Thirty, He's Thirty Years Old!

That's right, my younger man is no longer so young. On Monday Kurt turned the big 3-0 (by the look on River's face in the above picture, he is just as appalled as you are). Way back when, Kurt dreamed of having a huge outdoor bash complete with Cuff the Duke playing a concert for him. Unfortunately they were booked for the evening of our party and we had to make alternate plans. We ended up having a great party with friends and family. My family even made the trek from Kingston, yay for braving the crazy roads with all the cottage traffic.

The theme of the party was "Kurt's Favourites". This meant pie instead of cake, as well as a campfire (despite the torrential rain...it eventually cleared up). Also, I asked everyone to wear shirts depicting either a band/music festival or beer. The best was Jeff's shirt which he made out of duct tape that declared "Tom Petty drinks Budweiser" - he won the imaginary prize for best shirt (second place to Danielle for her kickin' Pink Floyd shirt, honorable mention to Paul for his vintage 'Diamond Rio' shirt). Everyone also contributed to the "Top 30 Great Things About Kurt at 30" list which was both hilarious and heartwarming. Not to be outdone, Ang rewrote the words to Sublime's "What I Got" and had Kurt sing it, well done Ang.

The party didn't stop there though! The festivities continued the next day when we took off to a friend's cottage for a few days with Kurt's parents. Even though it rained (again), it didn't matter. It was awesome to be on the lake, go fishing and paddle boating, and enjoy another campfire. The boys had a great time, it was fun watching Jude fishing. With the first fish caught he was torn between being really excited, but also a little afraid of the fish.

All in all, I would say it was an awesome celebration of the 30 years God has blessed Kurt with.

Camping at Grundy

Well...we survived camping with two babes under the age of two and we had tons of fun! We had a blast camping with some friends at Grundy Provincial Park with lots of kids, sun, lake, campfires,late night swimming and a beer or...two.

Pictured above is a smattering of some of the children we camped with, it was impossible to get them all together!

Despite the large number of people camping (8 families) all together we had some great wildlife sightings right on our campsite:
raccoons...many many many raccoons (somewhere between 6 and 20)
pileated woodpeckers
red-tailed hawks
catbird
loons
dragonflies swarming an ant migration (creepy and amazing at the same time)
and....a bear...luckily he was more interested in the raspberries than our coolers

The boys had a great time, Jude enjoyed having so many people to play with...and so many people to mooch food from. Below is a montage of Jude eating on our trip. He did do other things like swim swim swim swim in the lake,dig dig dig in the sand,and kick kick kick balls but I don't have those moments recorded on film. Turns out having two babies on a camping trip is a little busy.

Figuring out how to eat watermelon for the first time...and learning the green part does not taste good!
Wait a minute...I thought the Huizengas only had daughters...oh wait, that's Jude being a mooch.
Moat-meal....mmmmm....I mean oatmeal.
1st Juicebox, it was love at first sight.

River also enjoyed having lots of kids around to entertain him, it was fun watching Jolene and River interact (well, as much as two babies will interact with each other). He wasn't super interested in the water but preferred to stick his hands in the sand, he only ended up consuming *small* amounts of sand.

Kurt organized a game called "Beers of Ontario" (or B.O. for short...). Everyone brought a beer brewed in Ontario and we rated each in a taste test. We declared Great Lakes Brewery's "Roundhouse Ale" the winner. The worst was "Mad Tom"...really really gross.

Can't wait until next year already!

Jolly Jumper Jamboree: Boyfights

So....Jude and River have started "playfighting". Usually this occurs on the ground where River is at a serious disadvantage (you know, being pretty much stationary). However, he recently discovered that the jolly jumper gives him a leg up on Jude, literally! Jude lets River pull his hair, poke him in the eye, try to eat him, all with a smile on his face.In return River looooves the attention from Jude and squeals with delight. Don't worry, we stay close by to referee when it ultimately falls apart, usually with the 'hug of death'from Jude.

Brothers

When people find out how close in age my little munchkins are their first response is a sort of horrified look on their face with a comment such as "ooooh, you're busy". What they actually mean to say is "are you insane/did you plan this" (actually, a few people do say this out loud to me). Then they realize that maybe they should follow up with a nice and encouraging comment such as, "They will be so close and best friends". In the midst of the insanity of being with two little ones 24/7 I often cling to this hope. Lately it has even begun to become true.





My boys delight in each others presence. When River wakes up from a nap, Jude wants to rush upstairs to see him. He waits impatiently on the floor, patting a spot next to him, while I change River's diaper for me to place River beside him so they can play. In turn, River's face lights up when he sees Jude upon waking up from his nap and twists his little body all around on the change table so he can see him. I love it!





Now, Jude also loves to take away toys that River is playing with (he is learning to wait until River drops it, then he pounces like a cat on the toy River is 'done' with). Sometimes Jude is too rough, or is jealous of things River has (like his baby cereal, or the fact that he now sits in a high chair too). Sometimes their play turns into tears, which is the reality of siblings.







Below is a picture story of what happens more often than not.


River begins to play on his own with a really cool toy.

Jude comes over to join in the fun, River is ecstatic that Jude is playing with him.

Jude starts to take over the toy and shows him how it is really done. River is mostly okay with this development, even if it means his toy is being taken away.

Jude then lays on River in a loving fashion, gently playing while River tries to put any of Jude's available appendages in his mouth.

What is not pictured is when this moment dissolves into tears as Jude lingers too long on River who no longer loves being smooshed by his 25 lb brother who is completely unaware of his crushing power...I think he is unaware anyways.

Oh Canada

It's been a while but I just got these pictures on the computer to share. We had a great Canada Day weekend, taking in a parade, lots of sunshine, and berry picking. I love that Canada Day and strawberries always go hand in hand.

Jude loved the parade and wore out his waving hands. Much to his delight there were loads of tractors (one of the few words that he can say), trucks, and of course the bagpipes and marching bands always stopped right in front of us. River slept through all of the sirens, drums, and even the church bells that played Oh Canada.

Strawberry picking was also a big hit. Jude was pretty excited to discover that it included a tractor ride! He was very good at picking the berries and putting them in the bucket, until Beps decided to inform him that he could eat them too. Then all berries went straight to his mouth (and down his chin, arms, shirt, legs.....). Nothing tastes better that strawberries right out of the patch, warmed by the sun.

Folksy Fun

We have been busy these past two weekends attending not one but two awesome folk festivals - hooray for outdoor music in the summertime. First we headed to Orillia for Mariposa. Three days of music, sun, swimming, family, friends, campfires, walk walk walking the kids to sleep, spicy jerk pork, copious amounts of samosas, dancing, clapping, hooting and hollering. It was tons of fun, and completely exhausting.


The following weekend found us heading to London for the Home County Folk Festival, and celebrating our 5th anniversary, and....on our own without the kids! Now, I love love my children, but I also love time alone with Kurt, not to mention the first uninterrupted sleep I have had in two years. The music was fantastic as well, Basia Bulat, Sarah Harmer, and the amazing Hawksley Workman. And this time I wasn't falling asleep in the evening like I was in Orillia (sorry Emmy Lou, your voice is beautiful but I finally had both boys asleep and had a hard time keeping my eyes open). It was also pretty awesome being able to score great seats instead of rocking the stroller back and forth on the sidelines. Thanks for the awesome treat due to your babysitting Jack and Audrey!

There were tons of activities for kids. The toddler tent at the musical petting zoo was a big hit with Jude.

The boys enjoyed seeing their grandparents and Uncle Scott there.

Jude really enjoyed the bubble station, another one of the awesome kids activities they had.

The boys, asleep after about 100 laps around Tudhope park. At least I was able to still listen to the music while I walked, and enjoy the waterfront breeze. Jude also enjoyed the fact that we were surrounded by Lake Couchiching, lots of opportunities to throw rocks and sticks in the water, or take a dip (which was great considering the 30 degree weather...).

Taa-Daa

Milestone update - River is sitting up on his own, hooray! Well, he needs something behind him for when he decides to stop sitting in a rather abrupt fashion (just throwing himself backwards), but still, he is doing it! He's been rolling over for a while, but mostly in his bed. I find him in the strangest positions sometimes. It's so fun seeing the joy on River's face as he sits, he loves being a part of the action. Jude is also excited and loves to bring River toys. Jude is already being a bit of a bossy brother though, insisting River play with particular toys chosen by him...and so it begins...