It was warmer as predicted, but it was also wet as predicted. The rain started coming down mid-morning. We enjoyed the excellent Express Start breakfast bar (cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, sausages and the usual assortment of beverages, breads, cereals and fruit). We drove to Newport, KY (across the river from Cincinnati) to the Newport Aquarium. The aquarium is part of a shopping/recreational facility called the Newport on the Levee. Underground parking is available for $3.00. If it is full, there are plenty of surface parking lots around the facility.
Unfortunately, to enter the Aquarium, one has to go outside. Fortunately, the rain turned into a light drizzle and we brought umbrellas. There was lineup to buy tickets, but it moved quickly. We entered the aquarium and proceeded to view the tanks and display, which were grouped according to themes. Everynow and then you would walk through a tank, which meant fish and water right above you. The shark tank was amazing. You not only walked through the tank, but there were a few places with a glass floor. Jeremy especially liked the glass floors. Corbin loves sharks, so naturally, the shark tank was the highlight of the day. The only downside of the aquarium was the clustering of people around the small tanks - sometimes it was impossible to view some of the tanks. After about 2 1/2 hours of walking, we made it to the gift shop. There was a candy shop beside the aquarium, so like every other Szymczak family vacation, we had to go inside and buy some sweets.
Next on the agenda was some lunch and shopping. We drove up to Kenwood Towne Centre (located at I-71 & Montgomery Road or Kenwood Rd). We did some shopping (including a visit to Williams-Sonoma where Tina bought some pancake molds) before mowing down on some cheap but tasty food from Great Steak and Potato Company. More shopping afterwards. Back to the hotel for some relaxation and swimming. Dried up and searched for a Target (our favorite department store). Drove north on I-71 for about 5 minutes and proceeded to browse and shop. Adam got some more jeans and Tina found some cheap Playmobil toy sets. Bought some other things and drove back to the hotel. Ordered a pizza from Donato's, which was hot and tasty - large chunks of ingredients right to the edge of the pizza, which Tina and Adam washed down with beer. Gotta love vacation.
Saturday, 11 March 2006
Friday, 10 March 2006
Cincinnati - Day 1 - WKRP Here We Come
Packed the van and left the house just after 1:30 pm. A quick stop at the bank to get some of American money and across the bridge to Detroit. No problems at the border. The drive down to Cincinnati was pleasant. Warm and no rain. We stopped for a late lunch at the Big Boy in Bowling Green, OH. Got off I-75 at Findlay and took the back way to Cinci. We had a pleasant surprise in way of a detour that was not well marked. Adam followed two semi's through a residential area, but we all managed to get back to the main route. Sun started to set as we arrived in Dayton.
It was nighttime when we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Blue Ash (a suburb of Cinci). The parking lot was totally empty - a sight we have not seen at any hotel we have stayed at. The hotel is only minutes from I-475 (which loops around Cincinnati metropolitan area) and I-71 (which takes you south to downtown Cinci or north to Columbus, OH) and is located within a large office park. On-site amenities include an indoor pool, exercise room and a laundry room. A Shell gas station with car wash and convenience store is located about 3 to 4 minutes southeast of the hotel. We hung out in our room for the rest of the night.
It was nighttime when we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites in Blue Ash (a suburb of Cinci). The parking lot was totally empty - a sight we have not seen at any hotel we have stayed at. The hotel is only minutes from I-475 (which loops around Cincinnati metropolitan area) and I-71 (which takes you south to downtown Cinci or north to Columbus, OH) and is located within a large office park. On-site amenities include an indoor pool, exercise room and a laundry room. A Shell gas station with car wash and convenience store is located about 3 to 4 minutes southeast of the hotel. We hung out in our room for the rest of the night.
Thursday, 9 March 2006
March Break Arriving Soon
Next week, it is March Break for Corbin. As in past years, Adam has taken the week off to spend some time with the kids, hopefully give Tina a break from the kids and to go on mini-vacation. This year will be different since we now have two kids. That means double the fun (or is that double the headaches). Adam is planning a family trip to a destination in America - more on that later in the week. Adam's mom is coming down for a five day visit - something both Tina and Adam will be thankful for. Let's see how things go this year.
Wednesday, 8 March 2006
Signed the Papers
We signed the final adoption papers for Jeremy today. Adam arrived from work and Tina arrived with Jeremy in tow (and unhappy as little mister decided that it would be a good thing to put his hand between the door and the frame of the minivan). Mary Lou, our adoption worker, brought us upstairs to sign a bunch of papers (humans sure do love paperwork). Jeremy showed his "hurt" hand to anyone and everyone. As usual, Adam bugged Mary Lou about the whole signature thing. Apparently we are supposed to sign with our full name - first, middle and last. A signature is a signature - heck even an X is acceptable as a signature. But alas, Adam eventually co-operated. We signed papers. Pictures were taken. Now we wait for the judge to make it official.
Sunday, 5 March 2006
Pontiac Montana
Hard to believe, but our 2003 Pontiac Montana just turned three years old. With almost 80,000 km, this minivan is performing well. It is due for it's annual maintenance - as the yellow maintenance indicator lets us know each time we turn the vehicle on. We have the extended version of the Montana - it gives us about 14 inches more in length. This model includes two air conditioners and heaters - one set for the front and another for the rear; both may controlled independently of each other. It seats seven in a 2-2-3 layout, though we usually have one middle seat out to provide easier access to the rear bench (where Corbin sits).
There are sliding doors on both sides, but you have to use human power to open them; however, even Corbin can open the doors. For a minivan, it is great on gas. We can travel to Brantford or Goderich and back one tank of gas - usually with gas to spare. The sound system - consisting of an AM/FM/CD player is acceptable. There is a control panel for middle and rear passengers, who, through two headphones, can listen to either the radio or CD, while the driver and front passenger can listen to the opposite device (if the back passengers are listening to a CD, the front can listen to the radio). The control panel also permits back passengers to control temperature and fan settings. There are two 12-volt plugs - one at the front and one at the rear. Both retain power for approximately 10 minutes after turning the vehicle off. Power windows and locks, remote key, cruise control and anti-lock brakes are standard.
We have encountered no problems with the Montana. The vehicle is serviced semi-annually; tires were replaced last summer. We did replace one tail light where the shell was broken - which let water into the electronics causing a short. Both engine coolant and transmission fluid are long-life (240,000 and 100,000 km, respectively). An oil life monitoring system lets you know when to change the oil - usually around 12,000 to 13,000 km. We both love driving this vehicl and despite our initial hesitation at buying a minivan, we really could not do without (well it would be harder to make those trips to dump garbage at the transfer station).
There are sliding doors on both sides, but you have to use human power to open them; however, even Corbin can open the doors. For a minivan, it is great on gas. We can travel to Brantford or Goderich and back one tank of gas - usually with gas to spare. The sound system - consisting of an AM/FM/CD player is acceptable. There is a control panel for middle and rear passengers, who, through two headphones, can listen to either the radio or CD, while the driver and front passenger can listen to the opposite device (if the back passengers are listening to a CD, the front can listen to the radio). The control panel also permits back passengers to control temperature and fan settings. There are two 12-volt plugs - one at the front and one at the rear. Both retain power for approximately 10 minutes after turning the vehicle off. Power windows and locks, remote key, cruise control and anti-lock brakes are standard.
We have encountered no problems with the Montana. The vehicle is serviced semi-annually; tires were replaced last summer. We did replace one tail light where the shell was broken - which let water into the electronics causing a short. Both engine coolant and transmission fluid are long-life (240,000 and 100,000 km, respectively). An oil life monitoring system lets you know when to change the oil - usually around 12,000 to 13,000 km. We both love driving this vehicl and despite our initial hesitation at buying a minivan, we really could not do without (well it would be harder to make those trips to dump garbage at the transfer station).
Sunday, 26 February 2006
Office Reorg
Tina and the boys traveled up to Goderich this past weekend to give Adam some space and time to reorganize the office. The office consists of a large desk, a computer (and all related hardware), filing cabinet, bookcase, toys and a closet. It is also used as a guest bedroom (we purchased one of those air mattress beds with the fold out frame). However, the room was getting a wee bit disorganized. It needed more shelving (it had none) and stuff needed to be sorted (stay, garbage, yard sale/eBay). Adam finally decided that enough was enough and set aside a weekend to reorganize the room.
The first step was to take as much out of the office. Next task was to pull out the old shaggy carpet. It was very easy to do since the carpet was laid on top of the parquet flooring, but the amount of dust underneath was disgusting. It's amazing that we were able to live in that room. With the carpet gone, Adam spent some time moving furniture around seeing what fit best. Once the ideal layout was found, Adam drove over to Home Depot to buy some shelving and other items. He installed the shelving (3 shelves at 6 feet each) above the desk. The idea was that the first shelf would be occupied by computer hardware (printer, scanner, DVD burner, etc). The other two shelves would be used to put toys, books and other items up and away from the boys. Adam also installed a small shelf about 8 inches above the floor behind the desk. This shelf would hold all the power cords and bricks - keeping them off the floor away from prying hands and making it much easier to vacuum.
With the shelves and furniture in place, Adam began organizing. All the computer equipment was placed and connected. The bookcase was given a decent once-over, freeing up almost one shelf. To free up some room in the filing cabinet, Adam purchased a paper organizer from Staples. The organizer has 12 (3 x 4) places or slots for legal-sized paper. All the various papers we use plus any labels, photo paper, and envelopes went in the organizer. The closet was next. Adam discarded any summer clothes that had zero chance of ever being worn. All the eBay/yard sale was temporarily placed beside the desk to either be photographed or taken to the crawl space.
There is a tremendous amount of free storage space in the office. Tina and the boys were surprised by the office reorg. The new layout increases the amount of open floor space. Adam still has to finish sorting through the filing cabinet, a box of odds and ends, and all the eBay/yard sale stuff. A rug to prevent the boys from slipping and cutting down on noise is an interim design upgrade. In the future, all the floors, trim and doors will be redone and the walls repainted. That could be as early as this year or the year after.
The project took a little more than two days to complete (in between watching TV, browsing the net and playing some PS2). This did include cleaning and dusting our bedroom, cleaning the bathroom (including the bathtub), tidying and vacuuming the living and dining rooms and a quick tidy of the kitchen. Adam had wanted to clean up the basement but that will be another weekend project.
The first step was to take as much out of the office. Next task was to pull out the old shaggy carpet. It was very easy to do since the carpet was laid on top of the parquet flooring, but the amount of dust underneath was disgusting. It's amazing that we were able to live in that room. With the carpet gone, Adam spent some time moving furniture around seeing what fit best. Once the ideal layout was found, Adam drove over to Home Depot to buy some shelving and other items. He installed the shelving (3 shelves at 6 feet each) above the desk. The idea was that the first shelf would be occupied by computer hardware (printer, scanner, DVD burner, etc). The other two shelves would be used to put toys, books and other items up and away from the boys. Adam also installed a small shelf about 8 inches above the floor behind the desk. This shelf would hold all the power cords and bricks - keeping them off the floor away from prying hands and making it much easier to vacuum.
With the shelves and furniture in place, Adam began organizing. All the computer equipment was placed and connected. The bookcase was given a decent once-over, freeing up almost one shelf. To free up some room in the filing cabinet, Adam purchased a paper organizer from Staples. The organizer has 12 (3 x 4) places or slots for legal-sized paper. All the various papers we use plus any labels, photo paper, and envelopes went in the organizer. The closet was next. Adam discarded any summer clothes that had zero chance of ever being worn. All the eBay/yard sale was temporarily placed beside the desk to either be photographed or taken to the crawl space.
There is a tremendous amount of free storage space in the office. Tina and the boys were surprised by the office reorg. The new layout increases the amount of open floor space. Adam still has to finish sorting through the filing cabinet, a box of odds and ends, and all the eBay/yard sale stuff. A rug to prevent the boys from slipping and cutting down on noise is an interim design upgrade. In the future, all the floors, trim and doors will be redone and the walls repainted. That could be as early as this year or the year after.
The project took a little more than two days to complete (in between watching TV, browsing the net and playing some PS2). This did include cleaning and dusting our bedroom, cleaning the bathroom (including the bathtub), tidying and vacuuming the living and dining rooms and a quick tidy of the kitchen. Adam had wanted to clean up the basement but that will be another weekend project.
Friday, 24 February 2006
Terrible Two Tantrum
Seems that Jeremy believes that when he demands something that it should be taken care of immediately. Unfortunately for Jeremy, that is not the how the world works. Tina and Jeremy went to gymnastics today. They arrived earlier than usual. The class before gymnastics was running late. Jeremy demanded to go inside and start "jumping", as he calls gymnastics. Once his class began, he refused to sit for circle time. Jeremy thought that he could do whatever he wanted. Tina took him out the class and asked him to calm down before going back in. Jeremy through a full blown tantrum. He never did finish the class. You have to love two-year olds and their quest for independence.
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