PL2016 - Weeks 10 & 11

Well it only stands to reason, that because I've been so busy, my scrapbooking has fallen behind slightly. But if you ask me, it's a pretty good reason to have your scrapbooking fall behind.

I'm playing a little catch up.  Here are weeks 10 & 11 of my project life album.

Week 10:

This week I chose to convert almost all my photos to B/W. The kit I used was full of vibrant colours and sometimes when using colourful embellishments, you need to tone down the photos. I love how it looks, and should really try and work with B/W photos more often. 

This week... Another visit to the orthodontist. A trip downtown to the Calgary Court House to contest a recent ticket I received. I wasn't too nervous, until we got there, and it was more intimidating than going through airport security. On the bright side, my ticket was revoked by the crown, which was awesome and totally worth the hassle of going, getting completely stressed out going through security, and waiting for my name to be called.  We even made a lunch date out of it, me and my sweetheart. I went out and celebrated the upcoming nuptials of my friend Carrie, with a night at Marietta's. Madelyn baked and iced her first cake. She did it all herself, and it was delicious. Barry and his little dog... He loves her... Mad and I went to watch her friend Tess' in a play-off game.

Week 11:

This week... A not great photo of Mason playing his guitar, it was dark, so the light wasn't great. He's so good at it. He's currently taking guitar as an option at school, I hope he keeps up with it. Spring and fall we seem to have some of the most amazing sunsets. We're so lucky. This ended up being Mason's last game. It was tied and went to a 3 on 3 over time. They played great, but sadly lost. Girl Guides went on a trip to the Calgary's Earth Science for Society Exhibition. It was all about earth sciences, and pretty interesting. I love too, the silly texts I got from Mason, when him and friend were doing homework...

The following Sahlin Studio Product was used:

Week 10

Shine Bright Kit

Shine Bright Journal Cards

Week 11

Charmed Kit Sampler

Acrylic Arrows

4x6 Templates Vol.1

Our last month - Photo Heavy

Man oh man this past month has been crazy, busy.

After we got home from our ringette tournament in Medicine Hat, we were officially finished with both hockey and ringette. No more games. No more practices. No more ice times... The first couple of weeks, after being that busy for 7 months, is dreamy. And then you begin to miss your peeps... A lot of time is spent visiting and making friends with other parents. So, as glad as you are that your schedule is going to slow down, you're a little bit sad too. Our social life came to a screeching halt.

But we didn't have much time to be sad, because right after Easter, Easter Monday to be exact, we had an exchange student from France staying with us for just over a week. After we got over our nervous jitters, it was okay. But that first day... My word... Slightly stressful.  We aren't fluent in french and our student had limited english. Thank goodness for the iTranslate app.

How our everyday lives differed when our student was here. We basically never stopped going for 8 days. The school days were jam packed with outings and field trips, and every evening we had something going on, so the french/english kids could hang out.

I hope our student had a great experience. In the week he was here he saw: Banff, the Zoo, the Tyrrell Museum, and Heritage Park. Those were the class excursions. There was also a night at the Flying Squirrel, a Potluck with all participating host families, he went to Scouts with Mason one night, went Paint Balling, attended a bonfire, and we took a trip downtown, they rode bikes to Dairy Queen for ice cream. We tried to let him see and experience as much as possible.

Mason & Andrea with the skyline in the back. This was the day he arrived.

 Drumheller, Alberta

 Paintball shenanigans.

Riding bikes up to DQ.

Then, the weekend after he left, Barry and I were headed to Mexico, to see my friend get married.

Which was delightful. Seriously. Such a nice way to end off a really busy season. We might have to consider doing that on an annual basis. Some sort of treat for ourselves. A little get away to reconnect.

A mini bottle of champagne on the plane, compliments of the groom who preferred not to drink his. 

 

 I'm surprised they need to put this sign up, to ask guests to refrain from touching the iguanas...

 First night!

  Checking out the beach. A happy place for sure.

 Picture perfect.

 Pretty awesome view.

 Hanging out poolside.

 

  During the ceremony.

Congratulations to Carrie and Albert!   

We took a selfie, and then realized the bride and groom were in the background. 

A perfect end to the perfect day.

There's a cute story behind these little snakes. Madelyn has been on a huge sewing kick lately, and just creates things. These two little snakes are an example of that. She also snuck one into each of our bags, so that we would 'think about her' while we were away. So we took them around iwth us, and took photos of them in different places.  She was thrilled to learn her little snakes went on quite an adventure.

 Seriously... These iguanas are EVERYWHERE.

We could connect to wifi in the lobby. And man, that makes you realize how dependant you are on your technology. Each morning we had breakfast and headed to the lobby. Having said that, it's awesome to be able to chat with your kids and my M&D, when we're away.

If you follow me on IG, you'll know I was anticipating the 'all-inclusive' very much. Thrilled to get there and find my wristband worked. We did a ton of walking, because of the nature of the resort. Which was super. Because we really indulged on the eating and drinking aspect of this holiday. I'm a little bit surprised i didn't come home with green tinged skin. Let me say, those Mexican's know how to make guacamole. That was a must have each and every day.  When in Mexico, right?
 

We, or at least I, came home a few pounds heavier. With no regrets. Not a single one...

We came back home to some absolutely gorgeous temperatures. The day after we got back was in the high 20's. For real. In the middle of April. Our city is greening up before our eyes, and all the flowering trees are beginning to bloom...

Now, to keep up with the 10,000+ steps I'd been doing while away...

PL2016 - Week 9 and Ringette Provincials

So much to share.

Let's get week 9 out of the way.

 

This week both kids got new shoes. New Vans, if I'm being specific. Pretty cool. We went to a retirement party for my sister in law. [Doesn't Barry's side of the family really resemble one another?]

Madelyn had a kick ass game of ringette. She got a goal, 2 assists and a body contact penalty. HAD to document that. Hockey and ringette. That's what our life consists of these days.

You may recall me saying that the Super Tsunamis made it to provincials. This year, provincials for her age group, were held in Medicine Hat. So, the first weekend of springbreak, that's where we headed.  The first game they played, was in the old Medicine Hat Arena... Seriously. So cool. These girls were totally pumped... During their warm up, they blasted the music on speakers while they were on the ice.

Friday, the girls played 2 games. They won a game and lost a game.

Friday night, they were involved in the opening ceremonies. There were 12 teams in total. Our girls got to come onto the ice, with our banner first. Great photo op. 
 

The girls played 3 games on Saturday, and won all 3. They did outstanding.

When I say, all the girls played on saturday, I mean almost all the girls. Because one poor little muffin woke up with the flu at 5:23 am [yes, exactly at that time] and she was sick all. day. long... It was absolutely pitiful... [and I don't recommend being out of town, and in a hotel when your kid is sick. It's pretty boring. And pretty uncomfortable]

She looked like this all day:

However, the little trooper that she was, woke up first thing on Sunday morning, and said, "Let's go".
She got up then, and felt woozy, so we went and watched the sunday morning game, but she didn't play.

The Tsunamis made it to the bronze medal game. And little miss played. Can you believe that? She's on the bottom right. She didn't have as much energy as normal, but she ate lunch, got her gear on, and she played. We were so proud of her.

We lost the bronze medal game, but we came in 4th out of 12 teams. We were the only southern Alberta team to make it to the finals. What a feather in our cap. What a year. We couldn't have asked for a better crew. And we've made some life long friends in this bunch. Lucky us.

All the matching provincial garb. These girls totally rock.

Way to go Tsunamis!!

Sahlin Studio Product used:

http://the-lilypad.com/store/documentary-elements.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/documentary-journal-cards.html

http://the-lilypad.com/store/documentary-papers.html