10 ways to have a CRAPTASTIC vacation

1. Have 2 teeth pulled 5 days before you leave.  Make sure one ends up being a "complicated surgical extraction".
2. Go to a location that is planning rain for the entire time of your visit.
3. Forget to pack long pants, a jacket and socks.
4. Have so much pain from the 2 pulled teeth that no amount of OTC pain killers will help.
5. Find a walk in clinic.  Ensure that it's a clinic that requires you to register in person 3-4 hours before your appointment time.
6. M.O.S.Q.U.I.T.O.E.S.
7. Rent a cabin close to the beach.  Ensure that it's a beach that has a strong sulfur smell of rotting seaweed at low tide.  Coincide your week with low tide being in the middle of the day.
8. Get a prescription for Tylenol 3 with Codeine.  Take 2.  When they don't seem to be making you drowsy foolishly think it's okay to have wine with dinner.  Spend some time lying on the bathroom floor trying not to throw up and waiting for the room to stop spinning. Go to bed early.
9. Travel with a 9 year old who does not do transitions or changes to plans well. 
10. Stay in the middle of nowhere that requires a minimum 40 minute drive to get anywhere.

Poor Bunny

Liam spent the day out with a friend and they spent the entire afternoon swimming.  While I had gooped Liam up with lots of sunscreen before he left, it's pretty obvious none got reapplied during the day.  He also managed to lose his hat, so any protection he may have gotten from that was lost too.

It is only on his face as he was wearing a long sleeve swim shirt.  He's got a headache but otherwise is in good spirits.  It is however his 2nd sun burn of the season.  It's so hard when he's not with us all day long and we aren't the ones in charge of making sure he gets more sun screen, or goes inside during the sunniest part of the day or even eats something (he left home at 10:30 and came back at 5:30 and all he ate was an apple that I sent him with and  an ice cream cone later in the afternoon.  To their credit they did offer him lunch that he refused, but really.... I don't think it's okay to let a kid refuse to eat ALL day, especially when they are playing hard in the sun, but maybe that's just me)

So my poor pink bunny has been fed, had a nice tepid bath, taken some Tylenol and gone to bed with a cold wash cloth on his face.

It's going to be a long summer.

School's Out for Summer!

Liam's last day of school is today! He has finished what his school calls "Youngs" (otherwise known as kindergarten, or locally 'Primary' *side rant* [what is up with calling it Primary? They don't have a secondary or a tertiary. And how can you go from Primary to grade one? Doesn't Primary mean one?] *end of rant*

Next year Liam will be in a class called "Middles". Since they are split-year classes, he will be referred to as a "Young Middle" as opposed to an "Old Middle". It only gets more confusing as time goes on. Eventually he will be an "Old Old". This is what happens when an experimental school in '60s lets the kids name the classes!

Summer will be a variety of lazy days at home, trips to the beach or museums, summer camp and a vacation at Grandma's house. The scheduling got so complicated that we now have an excel spread sheet taped to the cupboard door next to the calendar! I just hope we have some nice weather soon so that we can enjoy it!

Shark Bite!

We get about 10 days here in foggy Nova Scotia, that are perfect summer days. Not too hot or too cold, not a cloud in the sky, slight breeze and no plans!

In honour of the day we decided to set up Liam's slip'n'slide that he had last summer. Worked fine except the pillow that is supposed to stop you from skidding across the grass at the end was full of holes. Too many holes to repair even if I could have found that mysterious piece of patching stuff that comes with inflatable toys. I mean, really? Who keeps those? And if you keep them, can you find them when you need them?

My solution was to go buy a new one. Much less fuss. And since I am known as the "push-up" in the family (Liam's misunderstanding of the term push-over), here is what we came home from the store with:

SHARK BITE
Happy summer, even if it's still a month away!