June 16-19

16th
As it was Father's Day Westfeild has it's Father's Day thingy happening so I took my little man and his Uncle Adam and we went for a walk around . It was a little wet to say the least , very muggy and not too much happening but we did manage to get a ride on a Steam train , which little guy loved. I managed to get a couple pics as little man is too overambitious and not one to stay seated.. He is way to inquisitive but I love it, shows he has imagination .

So these were taken on the stationary train they have there. I wanted to set little man up in different poses and on things , but lets face it he might destroy something priceless, so I opted out for trying to see what Uncle Adam could do, but little man wasn't having it . He was too interested in his own thing, and yes we needed to stop him from destroying some things :)

This is the Steam train we rode, no pics on it I had to do everything I could to stop my little man form falling off . It was fun though.

Interestingly enough the cord thingy for the laptop (which I was gifted so AWESOME) broke and I have to purchase a new one. I know they are going to run me around 60 bucks , but considering the laptop was a gift and it was only the cord not the unit., smooth sailing. The best part is I actually have the money to drop without a second thought to get the replacement .  I of course did alot of searching to find the best prize with the whole couponing thing I just LOVE . I found that many site were way to hard to find what I needed (not very computer savvy but am learning. I actually settled on Future Shop, not only could I find what I needed but I could also reserve the item and just go get it at the customer service desk .

17th
I got my confirmation email for the plug from Future Shop and I got little man ready to go pick it up. What an easy way to get product. I just went to customer service , told them I have a reservation and paid right there at customer service. That convenience alone was awesome. Best part is I just plugged it in when I got home. Of course I took the laptop with me just to make sure it was the ride cord . :)

19th
 Was going to hit the beach with my sister and niece but def. to cold for that today, well at first so we changed course and hit the Park instead. Friday is looking hot so a much better beach day .
Little man is now completely mobile .
I always have pics, but this time I took videos.. With little guy completely mobile we had some cute captures. He actually stole my Gatorade and ran away

Had to pick up a parcel today (not a win I placed an order with Well.ca).. OMG and I am glad I had to decided to pick up all the FPC I could use there, bc that meant I took my coupons in the store with me. OMG am I glad that I did .
Now awhile back in May (at the end of the month) I got that great clearout deal on Gerber baby bars(bought all 8) with the .50 cent off on the Gerber Baby Veggie Fruit melts coupon on the box!! Welll WHAT they had the Veggie/Fruit melts on CLEAROUT , 8 bags in total which is exactly the amount of coupons I had (yes I cleared again). 3 bags were on clearout for .77 cents and 5 bags were on clearout for 1.08... AWESOME savings esp with the .50 cent off coupon onto of the clearout price. Break down as follows for the whole SDM shop

2 Healthy Choice Microwave Steamer dinners            $2.99 (on sale and had a BOGO coupon)
SDM brand Mayo                                                     $1.99 (sale price)
2% Bag of Milk                                                         $3.97(reg price)
8 Gerber Veggie melts                                               $3.71  (wohooo on clearout and 4.00 off in coupons)
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Total                                                                         $12.66
tax                                                                            $ 0.61
OOP                                                                        $13.27

SAVED  37.21 over all on the total
I was sooo excited for this deal. There was also an insane deal on formula which I left as my son is strictly breast -fed. $3.08 for 12 ready to go .....on clearout fro 40.00 bucks. Had the expiry not been as close as it was I would have made the purchase for the food bank.

Just for info sake, those Veggie/Fruit melts are delish and taste like Astronaut Ice Cream LOL

June 15

Total beach day today, warm nice weather, and beautiful sun. In much need of the amazing affects of water and sun kissing kin. Little man has been having a rough go with the teething and he was wonderful today. Loaded up the boy with the addition of one of my sisters and away we wnet. There is a pizza shop that we hit for 2 large 3 item for 17 bucks so throwing that in as it was a great deal and the pizza was delicious. ( City Pizza)
 Little man  loves being by the water. He made his own path to the beach and hung out in the water for quite some time. The water was nice temperature wise, but as for cleanliness yikes. We went to Valens beach first of all and the water was so dirty as well as the sand. Not sure when this beach became this dirty . I do remember more pride in the beaches around but as of late, not so much . But as an adult that is what we see, but for a child, esp one who is new to the experience he didn't care.

He had so much fun in the sand as well, and am so glad I bought these over priced beach toys the last time we were here. He had fun and that is all that counts.  Not many ppl either so makes for a more enjoyable day.
We trekked it to Websters falls after taking the wrong turn and driving around for an hour( where that time went is beyond me) . Yet we didn't stay and decided to go to Christie lake for a spell.
It was quite an enjoyable day . Even being out and having some laughs was the perfect day. Just o happy to have and see my little guy happy was enough for me. Hard to see them hurting and not able to completely take the pain of teething trouble away. But today was just wonderful and relaxing .
There had to be a stop before we came home for the night and that was to Giant Tiger to pick up ice cream , marshmallows, Graham crackers , hot dogs and bread. ( cannot believe I forgot my coupons and didn't use any )  Homemade Smores blizzard( lets face it , it cost less money to buy all the ingredients to make tons in stead of just the 2 from going to Dairy Queen).
:)  The homemade Smore Ice Cream def. served it's purpose and was delish :) and dare I say we can enjoy many for about the price of 1 large Blizzard at the DQ.

June 8-14

June 8
Not sure what kind of animal is in the wall eating away at the drywall, but whatever it is , it woke us up a little before 4 AM. Of course I was allready up off and on since a little after 2 AM (completley unsure why), but it def made for a long day today.
We munged out most of the day not really into doing much. My oldest wanted to go to his cousins house so , we did take him over that way .We came back and just enjoyed( well as much as we could) the evening. Little man loves the bath and helped to get him laughing a little.

9th
Quiet Sunday for the most part, both little man and myself a little tired today. Didn't do much and it actually would have been a great beach day, but the teething terrors have def worn both of us out. Got his older brother later on in the day and I took little man for Mommy and me time to Chuck E Cheese. Waiting for Bestie to give her a ride home so we waited the time out there. I just love Chuck E Cheese I really do .
A saving grace surprise today was that there was a free 15 dollar credit in my Telus account so this month was free texting. (skipping ahead of course the 2 phones I have are now in the garbage (toddler joys) but I didn't put out any money nor did I really lose any essentially as the credit was free so ... score :) )

 10th
What an amazing day for a surprise in the mail, not one but 2 stuffed envelopes full of coupons, and of course my FPC coupons from Save.ca. That surprise from a friend was unbelievable and I in turn gifted to others as well.

11th
Today is one of those days as a mom that you don't speak of. Mom's we  pretend we are okay and stong and have everything together 100 % of the time but in reality that's a lie. Yes the dreaded Mommy break down days that are few and between struck today .. Enough said as all Mommy's knowthose days.

12th
Today is the day for the Tassimo Event at Timmies. I of course decided to spend the 45 and get the 50 packs of coffee and the Tassimo brewer for free. Do I need the new machine , NO , but the coffee that I am getting for less than a buck each is perfect for my oldest . (Plus when he saw the box and amount of coffees for him (I don't drink coffee at all) he was happy , so point for this Wanna-Be SuperHero mom).I also gifted the coffee machine to my brothers and that takes care of their birthday present this year. :)
Standing in line and waiting was a little daunting and by the time my number was called ( I was 33 out of 42) , little man was not having it at all. He decided enough was enough. I thought he would enjoy time at the park after the ordeal ( although I must say he was very well behaved just until the end) but oh no.... he just wanted to go home and sleep his troubles away.  My oldest was excited to get it the 50 coffees that is( he hadn't had any T-Discs for awhile. )
Didn't wait and took the maker and a few discs to my brothers , Grandma was happy to have little man around anyway. Love the deals I manage to score :). Esp when even if something little can make others happy .
I know my oldest was watching all those podcasts or reviews about the new Playstation coming out in the fall , and on a whim, a complete and total whim I decided that we would go put money down and reserve him one of these new machines.( I could feel his excitement even if he wasn't showing it)
So I just scored the Super Hero Mom title, for putting  down  the 50 bucks and pre-ordering the PS4 . And in thinking ahead, since the PS3 will go to Zach, that will be a Christmas present and I will only have to trade the games in for little kid games for little man Score Christmas is allready done :)

13th,
 Oldest back to my Moms to hang with my brothers for a bit. Little man getting a little tired and not feeling very happy, so just dropped him off and we went back home. I did manage to do a load of laundry with the Woolzies in the dryer of course. I had made little man walk alot on his own today and chase me around the living room. Not sure he knew what to do with my excitement that's for sure.

14th
 Of course oldest lets me know a game he had pre-ordered for his PS3 was in right at rush hour, on  Friday afternoon no less . But had to get out, munged out alot the last few days, well couple weeks actually. Will be so glad when little man s  mouth is full of the teeth that are causing the grief, probably just in time for Terrible 2's :)

June 7

Yet another coupon shop later on in the afternoon today, over 40 dollars worth of food for only 27, so I am def on a roll and there is certainly importance to this couponing jazz. You really feel like a Superhero cashing out just knowing what you are providing for your family in the long run. I am surprised at the amount of ppl who don't use coupons and kind of have a faux-pas on the whole thing... but no way  worth every single moment I spend and I am still not half as into it as alot of ppl .I am trying to become a guru and  have that crazy stockpile, I am getting there, slowly but surely I will get there. I am going to get by on a minimal amount , and simplicity .
Here is the Zehrs shop
Iogo Yougurt tubes (X4) 2.49 each on sale             $6.96    (3.00 off in coupons)
okay so 9 more Awake Chocolate bars (.44 each)  $3.96
Unbelievable price for brick cheese    1 bar             $3.99
Healthy Harvest Pasta  (1.66)                                 FREE  (FPC)
No Name Tortilla Chips (1)                                    $2.49
No Name Cream Cheese (2.99 each X2)               $5.98
No Name Parchment margarine (1)                        $1.29
All Naturals Sliced Pepperoni (5.99)                      FREE (FPC)
Bacon Portions (1)  (3.99 sale)                              $1.99 (2.00 off coupon)
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SUB-TOTAL                                                       $26.66
TAX                                                                    $0.84
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TOTAL OOP                                                      $ 27.50
All in all a good deal for under 30 bucks, and if you lump everything together over the last few days , I have done pretty well to say the least . I def want to build up a stock pile , I have a mini one now ,but want a large one. I want to get to a point where I have to buy nothing that isn't food for a whole year. I am learning and will get there . I figure the amount of extras I can throw at my boys bc of that will def solidify my Wanna-Be Super Hero Mom status.
Although Suer Hero Mom goes out the window when little man is having a tough time of things. 100% teeth, and all the non- glorious attributes that follow.

June 6

Sample and freebies in the mail again today. Loving it :)
Of course my oldest wanted some guitar strings so we headed out to pick them up. I am def. glad he is getting back into it. I like that the money we have spent is actually put to use. Big priced items are why we save so much couponing anyway , so to see them being put to use, makes it that much better.
 I do of course allows find myself hitting up a store to coupon shop if I am out and about anyway. I was however torn between either Zehrs and Walmart, although I turned into the Zehrs plaza , I actually jut went to Walmart instead. I love my coupon savings and I certainly love their policy at Walmart, but I begun to dislike the selection of food there. If I can`t see or find the product I have coupons for , well shopping there jut isn`t going to be worth my time to go there. I will certainly have to find a new awesome place to go.
I do go in with a plan but once I couldn`t find alot of products which I new they carried before but were not there long, we didn`t stay to long. I did of course manage to come out with a pretty good haul for under 20.00. My oldest pushed little man in his stroller so it was a much easier shop for me. Thankfully little man was in great spirits for 90 % of the time. Once the restlessness settled in I just gave him a Bear Paw(well generic kind ) and he settled right down .

My Haul
Multi-Grain Cheerios                            $2.97
Generic Bear Paws                               $2.00
No-name KD   x2                                $1.00
Cinnamon Cereal                                 $3.47
GV Fries                                             $1.98
Almond Beverage (X2 $3.57each)       FREE  2X FPC
Canned Tomatoes (X2 1.00 each)       $1.00  (1.00 off coupon)
Ground Turkey  (5.77)                       $3.77  (2.00 off coupon)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Total OOP                                         $16.19 (no taxes)

So excited for this shop under $20.00 bucks. I just love couponing.
Just loving the free Almond Fresh Beverage. Although I know the nut issue with the little guy( which I am just holding off till at least 3 before I give him any sort of nut. worked with my oldest so I go with what I know)  , I just wash everything separate.
I wouldn't call our journeys great outings for others, but seriously I love it, and self happiness is what counts right.

June 3 -5

Def unable to get at daily posting. Little man has been in the Thrones of horrible teething troubles and it has been a little stressful around here to say the least. From having to try and cool his on fire body the first few nights, to now trying to fix his  prickly heat rash . My little guy always sweats and I mean always but he has for some reason stopped this week and his body has produced a heat rash to off set the attack from teething.  He has been extremely cranky and irritable to say the least but thankfully the symptoms seem to be subsiding as I write. The rash seems to be lessening and he for now is sound asleep. Exactly how long he will stay that way remains to be seen , but at least for now he is down for the count. So yet again it has been
The only saving grace we seem to get is the mail, we have had yet another week of awesome , freebies , coupons, and samples. Alot of my wins from things are turning up , so it has been nice to cut the stress and tension with some happiness.
Incl my win from Tic Tac before they started the shaking game where you can win 2 prizes anyway . I got a sample pack of the 3 new flavours and a vintage Tic Tac T. I also got so many coupons and samples from things. I won 12 FPCs for Almond Fresh for winning a contest, and a pack of gum from a flash giveaway.
I got my Woolzies to review and will hopefully be able to do a giveaway out of it. Love that , and def want to build myself to where I get the freebies to review and am given a second set for a giveaway. :)


Had to pick up the Bestie today the 5th and get her to see the eye doctor so she can get eye glasses to see. We were def early like always so we took a little walk around Zehrs. Immediately of course I find one of the clearance racks . Of course I have coupons with me regardless and always glad I have them . Turns out that Smuckers double Fudge Ice cream mix was on Clearout for 2.24 and I had 2 $1.00 off coupons for any type so snatched them up quickly. The shelf life BBD wasn`t until 2014 0r 15 so def a good stock up buy. Had wished I had more coupons for it but 2 is enough for my little SuperHero 3 person family :).  Also on the clearance shelf was Awake chocolate bars with caffeine for .44 cents each so grabbed 4 for my oldest to try. I always manage to end up in the cereal aisle and am I glad I did today. I had a Krave coupon about to expire for $1.50 off 2 boxes, well not only were they on sale for $2.99 each , but they also were the boxes labelled with the free breakfast item.. Yes of course I snatched my 2 boxes . I use the pins for the All- bran cereal so basically I jut got 3 boxes of cereal absolutely FREE.. And free in my world is one more SuperHero Power-Up coin . I had gotten my FPC  for the Febreeze car smelly thingy so I grabbed that to.
So cool shop break down :
4 Awake chocolate bars (.44 cents each)         $1.76   clearance
Hawaiian Breeze  Car Scents  (4.19)                FREE    (FPC)
2 Ice Cream topping ($2.24 each)                   $2.48    (2.00 off in coupons)
2 Krave cereals ($2.99 each)                          $4.48     (1.50 off coupon)
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                                                                      $ 8.72
                                               TAXES               .77
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
OOP                                                            $ 9.49

Not to bad a haul for under 10 bucks, another great coupon shop.

So of course it is time to head to Bestie`s appointment (in same place) but of  course my little guy reached his limit and it was out to the van we went to wait. He seemed much happier anyway able to move around , and he loves playing with  steering wheel and making the wipers turn on. I did of course at one point just have him down to his diaper as the prickly heat decided to rear it`s ugly head yet again with a vengence. People def give you dirty looks, but at the same point he needed to cool down and fast and that was all I could do . Thankfully I am still his portable meals on wheels and that helps to with needing to get him to drink and calm down . I did of course manage to get myself to the back of the van under cover of the tinted windows. Although in reality it`s natural to me so my comfort level in just BF anywhere may be too much for others, so I do employ a bit of discreetness when I can . But forget covering up , he hates it, it`s not comfortable for me either and I wanted to cool him down , not keep him heated up , so too bad judgemental people ( and alot more women than men) .                    

Bestie managed to come out soon enough and by that time little guy was in a bit of a better mood so I figured we might get a bit more time in the store to make sure she got some cool glasses.  He did manage pretty good, but lets face it , he was at his limit about 30 min earlier and just wanted to be home . Can`t blame him to much, it has been a whirlwind rough couple of weeks.

June 2

Yes it may be a rainy day , but that won't be stopping us form attempting to go to the Kinsmen Carnival at Riverside Park.
With of course at stop at Timmies to get the $1. 00 drinks we managed to make it just until the park opening and then the torrential rain pour hit. We of course had umbrellas and little man stroller was covered , so it just added that little extra adventure to the walk. We did know it was gonna rain and made the walk anyway , but then just an adventure in our day.  My mom, one sis and 2 nieces(not her kids, her boys got out of Grandmas van to walk with me ) were held up under a tent like thingy so once the rain subsided just enough we managed our way to the somewhat shelter. It was however a tent with those photo prop photo op cut outs and of course once all others( there weren't many) left the shelter some of the crew had fun and we grabbed some pics.

Def a disappointment from the rides stand point as the kids felt the rides were to short for the amounts paid, ticket wise, but the Kinsmen games were fun. At least you got to win everytime you played so spending the 2 bucks per game was well worth it . Little man got a silly Monkey toy and a football. I was hoping he would be in better spirits, but he was in the thrones of teething. I was glad he managed a few smiles, but he was def. out of sorts. He was also not able to ride anything so a little disappointing. Next year I am sure, but I just want him to be able to have the fun too. At this little age it must be so boring for them . Although getting to discover everything as it is new must be pretty cool, I can't imagine being dependant on me can be much exciting .
We had a bit of fun , boys got candy apples on the way home of course and made the trek back to Grandmas house . Bailey my nephew carried little man Zach all the way and he actually fell asleep, just disheartening that he feels so under the weather due to teeth, and he was still on fire.
Had thought of hitting Chuck E Cheese again today but decided against it. In need of helping out at my Grandparents house to make room for Nanas wheelchair to make it in so she can go home for a few hours every once in awhile.Glad to have 4 big boys to help so it gets done faster.Of course I really didn't do mych as I have little man to take care of, but all in all a good time. I let my Mom get out of there kid-less and took the whole crew for Fast Eddies Crazy fries and $0.99 pizza from City Pizza .

June 1 2013

Was looking forward to a sun, sand, and beach day, but with the threat of Thunderstorms again today def decided not to head to the beach. The Hamilton area also gets it worse than we do here in Cambridge so better safe than sorry. Was hoping big brother would come with u today , but as soon as he found out we were just going to go to Chuck E Cheese , he immediately said he was staying home.
Of course I had to print off coupons first, than went to pick up Bestie and her grandson. I had weighed the option of grabbing my 2 little nephews but  in the end  just kept it the four of us.
I really truly enjoy Chuck E Cheese. You are stamped when you enter to protect your children from being taken out by a stranger, which kids run rampant there so that's a good thing. The coupons are an okay Value. I mean the food you receive , does not in anyway , shape or form come close to the price you pay , but it's all about the experience. The token coupon  100 for $25.00 is however a fantastic deal. Each game, or ride, or play on is only 1 token so for that as a deal is amazing. So if you manage to make it through play without buying food and you have used a coupon for tokens you have just had your elf an awesome time for fun. You can't bring any outside food or drink unless you are having  a Birthday Party, but then you are only allowed to bring in the cake. I can completely agree and understand with why they don't allow anything in from outside. There would be far to many ppl picnicking and leaving much larger messes than all ready are left as it is. There fountain pops once you buy a cup are all you can drink and are serve yourself.. The price of the cups is less to be desired but if you can manage a share with more than 1 straw you are doing all right. Let's be honest I fill up any cup we bought before we go home, to bring it along with us, def want to feel I got my moneys worth. If you play the games you win tickets that you can munch and count up towards getting prizes at the prize stand. You can get hooked into buying  the toys if the kids didn't get enough tickets for those bigger prizes. However they do have pretty good prizes to price comparison and 1 ticket =1 cent so for myself I find it a pretty fair price rate. You can save up and hang on to your tickets for as long as you want if you are saving for something large. There are a few quite pricey items but on par with stores like Toys R Us.  If you check out their website you will find the coupons, and even be able to play games, win printable tickets and join the email club for cool little gifts via email a couple times a year .
http://chuckecheese.com/

We did bring Zach to Chuck E Cheese for his first birthday, which they gave him 100 tickets as a gift from email club so that is one of the bonus'.

Back to today's adventure , in the door arms stamped , food and tokens ordered. The fun can then begin..
Pictures and video are worth any words I can write.
Zach loves it at Chuck E Cheese, he is becoming independent :( and is really smart at how the arcade games work.
I did stash some of the tokens I bought so I could be able to go again another time( always have those kind of ideas and thoughts on the fore-front) .. We also cashed in all the tickets I have been stashing since his b-day and got him a big Chuck E doll ( action Figure) and a bag. I had a few tix left so I could give my besties Grandson some of the coolest tats for kids I have ever seen .

whatever is missing up to Wed May 29 2012 :)

So on the couponing and contest front, it has been very successful.
I am still waiting on a few prizes I have won, that have seem to have been lost from the senders point, but I am sure that will all sort it self out. I love that I have won so much as it is and hey it will get here when it gets here. I suppose if there is an issue with maybe not being able to afford the prize , I totally get that  it happens , but I would rather know that is the case then to be left high and dry and messaging but getting no response.  . Too me they don't have to feel embarrassed , it happens .


 On the Superhero Mom front, wellll not so much. Little man is getting even more teeth and he has been very very upset and cranky to say the least and I guess the Terrible 2's tantrums have started earlt ( by like 11 months lol) We have had to stay in alot, either rain or just unable to muster the strength. Little guy has needed alot of attention, so of course I gave it to him. That is what is most important. Have missed out on a few things, but in the end he is more important and I will always standby that.
We have had sometime out for walks of course and a few shopping trips but nothing to write home about. But summer is just starting and I for one  will take the constant cuddles or now .. there will be days he keeps getting dragged around, much like Victoria Day weekend.. Which maybe this is his payback to me . lol
He is starting to eat other things, I gave him hamburger (which  he loves) and tonight (29Th) He tried some grilled cheese and seemed to very much enjoy it.

I did manage today (29th) to score a really good deal at Shoppers Drugmart. I just love couponing. The best score was toddler cereal bars snacks for 12months+.. Now I usually never by these things but thanks to a downpour outside I went down that isle and found a clear out deal . Now these snacks run 4.99 each hence why I never buy even with a coupon, but today their clear out price was $1.57.. So I assessed that there were 8 boxes and yes I cleared them out. and took every single one . Yes it is def a faux pas, but in this one instance when I weighed the pros and cons esp. for the value of the snacks and the usage I would get out of them, there was no choice but to take them all. There were other things that were only a dollar and I left them as they were not age appropriate so really I could have been that "jerk" that clears out everything just cause there is a sale but I wasn't :).
In the same token today (29th) the amount of freebies, coupons, contests was crazy crazy in a great way. There was so much happening in this whole couponing front it was amazing. I like to think that everything I get couponing helps contribute to the Wanna-Be Superhero Mom in me. My oldest thinks it awesome the freebies I get and I have heard him brag a little , so I will keep racking up everything I can. I do give stuff away so I am def not greedy by any means and I pay it forward alot , so it all balances out in the end. Facebook is such a fantastic doorway to freebies, coupons and the like, if you are not part of it then it is worth checking it out.
I am also finding that I am becoming more comfortable with on-line ordering as well( hmm the no -spend thing, well left that in the dust weeks ago :)  ) I do find the sheer convenience a perfect match for my life style as of late. Let's face it sometimes getting what I need and not having to drag my toddler through a store is a well gained advantage. Not to say that he is really that bad, but let's face it trying to keep him entertained and seated without squirming all over, and trying to use coupons (which I should have all ready and organized before I go out , but don't )  and getting everything I went in for( doesn't happen enough , I always forget something and it's usually the most important thing I went for ) is a challenge to say the least and I am well tired and out of patience by the time I leave the store. Of course the satisfaction of receiving something free or near to free makes it all worth it, I am still beginning to like this whole order over the internet.
I truly love the internet and everything you can find , such an amazing resource .

Hopefully my little guys teething issues don't last long , so upsetting watching them hurt. But I will take the cuddles .....

May 22

Loving days like today when you can pay it forward. Paid for someone's purchase and felt great doing it.

Victoria Day Monday May 20

After an adventurous day yesterday it only made perfect sense to go about on an adventure again for today.
The town of New Dundee has a whole town garage sale and a bunch of things going on. So of course it would only be natural for a couponer such as my self to load up the mom van with whoever is going on the Adventure and  make the half hour trek to the town . I ended up with both my son, my bestie, my younger brothers and 1 of my nephews..
Once entering the town the magnitude of the crowd hits . Too a few min to find a great parking spot , but we managed. For myself it was a great reminder of when my Grandparents took us when we were young. Interestingly enough, it hasn't changed much over the years. One big change is now they only allow you to park down one side of the side street, where the car show and flea market is. Now this smart for sure and they even had a section roped off for pedestrians to safely walk down , but do you think ppl actually used the pedestrian walk??? I found it quite humorous the lack of common sense and just plain courtesy that ppl  display.
Nevertheless we got all unloaded and managed to take a fair hike around the town . There was not very much that caught my eye and all in all I spent 50 cents on a toy for my little guy. I did pay 2 bucks for a glitter tattoo for my littlest little man to support Charity.. ( now it was supposed to last 7 days but was half gone before we got home  , so I scrubbed the remainder off in the OMG I was so dirty bath.

The sun was sweltering to say the least., and the water we did have was being taken down way to fast . We did of course need to keep  lathering  on the sunscreen ( okay I didn't I love the sun and need colour) . In our town travel we managed to come across the Firehall and of course without any hesitation at all we made our way there to grab some fries and pop. This of course brought us past some Mennonites on the way there selling pure maple syrup , and those maple filled mini-cones , and well yes that was an immediate purchase.
In pure coincidence while we were basking in some shade , having our fries , the fire alarm rings and away they had to go to whatever emergency was taking place. Very impressed at how quickly they left even with the scores of ppl in their way . We decided we had , had enough with the town sale and opted to hit the beach .
Of course we didnt  have everything we needed and had to get beach ready , but was soo well worth it . The heat alone was enough, such a difference from yesterday.

We made it Christie lake for all of about 5 min. Realized still no boats to rent and as we thought there was a great concession to buy food we were thoroughly disappointed, so a trip to Subway and then to Valens was our best bet.
Valens was no where near as busy as we thought. Again my little guy raced for the water. and walked up and down for quite a few min. There was al least semi sand and it didnt hurt your feet so that was a bonus. The big guys went in search of the boat rental. Of course they were renting canoes so we decided to make our way over to that area.. I had the extra cash they were needing to rent . I did stop in the little concession store which is 100 times better than Valens and grabbed my little guy a bag of beach toys and an oversized Pixie stix.
Renrting the canoes was the bet thing ever. I cant believe the laughs we got watching them canoe around but also TIP OVER . My oldest son and my brother Adam had never canoed and within less than 5 mins in they go.. Great laugh by everyone on the shore line. Of course I taped it and did not do a very good job as I was laughing to hard. A few ppl had taken photos as well, who were close to the boat section. They did however find their groove. I def think their Egos were bruised  and they needed to prove they could do it. Liam and Bailey ( my brother and Nephew) allready knew how to canoe and took off like shots but then out of the blue about an hour into it , down they went.. theirs was worse as the canoe sank and they had to dredge in. I just found it so funny .
Unfortunately they are just videos , no still pics which I will add once uploaded.
Day turned out wonderfully. I know my little guy had def had enough though over the past 2 day of go go go and out late. I only had to feed him once today , while the boys were out canoeing, and I am pretty sure that I was filmed and had pictures taken of me breast feeding, but it is what it is and of course have no choice.
True to form as a lasts years tradition , we hit up Timmies on the way home for their $1.00 drinks. Gotta love that brain freeze causing Frozen Raspberry Lemonade.

May 19 2013

Loving the beautiful Sunday of the Long Weekend . I was very pleasantly surprised at how nice of a day it was, slightly cold for my taste ( although I am one that can wear a hoodie and be bundled up in the middle of summer when it is at it's hottest. Very glad to not have had any of the fore casted rain .
We decided to get ready and hit the beach (after a few hours of wondering where to go). The older boys want to rent a boat and hit the lake so hopefully they have the boats available. I decided to pick up another of my nephews and bring him out with us for the day. It was nice to give his mom some time by herself.

We ended up at Christie Lake Conservation area , and while there got our yearly passes. Going to be able to go all over again this summer which is so much fun. The Hamilton Conservation pass is def the way to go esp since not only do you have access to the parks you also get into Westfield Heritage Village. My mom bought all of the passes , which was a great gift. Now as a family collectively we can take over which ever beach we decide to visit. And I mean take over. We are def a family that stands out, has a great time and really don`t care about any opinions of others. We are very vocal and loud , but we def just enjoy ourselves.

By the time we get anywhere though it is later afternoon so there you go.
Now it was warm but not overly warm by any means.( and really not many ppl at this beach) My youngest nephew Zander bared the cold and he actually swam..

And the fact that he stayed in as long as he did was impressive.
I decided to let me little guy enjoy his first Beach experience. Now he did swim last year in pools but this was his first time hitting the beach . He just absolutely LOVED it he.. He kept walking towards it and yelled at the waves when they hit him. The only negative I would give is that Christie lake has no kind of a beach what so ever. There was no sand and it was course and hard to walk to the water, hopefully bc it wasn`t  really Beach season yet that once it is they will have added sand or softened the other stuff.

Of course while Zander swam the bigger boys were upset as no boats were out for rental, maybe next time.
Zachary my little guy played a bit..

Packing up and we decided to get more use out our passes we just bought and decided to hit Websters Falls .
Of course Zander was frozen at this point and well thankfully I keep one of those emergency blankets in the mom van and we wrapped him up like a baked potatoe .

We had a great walk to what we thought was Websterès falls, although we took off on a trail (soooo not stroller friendly) and had we just looked around first we would have realized we parked in the right spot and just had to go up a small hill and we were at Websters, but we ended up going to  Trews and everyone but myself and Zach continued on.
We had a picnic supper and left around 8 pm..