Flashback last weekend

Our friend's had a birthday party for their daughter, so we went up to Canada for the weekend. We stayed at the Hotel Rushton, where they have three kids, Smudge the cat, and Bailey the dog who doesn't like thunder. The birthday party was fantastic, virtually kid proof for accidents, except for Gavin who ran into the kitchen at the end of the party and turned on the burners of the stove. He's Craig's son, because Craig apparently did that when he was that age.

Gavin has become fond of the disappearing act, which is a little scary. Sometimes it is funny though. We we are the Rushton's house chatting, playing, making food, and marveling at the chaos that five kids can produce. I look around and don't see Gavin. "Where's Gavin?" I ask. I look in the play room. No Gavin. The living room. No Gavin. Is he upstairs? Nope, no Gavin. As I'm walking back to the kitchen, Gavin runs out of their pantry (under the stairs) as fast as he can into the den carrying a nearly empty bucket of winegums. (He's just recently really figured out what candy is, which is unfortunate.) "It's candy day!" he says. And we all can't help but laugh. (The bucket was empty when he got it, so he didn't eat them all.) Here's the culprit:


As for Graeme, he fell in love with their cat Smudge. Graeme woke up around 11pm on Saturday, so I brought him down for a while. He noticed Smudge immediately and started to crawl toward him. It was so cute to watch because Smudge just played with him. Graeme would get close, then Smudge would dash away giving Graeme the brush of his tail. Once he even jumped over his head! Then Smudge would hide till Graeme found him and headed his way. I've never seen a cat so playful or so fun with kids. These pictures are from the morning; the play continued.