Happiness Is

It's Friday, which means two days happiness.


My husband, the guy on the left, made this playset (and the shed) for our guy. We still need a slide and various other rope devices. The sandbox is on the deck. We love it.


Now that there is heat, there are also water fights with big sister A.



After a water fight, there is a hose shower.


And if it rains on Saturday, there is always rubber boots and umbrellas and no pants.


E received this old Tonka jeep (complete with spare tire and a gas tank) at someone's garage sale.


My garden is the best in the spring. I have no idea what these pretty flowers are. I have no idea why this sentence is hyperlinked.


After five years of growing, our apple tree finally has blossoms. Hee, hee. I just realized I flipped this picture the wrong way. Notice the tree in the background.


Lilacs are my favourite. My husband cut these for me to put in my car on the drive to my parents'.


My guy is getting a hang of his balance bike.



Helping Daddy wash his Harley.


Riding a skateboard.


'Sleeping' on the wagon with my niece.

I hope you have a weekend filed with happiness.

Turn Your Headlights On

It’s 8 a.m. It’s dark. It’s raining. Hard.

During the drive down the highway this morning, the rain was coming down so hard even with my windshield wipers on high, it was barely keeping my windshield clean.

Despite that, there was a person driving a SUV without his full headlight system on.

Daytime running lights are a great thing, however, please turn your full headlights on in the rain.

Last day
Despite this being my last day before two weeks of vacation, I am excited to be here.

I have a list of things to do including finishing off my article on living donors, learning a new job and striking off my pre-vacation to-do list.

Happy days.

Forecast today: Rain, cold and windy

My son has the book Duck and Goose, How are you feeling? By Tad Hills.

One page, either duck or goose, I can’t remember which one, is strolling through a field. It’s a dark, grey day, the flowers are closed and he is ‘sad.’

The next page, duck or goose is jumping for joy. The sky is blue and dotted with white clouds, the sun is shining and the flowers are open and bright. He is ‘happy.’

I think that is why I have been a little sad recently.

We had snow on Mother’s Day, and it’s been dark, windy, rainy and cold since.

However, the rain doesn’t always make me sad. In the spring when the rain is accompanied by some warmth, I love watching the rain, playing in the rain and listening to the rain. And I love the smell of rain, just after a spring shower.

It was Raining, It was Pouring

It was raining this morning so I sat in traffic for an extra half an hour.

However, I was thankful it was just rain.

Yesterday, the weather forecasters were predicting freezing rain north of the city, which is where I call home.

I don’t mind snowstorms. I can handle rain. But I hate freezing rain. As one local DJ commented on the radio last night, ‘What can you do with freezing rain?’

Slid, skid, loose control, crash. That is what you can do with freezing rain.

Fun Times at Provincial Park

I’m back.
My son and I had a wonderful time camping with my parents, sister-in-law and niece at Sibbald Point Provincial Park.
It rained - torrentially at many times - most of the week, giving us only a couple of days sunshine and warmth. But we made the best of it.

We walked, swam, walked, threw rocks in the water, walked, climbed, watched Dora (she is really annoying), walked, played at the park, walked, coloured, played games, walked, sang, had campfires, ate, walked, watched Franklin, cooked smores (SK, I am really developing a taste for these things. I had the best one Saturday night) and walked. My niece and I played in the rain, with me encouraging puddle jumping (now she can point out and enjoy the best puddles herself).

We saw a mother deer and her fawn, complete with spots, twice, and had a raccoon play in the woods behind our campsite. Otherwise, we didn’t see much in the way of wildlife.
We did, however, had many experiences with pigs.
We were disgusted about the amount of litter we found on the trails, left behind on campsites, at the beach and in the woods.
Note to the many weekend, first-time and city campers who go to Sibbald Park because it’s close to Toronto and not in the middle of nowhere:
* Park staff are not there to clean up after you. If you want maid service, go to a hotel. We saw one man ordering a park worker to clean up the litter in his campsite. While you do expect your site to be clean, if there is litter to be had, pick it up yourself.
* There is no curb-side garbage pick up at provincial parks. While it’s lovely that you have bagged your garbage, if you leave it at the edge of the campsite, raccoons, skunks and other wildlife will get into it.
* The only thing you should take out of the park are pictures. Leave the wildflowers, the berries, the driftwood where you found it.
* If you take it in, you should be taking it out. Plastic bags do not belong in the water, bottles do not belong on the trails and cookie wrappers shouldn’t be on the road. Aren’t people teaching their children not to litter?
* Radio-free zones are just that. Keep the music off.
* If you aren’t in a radio-free zone, your music shouldn’t be so loud I can hear it at my campsite. If you want to party, stay home.
* Don’t cut through my campsite even if it is quicker.
* The beach is not an ashtray.
* You are camping, expect wildlife.
* And just a question. Why patio lanterns and Christmas lights? When you go camping, wouldn’t you rather see the stars than create light pollution?