Summer lovin'

We are enjoying our summer!!!  So much going on, so much fun :)  I think point form will make this post a bit shorter, so here we go:

- Blake had a blast at his buddy Evan's house!  We will be having Evan over to our house, soon!!  And we have to arrange a play date with his friend's Zander and Derek, both from preschool too!  Blake is such a social little boy, he loves playing with his friends and making new friends :)
- I had a great time in Calgary, with my friend Lindsey!  It was SO nice to catch up with one of my best friends.  The last time we've had more then a few hours together (sans kiddo's!) was a long, long time ago!!  You know you have a best friend for life, when you live hours and 100's of km's apart and pick up right where you left off, and I am lucky to find that in two very special ladies.  I feel very blessed!!  The Garth Brooks concert was AMAZING.  Honestly, best concert I've ever been to.  Hands down.  You know how at the end of a really good concert, the fans are all standing and chanting and sometimes pounding on the metal bleachers for an ovation??  This concert, the fans were doing that the ENTIRE time!  It was a 2 1/2 hour standing ovation and it was crazy!!  Even Garth was overwhelmed!  Steve Warner (Holes in the floor of heaven) and Trisha Yearwood also sang (She's in love with the boy and Walkaway Joe).  A-M-A-Z-I-N-G ... and it didn't hurt being 7th row on the floor!!!  I'm so glad I went!  The Stampede was a lot of fun too!!  The city was so busy and so alive, the atmosphere and all the people were so happy and friendly!  So fun!!  But I missed my family and was very pleased with the huge running hugs and "Mommy!  Mommies home!!" that I received when I walked in the door :)
- Cal's vacation started on the 12th, he had a good few days home with the kiddo's while I was away!  They had fun at the splash park and park and playing with Dad but I had no doubt Cal would be fine with the 3 of them, I'm lucky that way :)
- Last week we had a family picnic at the park and did some running around (got a quote for new carpet - yippeeeee!!!) and got ready for our 3 nights away at Whitesands Resort!  We rented a 2 bedroom cabin and just got back tonight.  We had a really, really good time.  It was nice to spend that time together, away and not at home where  working on our laptops, laundry, house cleaning and the other day-to-day grind 'stuff' can get in the way!!  The kids had a blast, playing on the beach, in the water and at the parks and the weather was fantastic.  Cal and I enjoyed sitting around the fire every evening!  I'm so glad we did this!
- This week, Blake is in a 1/2 day bike camp through Pedalheads.  He's looking forward to it!!  He loves riding his bike and has recently started going around the block all by himself ;)  He's even mentioned trying to ride without training wheels!  Cal is off this week as well (he's off for 18 days in total!!  Lucky us!) so will take Blake tomorrow morning.
- Thursday, Em and plan to take Blake to bike camp, pick him up and then head to Capital Ex to see Strawberry Shortcake!  We might do lunch at Taste of Edmonton too!!

I thought with the sale of our travel trailer, our summer would be a bit slower but so far we've been quite busy!!  We'll be slowing down a bit in August ;)

Hope you've had a great few weeks, we'll talk to you again soon!!

xo
Tracy

Miss Chatterbox!

Reese's new words/phrases/sentences:

- I don't want to (this one surprised me!!)
- Thank you
- I love you (soooo cute!  She chased Em around the kitchen yesterday saying, "I love you Em!  I love you Em!")
- Please
- I want up
- Cover me up
- I do it
- Me, mine
- Step, water bottle, purple, pink, shoes, shirt, shorts, skirt, barrette, ponytail, jump, run, the single words are endless!!

I can't believe how many words and sentences she says!  It is really, really cute :)

So much fun!!

xo

Heat wave!

Feeling hot, hot, hot!!!  We've been getting some really nice weather!  We had a few very hot days last week, this weekend was near +30 both days and the beginning of this week is going to be the same.  I was so glad we were at the lake this weekend, as I find the high temp's more bearable when you can be in the water!!  The kids bedrooms are SO hot, I feel so bad for them.  It's like walking into on oven.  But they don't seem to mind it, they haven't complained anyway!  We bought new fans for their rooms, which do help a little bit.  Our room is pretty hot too but we can leave our window open through the night so that really helps.  I don't leave the kids windows open, in fear that they would rise with the sun ;)

Blake had an absolute BLAST at his "Heroes in Training" camp, last week.  He made a superhero cape, shield, hat, belt and mask!  I was very impressed with the leaders and how well the camp was organized and ran!  I knew my gf Jodi's 2 boys and Blake's friend Evan would be in the camp but on the first morning I realized I knew the majority of the kids in the camp from one place or another!  Blake's next camp is in 2 weeks, he and Em are going to a bike camp!

This weekend, we were at our friend Christa's family cabin at Skeleton Lake.  We had a fabulous time, soaking up the fun and hanging out with great friends!  The kids had a blast, although Reese was not feeling well.  Blake and Em are little fish and spent a large majority of their time in the water, swimming, splashing, floating, rowing the dingy and tube :)  There was also a bouncy house, water sprinkler and many other fun toys in the back yard of the cabin!  I use the term cabin loosely ... this cabin is really a house!  Running, hot water, central vac!  lol!  If I ever win the lotto, the first thing I am doing is buying a cabin!!!  Never mind towing a trailer around and packing and unpacking all the time - a cabin is where it's at ;)  Thank you Parenteau's and Krywiak's for sharing your little piece of paradise with us, we had a blast and can't wait to do it again!!

Reese woke up not feeling well on Friday.  She seemed really congested and was coughing.  Friday night she sounded terrible, so we thought we'd better have her seen by a Dr. before we went to the lake on Saturday morning.  I took her to a medi-centre early Saturday morning.  We thought she had croup and the Dr. confirmed that.  He gave her a steroid and a inhaler to open her airways.  It helped a lot with the croupy cough but she still is very congested.  She's not sleeping very well because of the coughing and chest congestion :(  Hopefully she starts feeling better, really soon!  

Today, Blake is going on his first ever play date without Mom or Dad!!  He was invited to Evan's house and I am dropping him off and not going in.  Other play dates in the past have always involved Mom and/or Dad and at least 1 sister!!!  Blake is very excited and I'm sure he'll have a blast but I feel like he's growing up too fast!

Have a great Monday, everyone!  Stay cool ;)

xoxo

Tracy

Freeze.

Let's freeze time for a few months ...

Let's just repeat July and August 3 or 4 times and then maybe I'll be ready to move on to September :)

Reese is so darn cute right now!  She is changing and growing up so fast, every day brings something new.  Today she started telling secrets.  O-M-G, cutest thing ever!!!  She leans into Emerson or Blake's ear and whispers jibberish with a sly little look on her face!  And then they return the secret and she listens intently :)

We had fun on Canada Day, despite a change in plans due to the rain!!  I took Blake and Emerson to their very first movie!  We saw Madagascar 3.  It was a great movie, which they enjoyed along with the popcorn ;)  I thought we might have to leave during the previews, as the volume was WAY too loud for Em.  She was covering her ears and had to sit on my lap :(  But once Madagascar started the volume wasn't quite as high (although still too high IMO!) and she sat in her own seat and enjoyed herself!  There were a few scary parts, but nothing that Blake couldn't handle :)  I don't think I'd take Emerson to another movie, at least for another year or so.  She did enjoy it but I don't think she quite appreciated it as much as Blake!  Although she has said she wants to go to a princess movie in the big theatre, so if an appropriate princess-themed movie came out I think we'd take her!!  After the movie I took the kids to the spray park.  They had an absolute BLAST!!!  Afterwards they had their faces painted and played at the park for awhile.


Today was another hot day!  We had a family game of baseball in the back yard this morning and went to another spray park this afternoon!  Cal and Reese joined us after Reese's nap and we enjoyed watching Reese test the waters ;)  She ran in and out of the spray, laughing and screaming!!  Mom and Dad came in from their lake lot today and joined us for supper!  


It was a fabulous weekend and just a taste of what's to come this summer :)  


Talk to you soon,


Tracy

Pure Cuteness ;)

At bed time tonight I was sitting in the glider in Reese's room while she played around with her new fan.  She was talking into it, enjoying the way it distorted her voice!  It was really funny but time to get moving on the bedtime routine.  I asked her several times to come over to me.  She would just laugh and run around the room, talk into the fan, etc.  Finally I said, "Reese, please come see Mom.  It's bedtime."  She didn't respond so I said, "One ..." She stopped, looked at me and said, "Twoooo!"  I said, "Three ..." and then she raised her arms in the air and said, "ast off!!!!!"  (blast off) OMG, I almost died!!!  It was SO cute!  So of course we did that a few more times before moving on to bed time ;)

Reese loves her sleep sac's and I recently bought her a lighter weight sleep sac, hoping she could wear it through the summer.  She's been wearing it up until today (sometimes with just her diaper underneath!) but today at nap time there was no way she could wear another layer!  It's usually around 28 degrees in the kids bedrooms on a hot day and today was HOT!  So I layed her down for her nap, placed her favorite blankie beside her and her favorite teddy bear on the other side of her, as usual.  She was very tired and had sleepy eyes, as she looked up at me and said, "eep sac?" Awwwww ... melt my heart!!  She was sad because she didn't have her sleep sac on :(  I told her it was very warm in her room and she would be too hot.  She just looked up at me with her beautiful blue eyes and said, "K."  And off she went to sleep.

It is a lot of fun watching Blake, Emerson and Reese play!  They usually play quite well together, although the older two do get frustrated at times because Reese is in the 'mine' stage of life ... everything is hers!  If she wants it, she grabs it and says, "MINE!"  We're working on that ;)  But Blake and Em are always quite accomodating and typically give in to Reese's every whim ... I'm thinking the 'baby' in the family is pretty lucky!!  It is really cool to see Reese joining in Blake and Emerson's games!  I love hearing them giggling and planning and schemeing!  Warms my heart!  We also enjoy joining in their games.  Last week, every day was a tea party/dance party/monster truck party!  Poor Blake is out numbered but he still manages to fit in his trucks/trains/superhero's ;)

Captain Blake Cameron (proud as punch!)!  

Em & Cal peaking up into the fish pond at TWOS!

Reese enjoying TWOS!

We've been enjoying our Canada Day long weekend!  Friday we visited the Telus World of Science for the first time.  We bought a family membership (thank you Telus Employee perks for the great discount!!) and we will be back!!  The kids had a blast visiting the various exhibits and seeing "Born to be Wild" at the IMAX theatre.  This was Blake and Em's first movie theatre experience!  They did well and really enjoyed the film, as did I.  Emerson had a lot of questions.  Her main questions were, "Why did their Mommy die?"  "Why are the baby elephants scared?"  Some interesting conversation ensued!  Blake and Em both really love animals and I think it was a great introduction to the movies :)  I don't think Emerson is ready for the big theatres, though!  She can't sit still for much longer then 30 min!  This film was 45 min.  Blake, Em and Reese's favorite part of the day was definately the Discoveryland area.  Blake already asked to go back today!  It will be the perfect rainy/snowy/retreat from the heat destination!  We enjoyed an early dinner out after our TWOS visit and a bike ride outside!

This morning we visited the St. Albert Farmer's market.  Our main goal was to purchase carrots from Peas on Earth :)  As Blake says, "They're like candy!"  And they really are!  So delicious!!  Nothing compares to an organic, farm-fresh carrot!  Of course you can't leave the market without an assortment of other goodies ... hair accessories for the girls, cheese buns, cookies, roti and curry (NOT for Cal ;)) and raspberry/apple loaf!  Last weekend we loaded up on our favorite chicken from Sunworks Farm!  Once again, nothing compares to organic, free-range chicken :)  If you have a chance, you HAVE TO TRY the rosemary chicken sausages.  SO delicious!!  Just ask Blake ;)  They are his absolute favorite and he often asks if we can have them for supper!  Too bad organic meat is so darn expensive.

After the market the kids and I napped/watched a movie and cooled down inside while Cal ran his 10 miles.  He was smokin' hot when he came home but glad he got it done!  It was then out to the backyard for some sprinkler fun!!  The kids love running through the sprinkler and turning the slide into a slippery slide!  There were many water, watermelon and ice cream breaks in between running around the back yard :)

Tomorrow I am taking Em and Blake to a Canada Day party at a local park.  Cal and Reese will bike over and join us when Reese wakes up from her nap.  Monday is also a day off in our house but I think we'll take it easy and get ready for the busy week ahead!  Blake is in a superhero day camp on Tu, Wed, Th and Fri mornings!  My girlfriend Jodi also has her 2 boys registered in the camp and Blake's preschool buddy Evan is in the camp as well, so Blake is really looking forward to it!  Jodi and I and the girls will probably go for a coffee and hopefully a nice, long walk around Beaumaris Lake while the boys are at camp!

We hope you're enjoying your long weekend and wish you a Happy Canada Day (tomorrow)!

xoxo

Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese  

Goodbye ol' friend ...

Today we said goodbye to our first r.v. :(  I shed a few tears as the new owners pulled her out of our driveway.

Our first camping trip in our very first trailer
May long weekend 2008 @ Cross Lake Provincial Park

So many memories made and good times had in that trailer!  We honestly wanted it to go to a good home (strange maybe, do we have attachment issues?!) and are very happy with the couple who bought it :)  They live near and we've already drove by so Blake could take a look!!

Cal and the kids @ Cross Lake Provincial Park, May long 2012
Our last camping trip with the Silvertip!

Now the hunt is on for a new, more appropriately sized r.v.!  We've waffled back and forth over what floor plan we'd like.  At one point I was almost adamant that we needed a 'bunkhouse' model.  But after talking to the couple who bought ours, we've really realized we don't need to get too crazy!!!  They've tented all their lives (across the world and with their young children) and remarked that their new trailer will be like staying in a 5 star hotel!!  I can not imagine tenting with kids.  I'd love to be 'that person' but it won't happen!  However, as long as we all have a bed (or beds big enough to be shared!) and some floor space in case of a rainy day, I think that is all we need.  So what we're mainly looking for is a model with either triple single bunks or jack and jill bunks with a super slide.  I'd love a u-shaped dinette as well but that is not a must ;)

Hopefully by September we'll be blogging about our new home away from home :)

Tracy

Good bye old friend, enjoy your new home :)

Summer is near!!

I can't believe it has been almost 1 month since my last blog post?!  Wow, that is unlike me!!

Cal and I took Blake to his kindergarten orientation on Tuesday morning.  It was fun seeing him head off with the teacher and some of his new classmates!  He came back excited and bearing a craft :)  He will start kindergarten on September 4th.  The days and hours are M, Tu, W and Fri from 8:22 to 11:20 am.  I am excited for Blake to embark upon this new chapter in his life.  He is more then ready for kindergarten!!!

We also found out that Emerson does not qualify for funding for the 100 Voices preschool program at Ecole Bishop Savaryn.  After her assessment the O.T., P.T. and S.L.P. told me they did not find any areas in which we should be concerned so we were expecting she wouldn't be funded!!  If we were to pay for her to attend, the cost is $300/month.  I think it would have been good for her but the Lago Lindo preschool will also be great!  She will go on Tu and Th from 8:30 to 11:15 am.  I was looking at the class calendar and they have a lot of awesome field trips planned (Mutart, Prairie Gardens, Art Gallery, and more!).  I know she will have a blast, as she LOVES her once a week class that she is attending currently!!!  She is always asking if she has school today and then on Thursday morning she is ready to go early and quite impatient ;)

I am not sure how I will juggle dropping off and picking up Blake and Em ... the schools are approx. a 10 minute drive apart.  But that doesn't take into account parking, walking into the school, etc.  Blake does qualify for free busing (and the bus would pick him up at our door and drop him off at our door!).  We filled out the transportation application and will hopefully hear what the route is like and the pick-up and drop-off times soon!  But if the bus will be picking him up really early, I would prefer to drive him!!

Wednesday was parents day at Blake's swimming lessons and we are very excited to share that he has passed Gliders and is moving on to Divers!!  He's been in Gliders a few times now and was also VERY excited to hear that he's moved on to Divers :)  Divers is all in the deep end of the pool ... with no life jackets ... this worries me but I did see him swim approx. 12 ft in the deep end with no life jacket so I guess he's okay with it?!  He'll start Divers in the fall!

Emerson passed her first lesson after one try but will be in Floaters again in the fall!  Reese will be moving on up to Bubblers, as she is over 18 months now!  Hopefully we can fit her parented lessons into our schedule ... hockey will be Saturdays and Sundays in the fall and Emerson would like to try a dance class (she says Ballet but I'd like her to try Ukrainian dancing, as I Ukrainian danced as a kid and it incorporates ballet!!).

Blake and Emerson had their year end preschool party on Thursday.  It was circus themed and a lot of fun!  They had various circus games and crafts and a pot-luck lunch.  A lot of their friends were there and we all had a great time, Reese included!!  She was dancing around and really enjoyed the popcorn ;)

After the party, we headed to Fort McMurray!  Cal and my Dad left Thursday afternoon for a fishing/quadding trip (more on that later) and my Mom came up with the kids and I on Friday afternoon.  I find the drive very long, not like driving to Calgary or Grande Prairie!  Lots of interruptions on this highway and it seems like people are either driving too fast or too slow!!!  But the company at the end of the drive makes it worth while :)  We stayed at Jeremy and Lindsay's for 3 nights.  We had a good time and got lots of visiting in, visiting my cousins and an Aunt who was visiting from Saskatchewan.  We made a few trips to the park and went swimming at Mac Island, which is an amazing facility!!!  Thank you Lindsay and Connor for allowing us to take over your house ;)  We loved spending time with you and you too Mom!!

Cal, Dad, Jeremy and 4 others embarked on their northern quadding and fishing trip on Friday morning!  They drove approx. 1 1/2 hrs north of Fort McMurray to a staging area where they unloaded the quads and 2 trailers.  From the staging area they quadded approx. 3 hours (@ around 35 km/hr) to Herb lake, where they set up camp.  They fished Herb lake and from there quadded to Jackson Lake, Keith Lake and Six Lakes.  When Cal was heading back to Fort McMurray and had cell service again, I texted him and asked how the trip was.  In his words, "Pretty cool - lots of quadding, a little fishing and good company!"  I'm so glad he had a great time, he deserves some fun and a break from the 'real world' ;)  We missed him like crazy though!!!  The kids were super excited to see him and mauled him for awhile when he walked in the door :)

This week is the last week of preschool and I'm actually quite excited!!  I can't wait for school and swimming lessons to be over!  I look forward to fun play dates, visit's to the park, bike rides, visiting the zoo, spending time with Cal on his week days off and just going with the flow :)  No need to be out the door at a certain time!!!  And I'll be taking most of July and some of August off of Cameron's Closet, which will be really nice!  I'll still have to do the odd thing but not near as much time will be spent on it!

The kids are doing well!  Reese continues to chat away and learn new words every day :)  She's a smart little cookie too and SUCH a parrot!  Emerson had to stop on the side of the road for a bathroom break today, on route home from Fort McMurray.  We had the van door open, helping Em and Reese pipes up, "Pee!!  Pee!!!"  Cal asked her, "Do you have to go pee, Reese?"  To which she replied (and grabbed her diaper at the same time!), "Uh huh!"  LOL!  It was soooo funny!!!!

Have a great week :)

xo
Tracy