Wow! It's amazing what you can do with hundreds of pieces of Lego!

The Lego Festival was held at the Crystal Palace Ramada this weekend.  My daughter has been talking about it for a week now...and I can understand why...

I can't believe what you can build with thousands and thousands of pieces of Lego....And the time that must go into these creations!

This is the swings ride at Crystal Palace.

The Statue of Liberty



What is a Lego City without a Tim Hortons!!!!





These were made by one of the schools in the region.

Some very talented individuals put all of these together!  Imagine the time and patience that goes into each and every one!   Applause!!!!!!

Just one of the interesting festivals that is held at Crystal Palace each year.  In case you aren't familiar with what Crystal Palace in Moncton is...It's our indoor amusement park.  It features a roller coaster, swing ride, merry go round, and many others.  It's a fun place for the kids to go in this region.

http://www.crystalpalace.ca/



I hit the road with the ladies.......and it was a "BUST!"

First off, my work lotto pool didn't win the lottery......Last night's ticket amounted to a big fat zero!!!!!  Guess there's always next week.

So, today was my big trip to Rothesay and Saint John, New Brunswick.....My first one ever.

 Our first stop was......Ta Da!  To shop for some over the shoulder boulder holders!

These are the ladies....Seven of us, all heading in for measurements and to get all "firmed" up!

And we can't forget our Chauffeur!(who is a fine driver , by the way.....as long as she didn't run into any bumps and pothole like spots on the road!  LOL)  And she doesn't always look this serious...She was just trying to focus on the road when I took the picture.

What an experience!   How was I to know that I have been wearing the wrong size all this time?!  And the things we learned, like the band really is supposed to be a little tight, because it stretches out over time.....and you're not supposed to wear the same one every single day....and the "girls" should be all tucked in there nice and cozy....not hanging out the top and the sides! 

 

Anyway, enough size talk....It was a cute little shop....

While I was waiting for the other ladies to make their purchases, I went next door and bought myself a Chai tea......from the Java Moose...Delicious!

Then it was off to lunch.  We decided on the Commons Creperie Cafe....and we were really glad we did..

I had a Sweet Maple Pecan salad, and then a maple crepe for dessert.  Mmmmmmm!  Delicious!

Here are a few pics of the places around the Cafe. 

Rothesay is a beautiful community...

Then it was off to Uptown Saint John....Now I know exactly why they call it "Uptown".   I walked up one of the hills and quickly figured it out.  Whewff!  It was a steep one!

The other ladies stopped in at a store called "The Urban Shoe Myth", but I was more interested in this store.....

Candy!!!!   You name it, they've got!   The WHOLE store, nothing but candy!!!

Of course, I couldn't forget to pick up some Willy Wonka candy for the kids.....

Here are a couple more pics from Uptown Saint John.

Then it was time to head home....

Here are a couple more pics from the highway.

Oh, and I can't forget, that we helped an older woman out, whose car battery had died....Our good deed for the day!

It was a wonderful day with the ladies!  Lots of fun and laughs, and a few purchases too!  (and now my co-workers in Saint John will have to find something else to pick on me about!  Because I have finally paid a visit to the Port City!)

Tomorrow, off to the Lego Fair!

Short and sweet tonight...Busy day tomorrow...

Hitting the sack early tonight...Heading to Rothesay and Saint John, New Brunswick in the morning for an excursion with the ladies!   Will have lots of pics for tomorrow's blog.....

There is one other hope for tomorrow AM though.......

My tickets are bought!  I buy for the lotto pool at work, so hopefully this will be our lucky weekend....We've had one average win before...$1200, but that had to be divided between 10 people, so it worked out to about $120 each.   Better than nothing I guess...

Good luck to everyone who purchased a ticket........But I'm hanging onto the lucky rabbit's foot, horseshoe, four leaf clover, and I've got my fingers crossed....Hopefully that works!

The day after the snowfall.....and it's Groundhog Day!

It was an uneventful day.   I had the day off, but I didn't do anything special.  A trip to the Chiropractor, hung out with the kids in the afternoon and then my favourite TV show, "The Vampire Diaries" tonight.

One of the big things that happens on my days off though, is I get to take my daughter to the bus stop to go to school.  It's literally right across the street from our house but I think she really likes the fact that I am here in the morning when she gets up.  Normally I've been awake for 4 hours and have headed off to work when she gets up for school.....

I took a few pics this morning.....The calm after the storm.....We got a total of 32 cms of snow yesterday....

The streets are all cleared, but it definitely looks like winter now.   It's February 2nd, but finally we get a taste of winter. 

The groundhogs came out of their holes today....to predict the weather...Well, I guess that depends on whether or not you believe in folklore or not.   In Nova Scotia, Shubenacadie Sam  did not see his shadow.  In Ontario, Wiarton Willie didn't see his shadow.  They both predict, an early spring...In Alberta, Balzac Billy and in Quebec(I wasn't even aware until now that Quebec had its own groundhog!) Fred La Marmotte, both saw their shadows...They predict 6 more weeks of winter.

In the United States, Punxsutawney Phil also saw his shadow....And as I read several newspaper articles about the groundhogs, there are many others as well.....Staten Island Chuck(who did not see his shadow...and who also predicted that the New York Giants will win the Superbowl this weekend), Stormy Marmot in Aurora Colorado, Smith Lake Jake in Alabama, and the list goes on....

New Brunswick named their own groundhog last year....They had a contest and everything to name him...Oromocto Ollie.....But...he didn't make an appearance this year....It looks like he may have been forgotten this year due to a cut in funding...A ceremony was held on the CFB Gagetown grounds last year, and was led by the Provincial Capital Commission...Here's the problem...That Commission was created by the former government(Liberal)  and the funding was cut last year, by the new government(Conservative)..So, what became of Ollie?  The Public Affairs Officer at CFB Gagetown Captain Jamie Donovan said he suspects there's still a groundhog in the berm...but he was obviously sleeping contently.....And at this point there's no word on whether or not anyone else will host an event for Oromocto Ollie.

I've decided to include a few random shots as well tonight.  Enjoy!

I've saved the best for last!(He's not really sleeping.........and that is my hat..in  case you were starting to wonder)  LOL

Remember these ones? They're still all the rage...in my household anyway.

My son is a YouTube nut......Yes, he is 4 years old....But he loves to scan YouTube for videos of things he likes....For instance....The Wiggles, The Muppets, Winnie the Pooh, etc, etc...and lately it has been this one....

Yes...it is the original...You know.."Casper the friendly ghost..The friendliest ghost we know!"  According to Wikipedia, it was first created as a Children's book called "The Friendly Ghost"  in 1939....and then it was made into an animated children's show in 1945.......That is way before I was even born.  But he loves to search for the episodes, and watches them, in their entirety on You Tube. 

And another one, he watches on a regular basis....I don't have a pic, but I think I can borrow one from the Internet.

One of my favourites...and the book(which came out in 1964 and was called "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory") was just delicious!   I think I drooled through the entire thing when I read it as  child.  The film was created in 1971.

Then there was the remake, by Tim Burton, in 1995.  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, starring Johnny Depp.

Not sure if I liked that one or not.  I have mixed opinions...

Anyway, back to what I was chatting about.  My son saw the original film, and the remake and loves both.  He also recently saw the Wizard of Oz and thoroughly enjoyed those as well.   He seems to like the films that are fantasy like.  It might explain why his preschool teachers say he has a very "active imagination."

My daughter on the otherhand, she surfs the web as well, but enjoys things like The  Muppets, Webkinz, and the Empire Theatres website(for the movie trailers), amongst other things.  She checks out You Tube as well, and often searches for this show.

You may, or may not recognize it, depending on if you have kids.  It's called Wow Wow Wubbzy, and it airs on the Disney Jr channel.  According to Wikipedia,  it is an American  animated television series created by Bob Boyle.  It premiered in the U.S in 2006...

Well, whatever the two of them are watching...they aren't anything they aren't supposed to....They seem to know what is good and bad on the Internet....They also use a site called "Kidzui".

 www.kidzui.com  

It has been created just for kids, and I highly recommend it.

Old Man Winter had his sights set on Moncton for this one!

It was not the first heavy snowfall in the Hub City this winter.......But I would say it was the heaviest....
We were expecting to get 20cms or more of snow...We ended up getting 32centimetres.......
The roads were a mess heading home at noon today.  The snowplows and salt trucks were out in full force, but they could hardly keep up because the snow was falling so hard and accumulating fast.  My kids got the day off today.  Their first snow day of the year.  Schools were called off before 6AM in anticipation of the storm.  It was just plain nasty out.

When I arrived home, I was unsure if I was going to get into the driveway, but I went full speed ahead, and managed to plow my way in...Here are a few pics while the storm was ongoing...

And a couple of the snowplows hard at work.

My husband was off sick today...But when the storm was over, he went out and braved the driveway full of snow.....He got the snow blower going, and put himself to work.  It's not as hard as having to shovel, but running the snow blower for 2 and a half hours is still pretty hard work.  Good job hubby!

It's 8:30pm and I can still hear the neighbours out clearing out their driveways.    I guess they want to have it all done so they can get out tomorrow morning to get to work.

Oh, wait.  I can't forget.  I took a picture from our kitchen door, showing the accumulation on our side deck.

Tomorrow, the calm after the storm.  I have a couple of days off.  A nice four day weekend....Ahhh, can't beat that..