and excellent relaxation time.  Marsha and Jeremy's cottage is amazing, it is in incredible shape on a beautiful waterfront and even has a pontoon boat!! If you know my past with the Yukon Gold Rush game you know that I love me some square boats, so this was perfect.  I couldn't have asked for a better girl's getaway weekend with better people.

My youngest sister Hilary is also at this time 5.5 months pregnant with the first grandchild on my mom's side.  He will be named Robin after Mike, her boyfriend's father, and the middle name Jack for my grandfather.  I am very very excited for this new arrival and planned what I think might be the baby shower of the century.  I have tons of fun games and activities planned and my vision is slowly becoming a reality.  As you know I love to throw a good party and I couldn't have a better reason or a better time to do so!  I will miss my favorite part of other people's pregnancies (the growing belly) but if everything goes smoothly and Baby Robin arrives on time, I might be able to swing down a very short and fast trip to see him and Hilary!  I know myself and I can't wait until Christmas break to see my first nephew (he is due November 10th).  Eryl is graciously taking the weekend off to help me prepare for the shower next Sunday and it is rainbow themed (since I couldn't wait to know the gender I NEEDED to plan while I was still in Wemindji haha!! A little impatient...).

Other than that I have been indulging in naps, planning a little here and there, seeing friends and family and doing all that I feel necessary on my summer break (which is minimal - I am exhausted, Grade 1 shortened my lifespan by about 9 years I think).