I haven’t been writing lately…It is summer and that seems to happen on my blog…

we have been sick and making the most of the days that we can… The boys got sick about 3 weeks ago and it seems to have made its rounds a few times now… fevers, runny noses, coughs and headaches. Just the run of the mill cold that won’t go away…we have had car trouble and pool problems and things seem to be breaking all at the same time but we have been able to keep up and get things done…

We have been to the cabin to see my mom…. the boys love going there, especially the ferry ride over…

It is not a long ride on the ferry, but we go across the St-Laurent River and the view is nice…

and the cabin is beautiful….

the boys have so much fun exploring and walking around and going for rides on the four wheeler with my mom…

One thing that I love about our home is the fact that we have a pool… Quebec weather is so extreme, in the winter we get very cold temps and lots of snow and in the summer we get very hot weather and humidity that makes it unbearable at times…So on nice days we mostly stay at home and we hang out in the pool…

Colin loves to swim underwater and since having taken this pic he can swim without the aide of the balloon… he is such a little fish!

Xavier is a little more conservative in the water but just recently (after seeing his little brother can do it) he has been putting his head underwater… but he still hasn’t figured out how to keep the water out of his nose… he is really trying though!

Khéna loves being in the water… when we are not in the pool he hangs out on the stairs and watches his brothers…. When we are in the pool though he is always in our arms and loves to swim with us… he is just starting to wear his balloon and has been getting more comfortable letting us show his how to move in the water..

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The last two weeks have also felt a bit shorter because we had the Quebec “national” holiday last week on Wednesday so Simon was off in the middle of the week and the same thing is going to happen tomorrow for Canada day… I really wish it was like that more often! Now only two weeks left until he is on vacation for 2 weeks! I can’t wait!

I’ll try to update a little more often…

Last weekend I made my garden. Last year I didn’t have a garden because I was gone for 6 weeks and it didn’t make sense to have a garden that could not be tended and that could not be harvested when needed… I just hope that everything grows well this year because for now the weather has been a bit on the cool side for June…

My garden is not big but I think it is just a good size for our family for some of the basics…

This year I only put a few things in the main garden and the rest are in containers and I like the idea and the look that it give the yard also…. I might get a few more things but for now I am quite happy with the selection…

Here is the main garden…

Jalapeños

Lettuce and Shallots

Strawberries and mint

Various herbs….

More strawberries (another variety)

Blueberries…

I will be transplanting a few of these in the fall so that they will grow again next year… like the blueberries, the strawberries and the mint… we already have a raspberry bush in the back of the yard that grows more each year. It will be great to be able to get a few fresh berries during the summer for breakfast and desserts….

Colin talks all the time, I really mean all the time… he doesn’t stop, he even talks in his sleep.

During the night I was awoken by his voice…

“Mama… mama?”

I was able to get a sound of recognition out…. “hmmm?”

“Mama… why did you tackle that bear?”

now I was awake… “um.. what?”

“Why did you tackle that bear?”

“Because it was annoying me”

“Oh… OK… thanks mama, it was annoying me too…”

He went right back to snoring… I had to stop myself from waking anyone else by laughing.

Last night Simon was called into work… he wasn’t even on call but on  Saturday morning there was an electrical problem and an electrician died and there was a small fire in his building…They had to transfer the system and the people that were on call were called in and needed to sleep so Simon had to go….

This morning he arrived at 9:20 and we left soon after for a friends birthday party at an indoor play area… we got there at about 11:15 and the boys disappeared in the tunnels and slides… Khéna didn’t want to go so Simon watched over him as he went around the arcade games… I was talking to another mom and I turned around to see Simon with Khéna in his arms and full of blood… I tool him and headed to the reception desk and asked for help… his face and shirt and hands were really covered in blood and looked for what was bleeding and found a long and deep gash on his forehead… Simon explained that he was just running along and feel and hit his head on one of the arcade games…

The girls at the reception desk called 911 for an ambulance… we applied pressure and cleaned up most of the blood and the gash stopped bleeding… the police arrived before the ambulance with a small emergency kit and stayed until the ambulance arrived, and as we thought, a trip to the emergency room was needed…

Khéna cried and screamed not wanting to go on the gurney… but the minute we got in the ambulance he was OK… looking out the back window and naming the things that he saw… trucks, cars, trees… it felt good to see him a bit more calmed…

We got to the emergency room and went right into Triage… the nurse asked a few questions and then came to the dreaded question…  “are his vaccines up to date?”  To which I responded that we don’t vaccinate… she said “OK” and then whispered… “I don’t vaccinate either”… and then she warned me that they might push the tetanus vaccine but that it was my choice…She said that the wait would be a few hours and they put a wet compress on his forehead so that the wound would stay soft and clean…

I got Khéna into a Wheelchair because he was heavy and a bit groggy… and went downstairs to get something to drink and get him a stuffed animal at the gift shop… he was happy and choose a stuffed cat that he has almost not let go of since…

I was able to keep him in the wheelchair for about 2 hours until he decided he had energy again and was wanting to walk… and then we walked and walked all over the small portion of the emergency room while we waited… about 2 1/2 hours later he finally sat down and nursed a bit…a few minutes later he was asleep… and they called… we went and waited in the suture room until the doctor came… when he got the he again asked the same questions.. what happened? how old is he? are his Vaccines up to date? I answered that we don’t vaccinate and he just said Ok… and left it at that… he looked at the gash and decided that glue was the best thing for it.. a nurse came in to help hold him while the doctor glues his wound and within a minute it was done and though he cried a bit because he was scared, he let them do what they had to do and the minute it was done he was OK…

I got him ready and headed outside with my little Khéna back to normal besides the wound on his forehead… I called Simon who had since gone to the house of the friends who were having the birthday with the boys. and they came and picked us up…  we were at the hospital for more that 5 hours…

We just got home and he is asleep on me…and now we all are heading to bed… What a long day…

The last few days have been cold here… my hands were even freezing when I went on my bike last night…  but today the weather turned and it was hot! I mean yesterday it was about 12-13 and today it was 30!

I did some things around the house this morning and by the afternoon I was hot and the boys were driving me a bit crazy… I am realizing that I have been so less patient these last few days and I am not liking it…

So, I went outside and dragged out the kiddie pool for the boys… they were so excited and I was able to get a few pics…

Colin never stops jumping…

and is a bit crazy… (ok… a lot)

but he is a cutie…

Xavier is looking so much older lately and is outgrowing everything… the pool is so small for him and he can o longer fit in the little car that the boys have…

Khéna had a blast! he was so excited when he saw the pool and played in it the longest….

(I have to admit I love the motion in the above pic… I wanted to get him pouring the water out, but it is cool to see the water still coming from the bottom holes… )

Anyway… we stayed and played until the boys wanted to come back inside… and after that the house was a bit calmer and my patience came back a bit…

I looking forward to having the big pool ready for swimming so that I can jump in too!

I have been wanting a new bike and I have been looking at the Electra bikes for while now…

My biking needs are about comfort and ease. There are no hills here and until all the kids are riding by themselves or nealy we won’t be doing much rough terrain and honestly we would have to go out of our way to find that…

I love to bike and I haven’t been biking in a long time… the bike I bought before Xavier was born wasn’t a Zellers bike but wasn’t the best quality either and by the end of a ride I would always be sore… my back from bending over, my neck from looking up and well… my bottom doesn’t like the seat…

I also look the look of the Electra bikes… they are just gorgeous…

the prices though… not as much…

So I have been looking more and more for what bike I would like and looking once in a while on Kijiji for the chance that I might find one there… yesterday I got lucky… Someone was listing a nearly new Electra Cruiser… only used a few times…

It was listed at 375$ neg.

I just knew that I had to have it… talked to Simon and I  decided to offer 300$ (it is 700$ new) and the guy accepted right away…

My mom and Simon picked it up on the way back from Montreal today and I am in love!!!

It is such an amazing ride… Xavier and went for a ride after supper… I would really love to make it something that we do on a regular basis…

The Electra Blanc et Noir….

I love the detail…

and the pretty seat…

It is such a classic looking bike… now all I need is a basket…

Xavier decided yesterday that he wanted to take the training wheels off his bike but Simon was not able to get to it at that moment… So today when he asked again we all went outside and got the wheels off and watched him try riding for the first time…

Simon held him a bit but was able to let go for a second or two the first time that they tried…

but after about 5 min there was no need to help anymore and in the rest of the time that we were out there he knew how to push off and how to turn…

He is so proud of himself!!

and it really goes for show…
when kids are ready to do something they will do it, and they will do it quickly!!

Yesterday , the boys and I headed to the Electrium...

The Electrium is in Ste-Julie on the south shore of Montreal and is a place run by Hydro-Quebec to learn all about electricity…

The tour starts out with a few minute long films that were fun and held all of the kids attentions…

then they learned about safety,

then electricity/magnetism in Nature with electric eels and other fish, the human body, static electricity, power and circuitry…

It was really quite informative and most of all it was a lot of fun…

The boys loved it especially because everything can be touched and tried…

Xavier learning about how a circuit works….

This of course was a big hit…

But I think that this was Colin’s favourite part… the guy who was showing the tour let him go up even though he was a bit small… he told Colin not to take his hand of the ball and Colin listened so well that it was hard for him to hear when it was safe to do so… he just stayed so still and didn’t move…

If you are near or in Montreal the Electrium is on the south shore not too far away from the Island. It is free and though it is not a big place it is a lot of fun and even for little kids…