Back to school 2012!

Blake and Em's first days of school went great!!

Blake's staggered entry day was Tuesday.  He went to school for 1 hr, 15 min and parents were welcome to stay, so I did!  Cal took Reese out of the school for most of the class, Em was at preschool!  We found Blake's 'hook' where he'll hang his backpack and jacket and leave his indoor shoes and a change of clothes!!  We dropped off his school supplies and met his teacher and the classroom assistant, went over his afternoon busing info and Blake and classmates did a few activities with their teacher.  They started right in with French, learning head, shoulders, knees and toes and please and thank you :)  Blake had a blast and was very excited for day 2!  1/2 of his classmates were with him on Tuesday morning and the other 1/2 were scheduled for an hour and 15 min, later in the day!  Wednesday morning was his first full morning with all 19 of his classmates!!  The girls and I walked him to his classroom and watched for a few minutes, with all the other Mom's, all trying not bawl in the hallway!!!  Before dismissal, I drove back to the school to ensure he got on the bus okay.  I wasn't worried, I just wanted to be there for the first time!!  The teacher assistant walks the kids to their bus and ensures they get on the correct one, so there really isn't much room for error ;)  There's only 7 kids on his bus, as it is a kindergarten bus only.  His bus driver is super nice and had met Blake and Cal when he was reviewing his route last week!  After we watched Blake get on his bus, we zipped home to wait for his arrival!!  He was so excited when he got off the bus, he ran straight into my arms for a big hug :)  He is a boy of few words but when we asked him how school was he said, "Good!" with some enthusiasm ;)  We're so proud of you Blake!!!

Emerson's preschool staggered entry day was also Tuesday, which made for a hectic morning!!  Em's preschool starts at 8:45 and ends at 11:15.  This week, 1/2 of the Tue/Thur a.m. class went on Tue and 1/2 on Thur.  So next week, her regular schedule of every Tue and Thur begins and she couldn't be more excited!!  She wants to go to school every day ... I never really thought about how Emerson would be affected by Blake being in Kindergarten but it has been difficult for her.  She wants to be in school when he is and she misses him :(  So sweet but a little bit sad too!!  With her birthday being in February, she could go to kindergarten next year.  I have a feeling she will be ready but I am hesitant to put her in 'early'!  Every kindergarten teacher I've talked to, suggest waiting ... ??  I'm not sure but I am glad we have some time before we have to decided!  I'm hoping her preschool teachers will have some insight for us!!  But back to preschool on Tuesday, we all dropped Em off on Tuesday morning.  Up until Tuesday morning she was very excited to go to "Lago Lindo preschool" but on the way to school on Tuesday morning she decided she wasn't going to go!!  Once we got there and she remembered this was where her princess camp was, she was excited to get in there!!  She had a blast, and the teachers said she did fantastic and had a lot of fun :)  I'm very excited for her and so proud :)  Her teachers seem very nice and the program looks fantastic!  Em is very excited for the field trips and music class but is not sure about yoga and zumba!!!!  She ask's almost daily, "Are we doing yoga tomorrow?"  I don't think she's too keen on it ... ;)  Love you Em, so proud of how well you adjust to these new situations and this year, without your big bro by your side :)

Reese has been so cute these past few days!  She is right in there for all the back to school pictures and insists on carrying her back pack that Auntie Lindsay bought her!!  It's so cute and just the right size, she looks adorable carrying a little backpack ;)  Reese, Em and I went to our first Come Play With Me class of this session, on Wednesday morning after we dropped Blake off.  We had a blast and the girls were very excited to see Miss Christine!  I will hopefully take Reese to Come Play With Me on Tuesday mornings and both girls on Wednesday mornings!  Before I knew Blake and Emerson's school schedules, I was thinking that I would have a lot of time with just Reese at home but as it turns out I have 2 1/2 hours every Tuesday morning!!!  So not much of a break but that is okay!  In a few years they will all be in school (at least part time) and I will be bawling like a baby and unsure of what to do next!!!  lol!

It will be a busy school year ... on top of kindergarten, preschool and come play with me class, all 3 kids start swimming lessons on Friday, Blake starts hockey on Saturday (which will turn in to Saturday and Sunday in the next few weeks), Emerson starts dance classes on Wednesday, I am back to kettlebell classes 2 evenings a week, fitting in a yoga class here and there and hoping to try Zumba at the YMCA and Cal is keeping up with his running and looking into playing hockey 1 night a week!!  Never mind, Blake and Em want to take music lessons (Blake guitar or drums) and Em is not sure but just wants to play all instruments!!  I'm not sure we'll fit those in just yet, we try to have down time as well and although it might not look like it from the above activities, we do!!!

We hope your back to school week is going smoothly and everyone is enjoying their new adventures :)

xoxo
T C B E R

Posing with goofy faces, before PS and KG :)

My babies :)

Ready to go, backpacks packed!!

My loves

Successful first day, all by himself and took the bus home :)

Kindergarten

Dear Blake,

In just 10 short hours, you start kindergarten. It feels like we've been counting down to this day for so long and yet it has arrived way too fast.  I remember saying a few years ago, "I can't believe that in 2 years Blake will be going to Kindergarten!" and then in June saying, "In just two months Blake will be starting Kindergarten!"  And I remember so many people saying, "Before you know it he will be starting school!"  And here we are.  10 short hours away.  We've bought the school supplies, the brand new clothes (vs. consignment threads ;) ), the fancy new shoes and we've done the back to school hair cut!  We've talked about kindergarten and how fun it will be meeting new friends and learning new things.  You don't appear to be nervous, although you took extra long to fall asleep tonight!

I don't know how you will feel on your first day without me but I do know that when I leave you, you’ll occupy my thoughts for those three hours: what you’re doing, what you’re thinking, if you’re okay, if you’re making friends or feel left out, if you miss me and your sisters, if you're wondering what we're doing without you, if you're nervous to take bus home.  I will be so glad when you step off that bus!

Being a parent can be interesting, frightening, rewarding, and frustrating, and sometimes all those emotions tangled into one!  From early on in my pregnancy I felt that you were a boy, I just had a 'feeling' your Dad and I would be welcoming a son into this crazy world.  You have been such a blessing in our lives.  I often shake my head in wonderment and wipe the tears from my eyes as I witness your kind-hearted nature at play or your gentleness with your sisters and friends.  You are always very quick to please, which I pray will stay with you but that you will also learn to look out for yourself as well and somehow balance that giving, pleasing nature of yours.  

After your sister was born, I briefly returned to work.  But that return was with a heavy heart.  Somehow it just felt wrong and not the right choice for our family.  Your Dad felt it too and we agreed to test out the waters as a single income family.  I do not for one minute regret that choice.  We have spent so much time together, with your sisters and have made so many precious memories at home.  Like so many parents of our generation, we've tried to give you those “must-haves” the experts insisted on: Breastfeeding: Check. Lots of books: Check. Minimal TV: Check (although this has certainly increased over the years!). Early preschool: Check. (Mostly!)Healthy meals: Check. All of the above we have felt are important but most importantly and more then everything we have loved you unconditionally and this I hope you feel.

While we have given you advantages and can buy those school supplies and pack your snack, you will be without us in the classroom.  I fear we are helicopter parents and hope we have given you enough freedom and confidence to spread your wings, because the time has come.  You’ve always been a tad shy, cautious, watching and learning before jumping in. It’s a trait I think you and your Dad share and one that I feel can be very advantageous. I always say your sisters will give us a run for our money, while you will be helping us reel your sisters in.

I found this paragraph on one of the many mom-written blogs I peruse*, "Once I expressed my own hesitations about school to a teacher acquaintance. Her advice stuck with me: The hardest part of releasing you to elementary school — or any new experience — is realizing that I must give you up to the less-than-perfect world that awaits you."  This struck me and hit me hard.  I am so hesitant to release you to the less-than-perfect world and not because our family and our world is perfect but because I want to always be there to wipe your tears, hold your hand, cheer you on and always, always help you to feel important, loved and special.  Because in my world, you are the most important, most loved and most special boy walking this Earth.

Back to that perfect world.  The world will always be imperfect and I too have been an imperfect parent.  But I am always willing to learn, to admit to a mistake, to say sorry and to try harder next time.  And so I have to expect the school, the administration, your teachers, and your peers will also be less-than-perfect, just like me and the rest of the world.  But I can hope that they too will always be willing to learn, admit to a mistake, say sorry and try a little harder next time. I know you will feel frustrated at times, left out, sad, angry, and unimportant but I hope the rewarding, challenging, happy, and fulfilling times will outweigh those less-than-perfect days.

I can not wait until you can read and are able to read not only this letter but this entire blog.  I want you to always carry these thoughts with you: No matter where you go, what you do or what you become we will always be here for you and will always welcome you with open arms and an open mind, ready to listen, ready to help you with whatever it is you may need.  In this less-than-perfect world and with all our less-than-perfect ways, we have been given you and your two sisters, the three most perfect gifts we could have ever hoped for.

I know you will enjoy yourself this school year and I can not wait to hear about the fun you will have and to see you flourish!  I really look forward to watching you learn and grow and learning and growing with you.  Once I wipe these tears from my eyes, I will greet you with a smile tomorrow morning, and let you spread your wings ... just a little.  I love you my boy.

Love always and forever, to the moon and back,

Mom

Way up north ...

To Grande Prairie ... Friday morning we left for G.P.  Our kids are such great travellers, we made a few pit stops and had a pretty uneventful drive north!  We had a great time in Grande Prairie, visiting Cal's Mom, sister Carmen and brother in-law Darren, the Hrdlicka's (met the newest addition - Carson!) and the Bezan/Ross family!  So great to see everyone :)

Last week, we also had a great afternoon with Lesley, Colby and Jenna :)  A lunch/park/Twisted Yogurt date!!  Lots of fun and so great to see 3/4 of the Stony Plain Cameron's!  Blake and Colby are like two peas in a pod when we get together, off having fun and doing their own thing!  Hard to believe both boys will be going to Kindergarten next week ... ?!

Which brings us to this week - our last week of care-free, do what we want, get dressed when we want, stay in our jammies all day if we want, summer 'vacation' ... preschool, kindergarten, dance and swimming lessons ALL start next week!  Which will quickly be followed by hockey  in a few weeks!  We have had a FANTASTIC July and August and have thoroughly enjoyed our break!  On one hand, I'm not ready for it to be over but on the other hand there is part of me that is craving the routine and predictability of the fall and winter months!!  I enjoy looking at our family calendar and seeing everything pencilled in for the remainder of the year, all laid out before my eyes ;)

So, yes ... Blake starts kindergarten on Tuesday!!  Tuesday marks his staggered entry day, when I will go with him for an hour and fifteen minutes.  Wednesday, it is business as usual - class from 8:20 to 11:22 a.m.  I am excited for Blake and I think the transition will be pretty smooth, being that he goes to school 4 mornings a week and I will have him home every afternoon and all day Thursday :)  I love this schedule!!  We got his bus route info last week and due to an early pick up time and riding the bus with all the elementary students in the a.m. we have opted to drive him in the morning.  Most afternoons he will take the bus home, as it is strictly a K bus and he is dropped off at our door!  Tomorrow we are attending 'First Riders' which is an info session on riding the big yellow bus!!  Blake hasn't said too much about attending K.  When asked he says he is excited and that is about it!  He knows what recess is and knows that he will get to enjoy a snack and some play time at recess and that once he's in grade 1 he will have 2 recesses and a lunch break!  That seems to be what he is concentrating on at the moment ;)  Can't wait to hear all about his first day and of course I will be blogging about it :)

Emerson's new preschool does a staggered entry as well and her first day is also Tuesday!  She will attend a full morning class on Tuesday and then start again the following Tuesday, beginning the Tuesday/Thursday morning schedule.  We have a parent meeting tomorrow night.  Em is excited for preschool and likes to tell everyone that she is going to 'Lago Lindo preschool'!!  I am also excited for her and hope that she has a great year :)  Emerson's 1st dance class is next Wednesday, which is very, very exciting for her!!  She practices her moves everyday and asks when her class is starting numerous times a day!  I registered her last week and have to still pick up her 'supplies'!  They are very specific - a red, long-sleeved Mondor bodysuit, white Mondor tights, a specific pair of ballet shoes and a specific pair of tap shoes.  I am a bit scared to see what the cost of all of this will be :s  There is also a specific costume that we will have to buy, which will be worn for the pictures and for the one recital they put on!  Can't wait for that :)  The class is a combination ballet/jazz/tap class.

And Miss Reese is looking forward to a few hours of Mom's sole attention every Tuesday morning!!  Funny, I thought with Blake in K and Em in preschool 2 mornings a week I'd have so much more time to myself/with just one child but it hasn't turned out that way ;)  Which is more then okay!  Reese and I will likely attend Come Play with Me at the YMCA every Tuesday morning and enjoy ourselves :)  The girls and I will probably go to Come Play With Me on Monday's, as well!  Reese is very excited to start swimming lessons next Friday!  Just ask her, she'll tell you!  She looooves swimming!!  I can not believe the changes in Reese, over the past few months.  Her vocabulary is absolutely astounding!!!  She speaks in full sentences and surprises us every day!  Today she asked me, "Mom?  What are you doing?"  I was so surprised, I said, "Pardon me?" to which she replied, "What are you doing, Mom?"  Later in the day she was on the top bunk in Blake and Em's room (she is a MONKEY!  Seriously, climbs everything and anything and is also a daredevil.  Climbs up to the highest slide at the park and scoots down - over and over and over again!!), I went to get her off and she was standing up, jumping up and down, saying, "Look at me!  Look at me!  Look at me!"  What a turkey!!!!  She is fiercely independent, insisting on putting her own clothes on (and she often gets it right!), her own shoes on, brushing her own hair, feeding herself (still very messy at times) and even sitting on the potty!!  She has yet to 'go' in the potty but has spend a lot of time just hanging out, which is fine by me!  We're not pushing the training, just letting her sit on the throne whenever she requests it ;)  Oh and Reese can count to 13.  Really, I was totally surprised by this.  She started counting and I would repeat the number back to her and she would continue all the way to 13!!  She gets mixed up at 3 and 4 but other then that, counts away!  Last night when my parents were over for dinner, she was show casing her counting skills, yelling at the top of her lungs, "ONE ... TWO ... "  We were all laughing and she would pause and laugh with us!  She's so darn cute ;)

Since his half marathon, Cal's been keeping up with his running!  In my opinion, he's lost quite a bit of weight but every time I ask him if he's weighed himself he says he hasn't.  Damn him anyways and men in general ... always seems like they loose weight so easily!!  And speaking of which, I am really excited to start Kettlebells again next week.  I've missed it immensely and can't wait to get back into it!  We also have a family membership at the YMCA now and I plan to try out Zumba!  I've wanted to try Zumba for over a year now and now I can!

Have a great week everyone, I will be thinking of all my fellow Mom's who have kids starting kindergarten next week :)

xo
Tracy

So proud :)

Last week brought the last summer camps of summer 2012 for Blake and Emerson!  And they both had an absolute BLAST!!  Emerson enjoyed Jitter Bugs at the YMCA.  One of the camp leaders was a preschool teacher last year and she new 4 of the other 'campers'!!  They went swimming 3 out of 5 days, went on nature walks, made crafts and had a dance party on the last day!  Blake looooved his hockey camp!!  They had 1/2 an hour of dry land training every morning, which mostly consisted of sprints, soccer, stretching, obstacles, etc.  Blake really, really enjoyed this part of his camp!  I think he will definitely be asking to play soccer this spring, as he told us he loves soccer and wanted to practice playing almost every afternoon after his camp!!  The on ice portion of the camp was 45 min.  Blake also enjoyed this part and it was amazing to see improvements in just a few days!  He is stopping a lot better and his backwards skating was so much better on the last day!  His favorite part of on-ice, was the game played at the end of the session!  He told us that the greens (a few of the boys nicknamed the green jersey team the Christmas tree's!) and the greys (they nicknamed this team the Quicksilver team) each won 2 games and tied one, so overall it was a tie!!  He was quite pleased with this ;)

Our afternoons were also quite busy, last week!  Blake, Emerson and I did some back to school shopping on Monday afternoon.  We bought most of Blake's school supplies and 1 pair of shoes!  He still needs 1 more pair of shoes and Emerson needs a new pair as well.  Back to school shopping is so much fun!  I LOVED this time of year, as a kid!  I was always excited to go back to school and had so much fun shopping for supplies and a few new outfits :)  On Tuesday afternoon, Cal took Blake and Emerson to the Telus World of Science.  As always, they had a lot of fun!!  Wednesday afternoon, Lindsay and Connor arrived!  We had a great time together!!  Thursday afternoon Lindsay, Connor, Blake, Emerson, my Mom and myself went to the Valley Zoo.  It was a fun afternoon, complete with a visit to the new Arctic exhibit, a Lucy sighting (Emerson's favorite animal at the Valley zoo!), visiting Blake's best friends the banana monkeys, ice cream and a train ride!  We are so glad Lindsay and Connor could come for a visit :)  Connor is growing and changing and is soooo cute and adorable!  Not to mention a very good baby and happy as can be :)

This weekend has been all about the Canadian Derby marathon!!  Blake participated in the ABC Run for Kids on Saturday afternoon.  It consisted of 6 active body stations and a fun run!!  Blake had so much fun!  He ran his little heart out and was so proud of himself, as are we and many of our friends and family!!  He also raised $285.00 for KidSport!  Thank you to everyone who donated to this worthy cause and supported Blake!  Thank you to Grandma and Grandpa D for coming out to cheer on Blake and to Grandma Bev for the phone call, we really appreciate it :)  We have a feeling this is the first of many races for Blake!!  Next year, we may make it a family event with Cal running in the marathon, I may try and take on the 5 or 10 k race and all 3 kids participating in the ABC Run!!!

Cal ran in the half marathon this morning (21.1 km).  This is the third half marathon he has ran in and he did great!  His finishing time was 1:55:27, his best time to date!  He finished 79th out of 162 runners amongst males, aged 30 to 39, out of all males he finished in 271st place out of 554 runners and overall he finished 398th out of 1261 runners who completed the race!  I'm so proud of him :)  He plans to run 1 or 2 more half marathons and then hopes to train for a full marathon.  The training for a full marathon is so time consuming, it is hard with a full time job and 3 little ones!  Not to mention a 'honey-do' list from his honey ;)  lol!!!  But hopefully he can fit it in because he has wanted to complete a full marathon for a few years now.  This event was so well organized and so much fun!  Although we've never been to a Running Room event that wasn't a huge success!

Another fantastic week of summer, come and gone!  We're looking forward to this week - a playdate with the Stony Plain Cameron's and visiting friends and family in Grande Prairie this weekend!

Have a great week everyone :)

Love The Cameron's

We're going to the zoo, zoo, zoo ..

We had a blast at the Calgary Zoo on Wednesday!  It was a long day but the kids, as usual, travelled like champs :)  We left our house around 7:15 am and returned home at 10 pm!

It was so nice to see Carmen, Darren, Dylan, Kerri and Kailey and spend the day with them.  We just wish Kourtney would have been with us as well but summer jobs tend to take precedent over summer vacations when you are a high school student ;)

Blake had a lot of fun with Dylan, he really looks up to his older cousin, which is very sweet :)  Dylan had fun with Blake and was so good with Em and Reese too, helping Reese push the stroller and looking out for both the girls.  All the kids enjoyed the zoo and running around together!  Blake said his favorite animal was the grizzly bear and Emerson said her favorite was the giraffe!  Reese would run up to a display and turn around and look at us, saying, "Animals!!  Animals!!"  LOL!!

From the zoo, we made a quick stop at Cross Iron Mills for supper and a little shopping.  We didn't buy a thing though!  We need to make a trip there by ourselves, sans kiddo's!!!  Although having the kids in tow definitely helps our bank account balance ;)

This weekend, I am attending a former co-workers wedding on Saturday and on Sunday we are going to celebrate my BFF Lindsey's son's 3rd birthday and her daughter's 1st birthday!  And Blake needs a new hockey stick (his stick from last season is a good foot too short!!) and possibly new skates ... AGAIN!  That boy is growing far too fast!  

Next week, both Blake and Em are in morning camps.  Blake is in a hockey camp and Emerson is in a YMCA camp.  Cal took the week off and Lindsay and Connor are coming to visit for 2 nights :)  It shall be a wonderful week!!  I can't wait to see Connor!!  We haven't seen him since June and I'm sure he's changed and grown.  They change so fast in the first year :s  Looking forward to seeing my favorite sister as well ;)

Have a great weekend, everyone!  

xo

Tracy

Dylan, Blake, Kailey, Emerson, Reese & Kerri - Cousins :)

  

The Princess Ball

On Friday, Cal, Blake, Reese and I attended Emerson's Royal Ball :)  It was a lot of fun and so, so cute to see Emerson having a blast!!!  The princesses decorated cookies for their guests and enjoyed a tea party, followed by pin the tiara on the princess and a dance!  Emerson had such a great time at Once Upon a Princess camp!  I have been very impressed with the City of Edmonton's summer day camps.  Next year, Blake and Em say they would like to attend the Superhero and Princess camps again!  We'll see if that changes throughout the year ;)

We had a super fun August long weekend!  Saturday we spent a large majority of the day at the Hudson park/spray park.  The Parenteau's joined us and the kids had fun splashing and playing!

Sunday, we headed to Wabamun Provincial Park beach.  We arrived there around 10 am and the beach was already starting to fill up!  By 11 the beach was packed!  The weather was great and we had a lot of fun!  Playing and swimming in the lake, building sand castles and playing at the park.  The kids were so good, not one argument, or meltdown ;)  The love the beach so much!!!  We might try to squeeze another beach day into the calendar, before September!

We had a lower-key day today.  I took Blake to Ice Age 4 at the theatre.  I wasn't really impressed with this move and thought Madagascar 3 was much better and more suitable for a 5 yr old!  But Blake enjoyed it and did not get much of the more 'adult' humour ... which is good!

We are all very excited for Wednesday, when we will be driving to Calgary for the day to meet Cal's older sister and her family at the Calgary zoo!!!  I'm really looking forward to seeing the Francis family and visiting the zoo!  The kids are soooo excited ... Blake can not wait to see the gorilla's and Emerson is pumped to see the penguin's (and their Aunt, Uncle and cousins of course!)!!  Blake does not want to see any alligators or crocodiles!  lol!

Have a great week, everyone :)

xo
Tracy

Fun times!

~ Once home from 'Once Upon a Princess' camp today, Emerson tells me that she invited all her friends to her house for a bubble party!  There's going to be a bubble cake with a candle in it, lots of bubbles and Bashful, Sneezy and Dopey are going to be there!!!  And of course she has to show me her new dance moves, twirling around in her tutu ;)

~ Blake has told us he is building himself a police car.  Like the real thing, he says but more his size!  This morning after dropping Em off at camp, Blake, Reese and I went to the local Dodge dealership to get an oil change and tire rotation done on our van.  Blake was SUPER excited because he wanted to look at all the tires and pick out 4 for his police car ;)

~ Reese is the parrot of all parrot's!  EVERYTHING that Blake and Em says, she copies!  And it's hilarious how she 'competes' with them ... they (as many of you know!!) are not quiet and are rarely calm!  lol!  They get very excited when talking and very animated - hands flying around, jumping around, etc.  Reese gets right in there with them, trying to out-do them!  It's so funny!  She is also very possessive ... she is often heard saying, "Dat mine?" She asks this question a bazillion times a day about nearly everything - toys, water bottles, shoes, clothes, etc, etc!  Thankfully she's picked up on the 'sharing' rules and is okay when we tell her no ;)

Blake had a blast at his Pedalheads bike camp, last week.  Cal and I were completely shocked when the coaches took Blake's training wheels off his bike on the first day of camp!!  We knew they might try to take them off but expected that to happen later in the week!  Blake was very excited and practiced hard the entire week - at camp and at home with Cal and I!  He hasn't mastered riding a 2-wheeler yet but refuses to put the training wheels back on and wants to keep practicing!  His new bike is quite big, although fits him great, but it is heavy and so he's learning to hold it up!  The bike camp was very well ran, they rode bikes but also played games and learned about bike safety.  Every Friday is a theme day and last Friday's theme was the Olympics.  Blake colored Olympic rings and pinned them to his shirt!  They ended up on his bike by the end of the morning!

Emerson, Blake and I met my Mom at Capital Ex on Thursday afternoon.  We worried it was going to rain, but the rain held off!  We took in the Strawberry Shortcake show, had fun in the Family Fun Zone, splurged on some yummy fair grub and Blake took a spin on a ride!  Blake wasn't very impressed with the Strawberry Shortcake show and we weren't sure how Em felt about it until after the show when she showed Grandma and I her dance moves, "just like Strawberry Shortcake!!"

Friday, after bike camp, Cal met my Mom and Dad and they took Emerson and Blake to their lake lot for the weekend!  Reese, Cal and I enjoyed our time together, visiting the St. Albert Farmer's market, shopping for carpet (what a mess :s) and even pampered ourselves with 2 dinner's out ;)  Blake and Em had a blast!!  Emerson went quadding for the first time and Blake, being an old hand at the whole quadding thing, loved when Grandpa let him operate the throttle!!  Cal, Reese and I picked them up on Sunday afternoon.  We were surprised when Reese tried on one of the kids quad helmets and even more surprised when she wanted to go for a quad ride!  Cal took her and she loved it!!  Blake and Em were far more cautious at her age!  Thank you Grandma and Grandpa D for the fun weekend :)

Em's been enjoying her princess camp this week!  She is having a blast and it is so cute to see all the little princesses, having fun together!  The sign on the hall door reads, "Welcome to our castle.  Princess fun from 9 to 11:30 am!"  And the leaders address all the girls as "Princess", i.e., "Okay Princesses, it's time to line up!"  Adorable and right up Princess Emerson's alley ;)  Today she brought home an invitation to a princess ball, on Friday!!  Parents are welcome!  Cal and I can't wait to attend :)  While everything interests Blake (he wants to do it all - every sport, art class, guitar and drum lessons, etc, etc), Emerson's interests are not as broad (yet!) and she doesn't always enjoy herself when trying something new.  So we are glad she is enjoying this camp and having a blast!!  She's also told us repeatedly that she wants to take swimming lessons again, which is great!  We will sign all 3 kids up for fall lessons.  Emerson has also expressed an interest in dance classes, so I've been calling around trying to figure out the best location.  I think I've found the one, I just have to take the plunge and register her!  I'd love for her to take Ukrainian dancing, as my sister and I did when we were young, but their locations and times don't really work for us right now.  The class we're looking into is a combination of Jazz, Ballet, Tap and Hip Hop and is once a week for 45 minutes.  We hope she'll love it, I think she will as she is always dancing around the house and showing us her 'moves' :)

We loved having Cal home for just over 2 weeks!  He headed back to work on Monday morning :( But we get him back again for 4 days, as August long weekend is this weekend!  We hope to have a beach day, either Saturday or Sunday depending on the weather and maybe do some fishing at the stocked pond in Morniville!

We hope you are enjoying your summer and have a fabulous long weekend :)

xo
Cal, Tracy, Blake, Emerson and Reese