When I walked into the house this afternoon at 4:00 p.m. with the kids, Faith heard this strange beeping noise. Because it wasn't 4:00 a.m., the normal time when these things happen, it took me awhile to figure out that it was the fire alarm upstairs beeping every 10 seconds or so.
Must be low battery backup, I figured, so I tried to find a 9 volt to stick in the thing. After grabbing one from an extra fire alarm, then pilfering one from Blake's remote control car, I figured either all my batteries were done, or I was too short to actually get the battery into the right slot in the stupid alarm. I'm just tall enough to unhook the thing from the ceiling and pop open the battery compartment while standing on our kitchen stool. But, beyond that it's all touch and go until I lose feeling in my arms.
So, after 20 minutes of incessant beeping I gave up. I figured I'd pick up new batteries when I took Faith to horseback riding and George could fix it when we got home.
Ahh....the best laid plans. Once George actually got home, and could read the back of the smoke alarm, he figured out that the beep signalled an "alarm malfunction". And, because the darn thing is wired into the house (and has a battery backup), it was going to keep beeping. Arrghhh.
So....to the Internet! And yes, after 7 years, the alarms spontaneously start beeping so you are driven mad until you replace them. Great safety feature unless you're trying to get your kids to bed and not lose your mind.
But, I had a brilliant idea that all the fire alarms are probably on the same circuit, so we could turn off the breaker and then, no more beeping! George was skeptical. But, and to quote him, "You were right." (I'll repeat that...I was right!)
So, we now have our backup fire alarm sitting on the bookshelf upstairs, the wired fire alarms on the main floor and basement working on battery backup, and the grating beeps are silent. (Also, no lights in the basement, but, you can't have everything.)
Tomorrow, it's a trip to Crappy Tire for 3 new alarms. Here's hoping the other two don't start beeping tonight.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Climbing feats
On the last day of our trip, we stopped in Kingston to see my brother, who is an avid climber. We met him at The Boulder Room for a little climbing action. Faith was a champ! She made it to the top of 3 routes!
Here's her second one, with a small cameo by her brother, who decided he'd like to free climb the wall in bare feet.
The video's a little long, but I wanted to film until she touched the top beam. She was a total trooper...and Duncan's the one belaying her and calling out directions up the route.
Here's her second one, with a small cameo by her brother, who decided he'd like to free climb the wall in bare feet.
The video's a little long, but I wanted to film until she touched the top beam. She was a total trooper...and Duncan's the one belaying her and calling out directions up the route.
15 and counting....
Fifteen years, two kids, four cars, three homes, and numerous gray hairs later. Happy Anniversary to us.
Dazzling & other military facts
At one time in your life, I'd recommend going to the Canadian War Museum. The building itself is a cement, steel and glass creation that evokes tanks, war ships, and fighter plans all at the same time.
And, the information in the exhibits is fantastic. We, admittedly, raced through the museum (mostly chasing a certain boy), but what we did see was informative, moving, sickening, scary, horrible, fantastic...you name it.
It's really not a "kid" museum in the sense that we did have to speed them on through some of the exhibits due to either graphic content or loud noises (they'd recreated certain types of war conditions throughout). But, they did enjoy the camouflage exhibit, building decoy trucks out of blocks and learning how the military "dazzled" ships...think black and white diva war paint in the name of confusing the enemy.
The strangest thing, though, was Blake. He was in the exhibits not 5 minutes when he suddenly stopped and turned around in a circle yelling "fight, fight, fight" and punching the air with his fists. What the? I mean, this was in the bows and arrows section!
Faith thought the best exhibit was the WW III simulation. Just like that old movie, War Games, complete with the giant map of the world projected on a screen showing the world gradually being blown to bits. OK.
The icing on the cake for me though was the World Press Photo exhibit in the lobby. I sent the kids off with George so I could do a quick tour of the best photos in the world for 2008-2009. Amazing...untll I had to chase Blake across the whole lobby and hold my breath as he ran under the photo exhibits...hoping that he didn't knock the whole thing down like dominoes. I wore running shoes most of the time for a reason.
And, the information in the exhibits is fantastic. We, admittedly, raced through the museum (mostly chasing a certain boy), but what we did see was informative, moving, sickening, scary, horrible, fantastic...you name it.
It's really not a "kid" museum in the sense that we did have to speed them on through some of the exhibits due to either graphic content or loud noises (they'd recreated certain types of war conditions throughout). But, they did enjoy the camouflage exhibit, building decoy trucks out of blocks and learning how the military "dazzled" ships...think black and white diva war paint in the name of confusing the enemy.
The strangest thing, though, was Blake. He was in the exhibits not 5 minutes when he suddenly stopped and turned around in a circle yelling "fight, fight, fight" and punching the air with his fists. What the? I mean, this was in the bows and arrows section!
Faith thought the best exhibit was the WW III simulation. Just like that old movie, War Games, complete with the giant map of the world projected on a screen showing the world gradually being blown to bits. OK.
The icing on the cake for me though was the World Press Photo exhibit in the lobby. I sent the kids off with George so I could do a quick tour of the best photos in the world for 2008-2009. Amazing...untll I had to chase Blake across the whole lobby and hold my breath as he ran under the photo exhibits...hoping that he didn't knock the whole thing down like dominoes. I wore running shoes most of the time for a reason.
Dragons!
The Museum of Civilization had a "Mythical Creatures" exhibit on while we were in Ottawa. This translated to DRAGONS!, so we hit the museum on our second day. What an awesome place...if you're in Ottawa, you have to go.
The highlights:
>> A Children's Museum where everything was a make believe place that kids can play in "for real", including a pyramid, clothing factory, a fancy bus from India and more. It was a madhouse for a Tuesday, so I shudder to think what it's like on Saturdays.
>> We learned what happens when you touch an exhibit that says "Don't touch"...yes, an alarm goes off! Blake's quicker than he looks, so I found this out the hard way.
>> We saw some really interesting "first stamps" from Africa, made more interesting because they all featured old white guys from Europe.
>> Accept the fact that unless you're planning on bringing your own lunch, you'll have to sell a kidney to eat in the cafeteria. Ouch!
>> Make sure you go outside and look across at the Parliament Buildings....a unique view.
The highlights:
>> A Children's Museum where everything was a make believe place that kids can play in "for real", including a pyramid, clothing factory, a fancy bus from India and more. It was a madhouse for a Tuesday, so I shudder to think what it's like on Saturdays.
>> We learned what happens when you touch an exhibit that says "Don't touch"...yes, an alarm goes off! Blake's quicker than he looks, so I found this out the hard way.
>> We saw some really interesting "first stamps" from Africa, made more interesting because they all featured old white guys from Europe.
>> Accept the fact that unless you're planning on bringing your own lunch, you'll have to sell a kidney to eat in the cafeteria. Ouch!
>> Make sure you go outside and look across at the Parliament Buildings....a unique view.
Monday, August 24, 2009
The front lawn...
As you could tell from my previous posting, we actually did a family vacation this year to Ottawa (mixed with some business meetings for George). It was just the four of us and a whole lotta site seeing, so follows a few posts on our adventures.
Our first stop on Monday (besides the wave pool at the hotel) was downtown Ottawa, including the impressive war memorial and, of course, the parliament buildings.
We went in the evening so we could see the light show that the National Capital Commission puts on each night over the summer. But, it was a perfect time to see the capital buildings. Not too hot. Not too crowded. Perfect light for picture-taking. And, lots of space to run around for the kids. (Even for Blake, which is saying a lot.)
A few things we noticed:
> They have a very cool monument to the "Women are Persons" decision. I had Faith pose so I could take a picture of her, and was very happy that we had some kick ass predecessors to fight this battle for us.
> The library is still the best part of the Parliament Buildings...even from the outside.
> The racoon hanging around the dumpster...not a household pet. Please don't try to pet him. (Although thank you dumb people for providing a good teachable moment to my kid who got to hear all about animals and rabies. And, being my kid, we had to google rabies when we got back to the hotel to find out all about the signs and symptoms.)
> Yes, they do have mosquitoes on parliament hill. Lots.
> No light show about Canada is complete without music from the Tragically Hip, a quote from PET (Pierre Elliot Trudeau), and mention of "the first practical email pager"(yes, this is what they called the Blackberry....huh?).
Our first stop on Monday (besides the wave pool at the hotel) was downtown Ottawa, including the impressive war memorial and, of course, the parliament buildings.
We went in the evening so we could see the light show that the National Capital Commission puts on each night over the summer. But, it was a perfect time to see the capital buildings. Not too hot. Not too crowded. Perfect light for picture-taking. And, lots of space to run around for the kids. (Even for Blake, which is saying a lot.)
A few things we noticed:
> They have a very cool monument to the "Women are Persons" decision. I had Faith pose so I could take a picture of her, and was very happy that we had some kick ass predecessors to fight this battle for us.
> The library is still the best part of the Parliament Buildings...even from the outside.
> The racoon hanging around the dumpster...not a household pet. Please don't try to pet him. (Although thank you dumb people for providing a good teachable moment to my kid who got to hear all about animals and rabies. And, being my kid, we had to google rabies when we got back to the hotel to find out all about the signs and symptoms.)
> Yes, they do have mosquitoes on parliament hill. Lots.
> No light show about Canada is complete without music from the Tragically Hip, a quote from PET (Pierre Elliot Trudeau), and mention of "the first practical email pager"(yes, this is what they called the Blackberry....huh?).
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Conversations in a hotel room
We're doing a family vacation in Ottawa this year, just the four of us. Part of the fun(?) of family vacations for us is fitting into a hotel room for three days straight. (Our idea of roughing it is a hotel room without a fridge.)
This morning, after being out until 10:00 last night watching the light show on Parliament Hill, I overheard the following conversation from the pullout couch next to us. (Note: We told the kids we'd see the Mythic Creatures (i.e. dragon exhibit) at the Museum of Civilization today.)
Blake: I see dragons tomorrow. Roar!
Faith: No, we're seeing them today Blake.
B: Rrrroooaaarrrr!
F: They're in a museum Blake. You have to be more gentle.
B: Rroarr. I kill the dragon!
F: You're my hero.
Wednesday, August 05, 2009
Going into withdrawal
Faith has had the busiest summer of all of us. She was at my parents for 12 days (10 without us!) and is now at our friends' cottage for a week. Living the good life. She called us the other night, and talked for about two minutes. I think Karen made her call...not sure about that.
Anyway, George and I keep telling ourselves that this is great! She's becoming so independent! She's breaking out and doing new things! She's gaining confidence! Woohoo! Girl power! Blah, blah, blah.
Of course, this is really just a partial truth. What we'd really like is to have her sitting on the couch with us asking to watch the Family Channel. (OK...maybe we haven't gone that far off the deep end.)
Blake's taking it pretty well though. He's getting lots of attention, doesn't have to fight for the TV, and just asks for his sister once a day to make sure he still knows where she is. He's the kind of kid who rolls with whatever life gives him. (OK...except for last night when he had a total meltdown in our backyard over what we think was a swing, a ladder, and a measuring tape.)
But, we will all be reunited, and driving each other crazy, this coming weekend.
Anyway, George and I keep telling ourselves that this is great! She's becoming so independent! She's breaking out and doing new things! She's gaining confidence! Woohoo! Girl power! Blah, blah, blah.
Of course, this is really just a partial truth. What we'd really like is to have her sitting on the couch with us asking to watch the Family Channel. (OK...maybe we haven't gone that far off the deep end.)
Blake's taking it pretty well though. He's getting lots of attention, doesn't have to fight for the TV, and just asks for his sister once a day to make sure he still knows where she is. He's the kind of kid who rolls with whatever life gives him. (OK...except for last night when he had a total meltdown in our backyard over what we think was a swing, a ladder, and a measuring tape.)
But, we will all be reunited, and driving each other crazy, this coming weekend.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
