Happy Birthday to Mom (1 day early)

Cameron didn't have hockey this Sunday which was a perfect reason to have everyone over to help celebrate mom's 65th Birthday.  Due to a slight mix up and lack of communication, Amanda, Nicholas, and Steve were unable to join in the festivities.  We definitely missed them, and are hoping they will take a drive to see us soon.  Tyler and Brad were the first to arrive so that gave me a chance to try to capture a picture of these cute cousins....

Don't tell Tyler to smile, or this is what you will get from him.  And, Emmersyn looks like she is in her own little world in the back.

What a cute picture of father and son....

My cute little boy....

It was nice to see Justin and Crystal.  We heard all about the wedding planning.  It is going to be such a fun day.

Brad wasn't too thrilled when I asked to get a picture of him with his brother.

We ordered pizza and it came with a special message for Cameron and Emmersyn.

Then it was time to sing happy birthday to mom.  I couldn't find a normal birthday cake here in Canada, so we ended up with a brownie cheesecake.

All the little ones had to help Grammie blow out her candles.

Cameron, Emmersyn, and Gabby found a corner to sit in....

We were so happy to see Gabby!

I thought this was a great picture of Nicole and mom.

Another great shot.

I was jealous so I had to hop in-between.  

Another cute shot.  Dad insisted on holding mom.

They are so happy together!  Happy Birthday Mom...

Day 2...Great Wolf Lodge

Here are a few more pics from the little get-away....  These first two pictures are of the kids waiting to go down to the pool in the morning.

I loved the way Cameron was trying to smile in this picture.  And, that darn pacy of Emmersyn's.  Hmmmm....What should we do about it?

They finally made it down to the pool and down the slides.

I love this picture of Emmersyn coming down the slide.  She could never manage to remain sitting up.  Her legs would go flying.  She loved it!

What a cute boy!

Here comes Emmersyn again....

Cameron had the sitting technique down pat on these little slides.

They had fun playing on the floating snake.

What a cute picture!

Emmersyn is finally looking. 

Getting ready to climb out, just to jump in again.

This is the only picture I have in the water area.  Emmersyn was taking a break while Mohamed and Cameron went down more slides.  I did give the camera to Mohamed to capture a few pictures of me with the kids in the water....he swore he took pictures....but they are no where to be found....Odd!  Another reason why I definitely need a new camera!

Swimming...Day 1

I had quite a bit of difficulty capturing any cute pictures in the pool area due to the poor quality of my camera combined with the low lighting of the facility.  Here is what I was able to capture.  Mohamed and the kids are climbing to the top of this contraption to find a slide to go down.

And here comes Cameron....

Then it was off for a little water basketball....

A quick 20 second timeout for a picture.

The kids loved this lily pad pool.  The kids could race against one another from lily pad to lily pad.  Unfortunately the only way Emmersyn was allowed in the lily pad pool was if she was wearing a life jacket.

Then it was Cameron's turn.

I love this face!

I like these next two pictures also of Mohamed and Cameron.  I have no idea what Cameron was looking at in this photo.  Obviously not at me and the camera.

That's a little better.

After a few hours of swimming, we went back to our room, showered, and headed out for a fabulous dinner.  Here Cameron and I were waiting for Mohamed and Emmersyn who had forgotten something back in the room.

Still waiting for those slowpokes...

Cameron got possession of the camera.

And we finally made it out to dinner.

Great Wolf Lodge...Driving Day

We decided to take a road trip....so that only means one thing.....LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of vacation pictures.  Just like the Bahamas, feel free to skip the next few posts.  There will be lots of the same thing....playing in water.  I want the kids to remember how much fun they had years from now....so let's get started.

This first post of the trip will solely be of the drive.  This is how our road trip started.....  Cameron was all excited.....Emmersyn was a bit confused, and the snacks were packed in-between them.

It wasn't long before those snacks were open....Probably as soon as we left the driveway!  Cameron opted for the fudge cookies...

And Emmersyn loves her Cheez-its!

Mohamed was the driver (he doesn't look too thrilled).  He was complaining the whole ride how terrible the Subaru was driving.  He would have enjoyed the drive much more if he was in a vehicle of his liking (Porche, Mercedes....)  Maybe next road trip!

And here I was...."the passenger."  The only responsibilities I had was to snap photos and hand out snacks!  I can handle that!  I was a happy passenger!

Cameron watched a few Backyardagans DVDs.

Emmersyn was getting bored about 2 hours into the drive.  She kept insisting that she was "stuck" in her carseat.  We had to gently remind her that we were all "stuck" and had to remain "stuck" while the car was in motion!

Still driving 3 1/2 hours later....

And because we have not had a winter this year, it should not have surprised us that it was 54 degrees in February as we were driving to Niagara Falls.  Emmersyn had her window down and hair blowing in the breeze!  The drive doesn't get better than this!

Enjoying that fresh air!

We finally arrived at our destination.  Great Wolf Lodge, Niagara Falls!

We had to take a picture in the huge chair out front.

I ran up to sit in the big chair with the monkeys.

The totem pole...

And we made it inside.....tomorrow we'll see the pool!