Full Moon Walk

We had our 2nd Full Moon Walk this past weekend. This time we actually walked. Last month, the mosquito's were SO BAD, I feared the kids would be carried away. This month, they weren't bad and there was a slight breeze to keep them at bay.

We went back to Nose Hill. A different part of Nose Hill. Here's a little bit of Nose Hill trivia. It is surrounded on all sides, by 12 residential communities. It's over 11 square kilometers, in the middle of the city! There are hiking trails, paved bike trails and designated off-leash areas. It's lovely, and I hate to admit that we rarely utilize this gem, situated a mere 5 minutes from our front door.

It was a perfect evening to head out, after a near perfect day, weather-wise. We noticed some eerie cloud formations to the north of the city. It turns out, it was a pretty serious system, the weather people called it a Mesocyclone, also known as a 'nursery for tornado's. Eeks... Thankfully, it stayed well to the north of Calgary. There were some awesome pictures sent in from some communities north of the city. And if it was eerie for us, I can't imagine what those people must have felt like. The pictures actually gave me chills. [If I saw a cloud formation like that, I'd have been in a bathtub with a mattress on top of me] Needless to say, I dreamt about tornado's that night, and spent the better part of the night evaluating our emergency plan... I'm considering having Barry build us a storm cellar in the back yard, I don't know if he'll go for it though.

But enough about the freaky weather. We had a great hike up the hill, we watched the sun set on the west, and the moon rise on the east. We saw the spooky mesocyclone, and watched the light show within it. We went home and put two extremely tired kids to bed.

Trip Highlights - 2010

Trip Highlights

- On our way we used the new car dvd player... There was no construction, no puking kids, there was only the quiet and Barry and I looking at one another in disbelief. Sweet.

- We went out in the boat every single day [except for 2 rainy days]

- I read 5 books...

- There were very late nights for the kids [which included glow sticks and mosquito bites] and very late morning sleep ins.

- The kids both wore their life jackets and swam out to the raft all by themselves. Well, Mason took Madelyn, she never actually went alone (too little yet). But I did trust her to go with him. Mason went back and forth so many times a day.

- Water slides in Salmon Arm, they haven't changed a bit, since I was a kid, which was a good thing, because going down them made me feel like a kid again.

- Mason finally wanting to go over the wake or the 'banish line' in the tube. The smile on his face was priceless.

- Lazy afternoons at Turtle Bay, jumping off the boat, floating, swimming and most importantly, snacking.

- Fresh in-season fruit, right from the source!

- Beach, beach, beach, every day to the beach.

- Campfires and s'mores... Messy, but oh so tasty and good.

- Hide & Seek with all the kids at dusk, sometimes in the dark.

-BOTH kids getting up on water skis. Mace had done so before, but Madelyn was determined to do it as well, and she did.

-A trip by boat up to Margaret Falls, to check out the waterfall.

-The kids got to spend a WHOLE WEEK with their friends, through the year we're lucky to see them once per month.

-Floating down the river.

-DS time for Mason every morning, and on rainy days too! Mason was in a state of bliss for sure. [Though his mean Mum wouldn't let him play as much as he would have liked to]

- Corn on the Cob.... Mmmmmmmmm....

-Eating almost every meal outside. We just don't do this at home very often. We should do it more.

- The Caramel Apple Pie at Demille's.

Date Night

I went on a date last night, with my husband. It's been awhile, so it was a really nice treat. He took me to Earl's for dinner, where I had my new favorite item on the menu the: Grilled Chicken and Baked Brie Ciabatta. It's a grilled chicken breast with melted brie, roasted apples, spinach, sweet fig jam, garlic mayonnaise all on a house baked ciabatta bun. It looks like this in real life:


And it's seriously one of those Yumm-O meals. I'm going to try my hardest to duplicate this little gem, then I could have it more than once every few months! This recipe is what nudged Earl's up to top spot of favorite places to go on date night. My previous favorite used to be Joey Tomato's, strictly for the Lettuce Wraps, but I have since mastered those at home.

After dinner we went to Starbuck's/Chapters for a coffee and a mooch around. It was like old times last night. Life before kids. It's something we used to do A LOT while we were dating and before the rug rats came along.

Then, to top the evening off [like it could get any better] We came home and watched a movie. This movie to be exact...

And though it was good, I'll be honest, I was awake a few times last night, thinking of grisly things I'd rather not be thinking about at 2:30 am...

It was a perfect Wednesday in the middle of summer! Thanks Hun!

For Today - July 20th, 2010

Outside my window... The sun is shining. It disappeared for the first few days after we returned from our vacation, I actually hat to put socks on... But it's shining bright today!

I am thinking... I need to get a few 'outings' organized for my kids. We need to do at least 2 per week, or my "work from home" husband might lose his mind.

I am thankful for... summer holidays. Late nights, late mornings... Total bliss.

I am wearing... A skirt and a shirt, LOVE SUMMER.

I am remembering... To phone and confirm about next weeks summer camps for the kids (that's right, plural. Camps for the kids.... teeheehee)

I am going... to the library and to get groceries today, with two kids in tow... Should be fun.

I am currently reading... Allison Scotch Winn's book called The One that I Want. I JUST started it, but so far so good.

I am hoping... We have gorgeous weather for the rest of the summer. I also hope we'll get out in the boat a few more times. Like Barry said, "Who says it has to be on a weekend?"

On my mind... How much more clutter there is, when no one is at school every day. I'm very used to the Tasmanian Devil living here in my home [aka Madelyn] and the constant path of destruction in her wake. I'm just not as used to the path of destruction, x2.

Noticing that... If I don't get that darn Rhubarb cut down, it's going to be useless. Of course I have already made Phantom Rhubarb Muffins, from one of my Best of Bridge recipe books. Very, very good.

Pondering these words... [2 Corinthians 4:18] So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

From the kitchen...For supper made Chicken Caesar Salad. I LOVE salads as a meal, and the summer is the perfect time to do it. It was one of these new kits, we got it as a freebie. It was okay. I don't know I'd run out to by it... But I would try one of the other flavors Greek Chicken and Southwest Chicken appeal to me.

Around the house... Did I mention about the clutter? And the toys? There is never a shortage of things to do, and the grass needs cut... And do I do it? Because it is blue work... And I don't want to give the impression that I'd be happy to take that particular job over. At the same time, I'm sleeping in, we're having lazy days, simply relaxing, and it would help Barry out. Then he wouldn't have to do it on the weekend, and we could just 'hang out'. But then I'm back to It's blue work...

One of my favorite things: Staying up later than I should to scrapbook... Because I know I get to sleep in. It's one of my perks of the summer for sure!

From my picture journal...

Last Day

We've had a great vacation this year. Not like last years experience at all (thank God). So many highlights, the foremost one being we got BOTH kids up on waterski's this year. Madelyn was so determined and by golly, she did it! The weather has been good, we've had 3 out of 14 days of inclement weather, and only 2 of those days we didn't get out into the boat. The kids have enjoyed being in the boat more this year. Don't get me wrong, it's still about the snacks, but this year it wasn't ONLY about the snacks. It's taken us 8 years to get here... And we're thrilled. Heading off to the beach one last time. Two weeks goes by FAR TOO QUICKLY. Pictures to come soon!

10 on the 10th - July 2010

1. Everything seems better on vacation.

2. The days go too quickly on vacation (seriously, you wake up, have coffee, go to the beach, come back up for lunch, go out in the boat, have snacks, do some tubbing, have a few happy hour drinks and before you know it, it's nearly 7 pm and you still have to feed the kids supper)

3. I'm not the sun girl I used to be... I can sit in the sun for an hour (properly spf'd up of course) and before you know it, I'm looking to move my chair into the shade.

4. Sunscreen REALLY works.

5. Happy hour drinks taste so much better when it's 32 degrees outside.

6. It's a rare 2 weeks of the year, that we let the kids run the show. There are hardly any restrictions placed on them (except the obvious ones such as, always wear your life jackets in the water, don't play on the road) When we get home, we need to ween our kids off the freedom they have at the 'lake'.

7. I don't care what anyone says, the waterslides are NOT only for kids. ;-)

8. I love to read. And I've been reading a lot. I love that my kids don't need my complete undivided attention. It's taken me 8 years to get here people. I am VERY pleased about this new turn of events.

9. No one puked on the way to the lake, yippeeee! Can we hope for the same on the way home? Indeed we hope to!

10. There is nothing and I mean NOTHING. Like being on vacation. No phones, no cell phones, no interruptions, no messages, no time constraints, no having to be somewhere at a particular time. There is nothing like vacation.

The Lake

After a bit of a sketchy start [the first few days were over cast and rainy] The glorious sunshine is out in full force. We're having a great time at the beach. Would love to post some pictures, but that will have to wait until we're back home.

Lazy mornings, late evenings, hot sun, the smell of suntan lotion, sand EVERYWHERE, we're having a great time!

Free Online Class

At BPS...

Check it out here.

I wasn't overly thrilled with the last class I took, so it's nice to have freebie tossed in there.

Parties Over for Another Year

We had Mason's birthday party this week, at a local hotel with a water slide. The kids had a BLAST, and it was out of the house yet again! That's 2 for 2 people. I may never have another at home birthday again... Well, that's not true, I know it as I type it. But it was sure a treat. The nice thing too, was there were only 6 kids [including Mason and Madelyn]. It made watching the pool that much easier. I can't remember if I posted Mason's final birthday invite... I was pretty pleased with myself. The Pokemon thing around this house is still going strong, so I tried to make his invitation look like a Pokemon trading card, and I have to say, he was pretty pleased with the outcome. [and if the truth be told, so was I]

They played hard for an hour, then ate hot dogs, fries, nachos and cake, then played hard for another hour. It was perfect. Here are a few pictures from Mason's party.

We had a very quiet Canada Day yesterday. The weather cooled off quite a bit. We made a few last minute stops to get holiday stuff ready. You can never have enough sunscreen! We're headed off on vacation this weekend. Looking forward to a nice quiet getaway. We're hoping it will be a nice quiet getaway... I am PRAYING we don't have a repeat of last year...

Nothing but sunshine and beaches in our future, fingers crossed! I'll be able to post holiday photos upon my return! Who knows, I might even manage a post or two while we're away, thanks to Barry's laptop!