Happy Halloween!

I am going to be participating in the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation CIBC Run for the Cure 5K race on October 2 to help raise some funds for the worthy cause of Breast Cancer.

I personally know someone who is battling with breast cancer, and my co-workers and I have grouped together to fund-raise and to bring awareness about breast cancer. If you would like to support this cause, please consider donating by visiting my donation page http://www.runforthecure.com/goto/ghislaine or by clicking on the image below.

Thanks for reading!

And the winner of the Coach Wrislet (sponsored by the ABREVA program by Mom Central ) is…

Drumroll please.

Entry # 12!

Entry #12 was submitted by Christine. Christine’s top 5 “must-have” items were:

1) cell phone
2) wallet
3) keys
4) lip balm
5) pen

Congratulations Christine!

I think it is awesome that I can use my iPad instead of my laptop most of the time when I am at home with my wifi. I can even connect to my work PC by using VPN on the iPad and then remote desktop. That is just so fantastic that I can just switch on my tablet and be able to connect without starting up my computer with minimal loading time.

Right now I am actually typing this post in the WordPress app on the iPad. I have done this before on the iPhone as well but typing on a larger screen resolution than my phone is just so much better.

I am also really liking some of the photo editing apps on my iPad. I just paid $4.99 for the Snapseed app 2 days ago and I am loving it. If I wanted similar photo software on my PC I would probably have to pay at least $30 for the filters.

Anyhow, I think that the future in computing will be the movement towards tablet devices and less of laptops or PCs. I can even plug in a Bluetooth keyboard with my iPad and use my tablet with a netbook-like feel (without mouse though). I am definitely planning to get an external keyboard sometime.

I wish I could have gotten my hands on one of those $100 discounted HP Touchpad. I would definitely recommend tablets as a productivity tool.

To end off, below are some of the pictures I have edited with Snapseed on the iPad. It may seem like a lot to pay $5 for an app but if you think about that is less than the cost of eating out for lunch. The last picture was taken and edited with the iPad. Not too shabby right?

We have attended the PNE every year for as long as I can remember (last year was the only exception though since we had a new baby). I even remember going to the PNE when my first son was about 3 months old and we would carry him around in the baby carrier. We probably would have gone last year if the “free admission” day wasn’t on Sunday.

Anyhow, we went on opening day Saturday and surprisingly it was not too crowded. Still a lot of people but not as busy as it has been in the past (maybe that is because we have usually gone on the free admission days!).

The boys had a good time of just strolling around the fair grounds and of course enjoyed all that food at the fair! When I think of the PNE I usually think of junk food like corn dogs, fish and chips, hot dogs, wiggle chips, fried donuts, cotton candy, candied apples, funnel cakes, whale’s tails, and everything else deep fried. Let me tell you this, the PNE is definitely not a good place to visit if you are on a diet. We ate calamari, fish and chips, garlic fries, cotton candy, a whale’s tail, and a slushy. Way too much deep fried and sugary items. Oh well, you have to indulge at the fair otherwise it just isn’t fun. I guess I will be eating salads for the rest of the week.

Some of the activities that we did (besides eating all the time) were:

• We ate lunch by the water fountain area. The kiddies loved walking in the fountain bare-footed (in fact, both of them didn’t want to leave and we had to drag them away so that we could visit the rest of the fair grounds).
• We visited the barn (children just love the farm animals).
• We watched the Superdogs show. Sometimes I want to train my dog to do tricks like that. Dogs are such amazing animals.
• Big J went on a couple of Playland rides in the Kidzone area. He rode a boat and a car. He said he really enjoyed the rides.
• Big J played a fishing game and won a stuffed penguin. For some reason he picked the bright pink one.
• We walked inside the Marketplace. We always go there to check out the products. Nothing too exciting this year. I did like the Zoku popsicle makers but they were ridiculously expensive at $75 to make 3 pops at a time.

The PNE is definitely a fun day for the family. We definitely plan to make this an annual event. Have you been to the fair yet this summer?

• Lip Balm or Lip Gloss - Something to moisturize the lips is a must.
• iPhone - Let’s face it. I cannot live without my iPhone. It also works great to entertain my kids if I need a distraction for them (I know some of you are thinking “bad mommy” for letting your kids play with your smartphone. Well my kids are tech kids and they don’t always respond to traditional toys.)
• Wallet & Keys - OK that is 2 items but they are necessities for obvious reasons (cash, credit cards, bus pass, locking the house)
• Chewing Gum - Sometimes I like ordering the dish with the garlic or the onions.
• Wysi Wipes - These are one of the greatest inventions ever. It is a biodegradable disposable wipe. They come in a small round pellet and expand when you soak them in water. They are fantastic at wiping up those yucky messes my kids make and when I am done with them I just toss them like a napkin.

So why am I sharing my “must-have” items in this post? Well because I am actually having my first blog giveaway ever! What am I giving away? A free Coach Wristlet for participating in the contest.

Abreva is sponsoring this post and has offered a free Coach Wristlet to one of my blog readers. Just a little bit of background, Abreva is a cold sore medicine and I do personally occasionally suffer from cold sores. When I do, I always keep a small tube of Abreva handy in my purse and reapply the ointment often to speed up the healing of the cold sore. I find that it works better than even the prescription ointment that my doctor usually prescribes for me. Cold sores are embarrassing so Abreva definitely helps keep the healing period to a minimum compared to other over-the-counter brands of cold sore medicine.

I also want to encourage you to visit the Abreva website www.abreva.ca to get your free $5 off coupon between August 15 and September 2 (they have limited quantities of the coupon so act fast!).

So how do you enter the Coach Wristlet contest? Simply comment on this post with 5 of your “must-have” items in your purse and you will be entered for the giveaway. Also leave me an email address where I can contact you should you be the winner. Contest closes on September 2. I will randomly choose a winner after September 2 and post the winner on my blog.

The contest is open to Canadian residents only. (Sorry my non Canadian friends but Abreva can only ship to Canadian addresses.)

What are you waiting for? Go comment and enter the giveaway now! Good luck .

Disclosure – I am participating in the ABREVA program by Mom Central Canada on behalf of GlaxoSmithKline. I received a Coach wristlet as a thank you for my participation. The opinions on this blog are my own.

We survived our first road trip with the boys this long weekend. We did not initially plan to go away over the BC day long weekend however one of my co-workers had mentioned about his recent trip to Harrison Hot Springs with his 2 kids and that kind of sparked an interest when I brought it up with the husband. The last time we traveled with our 2 kids was when our little j was just 6 months old and we flew to Hawaii without much extra help. I won’t go over that trip again as it was definitely a challenging one with an infant, and therefore thinking about traveling again with my children wasn’t something I was too keen about. However, now that my little one is over 1 years old, it certainly made it easier this time around (and the fact that it was somewhat of a short car ride of 2 hours to get to our destination).

We left Vancouver city for Harrison’s on Saturday morning and arrived about 2 hours later. It would have been sooner if we did not run into traffic but what do you expect over a long weekend when everybody wants to get out of town?

Here is a summary of our activities during this fun little road trip:

Day 1

• Lunch at Lakeview Restaurant. Small little family-owned restaurant. The food is decent (diner food) but the waitress is exceptionally friendly and helpful. We think she’s been working there for years (last time we went 4+ years ago she was already working there).
• Check-in at the Harrison Hot Springs Resort. They have 5 pools there which are filled with mineral water. Our room was pretty decent and clean.
• Hang out at the beach. The boys just enjoyed playing in the sand. My oldest son liked going dipping in the shallow lake.
• Dinner at Black Forest Restaurant. We had meatloaf and Schnitzel. The Schnitzel was good but the meatloaf was salty. The service was mediocre.
• Ice cream at the Green Star Cafe from the Harrison Village Mall. We always seem to go there for ice cream in Harrison’s. They have delicious cherry ice cream.
• Sleepy time for the kids.

Day 2

• Breakfast at Lakeview Restaurant.
• Hangout at the pool. The outdoor family pool is heated to 26 C. So even though it rained this day, we didn’t worry about being cold outside. Just needed to quickly warm up with a dry towel once you got out of the pool though.
• Lunch at Harrison Pizza. Small little shop with homemade pizza and pasta. We tried the Harrison pizza and it was very tasty. The kids liked it. The owner of the shop is really friendly and this is a good place for families.
• Nap for little j and more pool time for big j.
• We rode a 4-person bicycle from Jamie’s Quadracycle Rentals. We strapped the kids to the front and the husband and I pedaled the bike from the back. Big j enjoyed the ride, and little j got a bit overwhelmed when the sun and the wind started getting into his eyes. We only rode for 30 minutes but it was fun. Worth a try if you haven’t tried this before. (I wish I had taken a picture of all of us in that quadracycle. But the husband did take a video with his iPhone while we rode with the kids.)
• Dinner at Morgan’s restaurant. Food is pretty tasty but is somewhat pricey ($25-30 per entree).
• Ice cream from Chantilly’s. We tried Aloha surprise (reminds me of Hawaii!), black forest, and blueberry sorbet. All were very yummy.
• Sleepy time for the kids.

Day 3

• Breakfast from the coffee shop inside the hotel. We ate our food in the hotel lobby. I think little j made a mess there (whoops).
• Hangout at the pool. More pool time at the family pool. Might as well take advantage of that mineral water.
• Hangout at the beach. One last time before we head home.
• Quick lunch. We ate a wrap, a calzone, and chicken noodle soup.
• Drive home to Vancouver.

What I really enjoyed about the trip was just the time spent with my 2 little boys and my husband. Sometimes it is hard to believe that we have our own little family now. It was nice to see my boys have such a good time hanging out with each other and just enjoying the beach and the pool. Also, it was just nice to get away from the city. Even though the town of Harrison’s isn’t too big it was a delightful short road trip. As mentioned before, I didn’t know what to expect traveling with my 2 boys again but this time around it was much more enjoyable. Probably due to the fact that my little one isn’t so little anymore (they grow so fast!).

Well, now I am looking forward to more family trips again. It is still a challenge packing and traveling with children (you have to plan so much!) but hopefully we get better at it each time we try it.

P.S. Check out my Flickr set to see the rest of the pictures from the trip.

Last weekend was Canada Day long weekend for us folks in Canada. It was so nice spending time with the kids (and husband of course). Now that I am back at work full time, I really do appreciate my weekends. The hardest thing about being at work full time is that I get to see so little of my kids during the weekdays. I see them briefly in the morning and then I am in a mad rush to get to work. Then I rush home to see them for about an hour or two and then they go to sleep. I do appreciate my “down” time at home when the kids are asleep but I do miss spending time with them during days. They change and grow so much every day!

So back to the topic of the weekend, we spent Canada Day at Canada Place. We usually head out to Granville Island on Canada Day but this year we decided to head out to Canada Place since we read on the internet there would be events there. It was definitely worth the trip. We took the skytrain downtown (the kiddies enjoy the skytrain anyway) and it was fun checking out the festivities. It reminded me of the Olympic period back in February 2010. We definitely plan to go again next year!

Then on Saturday we decided to head down to Jericho beach. My oldest son loves the beach so we knew it’d be a hit with him. What we weren’t so sure of was how our youngest son would react. When we took him to the beach when he was a baby, he didn’t really enjoy it but now that he’s older he seems to enjoy playing in the sand and getting his feet wet from the water. I think we were relieved to discover that he does indeed like the beach because we (my husband, oldest son, and I) are definitely beach lovers! It was such beautiful weather. We also were able to enjoy low tide that day (the kids liked waddling in the shallow water by the shore). It did take a lot of planning when you bring along 2 kids to the beach. Everything from food, snacks, beach chairs, beach tent, spare clothes, sunscreen, sand toys, umbrella, etc. Anyhow, we’ll definitely be heading out to the beach more often this summer. So grateful that we live in a city where the beach is such a short drive away from home. It isn’t as breathtaking as Hawaii, but still pretty darn good.

I am hoping the good weather will stick around for a while.