Summer Vacation: Family edition - camping!! (1 of 4)

From Vancouver, I flew to Calgary where I took a taxi to Cross Iron Mills and met Cal and the kids!  It was so good to see them and very exciting, being that we were beginning our 2 week AB tour a.k.a camping vacay ;)

Our first stop was the Crows Nest Pass for the Sinister 7 Ultra Race.  Cal was on a team of 7 and ran the 2nd leg.  It was an awesome experience for Cal and his teammates and myself as well!  Considering how many races the kids and I have cheered for Cal in, this was one of my favorites.  The vibe and the sheer number of people involved, was nothing short of amazing.  The volunteers were fabulous and everything was so well ran.  Friday evening began with registration, a catered dinner (delicious!!) and a pre-race meeting for all runners.  We also visited the vendors and Cal picked out a commemorative t-shirt.  Saturday morning, Cal was up early to see the first runner off and to catch a bus to leg 1/2 transition point.  Once the kids and I woke up, we headed to the transition point to see Cal come in and the 3rd runner in the team head out.  Each leg had a transition point and at each transition point there was 100's of people cheering on the teams and the soloists and individuals and teams supporting the soloist's in their needs - food, water, change of clothes, medical aid, etc.  Each transition point had snacks and drinks for the runners - everything from soup, chili, muffins, and sandwiches to fruit and protein bars!!

Here is a description of the course (from the website):

All distances and elevations have been verified by GPS, foot, mountain bike and quad. Difficulty is based on how hard the leg is in comparison to the other legs of the race (ie: Leg 6 is 7/7 meaning it is the hardest) in our opinions. Every leg of the race is hard.

Distance: 161km - 100mi
Stages: 7 stages ranging from 10.7km to 36.2km (6.65 to 22.49mi)
Elevation: Gain: 5,687m (18,658') / Loss: 5,676m (18,622')
Duration: 30 hours to complete the course 

Cal ran the 2nd leg.  Here are the details (again, from the website):

Leg 2 - Hastings Ridge

Distance: 16km (9.94mi)

Gain: 937m (3,074')

Loss: 1,110m (3,642')

CPs*: CP2 – 10km

Difficulty: 4/7

Trail Type: Single track, double track, dirt road

Est. Time: 1.5 to 3 hours

Must start: 10:00 hrs (Saturday)

Cutoff: 13:00 hrs (Saturday)


Beginning at the base of Hastings Ridge, runners begin a grueling climb to a rewarding view. Once atop the ridge, you get a view of the entire valley, including Crowsnest Mountain and the Seven Sisters; certainly worth the punishing climb to the top! There is no time for rest as runners drop down the other side and head towards Blairmore to the finish of leg two.

Although Cal has ran numerous 1/2 marathon's and a full marathon, he says nothing compares to the challenge of trail running in the mountains!  The track and the elevation gains and losses can make a 'short' run feel like a marathon!!  He rocked his leg and we were so excited to see him come down the hill at the end of leg 2 and pass the timing anklet and bear kit onto the next man on the team!  Cal and his teammates were at each and every transition point, sleeping a few hours here and there throughout the night and early morning.  I stayed in the trailer with the kids, as I didn't think they'd do so well being woke up and then told to go back to sleep and then woken up again ;)  As we were packing up on Sunday afternoon (after the brunch), the last of the runner's were coming through (the field that we were camped in was very close to the finish line).  We all stood on the side of the road, cheering the last 2 runner's on.  I had tears in my eyes, I can not even imagine the emotions of these runners - they were soloist's and had just ran 100 miles in just under 30 hours (if a team or a soloist does not make it in, in 30 hrs or under they are officially disqualified and do not receive a time).  Unbelievable.  This race was like none I had ever attended and it really made me wish I was a trail runner ... maybe one day?!

Once we were packed up, we headed off to Frank Slide for some sightseeing!  The kids were really interested in the history of the Frank Slide.  

Stay tuned for part 2 of 4 in our summer vacation :)
~Tracy

There's Cal, so close to the finish line of leg 2!!

Super, super proud wife and kids :)

Frank Slide

Summer Vacation: Girls edition - Van city!!

Mother/Daughter trip ~ 2016 ~ #yeg to #yvr

 July was jam-packed with goodness!!!  My summer vacation began with a mother/daughter trip to Vancouver :)  My mom, sister and I had an awesome time!  We've been waiting for awhile to be able to get away together.  Between babies and feeding babies, we've been a little busy over the last 9 or so years ;)  I didn't take very many pictures but we had a wonderful time.  We walked a ton, at times I felt like we were in San Francisco with all the up and down hill walking!!  We shopped (mostly window shopped!), ate (omg, the delicious sushi and I think we tried no less than 4 versions of tuna tartare), my Mom treated us all to a blowout at the Blo Blowout Bar at the Four Seasons (we really need this service in Edmonton!!) and we sang our hearts out at the Dixie Chicks concert!!  Such an amazing concert.  I had goosebumps during "I'm Not Ready to Make Nice."  One of the top 3 concerts I've attended!  Thank you Mom and Lindsay for a fabulous trip, I can't wait to do it again!!!

Year-end teacher's gifts

I'm always browsing Pinterest, looking for new ideas for teacher gifts!  But this time around, my mom's friend and Stella and Dot 'dealer' posted a great idea on her Facebook page and I snagged up the deal ;)  How cute are these?!

Mme. Elizabeth already had them on when I picked Blake up on the last day of school and the girls teachers all made a point of saying thank you and gushing over how much they loved them :) Thanks for the GREAT idea, Anais!!

Audrey's soccer!

The girls are really enjoying playing soccer in St. Albert with our friend Audrey, her husband Craig and their 3 children!  Audrey started this little weekly game last year, after a not so successful experience with organized soccer.  We are so glad she decided to start this 'league', as the girls love it!  It has grown so much and sometimes there is upwards of 25 little soccer players participating!!  Each week we take turns bringing a snack, which is often a highlight ;)  The kids do drills for the first 10-15 minutes, play a 40 minute game and finish off with the snack!  Usually after snack time, the kids hit the park for awhile.  It's a very lovely evening with many of our Church friends and a few new friends!  The Anderson's have also been joining us this year, which is great as Max and Blake and Ava and the girls can not get enough of eachother ;)  We have had to miss very few games this year but due to summer vacation, tomorrow will be our last game of 2016.  Reese has probably enjoyed this experience the most out of the 3 kids and has mentioned that she'd like to play indoor soccer this winter, so we will be looking into that!  Both her and Emerson have scored quite a few goals, which has really boosted their confidence!  

 

School year-end celebration!

Today we gathered with some of our school besties at the St. Albert spray park!  We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better time :)  The kids ran in and out of the water, having water gun fights and splashing around.  They played on the playground and played soccer and what spray park day would be complete without icecream!  We were feeling almost ready to leave when we were told to leave ... lightning was spotted and apparently they close the park down during thunderstorms.  We just made it to the van when the skies opened up!  As we drove home, we were pelted with hail.  Eek!  We're so grateful for our wonderful school friends and families.  The kids really miss eachother during the summer so hopefully we'll be able to all gather together again!  It's tough to plan playdates in the summer, with everyone taking vacation at different times.  We capped off our first day of summer break fun with a family dinner out at Soda Jerks.  In hindsight, this may not have been the best of choices as the kids (namely Emerson!) were quite tired and slightly grumpy but it all turned out in the end ;) We're now officially on vacation and can't wait for Cal's holidays and our many summer adventures as a family :) Stay tuned!!

xo

Tracy

Such great kids + friends!! #schoolpeeps

Joyous June!!

Ahhhh ... June is such a wonderful month :)  The promise of summer, the celebrations of a wonderful school year and the end of work for two whole months for me!!  Can't say I'm not feeling extremely fortunate (although I will miss the pay cheque).  Below are a few of our June highlights:

Our school joined 102.3 NOW Radio in their fundraising efforts for Jordan's Journey for a cure.  Jordan is a kindergarten student at our school.  She has a rare disease called Giant Axonal Neuropathy.  There is an experimental treatment in the USA that requires Jordan and her family to stay in the States for 2 months.  She is signed up for the treatment this summer but of course, it is extremely expensive.  Fortunately, Jordan's cause was selected for the annual 102.3 NOW Radio Empties for Angels program and together with fundraising in the community and our school approx. $90,000 was raised!!  Blake, Em and Reese participated in the schools Hula-hoop-a-thon on June 1st.  All donations went towards Jordan's journey.  It was a fun afternoon, with Fitzy from NOW radio mc'ing and the trucksickle handing out free popsicle's.  A grade 5 student dj'd the event and all the students and staff dressed in a Hawaiian theme.  It was so much fun and everyone was so proud of all the money they raised for Jordan :)

Enjoying a popsicle from the NOW trucksicle!

On June 2nd our School Council hosted a staff appreciation luncheon. A fellow council member and I were busy that morning, ensuring everything was set up and perfect for our wonderful teachers and staff!  I enjoy this annual event and am always glad to be involved.

All set up for the staff appreciation luncheon (each staff member brought home a bundle of flowers) :)

 June 3-5 brought a busy weekend with Blake's lacrosse team in the Titan's tournament in Sherwood Park and a girls weekend for myself and my two besties!  It wasn't the best weekend for me to be away but it was the only option that worked for Lindsey, Candace and I and we missed out on our girls weekend last weekend so we 'had' to make it work this year ;)  Cal and the kids had a great weekend.  They even managed to make it to a baseball event on Saturday!  The league Blake plays in, Community Park, hosts a fun day every year and it just happened to fall on this weekend (isn't that the way it seems to work?!).  They enjoyed a BBQ, bouncy castle and face painting.  I was glad they snuck it in, in between lacrosse games.  I don't know what the Wizards record was in the tournament but I hear they played hard and had fun, which is all I care about ;)  My weekend was awesome!  We stayed downtown at the Matrix hotel and had so much fun.  We ate, we drank, we shopped, we danced and we talked and talked and talked and ate some more and then drank a lot more ... lol!  It was so much fun and very rejuvenating!  A much needed time to decompress and just have fun and not stress about how messy the house is or the piles of laundry ;)

Not having a good time at all ... lol!  Love these ladies!!

 On the 6th I attended an office party.  My co-workers are so great!  Our offices are in a wing of a school, so essentially my cubicle is in an old classroom.  The room is of course quite large and I share the room with 8 other co-workers.  There are SLP assistant's, one other OT assistant and Mental Health Therapist's in this space.  Jean, an SLP assistant, invited us all over to her house for a Room 22 (our classroom number!) year-end party. We had so much fun, drank some wine and celebrated a successful school year! I love working with these ladies and will miss them over the summer break!!

On the 11th the kids had a sleepover at Grandma and Grandpa's so Cal and I could attend a friends birthday party :)  The kids had such a fun time!  Grandma and Grandpa even took them public swimming on Sunday before bringing them home!! They couldn't stop gushing about how much fun they had!!  Thanks Mom & Dad!!  Cal and I also enjoyed our time, sleeping in and enjoying a quite house.  It was a little strange, though!  Were not used to being home by ourselves!!

On the 14th I took the day off to attend a field trip with Em.  We went to Fort Edmonton Park with all the grade 1's and had a blast!  It was great to spend the day with her and her class!

Fort Edmonton park field trip with Em the gem :)  Love her to pieces!!

 The evening of the 15th Reese and Cal had a father's day bbq at the school.  Cal said Reese was miss popular ;)  Apparently she was her usual shy self, lol!  They enjoyed their evening, playing outside at the park and having dinner.

Cal and Reese, ready for their Father's Day BBQ!

 Cal's spring hockey season wrapped up on the 17th with his final ice time and a team bbq!  He had a great time and plays with a great group of guys.  If his schedule allows, he'd like to play on their winter team.  But with the kids activities and coaching hockey, he's not sure it would work out ... we'll see!

On the 18th we attended our good friend Adriana's 40th birthday party.  The kids had a blast, running around with friends and the adults enjoyed themselves as well!  And I can tell you, those Italian's sure know how to throw a party ;)

Adriana with her awesome cake!!  So grateful for her friendship, a wonderful hockey team manager and fellow hockey momma!!

The 19th was Father's Day and Cal started his day early with an early morning run.  It was his long run day, so he chose to wake up early and get it in sooner rather than later ;)  After his run we met my parents and sister and her family at BP's for a Father's Day lunch.  Then it was off to Blake's 3 on 3 game, followed by homemade burgers for supper (Cal's favorite) and baseball practice!! Oh, Em also snuck in a birthday party on the 19th.  Wow ... apparently that was a busy day!! I had a great photo of Cal and the kids but it doesn't seem to be saved on my computer :(  I'll have to dig a little deeper!

The best Grandpa and his grandkids, on Father's Day :)

On the 22nd Cal was off to Calgary for a few days of work.  The kids and I enjoyed Finding Dory with my mom, sister and nephews and ate out a few times, as often happens with either Cal or I are away for a few nights ;)

Blake's lacrosse playoff's started on Friday the 24th and it was an exciting ride!!  They played hard and Blake played some of his best lacrosse.  It was an exciting few days but they fell short of making the final.  And so our lacrosse season came to an end.  Blake learned so much this year and really improved his game.  Novice lacrosse is a lot different from Tykes lacrosse!!  Much faster and tougher!  We were really proud of Blake's play and strength this season and loved watching him and his team play.  I would never pressure him to play a sport but I REALLY hope he plays lacrosse next year ;)  I love the game and watching him play!

Buddies - hockey and lacrosse teammates.  Love these boys!

And that brings us to the last week of school (and my first week of summer break!)!!  I volunteered at games day on the 27th and just like last year, it was a scorcher!  I got a good start to my base tan ;)  Games Day is always a fun day and I enjoy visiting with all the students and teachers!  This year I lead the parachute games station.  I had to dig deep to remember the days of parachute games at the YMCA ;)

Today is the last day of school and I have to rush out to pick up Reese soon, so I will say so long for now!!  Tomorrow we have a fun day planned with school friends at the spray park.  A sort of year-end celebration ;)  Hopefully the weather will cooperate!! 

Health Scare

When Blake last had pneumonia, in Dec/Jan, our pediatrician wondered if Blake might have asthma.  But because of the pneumonia, we needed to wait until his lungs were clear to re-test him.  Fast forward a few months and I finally decided to take him in again, as he's had this nagging cough for the past few months - mostly at bedtime but sometimes throughout the day as well.  It was so bad a few times, that we kept him home from school.  The cough had been going on for so long that I thought it warranted a trip to the doctor.  Dr. Radisic had him do a lung function test and due to his low numbers, referred him to the pediatric pulmonary specialist who he shares an office with.  He also said that he suspected that Blake had asthma.  Dr. R was willing to give Blake a puffer to trial until we saw Dr. Z. but I thought we could wait.  Our appointment was in two weeks.  Well, after a few nights and days of Blake hacking, I changed mind and decided we couldn't wait.  I was especially worried because I was going away for the weekend and Blake had a lacrosse tournament coming up and I didn't want Cal to be burdened with 3 kids and having to take Blake to the emerg!  Luckily, Dr. Z had a cancellation and we were able to get into him that week.  When Dr. Z's nurse did the lung function test, Blake scored 80%.  After 5 minutes of ventolin he scored 90%. Big improvement and a clear sign that he had asthma.  Dr. Z wanted to run a variety of tests - blood work for allergies and to check his immune system, urinalysis to check protein levels, a chest x-ray and a sinus x-ray.  It was a long afternoon of appointments and blood work and at the end of the day we found out he wanted Blake to do a sweat test, to rule out Cystic Fibrosis.  Apparently Blake has not had a clear chest x-ray in the past 3 years.  All 3 x-rays from the past 3 years (taken when he had pneumonia) showed the same black spot in the lower lobe of his right lung.  This was certainly alarming and raised a lot of questions for both myself and Dr.Z.  Always trying to find the positive, I mentioned that Blake had been screened for CF at birth, to which I was told the screening can often miss something.  I then said, "I'm sure not very many patients are diagnosed with CF at this age, aren't they mostly diagnosed in the first years of life?" To which I was told that no, in fact just a few weeks ago a 30 yo man was diagnosed.  And then Dr. Z remarked that CF patients are often tall and skinny ... yikes.  So I spent the next two weeks worrying (off and on) about the possibility of Blake having CF.  During those two weeks Blake was prescribed a twice daily does of a steroid and an inhaler for before and after strenuous exercise and for as needed.  I was very glad when Thursday June 16th arrived and we would have the sweat test results that afternoon.  The sweat test was painless, they stimulate sweat glands in your arm with electrodes and chemicals (to put it simply), then attach a coil to collect the sweat. That test was at the Stollery and then we were off to Dr. Z's office downtown.  To make the afternoon a little more fun, Blake and I took the LRT to the UofA, then back downtown and enjoyed a quick lunch in between appointments (my Mom watched the girls). When we got to Dr. Z's office, he had good news for us.  The immune system tests were excellent and although Dr. Z didn't have the sweat test results yet, he felt very strongly that Blake did not have CF because if he did, his immune system would be weakened.  He also told us that the allergy tests showed that he was allergic to dust, mold and pollen - which explained his sinus x-ray results, which weren't great.  He said that Spring will always be tough for Blake, much like a large majority of the rest of the world!!  Plugged sinus' during Spring!  Next Spring he will prescribe a med for the allergies to ease the discomfort of the sinus problems that come with those seasonal allergies.  For now, we're heading out of allergy season and Blake's sinus' should clear.  Finally the sweat test results were in and as expected, Blake's numbers were great!!! I was so happy to hear this. The next questions I had, had to do with the spot on the lung.  Dr. Z is a very funny, personable man and when I asked, "So about that spot on his lung ..." he interrupted me with, "The spot I wish I never would have told you about?" lol!!!  Yes, I brought that spot up a lot during the last 2 appointments!!  So what Dr. Z said was that considering his immune system was excellent, the sweat test came back negative and the spot has not changed in the past few years, he will keep an eye on it with follow up x-rays twice a year and concluded that it is likely scarring due to a previous pneumonia.  Also, after two weeks of the asthma medication, Blake's numbers were up to 100% which is the best news possible!!  So as it stands, Blake is on the asthma meds for the time being and will see Dr. Z again in October to re-evalute.  Blake has noticed a huge difference with the meds, noting that running during lacrosse is a lot easier and less painful (less coughing and less chest pain).  I've noticed that he is not coughing at night anymore.  All around good news :)  I'd prefer that he did not have asthma but as it is, we are grateful to have excellent medical care and medication to treat it!

Appt #1, 5 min of ventolin followed by a long afternoon of poking and prodding.  Of course, he took it like the champ he is!!

Appt #2 on June 16th, Dr. Z has rubber chickens in all his rooms ;) All smiles because the CF test was negative and his lungs are functioning at 100%!!