The Dress

Really, this time I mean it. Here it is. It's already been borrowed and returned, so if you need a dress for a party -- this is it!

Only Sisters Would Do This

My sister is awesome. She is the elder of us two and is truly, the most generous person I know. She also has a very warped sense of humor and when I get her laughing, she has a serious cackle-like laugh. My mom has always said that when we are at a party or in a large group, she can hear us cackling to one another no matter where she is in the room.

Anyhow, my sister and I play this little game. When one of us is in need of something, anything really, from the other, we call each other and start a sort-of "radio program" conversation.

Here's an example:

My sister phones me.

Me: Hello?
Her: Is this Cooking with Erin?
Me: Yes, it is. How can I help you?
Her: We have a caller on line 2 who has a cooking question.
Me: Put her through.
Her: Hello?
Me: Hello! You're on the air. Welcome to Cooking with Erin, how can I help?

And from there, we have a conversation about whatever recipe she needs, advice she requires etc. It makes a boring old question much more interesting.

Here was today's episode:

Me calling my sister.

Her: Hello?
Me: Is this Harrison's Sanity Services?
Her: Yes it is. How can we help?
Me: We have a caller on line 2 who is need of some serious help.
Her: Put her through.
Me: Hello?
Her: Hi! You're on the air. What can I do for you?
Me: Um....I have five kids.
Her: Say no more.
Me: Yeah, I don't think there's much more to say today.
Her: Are they safe? Have you put them in a room together and shut the door?
Me: Yes, I have.
Her: What else do you need?
Me: Sugar. In some liquid and solid form. And quiet. And may be my book.
Her: Well, if you'll give me a few minutes, I can help for sure...

And so goes the conversation, with much laughing and carrying on. And her Sanity Services saved my day by offering to meet me at a park so all the kids could play and we could sip and snack on sugary-things and peacefully pass the afternoon away.

Only a sister knows to do that.

Me...in the dress.

Here I am...with the bride at the wedding. I'm the one in black.

I'm wearing the dress again this weekend. I will try very hard to get a picture of it...from the front.

Summer Update

It's been a while since I've posted, so I thought that I'd bring you up to speed on how things are going.

We're having a great summer. The weather has been supremely hot here and though I don't love the heat, we have still managed to do some fun things.

A few weekends ago, we went camping at Bon Echo Provincial Park. This is a beautiful park with a big lake, gorgeous rock outcroppings and great sites. I would totally recommend it, despite the five hour drive to get there.

Here's a sorta crappy picture of the kids at the lake.

When we first got to the lake, we saw this young couple smearing grey mud all over themselves (head to toe and all between) and then they started posing for silly pictures. It was...odd. But mildly entertaining. Then we realized that this fun muddy-clay stuff could be found at the bottom of the lake out in the deeper water.
I told the kids to get some and smear it on themselves and I'd take pictures. We had just begun the smearing process when a nice little girl swam by. She started chatting with us and as we covered our arms in the mucky stuff, I suggested that it was probably really good for our skin.

She says, "Nah, it's not good for your skin. It gives you Swimmer's Itch"

Ahem. Excuse me? What does it give us? She quickly added that teeny mites live in this clay and if you leave it on your skin, they bite and give you an all-over itchy rash.

We quickly washed. And I wondered about the cute couple that had covered themselves, seriously, head to toe in this stuff.

Thankfully, we avoided The Itch.

We hiked, we paddled, we slept, we ate, we swam and we fished.

It was Jack who caught the one and only fish. And this fish was a good sized fella.

Before we left for the trip, we bought him this cheap-o "Lightning McQueen" fishing rod from Crappy Tire. You can see it, red and yellow, in his hand. This little rod caught us a big fish that we ate for supper. Jack was a little disappointed that he didn't get to keep the fish and take it home. How we managed to get this fish in the boat is another tale altogether.

All in all, the trip was a great time.

Although camping is a dirty way to vacation, I do believe it is the perfect holiday for kids.