a trip to the cookie factory

Way back in February the boys had a day off from school so we visited Grandpa at work. There is no better place to work than at a cookie factory!
When we parked the van at the factory we were greeted with the most delicious smells and we could hardly wait to munch on some freshly baked cookies. But first we headed up to Grandpa's office.


All of the office people were diligently working away until we stepped off of the elevators. I think that we must of been loud because all of a sudden office doors opened and all kinds of faces peeked out to see what was going on. (Even Mr. Voortman himself came to see what the excitement was all about.)
Of course Tyler had no idea what was going on and when my dad walked out of his office, Tyler had the most surprised and delighted look on his face. There was grandpa. My dad has worked at Voortman Cookies for thirty-five years, and his father also worked there until he retired. Sometimes I run into my grandparents at the grocery store and you can be sure that my grandma is doing all of the grocery shopping and my grandpa has stopped right in front the Voortman Cookie Hut admiring all of the packages.

On a wall there is a huge world map of where the cookies are presently being shipped to.

Grandpa gave us a detailed tour of the factory. We had to put on hair nets, coats and stay close together. The robots and mechanical devices are unbelievable. Close to one million cookies are made every day and it is mostly automated.

Here the jam is being pumped into the turn-over cookies.

The cookies are headed into the big, long oven.

By the wafer machine.

Grandpa gave us a fantastic tour and we were all impressed by the efficiency of the factory. (Excuse the two boys who could not resist making faces.)
We headed into the factory store and everyone picked out a package of their favourite cookies.

 

What a great way to spend a day off of school!

owen sound part 2

Part 2 of our family get-a-way.
~Part 1 is on the post below.~

The boys are so blest to have such amazing aunts & uncles. Everyone has lots of fun together & they are good role models. Heather, one night took her duties as aunt a little too far. Finally I had been able to get a few hours of sleep in a row, when I woke up to some strange noices. I was sleeping in a little bunkhouse beside the cottage. I squinted at the time 3:35 am. I saw Heather leading three little boys into the cottage & they were so tired that they were wobbling. Before I knew it, Heather is knocking on our door. I rushed outside to see what was going on. The boys had been sleeping in a tent right beside our bunkie, but now the tent was empty. Heather pointed to the sky. There was lightning and the trees were moving, but it didn't look too bad. Heather was convinced that something big was coming our way. She woke up James & moved him; playpen & all into the cottage. Rachel moved Kentin into the cottage; playpen & all. The cottage was small & now it was packed with tired children, playpens, & it was in the middle of the night. By this time it was obvious that there would be no severe storm but now all of the little ones were awake. In Heather's own words, "The heroine has become a fool."  It all turned out okay & we had a good laugh about it the morning.

Andrew soaked up the activity & on the way home he was asleep in a few minutes.

A big thankyou to dad & mom for arranging all of this. It was a special time with lots of memories.

owen sound part 1

smiles,stunts on surfboard, skunk, swimming, "severe" storm, scrumptious meals, snapping turtle, sunglasses, sleeplessness, slip & slide, sunshine

The whole entire family was able to spend a few days together at a cottage in Owen Sound.

                                                                        What a show!

Mark has his paddle raised, ready to attack the pesty boaters. So much for a romantic quiet time!

The lake was super shallow & the sand felt as if it would swallow you up if you stood on it. The adults would have to do a flying leap into the water & then swim until it got deeper. One day, we had a plastic table on the dock & a gust of wind came & the table went flying into the water. I mourned a book that also landed into the water. A little while later Nate needed to get his glasses from the dock. "Where did you put them?" I hesitantly asked. "On the patio table." The sand swallowed Nate's glasses up too.

Whenever we saw Josh, he was such a happy little guy. He would rub his eyes & his parents would put him to bed & he would sleep for 12 hours. It was unbelievable.

Tarps, water, dishwashing detergent, & a steep hill go a long ways. The kids had a hoot sliding down & so did uncle Mark!

We were in close quarters which made it challenging with four, one year old boys. I am sure that you can imagine. Tyler was not a champ at cottaging; he took a long time to get to sleep, he woke up through out the night & he woke up super early every morning. The problem was that he had to stay quiet so that the others could remain sleeping. What do you do at 5:00 am with a lively one year old?

                                                          James, Joshua, Tyler, & Kentin

                                                                   ~Beautiful moments~

                                                                   James & grandpa

Every morning Adam made a big batch of waffle mix & whenever people were hungry they could scoop some up and put it in the waffle maker. It was delicious.

Adam does not love fishing. Not at all. He has four sons & so far the oldest two have caught the love of fishing. Adam has a good attitude saying that he loves to help out his sons especially in the things that they enjoy. There were a few times however that I saw him grit his teeth when the fishing lines became tangled every few minutes. I think that dads can only relate to that frustration.

poultry fest!

What a great day! We loved poultry fest and we will for sure make the time to go again next year!  There were inflatables to jump and ride on, entertainers, a tractor pull, old vintage cars, and lots of chickens & ducks! And...it was all for free!
It took Nate & Liam a little a bit to get their nerve up to pose beside this big chicken. Andrew wasn't going to go anywhere near it.

So like Andrew.

I love vintage cars. This is something that has recently come upon me and it is not a bad thing considering we have four boys. I love their shapes, their colours, & I can see myself having one some day when all of the kids are in school. They can drive around in the family minivan & I will drive the cool car.

We have chickens, but these chickens & ducks were really different looking. Next spring, I am going to be on the hunt for unusual birds for our coop.

There was a huge incubator & the ducks & chickens were hatching right in front of our eyes. Watching them break through the shell & slowly climb out of the egg is just amazing.

Normally when a performer asks for child volunteers, our children hide behind us while we point to them & try to get the kids on stage. This time Nate thought that it looked safe enough and he had fun being in the spotlight.

This was our first time seeing a tractor pull. Though I still don't understand how it all works, it was really neat to see. The old tractors just have something about them. Like they are meant to get the job done.
What I don't get is that every year, is it not the same people who compete in the tractor pull, and for the most part do they not have the same tractors? How does this not get old year after year?

This guy here takes care of our fields. I get a chuckle from him & his buddies. They drive down our road in these huge, gas guzzling trucks that are full of bumper stickers. They wear cowboy boots & hats, & they talk with a bit of a drawl even though they are from this area.  Adventure and funny stories seem to find them.

This little guy was a real champ sitting in his stroller for hours & taking in the sights & sounds.

visiting laura secord & queenston heights

Laura Secord's Homestead
A few weeks ago we read that you could visit the Laura Secord Homestead with a donation. Our Dutch ears perked up.  That was a deal compared to the almost $10.00 that they normally charge per adult.
In 1812 Laura's home was invaded by American soldiers and one night she overheard them talking about a planned assault on one of the British forts. Late that night she left her five children, a wounded husband and walked 32 km. through the forest amongst Indians and wild animals to warn the British of the American's plans.

It was really neat visiting there and the scenery along Niagara-on-the-Lake is stunning, but it is definitely not worth the amount of money that they normally charge.

There was a display table with some of the wooden games children would play during that time period. Our boys loved playing with them and the two pioneer women were great with explaining how the games worked and letting the boys try them out.
I could not help but think - no batteries, you could make the pieces and replace missing pieces (but maybe you don't have that problem at your house:) easy to store, very sturdy, and I have a feeling that the children back in those days never fought during the games!

This game looked easy enough to make and this was one of the favourites. The goal was to try to catch the wooden circle with two sticks.

I lost track of Andrew, and there he was. He had found some wool to rub under his nose and he was sucking his thumb. This is his favourite thing to do.

We went for a picnic at Queenston Heights at supper time. That is such a nice park with lots of room to roam. I think that we have never picniced with just our family before and we had so much fun that we are going to make more of an effort to do it again. It was relaxing and it was good for us just to sit back and watch the boys play. Their imaginations are very entertaining!

                                                              ~   beautiful memories  ~

Responsible brother Nate making sure that Tyler does not fall off of the bench. How precious.

Adam does not stroll, he power walks. Its good for me because it is good exercise keeping up with him:)

Andrew looking way up high at the Brock monument. Thankfully it was closed. I am not a big fan of heights and I am even more afraid when there are wiggly, daring boys around me.

They all had to go to the bathroom at the same time so Adam directed them away from public eyes and told them to do their job behind the wall.  All was well until we noticed that they were standing on the edge of the cliff; they had moved far along the wall. My hands got shaky and my heart started to pound. The problem was that if we yelled for them to come back they probably would do something goofy and loose their footing. Just another one of those heart stopping moments.

I kind of like this picture. It shows that I can have peaceful moments with our baby admist much activity!
And that was our day!