Chris at Borden

We had a nice visit with Chris this weekend. We picked him up from base on Saturday and took him out to McD's for lunch. Then we checked into the Red Pine Motel for the night. Chris and I took full advantage of their salt water pool. I think I enjoyed it more than him because with the added buoyancy of the salt water....I could actually swim!!! Deb BBQ'd dinner for us all as special treat for Chris, we had brought the fixins for all his favourites. I had also picked some fresh blueberries which we enjoyed later with ice cream. After an early bedtime the plan was to get up early and hit the pool again but Chris was too tired to get up. LOL. We forced him out of bed around 9 so that we could make it to breakfast before they closed up. He enjoyed that too as it was serve yourself but lots of choices. We took Chris back to base around noon and took Deb and Dusty on a walk through Blackdown. Last year we were told that dogs were not allowed to enter camp but I had seen a dog yesterday and figured we would try it...nobody stopped us so I guesss they changed the rules since last year. We asked permisssion to take the above shot of Chris and a couple of roomies in their "hoochie". The second shot is the "parade square" with the canteen in background(domed building with kids sitting beside it) and the mess hall behind that(lower building with lots of windows).
As we left he was looking forward to tommorrow, when his company will be leaving pre-dawn for a weeklong canoe trip. They have already completed extended hiking and biking trips along with all their other training. The added activity shows on Chris' body already. Maybe this summer he will build that "six pack" he so badly wants to have!

Sam has arrived

Deb`s new grandson has been born. Samuel John Servant was born at 6:08PM on Saturday July 14th. Baby Sam and mom, Natalie, are both doing fine and have now gone home to join papa, Ron, and big sister, Zoe.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBQBOom5LPE will show a video of Zoe on the slide playing with her Grandpa.

HOME AGAIN

Deb and I are back at home after touring Lake Huron shoreline communities. We stayed in Goderich last night. While there we checked out their old gaol...of course they wouldn't let us do the proper tour because Dusty was with us but just as well since the building has three stories and that's way more stairs than my knees can handle!!! we also checked out the salt mines and went down to the beachfront park(again no dogs allowed there). We did do some walking north of town on trails which led to a long foot bridge over the river with awesome views. While on the bridge we saw a pilated woodpecker but of course(just like last sighting) I didn't have the camera with me. At least Deb got a good look this time. Today we continued along the shore and ended up in Kincardine where we toured their butterfly garden and walked a portion of their trail system which went along the river and out to the harbour. We also drove around town checking out the beautiful old homes and buildings. We decided to come home early due to cool breezes and very overcast skies combined with forecast of rain tommorrow. We thought it would be nice to beat the rain home and enjoy the trip rather than drive through the rainy day tommorrow. Dusty is VERY happy to be home. I'm sure she will sleep much better tonight without the strange smells and noises.

PEACEFUL BLISS

Life has become very peaceful here at home. Yep you guessed it....Chris has gone to Camp Borden for his 6 week course. We dropped off the boy with attitude early Saturday morning to catch the bus along with ALOT of other cadets. Among my parting words to him was my hope that he "find a new respect for others"....of course by that I meant I hope he losses his habit of yelling at me every time he doesn't get his own way. He hasn't called home yet but that is not surprising....last summer he called home only a couple of times and that was mostly to check on if or when we wetre coming to see him....phone calls require WAITING in line to use pay phone and Chris has no patience for waiting in lines...he much prefers to be where the action is or spending any cash he happens to have left. This year he left home with $25...thanks to Gram. I'm sure that will be spent quickly based on his past experiences. When we get the postcard with his camp address, I will send email out to family with that info. He really LOVED getting mail last year. It was one of his highlights of the summer!
Deb is still on vacation this week but between Dr. appointments and my physio, we don't have much time for travel anywhere. Good thing she enjoys spending time at home!! We do hope to go for daytrip on the weekend likely around Kinkardine area. Of course we will have to check out weather and such.....plans are always subject to change in this houshold....even when Chris is not here!

VISIT WITH GRAM

We have just returned from spending a few days with my mom. She is now two weeks post surgery with her right knee replacement. She is still having lots of pain with movement but is able to do more with each passing day. I took her to have her staples removed yesterday and she claims it feels better simply having those no longer pulling at her. This morning she did her exercises with no help and plans to continue staying alone now...although Shirl has convinced Dustin to go observe Gram doing at least one of her daily sets of exercises. I'm sure mom will keep up with them but it's nice to have someone around to help her if needed. While we were there, Don came down to have me help him rip out and replace the bedroom carpet for mom. I helped with carrying and cleaning things but he had to do all the "down on your knees" type work. Her old carpet had gotten very dirty looking over the years and the traffic patterns could not be cleaned. Together we managed to get the job done quickly and the bedroom back in order as well as cleaned. Mom is very happy with the carpet Don chose and it actually goes very well with the rest of the carpeting too. Deb got to try out our portable BBQ. We picked it up for $15 last year and never had a chance to use it. Works great!! We enjoyed BBQ steaks while mom had a BBQ`d chicken breast. Deb had set up in front of mom`s apartment and she managed to get things cooked without attracting a crowd of seniors looking for food although a few were spotted checking us out from their balconies. LOL. Chris had a great visit with the Masons. He stayed with them rather than hang out with us helping Gram....not much fun with us for sure. He and Dustin spent lots of time playing games and watching tv..Chris' favorite things to do. Uncle Bill also took them for ghost finding tour in Niagara on the Lake on Tuesday night. Lots of ghost stories but no sightings. Dustin loved it!!!! Chris claimed he didn't like it but he told us lots of the stories and legends they heard, so I think he really did enjoy himself.
Tommorrow Chris will have to gather his things for Camp Borden and get it all packed. He leaves 8:30 am on Saturday from London. That means an early start to our day Saturday so it will be an early bedtime tommorrow for us all. He missed a call from Richelle tonight....I told her that he really doesn't want to talk to her(she still upsets him too much with stupid and weird ideas of hers...like telling him he will have a father soon or brothers and sisters...these fantasies of hers all relate to whomever her current internet love affair is with). Anyway..at least he is safe from her nonsense for awhile. I didn't bother to ask what town she is living in now because she moves so often I can't keep track of her.