We've had a great 2 weekends and the week in between! Last Saturday afternoon we enjoyed the Canadian Derby at Northlands Park with the Parenteau's. Cal and I love the race track and Blake and Emerson enjoyed seeing horses (Em ran towards them, pointing and saying, "horsie, horsie, horsie!!) and the kids area in the middle of the track. Blake went on a pony ride, got an airbrushed "tattoo" on his arm and had fun jumping around in the bouncy houses. Cal came away $20 poorer, but that's not so bad!!
On Tuesday we enjoyed a visit to the Edmonton Valley Zoo with Grandma D, Auntie Lesley, Colby and Jenna. We always have fun walking/running around the zoo! We visited with 2 owls and Lucy, who were out for a walk around the zoo! I wish I would have brought my camera, but my Mom did get this cute picture of Colby and Blake:
Blake rode one of the ponies at the zoo and we all had fun on the train ride!
Emerson had her 18 month pediatrician visit on Wednesday morning. She was really good in the waiting room and then we got called into the office and that was it - she was mad!! But Dr. Radisic and his nurse are awesome and we got through the appointment with her clinging to me ;) Dr. Radisic said all his 18 month check-ups are like that, but Blake's sure wasn't!!! But Emerson is healthy and doing great, which we're very thankful for! The Dr. was quite impressed with her vocabulary! In part, I think we have Blake to thank for that! I told him we thought she'd never walk, but she did at 15 months and he said that the average age to begin walking is 14 months. Although I hear about kids walking earlier rather then later, so maybe Canadians are early walkers (overall)??! lol!! Wednesday evening I had a great dinner out with a few of my New Mom's Group friends. We ate a delicious dinner at Sorentino's in St. Albert. Yummy!! And wonderful company :) It's so nice to get together with this awesome group of ladies :)
Thursday evening was a busy one! Cal had a fantasy football draft at a pub on the south side with his buddy Sean at 7 pm and Blake had his last Bobber's lesson at the YMCA from 6 to 6:30. And Emerson goes to bed around 6. So thank goodness for family being within driving distance!! My Mom came over and put Em to bed for us and we were able to attend everything! Thanks so much Mom ... again :) I feel like we should just send a weekly thank you shout-out to you and Dad!! Never mind weekly, maybe it should be daily?! It will be great when we're living even closer, because they sure do a lot of driving to see us and help us out. Thanks again, it is always very much appreciated! Blake had fun during his last lesson. They basically just played games and sang songs! One of his favorite games is Chop, Chop, Timber. The instructor always asks what kind of tree they want to be and Blake is usually a strawberry, blueberry, apple or dinosaur tree!! Blake will be in Bobber's again in the fall. We have him on a wait list for Wednesdays from 5 to 5:30, starting in September and if he doesn't get into that session, he'll start mid-October on the same day and time. We did find the 6 o'clock lesson a bit too late, because now that we don't give him naps he's in bed between 6:30 and 7 and the winding down from swimming kept him up a bit too late! Emerson is also registered in swimming lessons. Her class is called Bubblers and it begins on September 11, from 11 to 11:30. Emerson LOVES the water and has no fear in the water!!! She flops around like a slippery fish ;)
This weekend we are very excited to say that we outfitted Blake in head to toe hockey gear!! We thought we would just look at United Cycle, but there was a huge hockey sale and we realized that this is the better way to go vs. a boxed set at Canadian Tire, etc. United Cycle fits each individual piece to the player. And the customer service was phenomenal, which we think really helped Blake enjoy the whole process! The first thing he did was get fitted for a pair of skates. After they were laced up he stood up and walked around the skate department! We were so impressed!!! He wasn't even very wobbly, didn't complain, etc! He was grinning from ear to ear :) After the skate decision was made, we headed over the equipment area where a nice young lady made sure each piece of equipment fit right. So he's all ready to go and hockey registration is September 9th. Cal is excited to help out as a Coach! Blake is also really excited and has been trying on his equipment every day. Yesterday he wore his helmet to Toys R Us (but we asked him to leave it in the van while we were in the store!)!! Originally, we thought Blake could take some skating lessons this year and possibly start hockey next year, but after talking to a few friends whose son's started hockey at 3, we decided to give it a shot. The first couple of years are spent, for the most part, learning skating skills. He will be on the ice every Saturday from 11 to noon at the KC Arena (behind Old Navy on the NS)! Here's a preview of Blake in his equipment:
Sunday we had a pretty low-key day. Blake and I accomplished a lot of small errands though, which were nice to check of the ever-growing to do list!
Today we enjoyed a family swim at Servus Centre. Blake had a blast on the water slides and we all had fun splashing around, floating in the "river" and playing! This afternoon we went to Costco and Blake picked out his Halloween costume. He's going to be a fireman, that is if the costume survives until Oct. 31st! He was wearing it from the time we got home until bedtime and I can see this being a trend!! We're not sure what Emerson will be this year, but we'll have to get hers soon too. Everywhere seems to sell out of "good" costumes so early!
This week we'll be getting ready for our last camping trip of the year. Our annual September long Jasper trip! We love camping in Jasper and can't wait to do the usual sight seeing!! We're leaving Friday morning and coming home Monday afternoon. Blake is going to ride to Jasper with Grandma and Grandpa, which he's really excited about :) After this trip, Cal will be winterizing the trailer and off to storage it will go! We're not sure what next year's camping season will bring ... with 3 kids in our small(ish) trailer! We'll definitely do some camping, but how much - we're not sure! We've loved our camping trips this year, although I have found the packing and un-packing process much more tiring, as I've found everything since being pregnant with 2 toddlers!! We have debated buying a new trailer, but we'll see what's in the stars (or more likely the bank account) :)
Next week is going to be a BIG week in our house!! Our baby boy has his first day of preschool on Tuesday. Where in the world has the time gone?! Next week it's preschool and before we know, I'll be blogging about his high school grad!! I find it very hard to let go ... I worry about the kids feelings being hurt, about them being physically hurt and not being comforted by someone, of them feeling scared, lonely, about people not getting to know the "real Blake" or the "real Em", etc, etc. But I know parents have to let go and have a little faith in the world. And so I will ... but I may have a tear in my eye Tuesday morning ;) Cal is off on Tuesday, so it will be nice to both be able to bring him to his first day of school. He's not entirely excited about it, but we're hoping the first day will go well. He is excited about the crafts, so we're playing that up as much as possible :) He doesn't do well going potty for anyone other then us or Grandma and Grandpa D, so hopefully he'll get used to that, although I'm sure he'll probably just hold it for the 2 hours he's in school!! I know he'll love preschool, once he gets into the routine. He really enjoys playing with others, as well as music, arts and crafts, reading, and learning. At the same time Blake is in preschool (called Fun Factory at the YMCA) there is a program called Come Play With Me in the indoor play gym. I'm excited to take Em to this program and the new baby when it arrives!!
We went shopping to our favorite store yesterday - Indigo!! We're a family of bookworms and the awesome kids section makes the store even better :) Cal and I came home with quite a bit of reading to be done ... we bought 2 books about raising toddlers (1-2-3 Magic and The Happiest Toddler on the Block) and 2 books for enjoyment (the 3rd book in the Stieg Larsson series, which we LOVE) and a book, called Long Way Round, about a road trip Ewan Macgregor and his friend took on motorcylces across the world (sorry, I'll be honest - I'm too lazy to go upstairs and find out the authors of all these books!). Cal tells me there's a second book they wrote about when they go from Northern Ireland to South Africa. I'm looking forward to finishing the above mentioned "toddler" books - Blake and Emerson continue to amaze (most importantly!) and challenge us on a daily basis! I'm almost done the Happiest Toddler on the Block and hope that by utilizing these new "tools" I can help to prevent a few tantrums ;) Cal's turn to read it next!!
Wishing everyone the best "back to school" week possible!! Take care :)
Love,
Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Baby
