1-2-4 ... here we go!!

It's back to school 2016. That sure came fast.  I swear as we were walking up to the school doors on Thursday morning, it felt as though we had been gone for 2 days not 2 months.  Summer flew by.  It was a great summer and as sad as I was to see it end, I have to admit I am a little bit excited to get back into our fall/winter routine!  We all crave a little routine in our lives!

The first day of school was September 1st and being that it was a Thursday, it was early dismissal for the kiddo's.  Today was their first full day, so they have been very gently eased into back to school!  Especially with this Monday being a statutory holiday!  The kids are all happy with their teachers.  Reese has Mme. Khair, who was also Blake and Emerson's teacher.  Emerson has Mme. Melissa, who was also Blake's teacher and Blake has a male teacher who is new to our school, M. John.  All summer Blake would talk about how he hopes he has a boy teacher next year.  All summer I kept telling him that the chances of that are slim but you never know.  So needless to say, he was very excited to learn he has M. John this year!!  Emerson is absolutely in love with Mme. Melissa, as I knew she would be!  Melissa is very organized and tidy with the coolest/neatest classroom I have ever laid eyes on!  I knew that Em would appreciate Melissa's classroom and teaching style and so far, so good ;) It's so great to see Emerson so happy with her teacher and with being back to school.  She was definitely the most excited to return to school!  I joked with her that next summer I should put her in summer school, I said maybe she could learn Mandarin or something.  She thought I was serious and thought it was great idea, lol!!  That girl loves to learn!  Reese seems pleased with Grade 1 thus far!  I will see how she is feeling after a four day week next week ;) She's cute as a button with her 'fake' eyeglasses, they sure suit her!

On Thursday after school we picked up lunch and headed to a local park to meet some friends.  The kids played and played and played all afternoon long and were upset when the mom's said it was time to go ;)  We'll fit in as many of these early dismissal park dates as we can, before the snow flies ...

Tonight we had a family date night to celebrate the first few days of school!  We saw the movie Pete's Dragon and went to Blaze Pizza for supper.  The vote for Pete's Dragon wasn't unanimous, it was 4-1, with the 1 wanting to see Kudos 2 Strings but after seeing Pete's Dragon, we all agreed it was the right choice :)  I absolutely loved the movie!!  I don't buy very many movies (like, none) but I think this is one that I want to have in our small collection!  It was fabulous, a must see!  And Blaze Pizza was delicious!  Fun to pick your own toppings and see it being fire-baked right in front of your eyes :)

I returned to work on Thursday morning.  We had an Inclusive Learning team meeting that morning and even though I don't work on Thursday's, I decided to go in.  I'm so glad I did, as it was great to meet the new director and hear some exciting news about the upcoming school year.  Being that I worked 1/2 a day Thursday, I only worked 1/2 a day today.  I'm super happy to be back at work!  I still love my job - I wonder if that will change in a few years but for now I'm enjoying that feeling of satisfaction ;)

I still have some summer updates I want to share, so stay tuned for those!

xo
Tracy

First day of school - September 1st

Adorable and ready for a new year of adventures!

First day of full-day school and she rocked it ;) (and adorable in her 'fake' glasses!)

Date night!!  Celebrating a great day and a half of back to school for the kids and back to work for me :)  Pete's Dragon was such a great movie and Blaze Pizza was delicious!

2nd Annual Cameron Family Camping Trip!

For the 2nd year in a row, we met Cal's sister Carmen and her crew, Cal's brother Gerry and his crew and Cal's Mom and her crew at Carson Pegasus Provincial park.  This years trip was August 5-7. The weather was hit and miss during the weekend (as seems to be the theme of the summer here in AB) but we had a great time!!  11 grandchildren, 1 great grand daughter and 7 adults!  That's a lot of people ;)  The kids are always so excited to hang out with their cousins, there's 9 of them who are close in age (Reese is the youngest at 5 and Kerri and Kailey are the oldest at 9 and 1/2). We had a fun weekend of fishing, playing games, watching movies in the trailer during the rainy times, bike riding and visiting!! I hope we can continue this tradition in the years to come!

Saturday morning breakfast!

The guys taking the kids fishing!

Cal with his great niece, Aurora - in case you can't tell she is ADORABLE!!!

Sooooo many laughs with the Pie Face game!

Grandma Bev and her grandchildren :)

My sister-in-law made a great green beverage ;)

Jasper 2016

We spent August long weekend in one of our favorite spots - Whistlers campground in Jasper National Park.  The week prior, Blake and Reese suffered through a few days of the stomach flu and they weren't really back to themselves when we headed out for Jasper but at least they weren't puking still ;) My fingers were crossed that Emerson, Cal and I wouldn't catch it but unfortunately it did hit Cal :(  He had to dial in for a few teleconferences while we were in Jasper and suffered pretty bad one day and then didn't feel really great for almost a week after that.

But even though not all of us were feeling 100% we still enjoyed our time in Jasper!  We were there from Thursday afternoon to Monday morning and my parents were with us.  It rained some, which meant coloring, Lego, Barbies and movies in Grandma and Grandpa's 5th wheel but we didn't suffer too much ... the fireplace was even on ;) We had one really hot day, which we spent at Athabasca Falls and at the beach on Lake Annette!  We enjoyed a walk at Pyramid Lake and a hike around Patricia Lake, such gorgeous scenery.  We also made it up to Miette Hot Springs - it took two trips though!  The first time the pools were closed due to thunder and lightning but the kids and Dad and Cal did make it to the source of the original hot springs and luckily we all made it back to the trucks just before the skies opened and rain poured down!!! We spent some time in town, the kids had some vacation money they saved to spend in Jasper, so it took a few stops before all 3 had found the perfect souvenirs :)  We also had dinner at one of our favorite Jasper restaurants - Something Else and of course we made a few stops at our favorite bakery - The Bears Paw Cafe!  The kids had fun attending a few of the Xplorers Programs at the campground and we enjoyed a few bike rides on the trails.  It was awesome that Reese was able to ride with us this year :)  Speaking of the Xplorers Program, we were all VERY excited to find out that the kids were included in the advertisements for the programs!!  They used photo's that were taken last summer on a large banner that is hanging as you drive into Whistler's campground and on posters that they posted in the washrooms and showers and on bulletin boards!  The girls are on the banner and all 3 kids are on the posters!  Very, very exciting for the kids and for us ;)

We had a small scare one evening when Blake rode ahead of us on the trail and missed his turn off.  Cal and my Dad were looking all over the campground for him.  When he walked in our trailer, I was very relieved to say the least.  He was a bit shook up but said he knew our campsite number and just found his way back.  Smart boy, thank goodness :)

I'm so glad we got to Jasper this summer, I just love the fresh mountain air and the beautiful scenery.  It's certainly my happy place!

xo
Tracy

Putting those muscles to use ;)

Family bike ride <3 br="">

Beach fun at Lake Annette!

Gorgeous Lake Annette

Our little stars!!

Grandma and Grandpa + the Cameron grandkids :)

Family photo with Jasper the bear!

We found a geocache on Pyramid island!

Lake Patricia

All 3 of the superstars ;)

Meet the Cameron's!

I hope you're enjoying our new 'look' and our new name!  I figured it was time to move on from ourbabycameron, considering we have three babies now, who aren't even babies anymore :(  Why does time pass by so quickly.  I suppose it really is true what they say, "Time fly's when you're having fun!" Anyways, enjoy the new look!!

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

From Ol' MacDonald's we made a quick stop in Edmonton to re-stock the trailer fridge and freezer, do a few loads of laundry and let Blake play 3 on 3! The groceries and laundry took a little longer than anticipated but we did manage to get to Long Lake around 7 pm.  The kids and I were excited to be spending the next 7 nights with my parents, sister and nephews!!  Cal headed back to the city for work on Monday evening and joined us again on Thursday.  Jeremy was also working during the week and joined us again on Saturday.  We had a great week of tubing, swimming, discovering a new love for a seated washer's game (lol!), boat rides, walks, and outdoor movies!  Oh, and ice cream ... can not forget ice cream ;)  It was also so nice to spend that much time with family.  We see each other here and there throughout the year but just being that close together for a week, was really nice.  Here are some photo highlight's from our last week of vacay:

Heading to the boat with Grandma, cousins and the tube!!

Bumpy ride, as requested ;)

selfie <3 br="">

Tube riding with Connor!

A favorite - swimming in the middle of the lake!

Reese jumping off the boat!

Boat riding!

My mom became a tube-riding Grandma this week!!!

Connor and Reese hitchin' a ride!

Taking a break on the beach!

Fun at the beach!

Washers!!

Outdoor movie time!

Time for some ball!

Yours truly!  (might look easy but was not easy on these old bones!!)

r

Em and Mason


 And that wrap's up Summer Vacation: Family edition - camping!!  It was another great adventure with the family with many memories were made, that we will cherish forever :)  

~Tracy

<3 br="">

Summer Vacation: Family edition - camping!! (3 of 4)

The next stop on the great AB tour was Ol MacDonald's Resort!  We had an interesting drive from Dinosaur Provincial Park to Ol MacDonald's - tornado warning, hail, torrential downpour, flooding in the parking lot of the grocery store we stopped at in Hanna and apparently a tornado actually touched down outside of Hanna, just a few hours after we passed by.  Yikes!! The weather continued to be somewhat strange during our stay at Ol MacDonald's.  We had some rain and some sun but it seemed to be either one extreme or the other - pouring or hot! Regardless of the weather, we had a great time at one of our favorite campgrounds!  There's just so much to do, I always say we could spend weeks there.  We got to spend a few days and nights with friends who happened to be camped for 2 nights right beside us.  We had a great time with them and the kids were happy to have some friends to hang out with for a few days :) Here are a few photo's of our time at Ol MacDonald's: 

 

Beach Day #1 - we love this beach and Buffalo Lake, so clean and the beach-front ice cream shop is a bonus ;)

The good 'ol Triple Nickel train ride!!

Lots of time spent at the various parks!

Swing ride 1 of a gazillion ;)

Blake even enjoys the swing ride now!

'lil monkey, she really mastered the monkey bars this year!

mini golf on a rainy day! of all the times we've visited, we've never tried the mini golf!

also our first time tie dyeing Ol' MacDonald's t-shirts! 

entertaining themselves under the awning while it rains ;)

fun on the beach with friends on a super hot day!