Toast your buns

Mother and daughter in car
Grace and I fighting over the heated car seats

Minus 27 degrees Celcius. The deep freeze is finally here. The consensus on Facebook yesterday seemed to be the best way to beat the cold was to stay inside.

Not us. We spent three hours down at the lake yesterday, clearing off the rink, skating, skiing and even having a hot dog cookout. After warming up inside, we headed out again, this time in the car to Westport for a church spaghetti supper.

I don’t consider myself high maintenance. I don’t own a Coach purse or Gucci wallet. I drive a 10-year old Honda and I’m just as happy with a simple pasta supper at home or at the church in Westport than getting dressed up and going out to a fancy restaurant.

But there is one luxury I have come to appreciate, especially in the dead of winter–heated car seats.

Whenever we venture out on a cold day, the girls and I race to Dave’s car and fight over the front seat. The victor hops in the passenger side and cranks the dial to 24 or 25 and waits for the warmth of the seat to make their tush tingle. It’s luxury, pure luxury on a cold winter’s day.

Clare usually wins, because she “claims” she gets car sickness in the back seat of Dave’s car. Grace and I think it’s a sinister ruse. Trust me, it’s hard to be sympathetic when the little minx blurts out “My buttocks are burning!”

Happiness isn’t a warm puppy when it’s minus 27 outside. Happiness is a heated car seat.

This week’s #HappyAct is to fight for the front seat, or find something to keep your buns toasty warm. And if one of your kids claims they feel car sick, be heartless. Race as fast as you can to claim the front seat–no butts about it.

Rent a muscle car

 

Two men and a sports car
The boys and their ride, a brand new Dodge Challenger

Next weekend is Father’s Day. I knew I wanted to do something special for Dave and his Dad this year after losing Dave’s Mom to cancer in February. We all miss her terribly, no one more so than John who had been her loving partner for 59 years.

So I came up with the idea of renting a convertible or muscle car for the day. A brand new Dodge Challenger with racing stripes, a sweet engine and pimped out radio.

We kept it a surprise until we reached the rental car place in Kingston. There were grins all around after the big reveal.

We drove east along Highway 2 to Gananoque then along the Thousands Islands Parkway. The sun was shining, the breeze was warm and there were beautiful vistas of the river. Every once in awhile, Dave would put the pedal to the metal and let her rip. We stopped in Rockport to spend an hour on the water for a Thousand Islands River tour, had lunch on a patio, then continued east until Brockville before heading north back country past picturesque farms.

Everywhere we went, people would say “Sweet ride”. There was the requisite stop for ice cream in Seeley’s Bay (best ice cream shop ever, the Nest Egg, make it a stop) before we had to drop Clare off at a birthday party at 4 p.m. The only damper on the day besides cramped legs was Clare and me still feeling poorly after coming off a week of the stomach flu, but the boys had a grand time.

This week’s #HappyAct is to rent a muscle car for the day, or just plan a special memory for the men in your life in honour of Father’s Day. Next time: a convertible!

Blowing hair
Hazards of the ride
Three girls in the backseat of a car
Clare, clearly enjoying herself
four people eating ice cream
Having a scream (Kawartha Dairy of course) at the Nest Egg in Seeley’s Bay