Have Family Will Travel-Part 1

The past few weeks have been quite an experience for both me and my family.
I am going to start writing my blog around this adventure and most likely break it up into segments because there is a lot to say!!!!!

On July 19th I started on a road tip, alone, with my three young sons.
Logan- who will be 8 years old this Friday August 10th, Mason- 5 1/2, and little Jacob who will be 3 in less than a month.

We began with pure heaven. We all prayed to God, literally, before we left the house and as we drove through Montreal that there would not be any traffic. The Lord heard our prayers and we didn't hit ANY traffic that whole day! Of course I enjoyed 3 hours of bliss while all my kids kept to themselves and weren't misbehaving.

As soon as we stopped for a potty break they let out their inner warriors! Did I mention Jacob had just started potty training the week before :) I think a child's capability to contain themselves, in more ways than one, has a limit of 3 hours. I have had many opportunities to test my theory over the past few weeks!

We all made it in one piece to our friends' house, Thom and Kayo, who happen to live half way to our final destination! Their children, Kaz and Lana, are similar in age to our kids so it is always a treat for them all to play together. We enjoyed a spaghetti dinner and a couple dips in the pool to finish off the evening. It was amazing how quickly my kids fell asleep!

The next morning we were on the road by 8:30am to go see my family in Whitby. To break up the day we went to Jungle Cat World Zoo in Bowmanville, Ontario. It was a small zoo with some beautiful looking animals. However, it was super hot out and most of the cats were hiding. I really don't blame them! I wanted to be in the shade too. Tip: If you ever head there do not do it in mid day at peak heat hours! In fact stay away from any place that does not have shelter during these hours! If mommy isn't happy ain't no one happy!!!!

Needless to say my boys were very happy to jump around in a park with a small splash pad right after our outing!

We spent the evening with my family enjoying salmon and steaks from the BBQ, corn on the cob, salads, beans and of course ice cream :) Then to top it all off the 4 of us spent the night at Tina's, my sister, in her king size bed! It is true that 4 people can fit! Although he littlest ones tend to take up most of the room ;)

After a decent nights rest we had a big breakfast and headed off to my Mom's house, Grandma Jojo, in Burlington, ON. Of course there were LEGO surprises for my little ones when they arrived so the afternoon was spent building LEGO!  My kids are LEGO maniacs!!

Monday we got up nice and early to make our way to Vaughn, ON to go to Reptilia. The name says it all!

We were greeted by Shoebox the lizard at the front desk.

Then we all pet the snakes and lizards in the theater area and finished the tour with the crocodiles! We had been there 3 years before and saw the crocs as babies so it was really cool to see how big they had gotten!

After the reptiles we headed up to New Market to visit with Uncle Bobby at the hospital. He has been there for over 3 months after a cancer operation. He is finally on the mend and will hopefully be going home soon!
The kids had a laugh watching him put his false teeth in and thought all the hospital gadgets were cool! Of course after 20 minutes they were restless and we had to call it quits :( I look forward to seeing Uncle Bobby next summer under better circumstances.

Tuesday we spent the entire day at Wet and Wild Water Park in Hamilton. Along with my mom, we joined my BFF Julie and her daughter Celine, along with another friend JP and his 3 kids- Mikala, Reece, and Keara. What a difference it was to be playing in the water in the heat! We partied until 4 pm then called it quits. Jacob didn't make it past the parking lot before he was in dreamland!

Note: Always check park hours and regulations before going! Because I had been there a couple times before and it always opened at 10am I just ASSUMED it opened at 10am. Not the case! We stood in line until 11am! Then once we were in we were told that the boys could not use there face mask for goggles (CPR regulations) and of course we had left the regular goggles at home! Live and learn.

Stay tuned or the second half of our family adventure on the road!!!

Blessings
Lee-Anne

Dear God, thank you for all you have blessed me with.