Its A Great Day At Keller Williams !!

Just to further complicate the very busy and hectic month of September, I chose to change jobs ....well to move from one Realty Brokerage to another. So the business of working with buyers and sellers hasn't changed for me but I have now joined the Keller Williams team.




So new open house and for sale signs, new business cards, advising clients ..In addition getting back into the school routine ... its been a busy two weeks !!!


But on the less stressful side of things ... in August I gave up my study at home so the girls could each have their own room ....we've been feeling for some time that it was time for the girls to have their own space - their own bedrooms. Their personalities and personal styles are very different and we want to encourage this. So the move occurred and the girls are delighted with their own
space.




This morning though as I was getting ready for work and passed by the rooms I was amused to see how well the rooms did reflect their personalities already. Rosalind , social butterfly , laid back style = somewhat messy , dont try to walk around in the dark in here and Carolina , Miss Organized , everything must be in its place = ultra tidy and neat .

Bet you can you guess which room belongs to which of our special little girls ?????

To Marineland with the Hamilton Ingermans

Friday the 10th, Chris came home from work in Toronto via Hamilton so he could pick up Jilly for a sleep over. Chris and I chose to ask one of our favourite babysitters to look after all three girls and out we went of a date night leaving Chelsea in charge of the darling little hooligans.

Saturday we all got up, ate breakfast and headed off to Marineland to meet up with Erik and Lisa and enjoy the day with all of us together at Marineland!!!!! Yeah !!!!!!!!!

We saw the dolphins, seals and otter in the theater, fed all manner of creature - bears, deer, fish as we walked around the park........

We saw the show with the Orca at friendship cove and Rosalind and I stayed in the splash zone and did we get wet and was it ever fun !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ( No pictures - too much water coming at us )

We went on rides aplenty - fortunately with four adults we got to take turns going on the rides with the kids . The first ride they went on was the ferris wheel and I must say that was the most boring as far as they were concerned . They have developed a taste for the spiny rides and the roller coaster rides and wanted to go on all of these both in the kids park and the bigger rides. Fortunately Rosalind was 2 inches too short to go on Dragon Mountain so I didnt have to say 'no' ... that will be next years issue - do I say 'no' or let her go on the ride ...ugh what to do, what to do - at least I've a year to figure it out !!!!!

We stopped on our way through town at Perkins for dinner and then off home. It was a long day we were there from 10:30am to 5:30 and we had tired little chickies by the end of the day but it was a great day !!!

PS ... Chris swore he wouldn't go on the kids version of this ride ever again and would NEVER EVER go on the real thing - this was to his mind a ride that looked so much better than the reality.

Its a lovely day today ....

First day of school !!! Carolina's first day Grade 1 and Rosalind's first day Grade 4. OK I am cheating a bit ...Rosalind was home for the first two days of the new school year so our first day picture isnt REALLY the first day of school picture!!!! OK I won't tell if you don't !!!!!!!

Rosalind although she knew who was in her class was somewhat nervous - possibly explaining the extremely upset tummy ?? - Carolina on the other hand bounded out of the house, into the car and into school. She came home after day 1 with the book log for the 15 books she was supposed to read in September and wouldn't give us any peace until she had read and itemized all 15 books on the first night !!! Her type A temperment has been fully in exidence. When she showed her book log to her teacher the next morning , she was escorted to the Directors office for an official congratulatory handshake on a superlative 1st day effort .

Labour Day Weekend - Goodbye Summer

Well Uncle Doug, you may remember this present that you and Mona gave to Rosalind hmmm how many years ago now ... I'm thinking 5 at least, maybe 6 !!!!

Now look at who has rediscovered it and has spent much of the afternoon today ( Sunday of the Labour Day weekend ) playing disc jockey for hours on her own . Her very best friend Maya had been over for a play date and gone home, Rosalind was having a playdate and sleepover at Lily's so Carolina was on her own . So.......is this a future career ????

Yesterday was our street corn fest ....we didn't let rain stop us ... we simply invaded Kathy and Bobs place and partied inside. The corn was from Herrles and was fabulous !!!! We all brought food and drink, Kathy and Bob supplied

the corn and cooked it. We were happy that the girls Uncle Doug and cousin Mike joined us for part of the festivities. Very strange weekend weather wise ....we had pouring rain Friday and Saturday with very little let up.

Today it was mostly cool with some sunny periods but toooooo cool to swim. I fear the swimming season is over and that this week we will be putting the pool away for the season. We certainly got a lot of use out of it this summer - I think we were in the pool twice a day almost every day this summer with very few exceptions. Yesterday the windows all got closed up and this morning I actually asked Chris to turn on the gas fireplace !!! Very strange to go from too hot to sleep to this all in the space of a couple of days !!!

Rosalind and Lily are across the street at Lily's having their sleepover - its strange how empty the house feels without our Rosalind here !!!!! Carolina is at such loose ends without her Roz .

The Grand Reunion !!

These two have missed each others company ... theirs is a complete can't live with ( or without ) each other kind of relationship ......................................

It has been just over a month since Lisa and Erik and Jilly moved to their new digs in Hamilton and we've not seen them in that month ......more to the point the girls have not seen each other !!! Today was the big day !!!

The girls were delighted to see each other - Jilly gave Rosalind and Carolina a tour of their new house ...which went as far as showing off her new bedroom and then they moved on to manicures and pedicures at the dining room table.

After all the fingers and toes had been appropriately and wildly painted we went to Gage Park and the girls had a blast playing in the water park getting completely soaked including Rosalind who wasnt packing a bathing suit.

Then Lisa and Erik took us to Tony Romas for dinner, we had a terrific dinner with rapidly tiring little girls- after which we left with the promise of sleepovers and a trip to Marineland in 2 weeks !!!!!

Think we will have to organize one of these ventures on a regular basis in the future now that we are in different cities !!!!!

Forever Family Day TODAY !!

5 years ago today we met Carolina Yuan Cheng McGrath !!! Expecting a chubby little sweetie based on her picture, we were stunned by the sight and weight of our little girl. Her picture showed a chubby faced little one - the reality was a miserably sick, sad looking, thin little girl. Her hair was thin and dry and took about 3 years to get to the lovely silken locks she now has. From a shy and very quiet baby to the little powerhouse we have in our house now has been quite the joyous and fun journey !!!!!

Carolina is always organized, has a keen 6 year olds fashion sense and a fabulous sense of humour. She is quite the strong personality - stands back to observe before jumping in and mastering whatever it is the other kids are doing. She knows where everything in the house is located and is a regular little manager and autocrat. She loves to help clean and organize and is very very focused !!

The CNE - The last big event of the summer !!!

Oh the fun we had at the 'Ex' !! Weather was overcast and we had some rain - spatters more than anything - which worked well to keep the crowds down !!! We drove to the union hall and parked the car, then took the Bloor subway and Bathurst streetcar to the Exhibition grounds which was an adventure in itself and got to the Ex around 11am.

Purchased the wristband unlimited rides for all of us and then hit the midway !!! We went on a roller coaster ride - pretty tame looking - until we were on it and then YIKES .........

Rosalind was in complete and absolute heaven, Carolina was a bit ambivalent and Chris and I WERE TERRIFIED

Thereafter Chris and I happily watched as Rosalind and Carolina went on every roller coaster ride they were tall enough to go on sans parents !!!!

We did the usual course of midway rides - the merry go round, the ferris wheel, and the swings and usual scrambler and haunted houses

The girls also fell in love with the giant slide and must have run up the steps to the top with their mats and slid down together a dozen or so times , holding hands and laughing, laughing, laughing !!! ... it was all we could do to move them on to new thrills ....

We also of course checked out the animals - baby pigs and baby turkeys , ponies, goats, cows , pot bellied pigs, ostriches, and emus - and fed some of them at the

petting zoo too ..

On our way back to the Food Building for dinner (yup we were still there at 6:30pm ), we passed the 'wall' and let the girls have a turn rock climbing ... this was their first time doing anything remotely like this and they were awesome !!!! They did not make it to the button at the top but they came pretty close !!!

We left around 9 and by the time we got to the car, it was pouring rain - all the way back to KW. The downpour held off till then !!! We were so lucky ...All in all a terrific day !!!!