Our first walker

As of Monday evening, we now have our first official walker. It was only 2 or 3 steps but they were unassisted steps. With a look of complete terror and apprehension on her face, Grace is now the first official Simpson walker.

With her first crawl a mere 2 days before her birthday, in 1 month she has managed to surpass her brother & sister with her walking ability.

And we all thought Everett was going to be the first. It just goes to show that you never underestimate a Howatt/Simpson girl.

And yet another road trip

We certainly do not sit still for too here at the Simpsons. While daddy was away in Newfoundland, the kids, dogs, grandpa and myself went on another road trip. This time, to visit Grandma & Grandpa Graham in Pembroke then onto Ottawa to visit Auntie Shannon.

We left on Tuesday after our 12 month visit to the doctor. By the way, Everett is 21 lbs, Grace is 20 lbs and Avery still bringing up the rear at 19 lbs. All is well, everyone is healthy and growing. Now in our front-facing car seats and Riley & Presley safely secured in the VERY back, we headed out. On our travels this time we stopped at a restaurant for lunch and arrived in Pembroke with little incident. We spent our time playing around in the grass outside as the weather was absolutely wonderful.

Only 1 incident and obviously it was with Riley. He spent a better portion of the day rolling in the grass and chasing himself and Presley around the yard, and was inflicted with some sort of ear problem in the evening. Everyone suggested I just take him out and shoot him but my conscience got the best of me so I applied an ointment and it seemed to have cleared itself up.

On Thursday we packed up and made our way east. We arrived at Auntie Shannon's late in the morning after a relaxing (everyone was asleep) drive along the water. We did a little bit of shopping and visited the Carp County Fair on Thursday evening. It was the kids' first look at carnies. They were enthralled with the noise and the flashing lights.

We did MORE shopping on Friday and visited the NAV Canada office where Auntie S worked.

Its a good thing the other tenants were a little hard of hearing, with all the screaming (they could hear the echo from their voice) I am sure they were glad to see us go.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday to the Chapleau triplets Amber, Evan and Lauren Martel. And of course we couldn't miss out on the big day. So Jason & I and kids packed up the van and headed to Chapleau for the big party. It was unfortunate that Jason had to travel to Newfoundland on Sunday or else we would have made it a weekend event. So we went up on Saturday morning and came back on Saturday night. A long day but well worth the drive.

There were 8 toddlers and 2 older kids. Our set of triplets, 1 set of twins (not the Rantala twins), and Phils neice and nephew. A whirlwind of a day. With everyone dressed to the nines in their party dresses and shirt and pants, the day began with the gift opening. Then came the cake. And boy did they dig in.










They received many gifts but my favourite has to be the hand-knit winter hats. Like the typical boy Evan wasn't the bit least interested in the hand-knit winter hat.






They are growing incredibly fast, and on the go constantly. Amber and Lauren are in the beginning phase of walking with Evan not far behind. It seems everytime we visit its like a glimpse into our future; with what to expect next.
Thanks Tracy & Phil for inviting us to your kids' big day.

Walk the Line

Now that everyone is crawling the natural next step of course is walking. Everett is becoming a professional cruiser, Avery does well if she has both hands securely fastened to either your hands or a walker and Grace is still in the beginning phase but has quickly progressed in the last 2 weeks. The all have their sea legs and are pulling themselves up quite easily. We believe Everett will be the first to officially walk he just needs to gain his confidence. However the race between Grace and Avery is on.

Its a good thing we have a few walkers available or else Grandpa, myself and daddy would have arms about 3 feet longer from all the walking around.

Ride 'em Cowgirls!

Ever since their birthday, they have been somewhat reluctant to get on the back of the jumpy zebra. Up until now that is. With all the action the zebra is seeing these days, I think Avery and Grace have selected their profession. Rodeo clowns. An over-looked profession as far as clowns go but still very honourable.

Everett Lends a Hand

Last night the girls were a little fussy, so daddy loaded them up in the indoor wagon and walked them around the room. Everett was so interested he grabbed hold of the back and decided to give daddy a hand.

Our trip to Toronto

Over the labour day weekend we headed south to TO. Jason & I had arranged for free babysitting service while we went to Cirque de Soleil so we certainly couldn't pass that up.

We arrived on Thursday and Everett had a bit of a runny nose, and didn't really make much of it since he wasn't really acting sick. BUT that was just the tip of the iceberg. Over the next few days we were all dropping like flies. First it was Avery, then it was Grace then it was daddy & mommy then it was Jamie and finally inflicting Grandpa Howatt on the way home. Everett, the carrier monkey, as we like to refer to him as, has fully recovered, but poor Avery, mommy, daddy & Grandpa are still struggling with the plague-like symptoms. We haven't really heard from Jamie though so we aren't sure of what his current status is. But Avery seems to have suffered the most and you can't help but feel sorry for the little bugger.

But with that said we still had a fun time going to the passport office in Hamilton, shopping for records at Cheapies, needlessly buying more frickin' toys from Toys R Us, and having to overload the van with more crap from IKEA. Grandpa Howatt doesn't realize just how close he was to having to take the bus home.

The kids wreaked havoc with Gigi and the gang at Tansley on Saturday and again on Sunday where we had a BBQ with the family.

Grace was reunited with her long-lost love Jamie.

A good time was had by all.

Our Third RV Adventure - Fairbank Lake Camping

On our 3rd and final installment of the camping trips, we made a short but sweet trip to Fairbank Lake provincial park. We spent 3 days on a lake-front site and a good time was had by all. We invited Grandpa Howatt but he gracioulsy declined, until we got to the site and I asked Jason, 'Did you bring the bottles?' Ooooh, uuummm, No didn't you? So as it turned Grandpa Howatt was roped into bringing out the bottles and going for a kayak at the same time.

We went to the beach, not really expecting to go swimming but before I knew it Grace was practically running towards the water, and in up to her chest (fully clothed) and jumping up and down with glee.

Once Everett saw how much fun everyone was having he decided to join us.

At least no person or dog (Riley) was harmed during the adventure this time. Success I would say. We had such a good time we are hoping to spend our next years camping trip here.

The New Bike Helmets

For their birthday Jason & I bought them a couple of bike trailers that you attach to back of your bike. Mommy & daddy are the work horses and the kids just sit and enjoy the ride. Now along with the trailer, great-grandma Graham bought them a bike helmet.

Now we haven't actually put the kids in them yet, but Riley (our guinea pig) has successfully tested both trailers and has given an A1 safety approval rating for both. And when I mean guinea pig, I really mean test monkey. Jason loaded him up in both trailers and pulled him around the neighborhood. I don't think the guy a couple of doors down will be coming over to our house any time soon. He had to look twice when he saw Riley peering out the plastic window at him with a look of disgust. He must think we are idiots driving our dog around in baby bike trailer. But its a dirty job, and someone has to do it. And thankfully Riley is just the right weight for the job.

Hopefully next weekend we will be able to take the kids out for their first cruise.