Winter Getaway

Since the kids have Thursday and Friday off this week (PD Days) we thought we'd take a family mini-vacation. We looked into the Great Wolf Lodge in Niagara Falls, but just about fell over when we saw the prices! Over $500/night for our family of 7! Mind you, we would get a mini-suite for that price, and unlimited water park access. Still....
Then we heard about this place from friends of ours:

http://www.americananiagara.com/

We can stay at the Americana for 2 nights for the same price as one night at GWL! Hey, we're Dutch, anywhere we can get twice as much for the same price must be good, right???
I'm sure the kids will be just as happy with the water park at the Americana. And we still get a mini-suite! One room with a queen bed and full bath, and a separate room for the kids with 2 sets of bunk beds and (most importantly) their own full bathroom! Seven people and one bathroom might be a bit of a problem! We also have a mini-fridge and microwave in a small eating area, so I can bring a lot of our own food along. Too expensive to feed us all at the restaurant in the hotel!
The kids are excited, to say the least! I'll post pictures next week. And that will be the end of Art's travel bonus. We stretched it pretty far, though!

Triplet Day Again??

This morning after church, we found these pictures in our church mailbox. I'm not sure who put them there, but I think it might have been Thea? I thought some of my readers might recognize these CCS students:

This is now the Grade 5/6 classroom (Tim's class). So this would have been probably about 15 (?) years ago. Quite amazing how some things stay the same. Really shows how God provides for His people. Quite often there is worry about the school and how we will be able to keep it running, and yet here we are 15 years since my youngest brother attended, and now 4 of our children walk the same halls, and learn in the same classrooms! God is indeed good!

Enjoy your Sunday, everyone

Deanna turns 9!

I can't let this day go by without some mention of Deanna's birthday! In all the busyness of getting back to normal after holidays, there wasn't much fuss made for her today. She'll have her party next weekend, so today she helped make her own birthday cake and we went swimming at the "Whale" pool. This is the one with the big waterslide (remember from Tim's birthday?). I think Allison went down the slide about 15 times before she even went in the pool. Then we came home and had cake, and I think the girls were mostly asleep before they got into bed!

Her basket of gifts

A couple favorites, paint-by-number and a stationery set, complete with feather pen!

Yay! Chocolate cake! They never ask for vanilla, do they?

Vacation's Over...

We are back from the Dominican, safe and sound. Now we need a vacation to recover from our vacation..... I keep waiting for the maid to come and make up my room, but it's not happening :(
We had a fabulous time, the weather was beautiful, the resort was clean and the staff was very friendly and helpful. If anyone's thinking of going south, we definitely recommend this place. Just be aware there are lots of Europeans there, and they like to go topless on the beach... not always attractive! Oh well!

Here's some pictures:

Snowstorm in Toronto ............................ Sunshine in DR!

Dinner at the buffet . ..................Beautiful fruit sculptures every day

On the beach ............................. Group shot!

The lobby of the hotel ................ Beach again. We spent a lot of time here

The pool at night........................ Our room.

At one of the a la carte restaurants.......... Euchre by the pool bar!

See my sunburn???

.

P.S. Sherri, I had a daiquiri for you, but they weren't very good. So you didn't miss out too much. Just thought I'd let you know that....

the pina coladas were yummy though....

update

Hello again! the Internet has been down since Friday, so I've been unable to check in. We are fine, enjoying the sun, we haven't had any rain so far. We went shopping at the local market today, that was fun! They start high, you start low, and you meet in the middle! Tammy even threw Albert's sandals into the deal....
Love you all and we'll see you on Thursday!

We Made It!

For all of you who are wondering how the trip was - it was long! That lovely snowstorm that hit Toronto on Wednesday really messed up our travel plans! We were really glad we left London when we did, as it started with freezing rain on the way to Burlington. We left Natalie with Grandma and continued to Toronto, where we checked into our hotel. And watched the snow come down...and down... and down some more. Walking to the restaurant for dinner was an adventure! Especially as we had no boots!
We checked at 2:30 a.m. to see if our flight was on time, and discovered it was delayed until 11:40, so back to bed we went. We took the hotel shuttle at 8:30 to the airport and went through security, etc etc, no problem!
Our flight was delayed twice again, we thought there was going to be a riot! As it turns out, our plane had been diverted to Ottawa during the storm and then had to fly in a new flight crew from Montreal, etc. so we finally took off at 2:30 p.m.! Some passengers had been at the airport since 2:00 a.m., even some with children!
By the time we arrived at the resort, it was 7:00, we were tired and sick of travelling. We checked into our rooms, checked out the buffet (too tired to eat) and went to bed.
This morning, we looked outside and decided it was all worthwhile! It is so beautiful here! There are coconut palms right outside our window, we can see the ocean from our room (sort of) and it is HOT!
We spent today on the beach (and getting new rooms, as ours had 2 double beds). The ocean is beautiful, and salty! You don't want to swim with your mouth open! Deanna, Mrs. Meinen and I went shell searching today, and found some pretty ones. It's very windy on the beach, but very hot by the pool. We are just finished dinner now, and then we will sit outside and play some cards or something.
Anyway, we are here safe and sound, and enjoying ourselves! We hope everything is going well at home, we miss you all and send lots of kisses and hugs!
Love Mom

We're still here...

Our flight has been delayed until 11:40 due to snow... so we're still at the hotel. We're leaving shortly for the airport. Hopefully next time you hear from me we will be there!
Kids, I hope you don't have another snow day! Love you all

I'm Leaving...on a Jet Plane....

Hopefully by this time tomorrow we will be in a warmer place! If the storm holds off.... and the flights are on time....
oh well! See you when we get back!

3 MORE SLEEPS!! PANIC TIME....

YIKES!!! We leave on Thursday morning! I'd better get packing....
Groceries are stocked, lists are checked, instructions and emergency numbers are written down,..
I'll try to post while we are in the DR, at least once or twice.

Getting a little nervous....
....and excited.....