Spring/Summer Plans?

[piqaboo]

Welcome back, and congrats on a big decision.
Mayhap its just time to retire?

[Catmando]

Going to "Family Camp" with my girlfriend and her son. Leaving on July 9th and going for a week. It's at Camp Wasaga, on Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park.

Camp Wasaga link: http://www.campwasaga.ca

I'm very excited! Apparently the Moms and Dads (I guess I'm technically in that group ) play beach volleyball every afternoon against the young adult camp workers! Woo hoo! Should be alot of fun. Looking forward to it, as I having been to Riding Mountain National Park since I was 5 years old!

Riding Mountain National Park Link:
[/url]http://www.canadianparks.com/manitoba/ridinnp/index[url]

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

If the boy thinks your're a dad, you're a dad. Y'all might as well make it official and get the tax break.

I'm a stepmom, among other things. You get all the usual perks and headaches, not to mention the homework.

Edited to add: looks like a good week in store. Don't forget your towel. Remember: you can use your towel for a pillow but you can't use your pillow for a towel.

[Schmeelkie]

Selma - as is, 'Don't panic and carry a towel'?

With a toddler I've found even just having a washcloth in the diaper bag to be useful from time to time (and lots of napkins!).

My husband asked last night if I was sure I'd be OK during our St. Louis trip - going out on a Sunday, return Friday evening - He's in conference Mon-Fri. My plan is to find museums, zoo or aquarium, park or something for the morning, maybe meet up with husband for lunch, back to the hotel for a wind down to nap, then to a park if we have to kill time until husband is back for dinner. I'm pretty sure I can handle Pumpkin for this extended period of time by myself (even at ~20 weeks pregnant) and think it's significantly better than staying home with Pumpkin all week - even if I did work and send him to daycare (would still have all day Sunday and Friday). Evenings are what kill me anyway. I'm pooped and husband usually picks up the slack in entertaining the boy before bedtime. Besides, I've never been to St. Louis and back when I was in grad school and then had a job that paid to send me to conferences I always enjoyed checking out new cities and finding fun things to do and great places to eat. 'Course now everything will be skewed to 'kid-friendly', but sometimes that's the most fun! Anyway, that's the week after next - still have to get online and research.

[Catmando]

Going to "Family Camp" with my girlfriend and her son. Leaving on July 9th and going for a week. It's at Camp Wasaga, on Clear Lake in Riding Mountain National Park.

Camp Wasaga link: http://www.campwasaga.ca

I'm very excited! Apparently the Moms and Dads (I guess I'm technically in that group ) play beach volleyball every afternoon against the young adult camp workers! Woo hoo! Should be alot of fun. Looking forward to it, as I having been to Riding Mountain National Park since I was 5 years old!

Riding Mountain National Park Link:
[/url]http://www.canadianparks.com/manitoba/ridinnp/index[url]

Well, a great week it was at family camp indeed! The more that I've been thinking about it, having found myself fondly reflecting on it several times, I kind of already miss being there.

The meals at camp were fantastic, homecooked and hearty meals. They were set at:

8:45AM Breakfast
12:30PM Lunch
5:30PM Dinner
8:30PM Snack

If one were to indulge in second helpings all too frequently, one could easily have caught what is affectionately referred to as the "Family Camp Five", which is, gaining 5 LBS over the week at family camp. Fortunately for me, I didn't gain an ounce. I think it was all the volleyball I played in the hot afternoon. Every afternoon we had a campers against staff game. A blast!

Every morning, from 10AM to 12:15PM, the kids would be off with the camp counsellors for program, which left the morning free for the adults. Woo hoo! I'd usually go to the small town of Onanole, about 10 km's away from camp, to the Poor Michael's used book store, which had awesome coffee for very cheap!

At camp, there were about 4 or 5 black bear sightings during the week, and during those times we had to stay inside our cabin or dining hall until the counsellors scouted the camp area and yelled out "ALL CLEAR!".

My girlfriend Korey, her son Owen, and I, one early evening, went out to this small beach about 3 or 4 minute walk away from camp, for a short dip in the water. On our way back, about 50 yards away, was a large black bear. It was sitting, staring at us. OOOOOKay! No big deal! We just calmly walked back to camp following our trail, talking in loud voices and singing, as noise usually deters the black bears. Made it back to camp safely. A little scary......

Overall, in spite of the fact I was not used to being around 30 kids for a week, it was a wonderful experience, and I look forward to going back next early year in early July!

[Shapley]

Catmando,

I am reminded of the joke, posted on this board before:
_____________________
**WARNING**

Bears have been sighted in the vicinity of this camp.
Campers are advised to wear bright clothing and tiny bells to alert the bears to your presence. The bears are usually timid and will flee from the bright colors and the sound of the bells.
Look for bear signs, and stay clear of areas frequented by bears. A chart identifying bear tracks is on the camp bulletin board. You can also identify them by their droppings. Black Bear droppings consist of small clumps, with many berry seeds among them. Grizzly Bear droppings are much larger and contain bits of bright clothing and tiny bells.

Have fun at camp! - The Staff -
____________________

V/R
Shapley

[Schmeelkie]

Glad camp was fun - sounds like good time was had by all!!

We did well in St. Louis - wandered around the park at the Gateway Arch and went up to the top (all week Pumpkin would say, "look, the arch" any time it was in view - which was a lot as our hotel was about 3 blocks from the main entrance) one day, went to the zoo twice and went to the City Museum and World Aquarium. The zoo was great - not too hot the first day, but we were melting when we left at 1 the second day. Pumpkin loved watching the sea lions get fed, the zoo train and brushing the goats in the children's area. If you have kids up to early teens and are in St. Louis go to the City Museum!!! It's not really a museum as much as a huge children's playground. It's three stories of an old warehouse and they had a free shuttle from hotels. There's a 'skateless park' - looks like a skate park, but kids just run and climb; an art area with paint, crayons, markers, clay, tye-dying...you name it (Due to Pumpkin's predilection for putting way too much paint on a piece of paper ours weren't dry when we left...); a toddler area with more climbing stuff, slides, blocks and little cars; a little train - must be under 48 in tall to ride; a huge slide that went from the third to first floor (Pumpkin must have gone down 5-6 times); the World Aquarium with lots of 'please touch' areas - Pumpkin spent at least 5 min with the turtles - and more climbing; and a bunch of other stuff we didn't even get to including a mini-circus. Oh - and a huge indoor/outdoor climbing area - tubes, ladder, who knows what all - we couldn't go cause I was worried Pumpkin would get stuck and I didn't think me, my pregnant belly and our bag of stuff could make it through. The whole place is made of reused and recycled materials - it's wild!! I highly recommend it!!

Pumpkin never ran off - had more problems motivating him to move - he's got the toddler dawdle down to a science. We also had a couple of dinners with the conference folks and went to a Cardinals game - which they eventually won (4:25 game time, 14 innings), but we left around the 8th inning after about 2 hours. Pumpkin's favorite part was when someone (I really couldn't pay that much attention to the game) hit a homer and they set off fireworks. He kept asking for them to do it again. Our plane trip back was a bit hellish since we had to check out of the hotel at noon and didn't leave for the airport until 4:30 so Pumpkin missed his nap, thus was especially noncompliant.

Anyway, we've recovered and the only trip left is to see friends and relatives in Mass. in August.

[Catmando]

The corn maze just outside Winnipeg is opening this weekend!

I think my girlfriend and I might try this on the weekend. I went there a couple of years ago (on a first date if you can believe it ), but we had a really wet summer that year, and one had to roll up their pants to their knees and go barefeet. Which was still alot of fun.

We've had such a dry summer this year, no worries about mudslides this time around!

Only 10 minutes south of Winnipeg.


http://www.cornmaze.ca

[Serenity]

Hey! How was the cornmaze?

Do you know that lab rats get out of mazes by following the wall along one side of their body (left or right)? Try it on one of the newspaper puzzles.

[Catmando]

Didn't end up going to the cornmaze last weekend.

We went to the the Icelandic Festival in Gimli instead.

[Serenity]

That sounds like fun! What did you do there? Is it like the Scottish games? You know.....the stone toss, the log toss, etc.

[Catmando]

http://www.icelandicfestival.com

Check out website above.

No stone or log tossing, as far as I know. Only Viking tossing (grabbing by the long goatee or long pony tail)

It was pretty cool. Gimli is a small port town 1 hour north of Winnipeg, on the shores of Lake Winnipeg. Gimli has the highest Icelandic population outside of Iceland.

We went to the Midway, and to the Viking Encampment on Harbour Hill (tres cool!). They also have a Fris Nok tournament, but we didn't enter into that. Their pancake breakfast was awesome!

The coolest thing is the Gimli Film Festival (although we missed that). The big screen is actually staged on Lake Winnipeg, and you watch from the beach!

I did a one-on-one tug-a-rope against a local, each of us standing on a log. I beat him!

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

We went to the Midway...

I thought that was across the bay, here in Sandy Eggo! You must drive fast!

[piqaboo]

Congrats on that tug-of-war-on-a-log!!
They used to stage that at the local Renn Faire, and the guy nearly never lost, as the balance to stay on the log is key. The closest I saw to a customer winning was a surfer friend,
but even so, the 'ringer' eventually got the rope out of his hands, tho he couldnt pull him off balance.

[Catmando]

Went to a wedding this weekend. It was awesome!

Unbeknownst, I was seated at the same table as a violinist and guitarist from the WSO, who performed two numbers at the wedding (one before and one after dinner). Also the WSO's assistant principal french horn player (what do you call a horn player - is it a hornist? )

Anyways, the two numbers played by the violinist and guitarist were A) Cantabile for violin & piano (or guitar) by Paganini, and B) La Gitana for violin & piano (in this case guitar) by Fritz Kreisler.

I got to chat with the talented and gorgeous violinist, who is from Japan, was trained in New York, and is now based in Winnipeg and with the WSO. Her boyfriend is the guitarist I mentioned, and he grew up in Winnipeg. They played beautifully.

It made the evening extra eventful for me!

[BigJon@Work]

Also the WSO's assistant principal french horn player (what do you call a horn player - is it a hornist? )

A blower?

[Catmando]

Also the WSO's assistant principal french horn player (what do you call a horn player - is it a hornist? )

A blower?

Horner? Hornee? Horny?

[Catmando]

Wind maker?

[piqaboo]

a bagpiper could be called a gasbag...

i think you go with hornplayer, Catmando.

[Selma in Sandy Eggo]

The french horn sections Deb played with called themselves "horns". Or, occasionally, "clams".