Attempted sleepover, trip to Victoria, oh and the house is SOLD!!

Apparently all that happened the last two and a half weeks or so are an attempted sleepover in Adam and Lynsey's room and a trip to Victoria - that's all I have pictures of anyway! More happened of course, I hope I can remember it:-S.

Okay we decided to let Nathan sleep in Adam and Lynsey's room a few weekends ago. It did not work. There was a lot of messing around, which we expected, but when it was close to 11 and no one was sleeping yet, we decided it was time to shut it down. There were a lot of tears but eventually you just have to follow through on your threats! We got a chance to try them all in the same room this past weekend again when we were staying at James and Sarah's house in Victoria, and it didn't go much better. We had them together for two nights but for the third night, Nathan was relegated to the downstairs office. Here's hoping camping in the summer isn't too much of a disaster!

Our trip to Victoria was really nice! Getting there is always a bit of a challenge, and the Friday of a long weekend was no exception. Google traffic saved us from missing our ferry by directing us around a major accident on the I-5 - would have been disastrous! We went to a beach one day, a park another day, and then on Monday morning we went to a petting zoo close to downtown. Lynsey and Nathan really loved it! Nathan couldn't stop exclaiming about how adorable the goats were, so cute! Adam liked it at first, but he had a bit of a rough time by the end. I think he thought that we were going to a hotel at some point and the closer we got to heading back to the ferry terminal, the more real it got that there was in fact no hotel stay coming up. Poor guy, I wish I could make him understand things better. He did okay, just not quite as easy going as he often is when we go away. I think next time we go to Victoria we will do what we did last year and head up to Vancouver first for one night and stay in our favorite hotel up there. It's a big comfort for him, he knows it and loves the pool. We are still learning how to successfully travel with our special boy!

I guess the biggest news on this post is that we sold our house!! Conditions came off today, hurray!! The house went on the market last week Wednesday after the contractors were finally done the work on the basement ceiling that we were waiting on. In the first two days we got several offers - amazing! We got one on Thursday that was basically asking price, and we accepted it. They signed the papers, everything was good, but then they changed their mind Friday morning and walked away. Ugh! What is with people? Please, if you are thinking about buying a house, make sure you really want the house and are prepared to pay what you are offering before you actually put the offer in! So frustrating! No worries, we had two other offers on Friday and one of them was even $100 more than our asking price! We accepted that one and have been waiting to see if things would fall through again (I hate to be pessimistic, but you have to admit I have good reason!). The inspection was yesterday and they found some really silly things to complain about. They thought our deck wasn't safe because one of the posts is a bit twisted or something?? Our realtor said they were probably just trying to get some money off the purchase price since they paid asking and a bit more, so in the end we settled on $1000 off (it was worth it to us to not have to start the process all over again, seriously!!). I just couldn't believe they picked on the deck of all things - we paid more than anyone else on that street probably to make sure that deck was done properly, and THAT was the thing they picked on?? Anyway, it's not personal and more power to them for getting us to drop our price by $1000 I guess:-S. Possession is June 15th so as long as we get our compliance certificate from CRA by then (fingers crossed) then we should get the money and be free to possibly buy a house here this summer! That is still very scary to us and we are not sure if it's the right choice, but at least the door is open. One thing is for sure - I will not be living in this house for another year.

Single parent weekend, and then Mother's Day weekend!

Last weekend, Brian was off to Calgary for the weekend to take the house back from the property management company and do whatever needed to be done to get the house ready to sell. That meant that it was just me and the kids for Friday, Saturday and Sunday! We managed okay, got out of the house a few times, but mostly just stayed close to home. Brian was able to get a lot done at the house with the help of his family, so that was really great. Our renter didn't wreck the house which is good, but there were a lot of little things that they had to do. He apparently never changed a light bulb in the 20 months that he lived there, so Brian had to replace something like 20 light bulbs (he was a busy guy, what can you say!). We are thankful that there was nothing major, we just feel annoyed that there were some really simple things he could have done to prevent some of the water damage in the bathrooms (shower curtain anyone?) and the window sills (I was there when the inspector told him the lift the blinds a bit in the winter so as not to trap the condensation, grrr!). Oh and he lost our fireplace remote and garage door opener. We can charge him for the garage door opener, but the fireplace remote wasn't on the move-in report so we can't prove that it was there (he is of course denying it, again, grrr!). The fireplace remote is the pricey one to replace and we have to have it to sell, so that's a bummer. Like I said, all relatively minor stuff, just annoying! They are hopefully finishing up the work in the house this week so it can go on the market this weekend! Nervous, sad and excited all the same time - odd cocktail of emotions! Praying it sells fast!

Not much new in our house. Adam has been going through a weird phase where he doesn't want to go into his classroom at school. He does it with a smile so I THINK it might be a game, but it's an odd one. Yesterday he didn't even want to go into his swimming lesson, and that is really odd!! He does fine once he's in there, it's almost like he's just trying to put on some form of protest, like he's trying to gain some control or something. Nathan continues to assert his independence, and still can't really go without an afternoon nap! This is note-worthy since I have not had a child that napped past 2 and a half before! So strange to have a 3 year old that naps! I'm not complaining really, I just can't believe it!

On Friday night, Brian dropped me off at a hotel so I could have some me time! I LOVED it! I did a bunch of reading, some journaling, went out to dinner, went to the iPic theatre to watch a movie, did some shopping, had room service breakfast . . . it was lovely:). I think it should become an annual thing for sure! Sunday, Lynsey and I ran a Mother's Day race with my friend Jeni and her daughter Kenzi. The girls ran a 1 mile race and Jeni and I did the 5k. The girls did great! 9:35 was their time for a mile, not too shabby! I did the 5K in 27:20, so not quite at my goal of 27 minutes. It had a hill that I hadn't anticipated, it was advertised as "fast and flat"! And you had to do the hill twice because it was a there-and-back course! Mentally it was a lot tougher than I thought, but I was reasonably happy with my time. NEXT race I will be under 27 minutes for sure! I will verify that there are no hills before I sign up again:-S. All in all it was a good Mother's Day!

Update on my eyes - loving my new vision!! No regrets at ALL! I still have halos around bright lights, but I think they are getting slightly better (apparently it can take a few months for these to go away). I've already decided that even if they never go away, it was still worth doing the surgery! My eyes are not as dry anymore, although I'm still using artificial tears several times a day (more in the evenings). All in all, still so glad I had the chance to do it:).

I can see!!!

As usual, my picture taking comes in bursts and then completely dies down! One whole picture in the last two weeks, must take the camera out again soon:).

We have been getting back into the routine of school and not having visitors. Adam has been so sensitive lately. I can't even take a shower without him getting upset about it - and we don't know why! He will be playing outside and in the faint distance you can hear a lawnmower, and it makes him scream! Even the birds are getting under his skin! I hope this is a short lived phase because it is driving me crazy. I feel like it's already been slightly better this past week than it was, so maybe he is getting over it. He did have a cold for a while that just sort of hung around, so maybe it was bothering him more than I thought.

Nathan has been asserting his independence quite forcefully lately! He wants to buckle himself into his car seat! When he can actually do this quickly on his own, it will be nice, but for now, it just really slows me down:-S. "No I will do it" are words we are hearing all day long with him! He is becoming more and more grown up in the things he can do, and just in the way he talks to me. I asked him about his dream the other day, and he was able to describe it to me in pretty good detail! He comprehends so much now!

What else is new . . . oh yeah, I CAN SEE!! I got LASIK down yesterday and for the first time in 27+ years, I can see without any visual aids:D. It seems a bit out of the blue since I didn't really talk about it much before I had it done, but this is something that has been a long time coming for me. 10 years ago, I had a check done at the Gimbel Eye Center in Calgary, and at that time, I was not a good candidate for LASIK. I could have done PRK, but they said that it might affect my night vision because of the size of my pupils. I decided it wasn't worth the risk and went on with my life. Well, just over a month ago, I heard an ad on the radio and thought, maybe technology has changed and I AM a candidate now! So I went for a check a few weeks ago and sure enough, they said I was a great candidate! I knew I wanted to do it as soon as they told me I could (and that with the new technology, I wasn't even high risk). So yesterday afternoon I went in and had it done! It was an odd experience. You spend most of your time just waiting for your turn, but when it is your turn, you're in the OR for like 5-7 minutes and then you go home. First they made the cut (which was really the most painful part and it wasn't that bad) - that took about 20 seconds per eye. Then they moved me to the reshaping laser (I got the WaveLight EX500 Excimer Laser in case anyone is interested) and that was 15 seconds per eye, and then I was done! I was pretty sore yesterday, I just laid in bed the whole rest of the day and tried not to open my eyes. I had my check this morning and they told me everything looks good, my vision is 20/15! I feel like my right eye is still a bit foggy, but I am hoping that will clear up in the next few days (everything was very foggy yesterday). Even if my right eye doesn't improve at all, my vision is still fantastic and I would do it again! It hasn't sunk in that I will not be wearing glasses or contacts again . . . pretty exciting:).

Brian is going to Calgary on Friday to check on the house and see what needs to be done before it goes up for sale. The insurance stuff is all still in the works, hopefully early next week we will get the go ahead from insurance that the contractor can start the work (I am hoping he can do most of it while Brian is there, that would make it easier for everyone). I am so anxious to get rid of the ball and chain that is this house. Just this week again, the contractor told me we had to get a plumber in because there was still a leak in the sink! So I had to try and get in touch with the property management company to get a plumber out, and they couldn't get a hold of the tenant to get in to do it right away, blah blah - such a stressful thing! It did get fixed thank goodness, but how I hate having to rely on other people to do what needs to be done in my house. Less than a week and it will be back in our possession!! I am just praying that it's in good shape otherwise and can go on the market as soon as the insurance work is done. Let's just say there will be a celebration when that house is sold!!

Hotel Kroeker = busy busy!

We have had an eventful last few weeks! Well, the first week was pretty uneventful I guess. Adam was home on Spring Break for the week and one of those days we went to Playdate SEA (indoor play place steps from Brian's work) and Brian met us for lunch. He also had a dentist appointment that morning that was surprisingly successful! He was upset, but I feel like he was much more in control of himself than he has been in the past. Encouraging! Oh, I guess I can't call that week completely uneventful because we found out on Wednesday (unfortunately this was NOT an April Fools joke) that our tenant was gone for a week and came home to some water damage in the kitchen of our Calgary house, as well as the basement ceiling. Relatively minor, but we decided to claim insurance for it just because we are selling and want to make sure there are no traces of water damage for buyers to see. Probably best to get it done right! So the ball is rolling on the claim, the adjuster has been to see the damage and now we are just waiting for them to confirm coverage (hopefully only a technicality but nothing would surprise me at this point) and then we see what our next steps are. What rotten luck, a month before he moves out:-S. Oh well, I am just crossing my fingers that this doesn't delay the house going on the market TOO much. There is a chance they will have to replace the whole main floor if they can't match the hardwood, I'm wondering how much luck they will have trying to find a match (we have no information about where the wood came from, and the builder didn't put it in - it was the people who built the house).

Moving on - Friday (Good Friday) we picked up Brian's parents from the airport. They hung around with us all weekend, mostly at home but we did head out a few times. We tried to go to Redmond Town Center on Saturday for their Easter Eggstravaganza, but it was very crowded and wasn't a great experience. Adam did learn a bit about waiting in a long line for a bouncy house, only to have a 1 minute turn and then be devastated that he couldn't go back in. Lynsey had a lot of fun petting the bunnies, so it was a worthwhile activity. Frances and I did some shopping on Saturday which was fun, and we went to church together Sunday morning before the big Easter egg hunt that we did for the kids at home:). We went out for a buffet lunch after that as well, it was pretty good. All in all a good Easter weekend! Monday we dropped them back at the airport and we had a day to get things ready for our next guests, Mary and Dave. We met up with them and their friends Bob and Eunice for supper on Tuesday, and then took all the kids to Pump it Up so they could jump on the bouncy houses. Finally Adam got to go down the slide as often as he wanted! Much more his speed (and any other kid really). Wednesday morning we took the ferry over to Whidbey Island and went over to Double Bluff beach - the kids had a blast! Adam was home from school because he had been coughing a lot, but he came with us to the beach and had a great time as well. Wednesday night the kids had a movie night and Brian and Dave went to a Mariners game. Thursday we went to Idylwood Beach in Redmond (on Lake Sammamish) and the kids had a great time once again! We all really enjoyed the visit, it was a nice blend of doing things and also just hanging out at home and visiting. Lynsey was pretty sad to say goodbye to them Friday morning:(. It definitely makes me think hard about how far away we want to be from family for the long haul, it's a tough choice for sure. We love it here, but it's so valuable to be close to family, too. Something to think about!

Now, some of you might think that we would just take it easy today since we had so much going on in the last week, but no - we went out AGAIN this morning! The Museum of Flight was having a special early admission for families of children with Autism - and it was free! So we headed over there this morning and the kids had a great time! The first hour and a half was great, but then right before Brian and Lynsey paid to go into a flight simulator, Adam decided he was done. It might have only been a 5 minute ride they took, but it felt like an eternity trying to keep Adam's emotions at bay! We got out of there in a hurry and decided to still call the outing a success, even with a bumpy ending:). I have to comment on how nice it was to be out somewhere surrounded by other families in a similar boat to us. Adam kept hovering around these cockpits that you could get into and pretend to drive the plane, but he never actually wanted to get in. I didn't feel like other people were looking at him the same way they would have if it was just a regular day and "regular" families were there with their kids. A few times, parents would say to their kids, "Oh it looks like this little boy wants a turn" and I would tell them that no, he wasn't going to get in, he just liked to watch other kids, and I felt like they just understood. One parent said to me, "Oh, I get it, believe me!" - and I did believe her. Hard to explain, but it actually almost brought me to tears. It's not like I haven't known for a long time that we aren't like most other families, but I felt more comfortable on this outing than I have on any other public outing in a long time. There are other places around Seattle that do this kind of thing from time and time and I will be keeping a closer eye on these events from now on!

I feel like I need to mention that I did not take the pictures of the kids jumping on the beach! I forgot my camera when we went to Whidbey Island and I'm terrible at taking pictures on my phone, so Dave emailed me some. Photo creds go to him!