crazy nothing

You know those weeks where you feel like you have been running all day every day, yet at the end of the week you sit down to write - oh, let's say a blog or something - and you realize you actually have nothing to show for your week of chaos?
Yeah, it's been like that.

Ethan was in Dora and Diego camp all last week, just from 9 - 11:30 every morning. He had a great time, with new adventures every day. They did in fact manage to retrieve the swamp water from Swiper the fox, so if you were at all anxious about that, have no fear. The last day was Fiesta Friday, complete with Dora sprinkler set up outside, and we continued our fiesta when we got home. I had created a treasure map of the upstairs, and there were 4 books hidden. They each found two books, and had a pretty good time hunting. I realize they are still only 3 and 4, but I fear they may have inherited their father's sense of direction rather than my own infallible one. Maybe I should enroll them in Orienteering next so they can learn to read maps a little better! C'mon now!

My major accomplishment this week was finding shoes for myself for Briana and Rob's wedding. Great score at Aldo! It ranks as an accomplishment because I tackled the task with both boys in tow. Again following the treasure map theme, I got a Guildford Mall brochure and circled all the shoe stores we needed to visit. Ethan's job was to cross them off once we'd been there, and Jack's job was apparently to run out of every store at the precise moment I'd tried on a pair of shoes. If you've ever wondered how fast you can kick off new shoes and bolt barefoot down a mall, I have a boy I can lend you. It's great fun.

We got a lot done on Saturday, washing the decks and completely cleaning out the garage. This is a chore that seems to pop up every six months. It frustrates me to keep doing the same thing over again, but it is supremely satisfying to bring order to the chaos, and to get rid of the spiders...
After such a hard day's work, we took the boys to the Vancouver Canadians baseball game on Sunday. It was a "nooner at the Nat", which inexplicably is held at 1:05 pm. The boys were PUMPED to go to the game, but when they started asking when it would be over and it was only the bottom of the 2nd inning (look at me and all my new baseball terminology!) I got a little worried. A short trip to the bouncy castle, 4 messy hot dogs, and a bucket of popcorn solved that. Ethan especially was very excited about the game after that. One player hit a home run that cleared the back wall, and Ethan yelled "OUT OF THE PARK... YESSSSS!" It was too cute. Unfortunately, we spent the rest of the game trying to figure out where we had parked the car in relation to where the ball had soared over the wall. Would we be greeted with a beautiful baseball-shaped dent as a souvenir? Luckily, our car was unscathed which meant we could enjoy a nice BBQ at M&D's (aka Grandma Kittycat and Granddad) after the game. Excellent food, and a chance to catch up also with Carl, Ben and Renee.

E-man has been working through the "prep for Kindergarten" materials, and although I think Ethan is already at quite an advanced level, the one item on our list that NEEDS to be accomplished before September is "teach kids to wipe own bums". Now that Rabbit is out of diapers, I'm just so done with other people's crap.
And on that lovely note, I am signing off until next week, where I will bring you a recap of the wedding and our trip to Victoria for the event. Have a great week! - T.