Taking some R & R!

Just a short note to say we're at the cottage for a little while... so blogging won't be high on the priority list, but hopefully when we're done enjoying the sun and warm water, I'll have lots to blog about!

Hope your are enjoying the end of summer... it's been great so far!

Fun at Calypso!

I've been meaning to post about the extremely fun water park that opened near our house back in June. We bought season's passes, and each time we have gone with E, we have had 100% F. U. N.

Calypso is largest themed water park in Canada... and trust me, a day at this place does not disappoint. PC and I actually had a hard time believing we were in Limoges, ON when we stepped foot inside this place. The atmosphere there makes you feel like you are down south or somewhere far far away.

I give this place two thumbs up if your looking for family fun! The kids area is excellent. E was just over a year and a half when we started taking him there and he is the PERFECT age for the kiddie stuff. He can go down the slides (with one parent up top and one below), but he absolutely loves it. There are baby slides too that he can climb up on his own and pretty much navigate them unassisted.

The Jungle Run river is a blast, the best part about the whole park is that the water is WARM every where you go, but in the Jungle Run (lazy river) its just a degree or two warmer!! The wave pool is ginormous, and also lots of fun! The waves are actually a little too wild for my liking (while I'm preggers), but the kiddies love it! With E we just stay in the shallow area and he has so much fun as the tail end of the waves roll into shore!

There are some crazy water slides and tube slides for groups of people, this summer I didn't get to experience them, but PC did a few runs and said they are pretty wicked!

There are lots of places to setup camp for the day too with picnic tables and lounger chairs - they have lots of places to eat and snack, but you are welcome to bring your own snacks in too.

If you have a chance to take your family to the waterpark before it closes on Labour Day, I highly recommend it - FUN. FUN. FUN.

Here are just a few pics from an outting to the park with E!

Baby Bump Update

A few of peeps have been asking for a baby bump update on 'The Sequel', so here it is... nothing too pretty, I can see a stretch mark from my pregnancy with E that is rearing its ugly head much to early in this pregnancy - but I guess that goes with the territory this time around.

The funny part about this pic is that, when I was pregnant with E, I think I took belly pics at 12 weeks, 18weeks, 22 weeks, etc., but here is my first belly pic of 'The Sequel' at 24 weeks - "sorry buddy, its not that we don't love you, its just that Mommy and Daddy are bit lazy with the camera these days"!

Nevertheless... presenting the belly @ 24 weeks!
Yee-haw!

Taking after Mommy!

This is a boy after my own heart! I don't think I was into computers and stuff when I was his age, because well - The Commador 64 hadn't been invented yet - but right now, I find nothing more relaxing and interesting that chilling on the couch with the laptop... surfing the web or watching an episode of Friday Night Lights!

In E's case... its Backyardigans DVDs, he will watch the same episodes over and over again if you let him (which we don't) but we usually let him watch one episode while we are making dinner, and this why... he's most relaxed boy on the planet! Don't get me wrong, he's an active boy all. the. time., but I am so happy that he can kick back and watch a show and ENJOY it!




Hugs to you E, Mommy loves you!

HORMONA ... the superhero!

I've always wanted to be a superhero of some sort - but just never thought my superhero name would be 'Hormona'!

I really love the girls I work with, they have seen all sides of me this pregnancy... so a colleague of mine joked how at her old workplace when she was pregnant, they called her Hormona and said all she needed was a cape. I don't have the cape (yet), but I adopted the title and the crown!!

Catch me on a good day and I'll refrain from whipping up a batch of my flying tacos!

Don't mess with Hormona... she's only drinking decaf these days, and it isn't pretty!

Self portraits of my team at work - mine was a little enhanced by Miss Lidia & Nikki!

A tale about... The Spa Day Retreat on Castlefrank!

I have a bone to pick.

The bone is old and stale, but every time I think about it, I want to pick it just a little more!

The bone became a bone of contention around Easter time, but at that time I was not in blogging mode (because I was pregnant and didn't know it), so many months later I am recounting the story and my dislike for The Spa Day Retreat on Castlefrank.

Up until 'the incident' at Easter time, I really REALLY enjoyed The Spa in Ottawa, both locations - Bell's Corners and Kanata - but since that visit I was totally turned off by their management and the way they handled the entire situation.

What situation you ask?

Well... a friend and I had pedicure and manicure appointments at The Spa Day Retreat back in April on a Friday night. It was a rainy day - and so I had worn my rain jacket. Not just any rain jacket, my brand new Lululemon $150 rain jacket. It was actually my signature purchase from some birthday gift cards I had received back in Janaury - so when I found the jacket, I fell in love with it and thought it was even better because it was a GIFT!

You may already see where this is going, but just so you have the whole story - read along. Every time you go to the Spa (either location) they ask you take off your shoes (in the winter) and hang up your coat. So you do it - and off you go to a different room on a different floor. You get your pedicure, manicure, relax at a drying station afterward, get your coat and shoes back, pay your bill and you're out the door.

My experience back in April didn't quite go like that... my friend and I showed up for our appointments on time, hung up our jackets, took off our shoes, got our pedicures and our manicures, relaxed at a drying station, but when I went to get my coat, it was GONE. Upon consulting the staff, they looked around, but weren't sure - said it must have been mistakenly taken by someone else, so they took my information down, said they would follow up the next day, but were happy to take my payment of over $125 for services received that evening. So I left that night in the drizzle without a coat, and not a happy camper.

Talk about a great experience!

To further my frustration... I had to call them to follow up about the jacket. Upon getting in touch with them, they had called all of their customers from that evening to see if one of them accidentally took my jacket. Apparently there was one Old Navy raincoat left on the coat rack so they were sure someone mistakenly had taken it. However, they said they would keep trying to track it down and a manager would get back to me with an update in a day or two.

Did she get back to me? Nope - I had to call and follow up with them again a few days later. Upon getting a hold of the manager, she basically told me that there was nothing they could do - and that there was a sign in the waiting area that says they are not responsible for lost or stolen items - so that translates to hang your coat and leave your shoes here at your own risk. Did I mention that they make you hang your coat up every time you go in there? Right.

The manager - Marta - that I spoke with said that she was REALLY sorry, but that these things rarely happen (only once before did a customer's Danier leather coat get stolen). She explained that she was the manager of the Bells Corner's location, but that the manager of the Castlefrank location was on vacation but she would let her know about the situation and that maybe that manager would offer me a credit as a sign of - wait for it - goodwill.

A few days later, I did get a call from the manager - Tanya - from the Day Spa Retreat - reiterating that she was really sorry to hear what happened, but that I have to understand that anyone could say they got their jacket taken from the spa - she had to take my word and trust that I was being honest and telling the truth. Wow - talk about believing in your customers!

To some extent I can understand that they may have the odd shady customer - but overall if she looked at my file before calling me it probably was not the best approach to take with a long standing customer. In addition, she rambled on to say that she knows the jacket was probably expensive and so as a peace offering she'd like to offer me a $40 credit on my account as apology.

I was nice and thanked her, but really I sucked it up, because what else could I do? I hung up the phone feeling insulted and overall I now have a very bad taste in my mouth about the whole thing.

First of all, I didn't just walk off the street and get a pedicure and manicure, I have actually been going to the Spa, both locations, for a couple of years now. In addition, a $40 credit at the Spa gets you jackshit. On average I spend $75 a visit, so thanks for your $40 credit, but in the grand scheme of things it just highlights how they feel about loyal customers - they could care less. The other contributing factor is that the jacket cost me $150... so a $40 credit doesn't buy me the zipper off the damn thing, and on top of all that I spent $125 for services that night - the least they could have done is recognized what I was out for having been a customer at their establishment.

I got the memo loud and clear... in the end they really don't care about the customer as long as they get their money.

All this to say... this incident happened over 4 months ago and I am still upset about it. Mostly because we've had some rain in the past week and I would have done anything to have my nice lululemon raincoat to wear - but instead, all I have is an unused $40 credit sitting on my account at The Spa.

Grrrr....!

I am sure many Ottawa peeps have had lovely experiences at The Spa and will continue to - up until this one major incident I really did enjoy going there, but for now on my message to people who continue to go there is don't take anything of value to The Spa - and when they ask you take off your coat and hang it up, hold on to it and insist you keep it with you. You never what types of thieves are crawling around the place.

Daycare Express Lane!

Here's a typical end of day scenario for me:

It's 4:00 pm.

I look at the clock and think, time to pack-up... but it takes me another 10 minutes to actually pack-up, say goodbye to my team members and head out the door.

By the time I get to my car in the parking lot, I start the car and the clock reads '4:16 pm' - and I immediately think 'ahhhhhhhhhhh'.

I work in the west end of Ottawa... and if you know Ottawa, you know I have to battle traffic on Hunt Club, day in, day out. Specifically traffic at Hunt Club and Prince of Wales - it brutal - no matter what time of year, what time of day, or what the weather is like.

On a good day... and were talking a good tail wind - it takes me 45 minutes door to door without any major mishaps along the way. So... in reality and with the stars aligned I have to be in the car by 4:15 pm if I am going to make it to daycare for 5pm - the absolute latest I can pick E up.

Lately, I have been pushing the limits... sometimes the clock reads '4:18' or god forbid '4:21'. In those cases, if I am going to make it to daycare on time I have to experience a few miracles along the way.

Enter: Daycare Express.

It's a side road once you exit at Embrun, and its filled with many cars driving at the same quick speed for the same purpose - the on-time daycare pickup. Once you hit this road, you know you have a hope of making your destination on time.

When I am driving on this road, rarely do I ever get stuck behind a slow-moving vehicle - because like me, all of the other drivers on the Daycare Express have their pedal to the medal. And its quite refreshing to see that others are in the same boat as me!

I feel as though the 417 (major highway in Ottawa) should also have a Daycare Express lane... because we parents don't mess around in traffic when it comes to the threat of paying $2.50 for every five minutes we are late, or worse in some cases, a $1.00 a minute.

I have to confess, I have been late a 'few' times, but I have the a daycare provider who is fairly tolerant - but no one likes to abuse that tolerance, especially not me.

In order to avoid being late everyday, I drive like a mad woman. I feel as though I should have a flashing light that says 'MOVE - I'm daycare pick-up duty,' - and then other drivers will know to move the bleep outta the way!

In the morning on my way to work, I am happy to let people in, in the line of traffic, or keep my cool if someone cuts me off. On the way home - entirely different story ... you cut me off, you can expect to pay! And now with pregnancy hormones in the mix... you seriously don't want to get up in my grill on my way home, I'm a loose canon and I could go off at any time - just try me!

Thank heavens for the Daycare Express road... many days it has saved me or at least got me there at 5:01 - but talk about a tense ride home. Every time I have to tap the brakes in the car, my blood pressure rises just a little as I watch the clock tick. It's an enormous stress!

Is it just a newbie parent thing, or is everyone who is faced with daycare duties a little stressed about the on-time pick-up? Do you have Daycare Express route that you rely on - or are you much more organized than me and just leave ON TIME, instead of 5 minutes late!