Easter Visit

I see that I haven't posted anything since getting back from Bristol on March 19th. Then again, nothing much has happened. March ended after being the warmest on record and, true to form, April decided to make up for it.

 Kim and Mike had decided to bring the girls up for the Easter weekend and stay a few extra days since they both had the following week off. Jolene remembered visiting Science North last year and meeting the Easter Bunny. Now she is convinced that the EB lives in Sudbury. I was disappointed to see nothing advertised for any special Easter activities at Science North this year and I sent them an Email telling them so. I got a reply saying they were celebrating the same as last time but that it hadn't been put on the website. Or advertised anywhere else. This seems to be a strange marketing strategy. I hope they aren't expecting a large turnout.

The family was supposed to drive up on Good Friday but Mike's grandfather passed away the night before so Sandy and I drove to Cambridge on Friday and picked up the girls. It was a tight fit in the Caravan with the clothes, equipment, two kids' car seats and three adults, but we made it work. I was pleasantly surprised at how well behaved the girls were for the 300 mile drive home.

Jolene set to travel

Robyn buckled in

Lunch at the Parry Sound Mickey D's

Saturday morning, we went grocery shopping at Costco. This isn't a place Sandy and I frequent but Kim has her card and they had some interesting stuff. Then we covered a few other places getting the necessities for Kim's menus. Mike arrived in the afternoon but would be going back on Monday for the funeral. The girls, so well behaved in the van, are human dynamos in the house. Jolene is everywhere and Robyn does a pretty good job of keeping up. Never a dull moment.

Easter Sunday morning dawned and there were gift baskets to be explored.

Up too early?

Lots of things to check out

I haven't seen rabbit ears in a long time

And then there were more

After breakfast, we all loaded up and headed for the secret Science North celebration. They had rabbits and chicks to pet as well as the usual kids play spaces. The Easter Bunny did put in an appearance and Mike and Jolene got to play with a very wet sandbox.

Jolene and the guard turtle at Science North

Here's that famous Sudbury native

Robyn kept her distance

Firefighting diorama in front of The Cavern

High tech percussion instruments

Tree house

Jolene trying on the antlers

A little more moose sized

Making dams and channels

Reflections

Daddy's girls 

 It was a fun day. Mike headed back down to Cambridge for his grandfather's funeral. Highway 69 was closed at Pointe Au Baril so he had to double back to Highway 522 and cross over to Highway 11. This long reroute just shows once again the impact of a closed highway in the north, an all too common occurrence. He made it back up the next day.

Jolene got stickers for Easter

The gang left for home on Thursday. It was fun having them but Grandpa Jim and Grandma Sandy don't have the energy to keep up with the little ones for an extended period of time. Kim pointed out that the Terrible Twos have nothing on the Trying Threes.  We agree.