Negotiating the new schedule.....

Well, we had our first week of two days out of the house for different activities - it was supposed to be three but I had no energy after a bout of flu over the weekend - and we survived! Once again, one of the main problems about any drive was Sé's distaste for van movement! This makes me taking the kids out either traumatic or skillfully timed around his potential naps - the trauma comes when he cries until we either pull over or he vomits, making it very difficult to get anywhere very fast!

Luckily, our Thursday trip to Gatineau works out well because we leave the house at 7am with Ian, so I can sit beside Sé. So, we met a lot of nice people - and lots of boys in the 5-10 year old range - at the Chelsea Community Centre and are really going to enjoy hanging out there on Thursdays in the spring.

Bailey and Jaxon both did a yoga class - although Jaxon has opted for a French class instead - and Jaxon LOVED his astronomy class! They had Lego on the floor to build with in a spare room and there were some foam sword/lightsabres floating about, so Bailey had no trouble fitting in and playing with some of the boys during Jaxon's class - he played outside in the playground (they have a big backyard property) for over an hour.

When the weather gets warmer, they all go down to a spot by the river nearby and hang out, so we are looking forward to that. Less than 5 minutes down the road is a ski hill and woods everywhere - quite a beautiful spot!

It makes me want to try out the Kingston group that has more organized activities and classes - I didn't think the kids would like it but it turns out Bailey wants it and if it is something Jaxon is interested in, he may try it too. We always thought it would be a good way to meet some more kids but didn't know if we could take on what would be involved - it works as a kind of co-op.

We did enjoy our own new version of Stone Soup - like what we used to do in Dartmouth - we have rented out (at no charge) a big gymnasium as the Kingston Military Family Resource Centre (Batoche Gym) on Tuesday afternoons from 12-3 and had a great time with our cousins and Aunt Crystal. Although we couldn't get the sports equipment onsite, we have found out that Ian can sign out sports equipment from the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre, so it will be fine, just inconvenient dragging the stuff around. Now we just have to advertise more widely than the Learning in Community group, as no one else has been able to make it so far.

We also went to the big Kingston area Recreation Fair yesterday and found out about clubs, sports organizations and every kind of summer camp you could imagine, so we've got plenty of choice. We're thinking about trying to keep driving to evening activities to a minimum in the summer, so we're weighing our options. So far, we've got Bailey signed up for outdoor ball hockey for the spring to try it out. Jaxon wants to play too but it conflicts with his chess club for a few weeks, so he is going to wait until another session.

I was going to put Bailey in swim lessons - and may still, if we join the YMCA in Brockville, as it is included in the membership - but yesterday he was resembling a full-fledged swimmer! He was motivated to try to pass the 'swim test' which allows you to go on the great big water slide at the Kingston Military Community Sports Centre (KMCSC) - we paid $35 for a family membership 'til August. Great pool set up, lousy hours for family swims and kids can't go in the hot tub:(

All in all, lots of options to choose from - including the Gananoque Recreation Registration event this coming Saturday - somehow we will work out the balance for everyone.....

....meanwhile, things are just getting interesting here in the woods.....we did have two more bouts of snow - one even stayed for a couple of days until the rains came, so here comes spring!