Pumpkin Picking

We grew 3 pumpkins this year in our pumpkin patch and actually planted them early enough that they grew a pretty good size. Unfortunately, Erica's rotted on the vine and Jacob's pumpkin tired of the three weeks of rain and was not too healthy when he picked it up...yuck!





After a trip to the grocery store for two more pumpkins, it was time to clean and carve. Naturally, Erica lasted until her hands touched the gooey stuff inside the pumpkin and then daddy had to finish the rest. Rachel relished cleaning her pumpkin and one could safely put it over their head as she scraped the insides completely out.



The kids each drew their design and then Nicole cut out the designs for them. Since it was late an we rushed the three off to bed, I forgot to take a picture of the finished product. Oh well, the pumpkins will be making their debut in less than 24 hours anyway.

And Now The Roof...

We have had a "roofer" picked out for three weeks now but the weather has not been cooperating. Finally, it looked like we may see one day of sun so the "roofer" decided to tackle the job. Good job, as the shingles are coming off the roof faster than leaves of a tree! It did rain a bit, but mostly it was cold, with daytime highs of a whopping 4-5 degrees celcius. The roof is complete, and we are $2800 poorer.

Swimming Results

Erica passed Swimmer 1
Rachel passed Swimmer 2 and 3
Jacob passed Swimmer 4

Next Job: The Deck

One of the few times all three of the kids wanted to help with outdoor chores; when it was time to destroy! Yes, everyone seemed very enthusiased with the idea of ripping apart our old, rotten deck. Mind you, the girls were quickly bored with the whole idea while Jacob kept on banging away.

Erica Taylor turns 8

Hard to believe, but the baby is now eight years old and well, she is not a "baby" anymore. Erica is almost 54 inches tall; the same height as her older sister!
Here are some pictures of the big event:

The handy Man - NOT

I can not say that there is anything I hate more than handy man work, which, from the look of the house, shows! Fortunately, there is such as thing called "friends". Jeff came over today and we ripped up the old carpeting in the master bedroom and replaced it with a floating floor.



Nicole and I then spent the next few days painting our bedroom, the hallway and the living room. Our bedroom looks much better, we just need to hang up some pictures and that room will be complete..for now anyway.

Sign of things to come

Rachel on the telephone....I remember my mother wanted to get me my own line but I didn't think we could afford it. I suppose now the teens all have cell phones? I have a feeling we are going to be saying "Rachel, it's for you" a lot...

Taylor Kids Take To The Pool and Lighten Daddy's Wallet

Well, it costs over $115.00 for the three to take lessons twice a week for 4 weeks. Jacob used to be in level 8 or 9 and I think Rachel was in 3 or 4. Erica never progressed very far.
So we are at it again. They have new levels now and Jacob is in level 4 and Rachel level 2. Erica, the tallest in her group, is starting out in level 1.

Music lessons

Once again we are giving music lessons a try. Our kids all seem to be musically inclined but unfortunatly none appear to be too interested in pursuing music as a hobby. I wish that my family could have afforded lessons and I know Nicole wanted to learn how to play the piano as a youngster.
Rachel is taking voice lessons one week and the following week Rachel and Jacob both are taking guitar lessons at the same time. This may not last long as Jacob now has band on the same night, so Rachel will probably have voice lessons every week and Jacob will have guitar whenever someone cancels.

Back to School...Finally

After yesterday's miscue, the Taylor kids finally made it to school..for real..and they all made the bus.


Jacob Grade 7, Erica Grade 3, Rachel Grade 5

All three seemed pleased with their teachers and I think their classmates are exactly the same as last year. Erica is going to help out in the library and she was very excited about that. Jacob is planning on joining the middle school band, which makes sense as he is taking guitar lessons starting next week. Rachel, well, no doubt she will be one of the teachers pets!!

Back to School...Sort Of

Our school district did not do a very good job informing everyone that school starts tomorrow and not the usual first day after labour day. Jacob, Rachel and Erica were all dolled up and waiting for the bus before we heard the announcement that school starts on Wednesday! Whoops.

Oh well, I was off so it was no big deal. We tidied up a bit, did some shopping and then played a little soccer.

Beautiful week-end at the camp

Rather than staying home on a weekend and cleaning, we went to the Landry camp and did some relaxing. There were no flies and the weather was gorgeous. The trees have not started to turn colour yet but in three weeks it will be a spectacular view.



Naturally, the kids wanted to do some hook and release fishing...






I had to work Monday morning so I woke up at 5:15 and drove to the hospital and showered there. It was a little stressful of a drive though; too dark and I was very apprehensive about hitting a moose/deer which are very plentiful this year. I took my time and made it out safe and sound.

The Taylor's go to Bar Habor, Maine

Thanks to the high Canadian dollar we decided to spend our last vacation trip of the summer of 2006 exploring Maine. I worked till Thursday morning at 7, we slowly packed and eventually hit the road around 8pm. Nicole drove most of the way while I tried to sleep, but the kids were watching DVD's in the back and that was keeping me awake! Plus, the moose on the side of the road and Nicole's reaction to the moose did not put me in a "sleepy" mood. We eventually made it to the border and had no problems crossing into the US; the border guard was very polite and friendly.

As usual, we never make hotel reservations but fortunately we had no problems finding a place to sleep in Bangor. A room with two double beds cost us $89.00 which included a pretty good breakfast the next morning.

Afer a good nights sleep, Friday morning we went south and ended up in Bar Harbor.


I was impressed with this quaint little town. There was lots of boutique shops and some fine restaurants. The grocery store sucked but I suppose the population dips quite a bit come the winter months.
We spent the afternoon at the Acadia National Park. The beach was not too busy and there were only a few hardy souls who actually swam in the ocean as it was freaking cold! Jacob and myself both dived in and I found it somewhat refreshing. (I may have to do one of those polar dips on January 1)



After we left the beach we had a quick lunch and then set out to hike up to the top of the "mountain".

We only figured out as we were driving up a steep hill that you could drive to the top; no exercise for us that day.

The top of the "mountain" was windy but afforded a great view of Bar Habor.







We hung around there for awhile and then, again no reservations, tried to find a hotel with a swimming pool.

We settled on a cozy motel 15 minutes away from downtown which had a heated outdoor pool. This was nice, except that the minute your head came out of the water it froze.




After all of us had a shower and drained all the hot water in the motel, we went to Bar harbor for supper, wandered around and peaked into many of the shops (my favourite t-shirt, "never mind the whales, save the mooses" and called it a night around 10:30pm.

The next day we went back down to Bar harbor and picked up some souvenirs and then drove back to Bangor for back to school shopping. We had a much harder time finding a hotel, and ended up in a bit of dive outside the city. We had planned on eating supper early but the line up at the Olive Garden was huge so we only went back at 9 and still had to wait for 30 minutes. It was worth the wait though. I never understood why they could not make a go of it in Canada.

Sunday morning we had breakfast in a little restaurant in the downtown core and then hit the malls and finished off our back to school shopping. We left Bangor around 4pm, had no trouble at the border and made it home around 10pm or so. All in all, we spent a lot of money and the weather was cool but we had a good time. Next summer we will probably return and do the tenting/hiking thing.

A Day at the Valcartier Waterslide Park

What would a Taylor summer be without a trip to Val Cartier. This was our fourth summertime trip, and the weather was reminiscent of our first visit when it rained for most of the day. On the plus side, when it is only 20 degrees out there were no 90 minute long line-ups, as there was when we went with Brenda, Rene and their three boys two summers ago. Instead, we could go on any slide we wanted, but we were so chilled that the heated wave pool was where we spent most of the day.


Actually, I lie. Rachel and Erica both grew tall enough that they were able to go on all the slides (52 inches) and Rachel took advantage! She went on Everest, the tallest slide, twice.
The highest accelerating slide in North America

"Rock and Roll" was no match for her as she went down the "roll" 5 consecutive times. I was getting dizzy just watching her.




Still, we had fun. I think next year I will bring along wet suits for us all though!



August 11, 2006

Mini-Holiday in Quebec City

Another 5 days off, so naturally we pile in the mini-van and hit the road once again. Apparently the price off gas is through the roof but that does not seem to bother us too much; no wonder we are always broke!

We arrived in Quebec City around 7pm and spent half an hour finding a campsite. We settled on a KOA campground which was 2 minutes from the TransCanada highway. Close, but maybe a little too close.

As this picture shows, there was not much wilderness around.

That evening we ate, went for a walk and then hit the sack.
The next morning we had a good breakfast.


and then the kids went to the pool for a couple of hours

Then we packed up and went outside the city and found another campsite. This had more wilderness and a pool as well. We spent the rest of the day at the campsite.
It looked like rain so we decided to wait another day before going to the waterslide park. Instead, we were going to go to large waterfall but the water started to fall so we just drove around the city and explored an Island nestled in the St. Lawrence.

We spent Friday at the waterslide park and then picked up Nicole's younger brother Denis and went out to supper. I was a little confused when I could not find a liquor menu and noticed everyone else drinking; oh yes, Quebec, where you can bring your own booze. Denis hustled over to a grocery store and picked us up some European beer which went down very nicely with our Greek food.

Saturday morning we packed, stopped by Denis's and borrowed a few DVD's and then hit the highway and we were home by 7pm. Another holiday over and I hit back to work in the am.