Traditions

So, for the past few August long weekends, we've been making a tradition of heading to Vanessa, where Greg's family's cousins own a ginseng farm. They've a gorgeous property and, when the weather cooperates, we're fortunate to enjoy the time to use their pool (especially as we're nowhere near being able to afford one for our backyard any time soon). They've actually got the perfect backyard set up - though were we to have the same thing, we'd have no grass area elsewhere as what they have in pool and gardens alone is the extent of our entire lot. Anyhow, as I said, they've the ideal pool area (and hopefully one day so will we, particularly as - unless year-round schooling settles into our board too - the boys and I will be able to use it every day of summer holidays... or unless it's a summer much like this that is rainy, dreary, and cooler than I'd like most days).



Isaiah was very interested in swimming and I think I'll be getting my money's worth when he begins lessons Monday. He had to be coerced into using the floatie, though - necessary when we all tired of helping him swim or when I had both boys to myself - but otherwise wanted to be swimming - mostly independently if he had his way. Hopefully the lessons help teach him to swim by himself fairly well because he is a pretty stubborn boy when it comes to wanting to be in the water. His lips were blue half the time - despite the 89 degree bath-like water - because he refused to come out of the pool and dry off for awhile in the sun.

Braylon, on the other hand - and much like everything else, had to be coerced into swimming itself, though eventually he took a liking to it. Isaiah and his cousin Mateo were "swimming" in the fountain at first, but Braylon was content to amuse himself while they sorted rocks and caught the falling water in the trucks. Once we were in the big pool, though, Braylon enjoyed lounging in his floatie, safe amongst the many aunts and uncles lounging on their pool noodles. Yes, I think we'll have to invest in a pool at some point... our efforts to convince my in-laws to put one in are fairly pointless, I think! So one day...

Anyhow, we didn't just swim and sun bathe... there was much entertaining to be had. It's nice, despite my lack of having caught on to Portuguese, to just sit around and enjoy one another's company. Quite a few of Greg's aunts and uncles go up (and usually so do their kids, though this year was slightly different), so there's plenty of conversing to be had. And there's always an abundance of food to be consumed... even if it takes 8 hours for the lunch spread to appear on the table (I shouldn't complain - and I'm not really, I'm more noting a fact - as I don't yet help much in the way of food preparation). And they've beautiful grounds, as I've mentioned.



And so marked the middle of our summer holidays, which are passing rather too quickly (though at least I'm not returning to work come fall). Already another weekend half-over and, with the anticipation of the arrival of our third son, I'm assuming the rest of August will fly by as well. Hopefully we keep busy and I can post our adventures in blogs to come!

ExpectNet Baby Pool

So I finally set up a baby pool for this pregnancy. If you'd like to play, follow the link on the side OR go to www.expectnet.com and search for our game: RebeloBaby3. Good luck with your guesses!

15 Books in 15 Minutes

So, many of you are likely familiar with the meme that is currenty passing through Facebook. I've yet to post this note there, as I thought I'd work out my list here first. As far as a list, however, I'm unable to make decisions about the order of the 15 books I've posted, and I of course found it hard to narrow the list to 15, so I've included honourable mentions at the bottom that just weren't able to make the cut!

If you're not familiar with the 15 Books meme, it is as follows:

Rules: Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you’ve read that will always stick with you. First fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes.

So, here are my 15:

• Love you Forever (Robert Munsch)
• The Secret Garden (Frances Hodgson Burnett)
• Anne of Green Gables (Lucy Maud Montgomery)
• Jane Eyre (Charlotte Bronte)
• A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
• Fall On Your Knees (Ann-Marie MacDonald)
• The Lovely Bones (Alice Sebold)
• A Fine Balance (Rohinton Mistry)
• Roughing It In The Bush (Susanna Moodie)
• The Birth House (Ami McKay)
• The Red Tent (Anita Diamant)
• A Handful of Time OR The Sky is Falling (Kit Pearson)
• The Giver (Lois Lowry)
• The Stinky Cheese Man and Other Fairly Stupid Tales (Jon Scieszka and Lane Smith)
• The BFG or James and the Giant Peach (Roald Dahl)

With close cuts made to:

• The Stone Diaries (Carol Shields)
• Life of Pi (Yann Martel)
• My Name is Asher Lev (Chaim Potok)
• The Cider House Rules (John Irving)
• The Secret Life of Bees (Sue Monk Kidd)
• The Number One Ladies Detective Agency (Alexander McCall Smith)
• Memoirs of a Geisha (Arthur Golden)
• Bridge to Terebithia (Katherine Paterson)
• Fahrenheit 451 (Ray Bradbury)
• 1984 (George Orwell)
• Two Solitudes (Hugh MacLennan)

And next on the reading list (already purchased, just a matter of time to read something other than children's books) is The Time Traveler's Wife (Audrey Niffenegger) which I noticed was on many a list, as well as My Sister's Keeper (Jodi Picoult) because my students are obsessed with her so I want to see what the hype is all about...

I'm not going to tag anyone as you'll then feel more obligated to do this, but if you do complete a list of your own I'd be interested to know your top 15! I'm amazed at how many pieces of literature from studies in high school made it on the list... maybe I was early inspired to be an English teacher?!

Annual Rebelo Family Reunion

Yesterday we had the annual Rebelo family reunion in Bayfield, a gathering that has been going on for quite a few years now (I should check the golf trophy to be certain, but I know it's many years more than I've been a part of the family... and yes, there's a golf trophy, but I'll get to that later - too bad I don't have a picture loaded to show you what will now sit "proudly" on the mantle for the next year thanks to Greg's win).

Anyhow, at some point each summer, Greg's Tia Gloria hosts the family on a Sunday for a reunion of sorts (yes, despite the fact that we see plenty of one another in town for various occasions as well!). This year was different, however, in that it was the first year in which we did not stay the entire weekend in Bayfield as Greg's grandparents sold their trailer last summer (where we've stayed in the past). Not that we always stayed there - we used to pitch a tent on Gloria's lot in the early years and we even rented a lot close to the trailer another - but with two kids and another on the way, we thought it would be easier to drive up for the day, as many others do. It made for an early morning, as the guys play a round of golf, for which there is a trophy, with an 8 a.m. tee-off time, but we managed!

AND it was also a special reunion because it was Avo Olivia's 99th birthday as well. Greg has some good genes in his family, that's for sure!

So, while the boys were off to golf under overcast conditions (it threatened rain but thankfully held off - fitting the entire family on the porch of a trailer would be next to impossible), the ladies and children always head off to breakfast. The only thing that changes is the waiter seems to get more rude with each passing year, but the breakfast is good and we've four hours to kill before getting lunch ready.

We returned to the park and kept the kids entertained in the cool lake breeze by renting the "family car" from the office. The Couto kids did most of the pedalling, thankfully, because Stacey and I tried a round and not only was it a workout but our legs kept knocking each other.

After lunch, we headed down to the beach for awhile with some of the kids. Braylon had fallen asleep by that point, but Isaiah was still rip roarin' so he went swimming, climbed on the rocks, and tried skipping stones with daddy.

Typically at some point we play a massive game of soccer, which we eventually got to after sitting around in the afternoon for awhile. And of course the kids had to go for another ride before heading home, so we didn't get out of Bayfield until well after 8 last night. Poor Greg had to head in to work this morning, so I'm sure he'll be exhausted once he comes home!

Anyhow, we're looking forward to keeping the tradition alive - and next year is sure to be a memorable one as Avo Olivia will be 100 years old! Very few people achieve that feat, that's for certain!

Beach Boys

So despite the crappy weather this summer, we've managed to make it to the beach twice... which in days long ago would not nearly be enough for a week let alone an entire summer, but since becoming a mom we don't manage to get beach days in very often so it was a treat to go twice in one week (even if I look like a beached whale at 34 weeks pregnant)!

Day 1 was an impromptu trip to Grand Bend with my sister-in-law and her sons, mostly to avoid the driveway work going on at home and to take advantage of one of the only nice days we'd had in some time. We loaded up (unfortunately two separate vehicles) and drove up to the beach to spend the afternoon in the sun. The boys were all well behaved, as was Olivia, my neighbour "adopted daughter" of kinds - she's Isaiah's summertime best/girl friend (sorry, Lola) - as we spent the afternoon watching the boys play with the beach toys and Olivia swim in the waves.

Day 2 was also planned somewhat last minute, as Greg had been working hard on "holidays" to finish the driveway with the help of many friends. He deserved some relaxation too, and we were blessed with a second good beach day in one week weather-wise, so we trekked back up 81 to the Bend. The boys again enjoyed digging in the sand, burying their legs with daddy and filling up the holes he dug with water from the lake. They both went in for a bit of a swim too - Isaiah to jump the waves and Braylon to watch the action of the various high school kids playing catch and giggling in gaggles.

We didn't last as long as I'd originally hoped, though, as I wanted a nice long day at the beach - not only does beach air tire you out, but beachin' it with a 2.5 year old and a 1.5 year old whilst being 7.5 months pregnant keeps you too busy to relax in the sun.

We did tackle the new play equipment and take a stroll down to the pier as well as up and down the main drag, but we headed home mid-afternoon (though we did go out for dinner at Cello that night with our neighbour friends anyhow, so we came home for a reason). This summer is flying by, so I'm hoping to enjoy a few more beach days before delivery-day because I can't fathom taking these two monkeys and a newborn to the beach! I'm sure we'll have tons more summer adventures, beach-related or not, before the fall, so be sure to stay tuned!