Shed update!

The final steps of the shed-building project saw huge changes in our back yard.

We started by painting the newly completed shed (Eric and Wendy were responsible for the finish work). It turned out very well with grey as the main colour, accented by cream/white trim and a soft yellow door.

The finished project (without door hardware)

The excavator did a good job of slowing down the growth of the lawn, so we had arranged for new sod to be laid later in July. Lots of work by a crew of guys as they spread new top soil, leveled and re-graded, then laid the new grass.

Old lawn had to be ripped out

New soil

Ready for new sod

Looks so much cleaner!

After the final concrete pouring for the posts for the fence/gate, Adam put his handiness to use again to rebuild the fence to give Maddy a proper fenced back yard.

A family photo in front of (Adam's) new shed!

Many changes as our summer begins

May, June, and July has seen many changes for our family.

With the weather warming up in May, we decided that our old lawnmower was not going to be up to the task of tackling the heavy grass this season. We bought a new Honda lawnmower and it seems to work much better (although I can't tell, because I am not allowed to cut the lawn...).

We have been trying to get out to hike more than over the winter (which means anything greater than 0 hikes!) but have had difficulty arranging our schedules. We did get a chance to go out on a local hike with our friends Terry and Theresa.

Before Adam headed off to cadet camp for the summer, we had a BBQ with a bunch of his friends. Of course, Parker had to work this day, so he didn't get to eat with the crowd.

One of the many reasons that we didn't have much time to hike was because we were helping Wendy's mom move from her house to a senior's apartment in April/May. Sadly, Marion passed away June 30th after only 2 months in the apartment and after a long battle with cancer. She will be sadly missed by all.

Marion had wanted to live to see the fireworks on Canada Day (Canada 150!). In her honour, we went to the Canada Day fireworks in Lynden, Ontario. The blanket Wendy is wearing was made with love by her friend Carolyn so Marion would be able to keep warm at the fireworks.

As has happened many times around our place, a pair of mourning doves built a nest right next to our front door. This year we watched patiently as they prepared the nest and, eventually, sat on it for the long incubation. We were happy to see two new doves arrive in early July, representing a new beginning.

2 baby doves

One morning we went out to find the nest empty - it seems that the new dove family moved on to wherever they spend their summers. We expect to see the parents back in the spring next year!

Our empty nest

Our next post will likely be after one or two trips we have planned this summer. Hopefully I will also have an update for everyone relating to my academic job! 

Quietest Christmas since 1995!

This has been the quietest Christmas that we have had since around 1995 (the Christmas before Adam was born). How did we do it?

We got rid of the kids!

This Christmas, Adam and Parker travelled with their grandmother to Charlotte, North Carolina, to visit Wendy's brother and his family. Wendy had to work over the holidays and I was not sure how much time I would be able to take, so Wendy and I stayed home. 

Seidlitz family 2015

We did write our annual Christmas letter but are in the process of emailing it out. If you haven't received yours yet, here is a link where you can download it as a pdf.

 https://drive.google.com/open?id=0BwZyqom6DVjOWEtqaHZwY2ZkT2c


With the kids leaving Dec. 23rd, we had to plan our Christmas celebrations for the weekend before the big date. We opened presents and had a big turkey dinner with our friends and family. Here are some shots from our Christmas.

Christmas "morning"

Parker is eager for his birthday to come in 2016! He also got a gaming computer.

Adam is interested in getting a motorcycle

We thought this shirt was appropriate - yes, bushy

Maddy got some Yak cheese.  Yes, it really is Yak cheese.

Marion got a new vase

Wendy got a new iPad

I got a silver chain (a wheat chain)

I also got a case for my watches and some Cessna 172s

Money for his trip!

Early Christmas dinner 2015

With all the Christmas stuff out of the way early, it was time to send the kids packing. After a too long drive down to Buffalo airport, off they went with Marion to the warmer climate down south.

Wendy and I were able to do all sorts of things that we normally would not do over the next week or so. We started by going over to Melanie and Murray's to do puzzles (OK, not what you would expect for our first night of "freedom"), then back the next day for a turkey dinner.

Christmas day itself was started with a luxurious sleep in late thing (until Maddy needed to go out) and the rest of the day was spent doing non-Christmas like things. If you are on Facebook, you may have seen some of these pictures, but I'll repeat them here for you below.

Yes, I needed to trim the lawn Christmas day!! 

We went for a 5.5 km hike in the very warm (for December) weather.

We went to see Star Wars (in 3D with motion-controlled seats)!

I ended Christmas day with some Calvados (Normandy apple brandy)

It was a great day, but we had to get up reasonably early the next morning - we wanted to go Boxing Day shopping! We headed down toward Niagara Falls and shopped at both the new Niagara Outlet Collection and the Pen Centre. It was an absolute zoo with almost no parking anywhere, but we got through it and can say that we have done it. We won't need to do it again next year (the deals were not that great).  After the shopping and lunch out (A & W - we don't have a lot of imagination...), we went all the way to the Falls and went for several hours at the Fallsview Casino.  We only spent $15 (but more than that on parking), but it was fun.

At Fallsview Casino

To wrap up our time away from the kids, we took one day as a pajama day - stayed in PJs the whole day and just puttered around the house. We went to dinner at a great tapas restaurant in Hamilton (Rapscallion) one night, then went to our neighbour and friends' place to play Mahjong (last night).

Mahjong game at Heather and JP's!

Today it is back to real life and back to the Buffalo airport for me to pick up Marion and the kids. Since it is New Year's eve, we are going to head over at Mel and Murray's for dinner (hoping she doesn't get called in to the hospital), we will ring in the new year, Wendy will drive home, then we will go to bed exhausted.

This kid-less thing is exhausting!

Happy New Year everyone.

Things that make you shake your head

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Enough said...

Quiet weekend for all

It was a nice and quiet long weekend, so Wendy and I did a couple of hikes with Maddy in the Dundas Trail system. I took one of my old cameras because my good camera was missing (more below). The shots below may be a little better than from my iPhone, but not drastically so.

Got to keep taking photos of these, while they last!

Just an interesting pattern

Dandelions look more delicate as they age

Parker survived another grass cutting episode without any visible damage to anything. He did get freaked out somewhat by the 'frickin wasps' (his emphasis...) that were flying through the back yard. They appeared to mostly be bees, but he wasn't believing the biologist on that one. He spent a lot of time bogging down the engine on the lawnmower. In fact, I think Parker had to restart the lawnmower at least a dozen times - it stalled every single time he plowed into the really tall grass.  And there was a lot of it! I did say to him to go slowly, but he decided the pain of mowing the lawn would go much faster if he went much faster. No such luck.

Adam was away at a cadet Field Training Exercise (FTX) from Friday afternoon until Monday after supper. Below is a picture of Adam on top of a shelter that he build this weekend.  Below that is just a photo of him working in the office at cadets. Apparently an FTX is considerably more dirty than office work - he had to change before he could eat dinner on his arrival at home.

I should note that it seems like Adam really likes to use my good Nikon SLR camera... now I know where it was all weekend...

Adam on a structure he built

WO2 Seidlitz

Stanley was away from Friday until Sunday morning, but on Monday he really enjoyed having a day off from school. He stayed in his PJ's the whole day!

Tonight we were asked to go at the last minute to a concert at Parker's school. He claims he didn't know that there was a concert (with him in it) tonight. Luckily, the grade 8 jazz band was the first act and we were able to exit from the back discretely.  The principal even held the door open for us as we left. I took a few photos of Parker on stage (with the old camera again...). Some of these have him focused on playing his trumpet, and some are with, ahem, a little less focus.

Parker playing trumpet (centre, back row)

Parker with focus

Getting ready to play

Waiting to play

Still waiting to play

Tired of waiting

If you are interested in seeing and hearing a 36 second excerpt from the concert, that video is pasted below.