Trains, Trains, Trains!

So, on Saturday, Emma, Evan, my sister Nadia, and myself set off for an adventure a year in the planning - well, almost.  We were going to ride the steam train from Waterloo to St. Jacobs!

Since we wanted to start the day off early, and Alan had planned to start putting up the new fence (yay!), the kids and I slept over at my parents house, our starting off point.  Emma was going to go camping (ie: sleeping in the tent with Auntie Esther and Hannah-Banana, her dog).  After a campfire and a smore, we attempted to camp.  Yeah, I think Emma got my camping gene.  Too noisy, too crinkly, too . . .  outsidey (her words, not mine!).  So she moved inside, where it was warmer, and less noisy.  However, she still didn't fall asleep till at least 10 pm.  Gulp!  This was also the first weekend that I was weaning Evan.  So, bottom line: in typical Heather fashion, I bit off way more than I can chew.

our campfire for the evening

roasting the marshmellow (take 2)

Probably wasn't a good idea having this much sugar before bed . . .

Evan slept half decently, woke up at 530, that horrible hour where it's really too early to get up, but if Emma wakes up, she's had enough sleep that she won't fall back asleep.  Grrr.  So I quickly got him up, brought him to my futon, and tried to sleep for another half hour.  Gave up, and went downstairs, trying to keep him as quiet as possible so we won't wake everyone else up.

Given the late night and the excitement of the morning, I guess I should have expected a meltdown or two.  But MAN!  The temper tantrum that Emma had!  We haven't had one of those in a while.  But all in all, we managed to get out the door with a couple of minutes to spare.  (Of course, I left a lot of stuff at my  moms.  Does anyone actually remember everything?  I like to blame my  kids, but reality is, I often forgot stuff, pre-mom days).

And finally, we were off.  After about an hour, we arrived in Waterloo, 5 minutes to spare (just enough time to change Evan who had managed to leak the entire contents of his sippy cup onto the back of his shirt).  And here are the photos of the day!  We rode the train from Waterloo to St Jacob's, the town, then back again to the market.  We got off and explored a bit, got the required apple fritters, and rode home!

The Train!  Emma was so excited!

Waiting not so patiently in line to get tickets

The Ticket! (And it even got punched by the conductor!)

That is excitement, I swear!

The view from the "really really tall bridge"

Sitting with Nene

Looking out the "observation windows"

The way home: one very tired boy

But he also loved being able to stick his head out the window

Paint and Pudding

So lately we have been dealing with the "terrible threes."  Or, to be more accurate, defiant, maniac, jumping on and off everything in sight, tormenting the cat, refusing to eat dinner, threes.  We have tried calm interventions, time outs, threats (like that ever works!), quiet time in room, book readings - but nothing seems to work.  I thought perhaps Em was feeling a little put out with Ev, feeling left out.  We have tried one on one time, going to the grocery store or the library.  But it seems so long that we have had a good day, all the way through.  We start out great, but come 2pm, we start losing it.

So it was a very happy turn of events that this weekend turned out to be so nice!  You have to understand, I'm not a good long weekender.  At least by Alan's standards.  I tend to see the long weekends as super long work project opportunities.  Alan tends to see them as relaxing times.  Not a good combo.  But this weekend?  Fantastic.  Saturday Alan fixed the dishwasher (or mostly fixed it) while the kids and I played/moved dirt in the back yard.  Then while Evan was sleeping (yay for consistent naps!) Emma and I went on a hunt for a remote probe thermometer.  No luck, but a good couple hours with my big girl.  I then dropped Em off at Nana's for a "playdate" and I got to go shopping by myself!  Came home, played with Evan for a good long while and then had a nice dinner at the in-laws.   Sunday, after church, we introduced Emma to Rummykub.  It went a little long for her, but she enjoyed it, and it's really helping her with the double digit numbers.  But sure enough, 2pm rolled around and Emma started to get crazy!  Since it was raining outside, I didn't want to send her out.  So we decided to paint.

And what an adventure that was!  My little girl has become quite the artist - and the story teller!  She had a story for every picture she painted.

The little artist

Emma Surfing (with Belle, her stuffed dog)

Family Portrait

And of course, Mr. Bubba needed to get in on the action.  I wasn't too keen on him actually painting inside (we have tried it outside), so he got to paint with pudding.

Mr. Cheesy Grin

Emma decided she needed an artist hat.  This was the closest we could find.

And the resulting much-needed sink bath.