Tuesday 27 June 2006

Corbin Doing Well

Received a phone message from Denise at Camp Winston saying that Corbin is doing fine. He is having an awesome time and that she can see that our committment to Corbin is paying off. Tina still wants a phone call from Corbin.

The rest of us miss Corbin dearly, but it is a little more quiet around the house - except during those times that Jeremy decides he needs to be heard. Speaking of Jeremy, he does ask where Corbin is. We respond back by asking him "Where is Corbin". Jeremy responds "At camp. He's playing hockey". Ahh.

Sunday 25 June 2006

Are You Ready For The Summer...

Jackie spoiled us again, with a breakfast of fried eggs, sausage, bacon and other goodies. Man, this women knows how to treat her guests. Thanks Jackie. After breakfast, it was time for Corbin to have a bath - he needed to be clean before heading off to Camp Winston today. Yup, today was camp day. We spent some time with Jackie and Ben before heading out to Orillia for lunch and picking up some last minute items for Corbin (like a kids rain poncho - none were to be found in Windsor).

We arrived at the camp just before 2:00 pm, and true to their word, the gates did not open until 2:00 pm. Adam pulled the van onto the grass and a camp counselor was their to greet us. Corbin recognized Denise and her dogs and gave her a big hug. We walked over to the cabin where Corbin will sleep for two weeks. It is one of five cabins contained within a single building. Each 'cabin' has two bunk beds - that's four boys per room - and two rooms for Camp counselors. After showing us the room, Lindsay, one of three camp counselors for Cabin 5, took Corbin and another boy on a mission of sorts. They didn't come back.

The Cabin
Another counselor took us and another family on a tour of the camp facilities. We were shown the beach, the dock and boat - naturally, Jeremy wanted to go into the water and onto the boat. Next, was the building with the animals, the crafts building, the play building, the rock climbing wall, the ropes course and the barn. The barn was huge - enough to fit all 20 campers and their counselors on those rainy days.

Tina took Corbin's meds to the nurse's building and it was time to say goodbye. Of course, we had to 'pry' Corbin away from his hockey game so we could give him big hugs and kisses. No one cried because, for the first time in family history, Camp Winston got Corbin - they fully understand him and his needs. Corbin went back to playing hockey and the three of us headed back to the van for the long trip home.

Saturday 24 June 2006

Heading To Moonstone

Packed the van and the boys and began the long trek north to Moonstone before dropping Corbin off at Camp Winston tomorrow. The drive up was uneventful - thankfully. Naturally, the amount of traffic grew exponentially the closer we got to Toronto. Between Toronto and Barrie, the 400 was packed but moving well (save the 'usual' slowdown areas).

We arrived at Jackie's house around two in the afternoon. Jackie - Tina's friend - greeted us. Her boy, Ben, had just fallen asleep, so we spent some time outside. Corbin wanted to spend time in the house - new toys to try and new places to explore. Eventually, Ben woke up and we went inside the house. Corbin and Jeremy started to play, while the grown ups chatted.

Later, Jackie prepared an awesome supper (or is it dinner) consisting of pasta, chicken parmigiana and salad. Adam had two plates. After dinner, we went out to the backyard and made a fire in the fire pit. Corbin and Adam spent some time looking for wood to throw on the fire while Jeremy and Ben played with toys. Jackie was impressed with Adam's fire making abilities.

Jackie's husband, Chris, arrived home after a hard day's work. The boys were put to bed - and amazingly, fell asleep quickly. The adults watched TV and talked. A long day, but a good day.

Thursday 22 June 2006

A Bad Case of Splits

Our digital cable signal has been getting worse over the past month. Last Monday, it got to the point that even the analog channels were glitchy. So Adam unconnected all the cables and brought our little TV and the digital box into the laundry room to determine if it was a problem with the cable inside or outside our house. The picture was clear and the diagnostic screen showed the signal as good. Switched out some of the lengths of cables. Again no problems.

Brought back the cable box and connected back to splitter. Glitchy audio and video and the signal strength was now fair. Bad splitter. Yup, the splitter went bad and was introducing all sorts of noise into the signal. So Adam went to the garage and found two splitters - one that was being used when we bought the house 6 years ago and a 'Pulser' brand splitter from Canadian Tire. Plugged them in and the signal was glitch free and the SNR was good. We could probably pick up a few extra dB in signal strength by replacing the cable from the first splitter (one run to the cable modem, the other for TV) to the second splitter and by purchasing a higher quality splitter. But so far the signal has been clean - no glitches, no problem connecting to the VOD server.

Sunday 18 June 2006

Father's Day

The day began with Adam not sleeping in. He had to take care of 'business' and decided to go on the internet. Eventually, everyone else woke up and Adam was given his presents and cards from the boys. Jeremy gave Adam a huge envelope. Inside it was a picture frame that was finger painted by Jeremy. From Corbin, Adam received a school-made soap-on-a-roap, a painting and a card.

Tina then got Corbin ready for his last swimming lesson, leaving Jeremy , who was in a 'wonderful' mood, with Adam. Upon their return, Tina proceeded to make pancakes and bacon - one of Adam's favourite meals. The rest of day, Adam relaxed. Happy Father's Day.

Saturday 17 June 2006

Visitors From Newfoundland and Labrador

We had some company today - Bev and Gerry from Goderich and Sherry and her daughter, Alana, from Newfoundland. Tina and Sherry are cousins and they have not seen each other in a long time. Sherry and Alana were visiting friends and family in Ontario, so Gerry decided to bring them all the way south to Windsor. Corbin was excited at the thought of meeting more family, but became shy when the guests arrived. Jeremy just wanted show off.

We spent some time outside but it was hot. Not your typical Windsor hot and humid weather but burning in the sun hot weather. So we decided to head in to the cool comfort of the house. We spent the day sharing stories and enjoying an awesome supper prepared by Tina. The guests left not too long after - heading back to Goderich for the night before returning to Guelph and Toronto.

Wednesday 14 June 2006

Dry Weather Is Upon Us

It hasn't rained lately and the lawn, flower beds and vegetable garden are starting to show that fact. The cracks are developing in the beds that are not protected by a three inch layer of mulch. The vegetable garden seems to dry out the day after it is heavily watered, and the lawn is looking patchy and brown in some places. Adam well need to fertilize in the next week or so and give the lawn a good watering before July comes along. He will also have to work on improving a few flower beds - especially the one along Rivard and at the corner of the intersection. Hopefully the weather will co-operate during his vacation.

Sunday 11 June 2006

Going To The Zoo Zoo Zoo

It was a beautiful day to go to the Toledo Zoo. Adam, Jeremy and Corbin head out shortly after 11:30 am on the hour long drive to Toledo. Yup, you read that right, Adam took the boys out for the day. Adam offered to take the boys to zoo and let Tina get some things done around the house. She was stunned by the offer, but after some prodding, accepted. So here we are, the boys out on a road trip.

US Customs was busy but vehicles were moving. The trip to Toledo was uneventful. Adam got out the stroller and proceeded to the entrance. Along the way he realized that Corbin could push the stroller - after all what are kids for? We entered the zoo and proceeded across the bridge to see all the animals. Jeremy liked the hippos, rhinos and tigers. In the Children's Zoo, Jeremy and Corbin got a chance to brush some goats and see a donkey up close.

Next it was lunch, which went well and the boys at enough food to keep Dad happy. Next stop was the Aquarium. Corbin immediately went to the display that has boots and a fishing rod (it's supposed to show pollution in the Great Lakes). Jeremy was in awe of the fish. He liked the sharks. A short walk to the Primate exhibit where Jeremy finally got a chance to see chimps, monkeys and gorillas.

We headed back over the bridge and checked out the arctic exhibits including the polar bears - which Jeremy was in awe of and where Corbin got his chance to enter the 'cave' - and the seals. Naturally, we took a ride on the Safari train and saw two animals that Jeremy confuses all the time - giraffes and zebras. Of course, the giraffes and zebras had to be in the same area, so the confusion continues to this day. Corbin got a good view of the crocodiles.

After 3 or so hours, it was time to head back to Windsor. Jeremy fell asleep just outside of Toledo, while Corbin just stared out the window. A quick stop at duty-free shop for some cheap gas and it was back into Canada. No problems at Customs and we arrived some time after 5 pm. We came back in one piece with no major events or issues. Hurray for Dad.

Saturday 10 June 2006

Full Day

It was a full day today. While Adam was working on topping up the mulch around the fence, Tina and the boys went to watch police dogs in action and visit some yard sales. After an early supper, Corbin spent time with his respite worker. Tina, Adam and Jeremy headed to do some shopping, grab some ice cream and play at a local park. A good way to celebrate our 11th wedding anniversary.

Thursday 8 June 2006

An Olympic Medal

Guess who came home with an medal today? Apparently, Corbin received a medal for placing first in his age group in Essex-Chatham/Kent at the Special Olympics. Besides the three first place ribbons, the picture in the newspaper and school newsletter and being recognized at a school assembly, Corbin gets a medal. It's good to see Corbin be successful. We are all proud of you Corbin.

Thursday 1 June 2006

Loads of Mulch

Adam finally ordered mulch for the flower beds and edging around the fence - three yards total. The delivery came early Thursday morning and Jeremy was in seventh heaven. He watched as the dump truck backed in and raised the bed. Then all the mulch came out - which Jeremy called 'poop'. Now Adam has to start using the mulch.