TwoBlog

Happy Birthday Olivia!

4 years old today. The celebration has spanned the last few days but today is the actual day.

Sunday we spent the day with Sam, Grace, Joey and Angel at African Lion Safari. That was a blast. Your favourite was the splash park. But the trip around the reserve in the tour bus was fun too. You insisted on sitting with Angel at the back of the bus. You got to see monkeys rip trim off of cars, giraffes eating, baby lion cubs, rhinos and more. The Birds of Prey show was exciting too. The horn-rimmed owl was your favourite. Christien was a big fan of the Safari as well. I guess we’ll be going there quite often over the next few summers.

Afterwards, back home for a BBQ and birthday cake with even more guests: Nicole, Perry, Nick and Alex. You ‘raked’ in some nice gifts:
- pretend Bride outfits including invitations from Joey and Angel. Daddy will practice going down the aisle with you
- Whack-a-mole and a splash game (Nicole et al)
- beautiful kid-sized upholstered lounge chair for the basement playroom from Grandma and Nonno
- Scooter and treasure chest full of goodies from Mommy and Daddy. The monkey helmet is your favourite. Don’t every grow up kid!
- Easel from Nanna
- Gift certificat parlayed into a Barbie Jeep from Uncle Luc.

Today it’s fun at the Lion’s Lagoon or the KidZone if it’s too cold. And then dinner at the Boston Pizza for your Bugs’n'Cheese.

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The CR-V is on it’s dying breath. It’s been a fun ride these past 12 years. 263,000 kms and counting. We’ve ordered the new vehicle but it won’t be in our driveway for about 1 month.

I’ve had the CR-V since the fall of ‘97. That was the year I moved into Mike P’s place with Sean and Biff. That was before I knew Sonia! I was a fresh faced boy just 2 years out of University. With a bigger paycheck living on own I thought the Civic hatchback was beneath me.

This car has been alongside me (and us) during our most significant events. For example, it was the vehicle that brought Olivia home from the hospital.
That CR-V hasn’t been on too many long trips. But it has been on some good ones:
Boston (2 times: Once with Dan for training in Concord, once with Sean and Susan ‘pre-kids’ days)
Montreal in ‘06 with the hitch and trailer from Sauders
Several North Bay trips
Several Wonderboy trips
Trips to cottages/camping (Tara’s rental with Bivva, camping in Goderich)
Too many trips to the Park’n'Fly in T.O. for work
and so on (Anybody else remember anything memorable)?

I remember the weekend I bought the CR-V. I drove up to Hanover with Dan to sign the papers. I didn’t get the car that weekend, but we continued along our way to Sauble Beach to head out on our ill-fated attempt to bike up the Bruce Peninsula right to Tobermory. The downfall was that it was very windy and cold that day. Took us 3 hrs to get to Lion’s Head. Once we found out that weather was going to get worse AND there was no guaranteed accommodation at the destination, we turned around and covered the same distance in 1.5 hrs with the wind at our backs.

Now, the CR-V is a loud, rusty shell of its self. No longer the pioneer of the crossover/sport util craze that it kicked off way back when. It used to turn heads back then. It still does today, but for the wrong reasons: “What the *&%$ is that loud noise coming from?

So it ends it’s life with me as a $500 trade-in to welcome in the new era: An ‘09 4×4 V6 Toyota RAV-4. Yes, the Honda man has moved over to Toyota. 3 Reasons:
1) 0% financing
2) More power for less $$ compared to the new CR-V
3) Honda builds CR-V’s that I no longer want. Flimsy, gutless and the seats are painfully rigid. Could not see myself towing anything or driving anywhere for any period of time.

Since we are planning to tow a camper, it was nice to have the towing package and roofrack included in the base price. Very expensive add-ons if buying a CR-V.

Let’s hope the quality is comparable.

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