Vacay!!

We had a great two weeks, with Cal off for the majority of the time!  He went into work a few mornings and afternoons and of course, answered emails all day long and put out 'fires' ... one of these days we're going on a vacation where he can't access his email or Blackberry ;)

The first week was bike camp in the a.m. and time together in the p.m. - playing outside, a movie, library, fun in the backyard, etc.

The second week we headed to Ol' MacDonald's Resort.  We had a fabulous week!  My parents joined us and we were all very thankful for the wonderful weather!  We had a few beach days, visited the animals many times, did some geocaching/hiking, Blake and Em rode the train and we rented karts twice.  A few stops at the park, lots of bike riding, some ice cream and a great time together :)  Loving my tan, I don't think I've had this great of a tan since I was a kid!!  We love this campground and plan to go back year after year!  It's great for kids of all ages, there are activities for all ages, including movie nights and tie-dying t-shirts, which I thought we'd save for future trips!

In between these two weeks, we attended a friends 40th birthday party (yes, another one!)!  We had a blast, thanks Mom and Dad for babysitting :)  And tonight Cal is at another friends 40th birthday party!! 

This morning we headed to Camrose for Cal's 3rd run in the 5 Peaks Trail Running Series.  He found this course quite difficult and perhaps more so due to missing his own runners and some of his running gear, which was left behind in the trailer.  (*the trailer is at CoachWorks for some warranty work).  Cal's brother Gerry also ran and the kids and I had a nice visit with Lesley, Colby and Jenna while the guys were running!  Afterwards we all went for lunch, it was nice to catch up with the Stony Plain Cameron's :)

Cal's back to work on Monday but we are off on another camping adventure on Friday!  This time to Carson Pegasus with the Hrdlicka's.  I can't wait to camp with my BFF!!!  

Have a great week!!

xo

Tracy

Ol' MacDonald's Resort - July 2013 :)

School's out for the summer!

Blake's last day of school was June 27th and we wasted no time kick-starting our summer camping season!!  On the 28th we headed to Miquelon Lake Provincial Park for the July long weekend.  

Cooling off - the kids spent a lot
of time in these dingy's!!  And thanks to Sharla
for the virgin pina colada's and margarita's ;)

Checking our GPS during geocaching :)

We had a fabulous time, camping in a group site with 6 other families/couples.  This is the second time we've been to Miquelon and we really need to go back more often.  It is quite close to the city, not a far drive for us, and the park is beautiful with many nice trails, ponds and parks.  The beach is also quite nice but the water is touch and go!  We stayed in a group site this time, which was awesome, with a large enclosed shelter where we had our Saturday night pot luck meal and stayed dry on Saturday night during a short thunder storm!  Heidi didn't have to wear a leash and was free to roam around, just like the kids ;)
One of the group sites even has flush toilets and your very own showers - we're booking that site next time!!  The parks centre at Miquelon often host's events and activities and the weekend we were there, we attended a geocaching event.  We've been wanting to try geocaching for quite some time and we all had a great time!  Blake and Em really enjoyed themselves and we look forward to more geocaching this summer.  

We're hoping to try it out in Jasper in August.  We can't wait for our next camping trip, just next week, at Ol' MacDonalds Resort!!  A family favorite :)
This week Blake and Emerson are in a bike camp, ran by Atlantis Programs and Pedalheads.  We enrolled Blake in the camp last year, as he loved to ride his bike but after an incident where he nearly got hit by a car (backing out of a drive way, not Blake's fault at all), he felt quite nervous when biking and a bit hesitant.  He loved the camp last year and even tried riding a 2 wheeler!  Emerson just started riding her bike this year, after 2 years of running alongside Blake!!  lol!  She had no interest in riding her bike last year but this year she hopped right on and off she went.  She loves riding her bike and wanted to go to bike camp with Blake.  The camp incorporates riding their bikes with fun and games and bike and road safety.  So far they're loving the camp, it runs Monday to Friday from 9:30 to noon.  Blake's training wheels were off his bike for a while last summer but he never really felt confident in riding a 2 wheeler so we put them back on and now they are off again!  We'll see what he decides at the end of the week - keep them off or put them back on?!  The camp leader took Em's training wheels off on Monday, much to our surprise and so far she's insistent that they will not go back on!!  We'll see at the end of the week ;)  They were excited to see a friend from Sunday school in their camp!  Emerson actually made her a card last night, it was really cute.  Cal and I have been enjoying 1 on 1 time with Reese while Blake and Em are at camp.  She keeps us on our toes and talks enough for all 3 of them!!!  The things she says and her facial expressions are the best entertainment around!  She's so funny, I love it!  For the first hour or so of bike camp, she's been riding her plasma car.  I think she feels like she's part of the bike camp, as she wears her bike helmet and cruises around!!  I have a feeling she will be asking to go to bike camp next year ;)

We hope your summer is off to a great start!!  Talk to you soon :)

~Tracy   

A Kindergarten Graduate!

Blake has had a fantastic first year of 'formal' schooling :)  He thoroughly enjoyed Kindergarten and all the new experiences that came with it!  Blake had a great little class and made many new friends.  I really enjoyed meeting the other parents and Blake's classmates and found that we were all pretty close, seeing each other quite often at birthday parties on the weekends and sometimes at hockey or the local park!  I like how all the kids were friends and played together and included everyone.  I'm happy to hear that everyone is returning to the school for Grade 1.

Blake's last month of Kindergarten was a very fun and busy month!!  He had an in school field trip (The Number Farm), a field trip to Genesis Early Learning Centre, an ice cream sundae party, a water fun day, a classroom pot luck and a school-wide Games Day!  I volunteered for Games Day and was lucky (ahem) enough to be stationed at the face painting table ;)  It was a great day, I enjoyed myself and I think the children were okay with my limited face-painting skills!!!  Next year I will suggest I am stationed elsewhere!!  Blake's school doesn't do kindergarten graduation pictures or a ceremony although his teacher did put together a nice binder of all his work, a DVD of pictures from through out the year and gave him a kindergarten graduation certificate ;)

Both Blake and I were a little bit sad on his last day of Kindergarten :(  Blake kept asking, "Will I see Mme. Emilie again?  Will I see Max again?  Can I still play with Gavin?" etc, etc, etc.  It was hard for him to grasp that 2 months of summer vacation flies by and before he knows it, he will be seeing all of his friends again, but this time all day, 5 days a week!!  The day after his last day of school, he said to me, "Mom, can I go to school today?"  I giggled a little and told him he was on summer vacation.  He said, "I know, I just thought maybe."  So cute and nice to hear that he enjoys school that much!!  He will enjoy Grade 1, I am sure.  I'm hoping their enrollment numbers don't change too much because as it stands right now there are two grade one FI classes, one with fourteen students and one with fifteen students.  I like those numbers!  I knew Mme. Emilie was moving to another school next year but didn't tell Blake, in hopes that she would pass on the news and she did do that on the last day of school.  Blake came home and said, "Mme. Emilie is going to another school to teach Grade 1.  But she said we could come visit her!  Can we go visit?"  I said, "Of course we can!!"  Although I'm not sure when, as her school calendar will be the exact same as ours!  I'm glad he had a great year and will miss his teacher!

The year flew by so fast and it makes me sad because my baby is growing up.  I think I will be an absolute mess when Reese's kindergarten year comes to an end :s  I am also sad because he will now be in school 5 days a week, all day :(  I will miss him!!  But it is great to see him grow and learn and take on new challenges.  I am excited for him to start reading in French and in a few short years, he'll be bilingual, reading, writing and speaking both French and English!  I'm finding that it is a bit difficult for some people grasp that he is not reading yet when other children who are in English kindergarten have begun reading but it is nice that quite a few of our friends and some of my closest friends, also have children in FI and so we can chat and discuss the program and what not!  And hopefully this will benefit all our kids in the long run.  For quite some time now we have noticed that Blake has a love for numbers and 'figuring things out' but he is now really in to long addition, subtraction and even some simple multiplication!  Last week he said to me, "Mom, is eight plus eight, sixteen?"  I said, "Yes it is!"  Then he said, "Oh, so four times four is sixteen!"  I was pretty proud!

I saw this post on Pinterest and decided to do this for all my kids but instead of using the Dr. Seuss book (because I have a feeling a lot of kids are going to be getting that book when they graduate Grade 12!), I chose to find a different book.  I bought the Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein for Blake and will buy a different book for each of the girls when they start kindergarten.  I absolutely loved this idea and hope that this is a gift they will treasure forever.  I got teary-eyed when I read Mme. Emilie's note, as I'm sure will happen every year when I read their teacher's messages :)

So as we say goodbye to a great Kindergarten year, we have a tear in our eye, but we also look forward to all the amazing things that Grade 1 will have to offer!

Blake, we are so proud of you and what you have learned during Kindergarten.  We are proud of how friendly and helpful you were in your classroom and proud of how hard you have worked to learn new concepts, ideas and tools.  We can't wait to see you flourish in Grade 1!

First day of Kindergarten -
September 4, 2012

Last day of Kindergarten -
June 27, 2013

June?!

Another busy month gone by far too fast!!  Good thing I write most everything down on our family calendar, otherwise I would never remember everything I wanted to write about on this online 'diary' a.k.a. blog ;)

Proud of Em :)

Thank you G&G :)

The beginning of June (the 1st) brought Emerson's dance recital.  We were all very excited (Emerson and I most especially!)!!  The week before the recital, Emerson had a class on Wednesday to learn the grande finale dance.  After 20 minutes or so I went to peek in the class, only to find her crying and in the arms of one of the instructors.  She came and sat with me for awhile and then got up and learned the steps.  I was confused as to why she was crying, as she has always had the best time in dance class and never shown any signs of being scared or upset.  Em didn't really tell me what was upsetting her and after class I spoke to the instructor who also didn't have any idea.  The class was with all the 4 yr old dancers from every class and Emerson's instructor was sick that day and couldn't be there, so I think she was just overwhelmed and missing Miss Jessica!  After this incident I was worried that at the recital, dancing on the big stage at the Myer Horowitz Theatre, she would be totally overwhelmed and either freeze or start crying!!!  She did neither, she rocked that stage!  She had THE biggest smile on her face the entire time!  It was absolutely adorable, I got tears in my eyes :)  I couldn't believe how big she was smiling!  She even remembered (almost) all her steps!  It was great, we really enjoyed the show and all the other performances as well!  Emerson and Reese are both signed up at Variations for next years dance season!  After the recital we had a birthday party to attend at a local spray park.  It was a fun day with very tired kids at the end of the day ;)

Since the end of May brought Emerson's last days of preschool and Blake did not have

In their glory!!

Kindergarten on Thursdays, the kids and I headed out to my Mom and Dad's lake lot on the 8th of June for a day of campfires, quadding and fun :)  We had a great time!  Reese enjoyed quadding last summer but did not want to go for a ride this year!!  Blake and Em love quadding and would ride all day if they could!  They also enjoy taking turns driving!  We played Bocce ball and my Mom blew up a gigantic bowling set they had bought on their last trip to the States!  The day was complete with a hot dog roast and smores!!

Bocce with Grandma :)

The next day, we were invited to a fundraiser at my girlfriends son's school.  Since it was later in the evening, I took Blake and Emerson so Cal could put Reese to bed.  The kids had a blast!  It was a very well organized and planned event!!  The theme was 'Small Town Carnival'.  There was a cookie decorating tent, old fashioned games tent, you could tye-dye a t-shirt at another tent, pony rides, a ball toss, entertainment provided by the student of the school, a bbq, etc, etc, etc!

On the 9th Cal and a few of his buddies participated in a golf tournament for the Alberta Handball Association, of which his friend is the vice-president.  Cal had a great time, he loves to golf but doesn't get out as often as he did prior to 3 munchkins ;)  The kids and I had a nice dinner with my Mom and Dad that evening.

On the 13th the kids and I went out to Stony Plain for a playdate with Erica, Danielle and Grandma D!  We had a nice visit!

On the 14th we took the kids out for a nice dinner, thanks to TELUS!  It was Cal's 15 yr anniversary this year and he was told to take the family out for dinner in celebration.  We asked the kids where they would like to go ... Emerson wanted to go to BP's and Blake and Reese wanted to go to McDonald's!!  I told them we should go to a fancier restaurant and was hoping for the Keg but they wanted to go to Red Lobster, which we all love.  They were so well-behaved, it was very nice dinner out :)

The 16th was Father's Day, we had a nice day at home, playing outside and enjoying the day!  That evening we had a delicious bbq at our house with my Mom and Dad.

On the 19th Blake had a follow-up appointment with his E.N.T. at the Stollery.  I thought I'd make the day a little more exciting by taking the kids on the L.R.T.!  Of course, they thought it was pretty cool and were excited!!  It's the small things ;)  The appointment went well and at this time, as has been in the past, there is no reason to remove the extra sinus in Blake's ear.  That is good news!

On the 20th my Dad picked Cal up for their 2nd annual guys quadding/fishing trip.  They were originally going to leave on the 19th but due to the flooding north of Fort McMurray and a bridge washed out, they had to move the trip to the Lac la Biche area and therefore did not need to leave as early.  They had a few location changes but settled in for a few days of fishing and quadding in the great outdoors!!  By all accounts, they had a good time.  Caught a few fish, did some quadding, drank some beers and stayed up too late ;)

The 22nd brought Blake's last ball hockey game of the season and a birthday party for Emerson.  Blake's last game was great, although he was a bit disappointed that they were playing the Oilers as the Oilers are his favorite hockey team and he didn't want to have to beat them ... lol!!!  We really noticed a lot of improvement in the team from game to game and all the players always had big smiles on their faces!!  Blake really enjoyed ball hockey and wants to play again next year.  After the game I took the kids to Ikea and then we dropped Em off at her party!  She had a great time, I am so grateful for her preschool friends and our little preschool 'family'.  Many of Em's classmates will be returning this year and all returning students are moving from the Tu/Th a.m. class to the M/W/F a.m. class!

Cal came home from his trip on the 23rd, surrounded by hugs, kisses and "We missed you Daddy"!!

Cal had an afternoon of golf with his work team on the 27th and that night we got ready for our July long weekend camping trip!

And that was our June :)  Blake's last month of Kindergarten was busy and emotional (for me), so I will post another blog on that!!

ttyl

Tracy

Where do I start?!

The last few weeks of May were jam packed!!!  Here's a (sorta) quick breakdown of the highlights:

~May 14th I accompanied Blake and all the kindergarten classes (English a.m. and p.m. and French a.m. and p.m.) to Prairie Gardens.  We had an AWESOME time!!!  I loved it :)  Some of the highlights were planting flowers, grass and celery to take home, the 'train' ride and the little bit of downtime the kids had after lunch, which included sitting in a circle singing songs in French - very cool to see and hear!!

~May 17th we headed to Cross Lake Provincial Park for our 1st camping trip in our new trailer!!!  It was soooo fabulous!  The weather was the best we've ever had for May long weekend, we had a great time with the Smith's, Stecyk's, Scott's and Streadwicks, the kids played on the beach and Blake and Em went tubing (along with the Streadwick's)!!  Our new trailer was so, so nice - we loved the extra room, the big beds, being able to eat at a table vs. on some one's bed, not having to rush everyone out the door at 8 am because there was no where for everyone to sit, etc, etc.  We love it and can't wait to use it a lot this summer!!

~May 24th was Family Dance night at Ecole Bishop Savaryn!  Blake had a blast, he is quite the little dancer.  I call it break dancing but whatever it is, it's just plain awesome ;)  As predicted, he took some time to observe and then joined in and boogied!!!  The glow sticks and snacks at the concession also added to the entire experience!  Reese enjoyed bustin' a move too and was pretty darn cute ;)  Poor Emerson so badly wanted to dance and have fun, but the music was just too loud for her sensitive ears :( 

~May 27th I was a participant in an exercise video that a friend was making for her AFLCA certification.  It's nerve wracking sweating your butt off in front of a camera and knowing someone who you don't know is going to be watching ;)  But it was fun and I got an extra (and free) workout in that week, so BONUS!

~May 28th was PJ day at Emerson's preschool and she was SO excited!!!  The week before Christmas break was also PJ day at preschool but Emerson was so sick and had to miss that day.  She was very disappointed and hasn't stopped talking about how sick she was and how sad she is that she had to miss PJ day.  So when the May calendar came out and PJ day was on it ... well, let's just say Emerson was a 'tad' excited ;)

~May 29th Blake had another full-day field trip with all the kindergarten classes, this time to the Valley Zoo.  He had a blast and came home very excited about all he learned from their tour guides!  That evening Emerson had her grand finale rehearsal for her upcoming recital.  They learned their grand finale dance.  She was slightly overwhelmed, dancing with a large group vs. her small class and meeting 2 new teachers, all while trying to learn a new dance!!  But she left excited for her recital and I was equally as excited!

~May 30th was Emerson's last day of school for this school year.  Her preschool held a year end graduation/celebration party, which we were all invited to!  It was a blast!  The kids sang a cute song at the beginning and each student received a certificate from the two teachers.  There was a bouncy house, face painting, balloon artist's, a bubble station and a BBQ and all the teachers made each student a scrapbook with artwork they had done through out the year with a nice little personalized message, as well as a Lago Lindo preschool tshirt with their name on the sleeve!  I've probably said it a few times before but I just can't get over how amazing this preschool is!!!  Love it and happy Emerson will be returning next year :)

So that is the last few weeks of May in a nutshell!!  Hard to believe it's almost the middle of June and especially hard to believe that Blake's kindergarten year is almost over ... where did that time go?!  

~Tracy 

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the ladies in the crowd!!!

I hope you had a wonderful day, celebrating you and all the fabulous Mother's in your life :)

We had a nice day, it started out with a short sleep-in for me and a lovely gift from my family!  Earlier in the week, I also received some very sweet gifts from Blake and Em.  Emerson brought home a hand print mold from preschool on Thursday afternoon.  It's so cute, personalized with feathers and 'jewels' :)  She was so proud of it, I love it!!  And on Friday afternoon, Blake came off the bus with the biggest, cutest grin on his face!!  He walked down the bus stairs, looking at me with that grin and passed me a potted plant, saying, "Happy Mother's Day Mommy!!"  I almost melted, he was so proud of the pot he planted and painted :)  These moments are some of the best in the life of a Mom :)

This morning was the year end Sunday school celebration at Church, celebrating everyone who is moving into a different Sunday school program and those graduating high school, college, etc, as well as thanking all the Sunday school teachers.  Blake is moving from Beginner's to Kids Praise in Sunday school and received a very nice wooden cross necklace and certificate :)  He was called to the front of the Church and was quite proud of himself!  Emerson will be in beginner's again and Reese will move from the nursery into beginner's when she turns 3!  Following the service there was a BBQ lunch in the garden area outside, it was nice morning, with nice company (including the Parenteau's!), although Reese did not want to be there this morning ... ;)

After Church we went to my parents house in Stony Plain.  We visited the park, went for ice cream and had a BBQ.  Cal and Dad put our new trailer hitch together and figured out our trailer brake problems.  The boys watched some hockey, with Blake doing his usual pacing and jumping around in front of the t.v.!!  He was very excited to see Hall, Eberle and Schultz playing for Team Canada in the World Championship's!  It was nice to spend the afternoon/evening at Mom and Dad's :)  It was such a gorgeous day outside, especially nice when the sun was behind the clouds.  +27 with the sun behind the clouds in much preferable to +27 with the sun beating down on you, in my opinion that is!!  We walked around Rotary park and took some nice photo's, which I still have to download!

I hope you had a wonderful day, spent celebrating all the fabulous Mom's in your life :)  Much love and respect to all you Mom's!!  I know, without a doubt, it is the hardest job in the World!!

xo Tracy

5 Peaks Trail Running Series

Cal completed his 1st of 5 trail runs on Saturday morning.  He chose the enduro course, meaning he ran 2 laps of the 8 km trail.  He's been looking forward to these trail runs but hadn't trained as much as he had hoped to!!  I was at ball hockey with the girls and Blake, so was anxious to hear how he did!  He texted me when he was leaving, something along the lines of, "I'm on my way home.  It was *&%! hard!!!"  A lot different from road racing ... but he enjoyed it and will be training more for the next 15 km trail race on June 7th!!  I couldn't believe how muddy his shoes were but apparently they had to cross at creek at one point during the race!  His brother Gerry ran the sport course (8 km) and they actually ran together for a few km, which was nice, especially since Gerry shared his water with Cal who was in desperate need of some H2O during the last leg of the race ;)  Once ball hockey is over, the kids and I will be there cheering Cal on, we can't wait!  We're so proud of him!!  And Blake is hoping to participate in a 1 km kids event :)

~ Tracy