according.to.kim

Skating in the sun

We arrived home at 1:30 today from Madeline's ringette tournament in Saskatoon. We had an excellent weekend which involved great highway conditions, swimming, visiting my Grandma B, eating at Fuddruckers, going to a scrapbooking store, hanging out with nice people, and Madeline's team winning the last of their four games. The Spitfires have been playing super hard over the past month and they deserve it!

This afternoon, Georgia went to a birthday party where she was going skating in the birthday girl's backyard. The rest of us decided to take advantage of this gorgeous day, as well, so we went skating at an ice surface a couple blocks from our house. I enjoy putting on my skates once in awhile -- especially for some sunny outdoor skating.

We just had a few cold days (in the -20s), but it looks like our beautiful weather is back. High of -1 today and the forecast is looking great! Best. Winter. Ever. :)

PI 39/52: Leaving textures

For last week's prompt, I'm glad I was able to step out and take some pictures while the sun was shining. It makes all the difference in a picture like this.

No posts for 10 days. Yeesh. It just wasn't possible, though. We've been extra busy and I've been sleeping more thanks to a very nasty cold. Here's a brief recap of the non-ordinary happenings over the past week and a half.

• Georgia went to a friend's birthday party at the Science Centre where they watched Cinderella. She wore Madeline's fancy princess dress from Mexico.
• Sophia went to Laser Quest and Boston Pizza with her ringette team. Neil, Madeline, and I also went to BP to visit with other parents (M sat with the team).
• Sophia scored a hat trick in one of her ringette games. She has a great shot and has scored every time she's played forward this year (all but the first two games).
• Sophia enjoyed going to Robin Hood at The Globe Theatre with her school class.
• Madeline's ringette team earned their first win of the season (their 8th game). They were very excited. Madeline and Georgia's teachers came to this game.
• We all went to the CCA Finals Rodeo. Always fun to watch the girls have a new experience. Barrel racing and dogs herding sheep were the highlights for us.
• I took the van to Toyota to get the back door handle fixed. Rather essential for us. And not cheap. Boo.
• Madeline enjoyed spending an entire school day at Agribition with her school class.
• Neil and I attended parent-teacher meetings with all three teachers. (The girls are doing well.)
• We all went to Sophia's ringette tournament in Brandon. We stayed at the brand new Best Western which was nice. The Ice Angelz won 2 of their 3 games (only defeated by Chaos, our niece's team!). In the second game (vs. Winnipeg), Sophia was voted Player of the Game by the opposing team's coaches. She received a nice medal for her efforts. It was very exciting for her and a proud moment for us parents.

PI 25/52: Well balanced

I was presented with this symmetrical scene as we waited for the Riverhurst Ferry to cross Lake Diefenbaker (SK, Canada) on Sunday. We really enjoyed our time at my aunt and uncle's farm this weekend! It was a quick trip, but I'm very glad we went. I'll post more details and photos later. For now, I just want to mention some odds and ends.

Fact Computers
This morning, my iMac computer at home was malfunctioning. The screen was black, but I could hear the normal incoming email sounds and the time machine backup was running. When the drive stopped running, I powered off the computer and then on again, but there was no change. We thought it might be the screen or video card which we've seen as a problem with a different computer. I was getting rather concerned as I have many things I need to do on my computer right now! Neil took the iMac to Fact Computers this morning and they found nothing wrong with the screen or the computer itself! Phew! The technician said it just needed to be unplugged for about five minutes. I've never had this happen before but I'm immensely relieved it was nothing major. And Fact Computers are so awesome! No charge for the checkup. :)

Ringette equipment
Yesterday, Georgia had a playdate all afternoon with her friend, Dex. Meanwhile, Neil and the older girls were busy getting geared up for ringette, filling in the gaps of what we don't already have. They shopped around and got some good deals, but it was still an expensive day. They are working on this today, as well. Neil just called to tell me he got $280 skates for $50 at Sportchek for Sophia. Sophia and Madeline start ringette conditioning camp on the 29th, which is also the first day of school. The camp is three nights a week for four weeks, so we're going to have busy evenings right off the bat. There's no easing into it this year.

New job!
School and ringette aren't the only things starting on August 29th. I'm starting a new job that day! It's at the same company, but in a different department. It will be my first time outside of Marketing in 17 years. I'm going to CS Operations as an editor of public support content. I'm very excited about the job as it sounds like work that will suit me well, but I learned this morning that I have to move to an office on Longman Crescent! That's way, way up in the industrial area -- and the opposite end of the city from where I live. This does not suit me at all as I really enjoy taking the bus downtown in the mornings and getting a ride home with my sister-in-law 2-3 times a week. Oh well; I still would have wanted the job even if I had known about this.

Heavy metal

It's finally corn-on-the-cob season (for tasty imported cobs, that is), and these are our cob holders. They're not heavy, of course, but I thought they had a cool design. I like how this photo turned out. :) I decided to take another picture today to capture an item that Neil and I bought when traveling years ago. We can't remember exactly where we bought it, but I'm pretty sure it was Spain (11 years ago). It hangs above our kitchen sink and is used mostly for tea accessories and a cloth for drying fruits and vegetables. I love the rich browns in it.

Today, I've been busy cleaning the kitchen and sorting through the children's clothes that need to leave our house (the bags have been piled in the middle of Georgia's room for long enough). I am now sorting them three ways: Texas, Regina family (known to my sister-in-law), and Bailey (my cousin's daughter). There's more than enough to go around. Also, Neil has been busy cleaning the laundry room. It's so good to make progress on these things! Okay, back to work now.

Medicine Hat tournament

Last weekend, we all went to Medicine Hat for Sophia's ringette tournament, the Ed Horvath Interprovincial Classic. (Except Dash, who went to Laurel and Bronwyn's house for the weekend.) Epic blog post ahead.

We left on Thursday, February 10 after I got home from work. It seemed like a long drive that evening as it was dark, snowing off and on, and there was some drifting snow. We saw a few vehicles in the ditch between the divided highway. All had just gone in within minutes as their lights were still on. We were glad others had stopped to help. We arrived in Medicine Hat at the Travelodge about 10:30 p.m. (9:30 AB time). None of the kids had fallen asleep. We thought Georgia might since she wasn't feeling well, but she stayed awake, content watching DVDs. Once we got our things into the room, the girls all went to bed amazingly well. (In my experience, this never happens when arriving late to a hotel room!) As soon as they were asleep, I went to bed, too. Neil stayed up late playing cribbage with some of the other ringette parents.

***Friday morning, we were up pretty early and headed down to the breakfast room (complimentary continental breakfast) about 7:45 a.m. We had the place to ourselves. The girls were eager to go swimming, so when the pool opened at 8:30, we were ready. All five of us went in. The water temperature was great! Surprisingly warm. The waterslide was good (not too fast) and the pool was just the right depth for Madeline to stand with her head out of the water. She and Sophia had a great time sliding. Georgia wore her life jacket, but was still very unwilling to be on her own, so she stuck with me or Neil the whole time. I took her down the waterslide twice, and then she didn't want to go anymore (especially as Sophia pleaded with Georgia to let her take her down the waterslide). Just as we were all going to leave the pool, two of Sophia's team-mates came to the pool and asked her to stay swimming with them. Neil stayed to supervise and I took Georgia and Madeline to the room to shower.

Once I was all ready for the day and Neil and Sophia were back with the other two, I drove to Medicine Hat's local scrapbook store, Scrapbook Central. I wanted to tell them about Bite-sized Scrapbooking and check out their wares, of course! The store owner wasn't there, but I spoke to the lady working there and told her all about it. I left a few cards, too. I was quite nervous about this (I am so NOT a salesperson), but it went okay. I don't know if it will mean any business for me, but at least I tried. Scrapbook Central is a very nice little store, packed with good stuff. I shopped a bit and came home with a few sheets of paper, letter stickers, and labels that I love.

I got back to the hotel about 11:30 a.m., and we headed over to the Medicine Hat Mall to have lunch before Sophia's first game. A couple other families went there, too. The first game was at 1:45 p.m. vs. Indus Lightning at the Kinplex. The Sticks of Fury had a rough start. They were down 6 points before scoring and then outscored their opponent the rest of the game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough and we lost 8-5. Sophia scored one goal in the first game.

All of the ringette tournament stuff was at this arena and we wouldn't be back, so we spent a bit of time feeding the raffle baskets, and buying a set of ringette mini sticks (2 sticks and a mini ring) and "Ringy," a soft toy (a ring with arms and legs) for Georgia. Plus, there was a cool sports photographry set up where they had dozens of photos of each girl in action, taken during the game, displayed on computer monitors (there were about 8 of them) where you could browse the photos and choose some for printing right there. There were a couple great shots of Sophia, so we bought an 8x10 with a small picture inset in the corner. It's a nice keepsake.

We went back to the hotel and many of the ringette players and little siblings played (or watched) mini sticks for awhile. There was a great space not far from our room that was just lined with chairs, with big windows for light and lots of floor space. It wasn't next to any hotels rooms, either. Perfect!

At 4:15 p.m., all of the ringette families gathered at Houston Pizza for supper. It was a good set up with all of the kids at a long table between two rows of booths where all the parents and coaches sat. From there, we went straight to the Family Leisure Centre (a very nice, new facility with an extra wide ice surface) for the girls' second game vs. Airdrie White Out. Sophia played goal for this game and they tied, 7-7. It was a great game and Sophia played well. We didn't know what to expect from these Alberta teams, and it was good to see that the Sticks of Fury were competing with them at the same level. Also, during the game, Georgia -- who had been coughing for a few days and wasn't quite herself, but didn't seem terribly ill at any point in time -- spread my coat out on the bench and went to sleep next to Neil. (Those arenas were so flipping hot, I rarely kept my coat on through the game!)

From there, we headed back to the hotel and the whole team went swimming. Madeline and Georgia also went in; Georgia with her life jacket. She didn't move around much and was happy when some of the big girls would hold her or hoist her up onto a platform to watch the others. Some parents went swimming, too, and many of us just watched. The kids had a lot of fun. The sound in that room was deafening! We got the kids to bed quickly after that, as they had an early game. I wasn't feeling great, so I headed to bed around 10 p.m., too.

***Saturday morning, we were up early agian and ate breakfast before leaving the hotel at 8:15 a.m. The breakfast room was very busy this time, mostly our team. Our first game was at 9:15 vs. Calgary Dynamite at the Family Leisure Centre. We thought this team might be tough as they were the only one in our pool to have won their first two games. Our girls had a super game. We scored four goals quickly before the other team scored, and the final was 14-4 (officially 11-4 as they only record a 7-point difference). I prefer close games, but I must admit, this was fun to watch. Lots of cheering from our part of the stands. Plus, one of the girls on our team (Savannah) scored her very first goal, and that is always exciting. Also, Neil won the game 50-50 -- $42! And it was the only 50-50 he had entered. Sophia got a tripping penalty during this game (it was accidental).

Between games, we went back to the hotel and just relaxed a bit. I tried to take a nap, but that didn't pan out. For lunch, we just ate some food we had in the fridge that Neil had brought along. The girls' fourth game was at 1:00 p.m. vs. Bow View Lightning at another arena, Hockey Hounds. One of the coaches asked Sophia to play goal for this game and she agreed. It was a close, tough, exciting game the whole way. And a very low score for Novice ringette. We parents cheered a lot! The final was 4-3, with the other team scoring the winning goal at 30 seconds remaining on the clock. Bummer! Oh well. Sophia had played very well and earned Player of the Game! I know she wishes they would have won that game, but she didn't get upset. The Sticks of Fury could not advance with their record, but they had a good tournament. (Once again, Georgia layed down on the bench next to me and went to sleep during the game!)

Straight from that game, we had prearranged to meet at the Family Leisure Centre where they have a wave pool and bigger waterslide. Most of the ringette families went. All five of us went in the pool. I wish I hadn't though. I wasn't feeling well and didn't really enjoy it. Plus, we had no towels! We had not planned on swimming anywhere except the hotel, so we didn't bring any and the towel rental price was ridiculous at the FLC. We made do with paper towels and the hair/hand dryer. Also, one of the coaches, Andrea, hit her head going down the waterslide and had to go to the hospital for stitches on the side of her forehead. That was too bad, but fortunately, she didn't have a concussion.

At 5:30 p.m., all of the ringette families met at the Buffet Medicine Hat for supper. Busy place and a huge selection of food, probably 2/3 Chinese food. The kids really enjoyed it -- many servings of Shirley Temples, chicken balls, and five colours of Jello were consumed! I was hoping for some lighter food at this point in the weekend, but for some reason, I did not restrict my choices to the salad bar.

Afterward, the whole ringette team went in the hotel pool again. Quite a scene! Madeline went in, too, but Georgia opted on her own to stay out this time. Many parents visited around the pool. Madeline had a great time this weekend playing with one of the other younger sisters (Skylar), and they were constant side-kicks at this point. After swimming, we set up a movie (Beverly Hills Chihuahua 2) in one player's room and the whole team and siblings settled in to watch and eat snacks. Meanwhile, a bunch of parents gathered in another room for drinks. When Georgia decided she'd had enough of the movie, I put her to bed and decided to go to bed, too. I couldn't believe it was only 10 p.m. It felt much later to me. Neil stayed up and got the other two to bed some time later -- after someone had complained about noise from the room where the girls were watching another movie. That was the end of that. Around 11:30, I think.

***Sunday morning, I couldn't move. I was sick. My head hurt and my body ached. Plus, I was coughing more. Lovely. I had not felt great all weekend, but this was beyond that. I had wanted to leave around 9:00 a.m., but it wasn't going to happen. At that time, Neil took the girls down to breakfast and I struggled to get into the shower. With Advil Cold & Sinus, I was somewhat functional by 10:00 and we were able to pack up and check out at 11. We stopped at the mall to buy lunch and Valentine's cards for the girls to write on the way home.

The highway was very good, and we made good time. The Valentines kept the girls busy for quite awhile. I had agreed to buy some Valentine erasers and tape, too, so in addition to writing the cards (I had taken their class lists along), they enjoyed taping the erasers onto the cards.

After that was done, I was able to nap for awhile. We got to Regina at 5:30 p.m. Our van was too full to pick up Dash and his crate, so we went straight home and then Neil took the truck to pick up Dash. I don't even remember the evening, except that I felt terrible, and I emailed my manager and co-workers to let them know I wouldn't be at work on Monday.

Other than Georgia not feeling 100% and me coming down with the flu (which kept me away from work and regular activities all week; sigh), it really was a great weekend. It was our first big out-of-town tournament experience as a family, and it was a lot of fun. We really like the other families of Sophia's ringette team and it was great to get to know them better. I love this ringette thing! I'm excited that Madeline wants to play next year, as well. :)

Our trip to Edmonton

Last weekend, we drove to Edmonton to visit Shauna (Neil's sister), her husband, Wayne, and their sons, Cole and Rian. It was the perfect time to go since Remembrance Day was on Thursday and there was no school on Friday.

We started out with breakfast from McDonalds since that is our roadtrip tradition and it's the only time we ever get breakfast there. The drive to Edmonton was good. The highway was a bit icy for about 100 km out of Regina, but beyond that, it was completely clear and we had good driving conditions the rest of the way. The girls were content watching DVDs and playing on their DS(i)s a bit. We arrived at Shauna's shortly before 4 p.m. Alberta time (5 p.m. in SK). Shauna made a wonderful supper for us and we enjoyed visiting with all of them the rest of the evening. The girls went to bed well and at a good time, which is unusual for the first night in a new place.

On Friday, Cole was a bit reluctant to go to school while we were there, but we assured him that we wouldn't be at his house having fun without him. The five of us went out mid-morning to do some shopping at Ikea and other stores in South Edmonton Common. Shauna had given us some great coupons for deals such as 30% and 40% off regular and sale prices. We got some fantastic deals on things we needed, such as winter boots for Sophia (who, incidentally, is now wearing the same size as me!). We enjoyed lunch at Fatburger, which we had never tried before.

We went back "home" in time to go pick up Cole from school. The girls, Rian, Shauna, and I walked to the school while Neil went to pick up a few groceries. It was fun to see Cole's brand new BIG school, inside and out. Back at the house, the kids had a blast sliding down the stairs on an air mattress. After a little while, Neil and I went out to get a few more things at South Edmonton Common. I was very happy to get a new winter coat for a super good price and a picture frame I'd been wanting for months for about half price.

After another great supper prepared by Shauna, she led the children (and me) in making a cool craft. We made change purses out of duct tape! They were really fun to make. All we used were three colours of "Duck" tape from Michael's and some waxed paper, plus some velcro and magnetic closures that Shauna dug out of her craft supplies. Everyone was very pleased with their creations. Meanwhile, Neil and Wayne watched hockey and movies downstairs.

On Saturday morning, all nine of us went to Millenium Place in Sherwood Park to go swimming. What a fantastic facility! We really enjoyed the wave pool and lazy river. Afterward, Shauna and Wayne picked up pizzas for lunch at their house. Cole had a hockey game mid-afternoon. Our family left the house early for another quick shopping trip to get some jeans for Neil since The Bay wasn't too far from the rink. We made it to the game just a few minutes after it started. It was fun to watch the little boys play their game on half of the ice (with a bumper dividing the ice surface). Action packed!

After the hockey game, I think the kids managed to squeeze in some more sliding down the stairs on the air mattress. They really love doing that! The evening was similar to Friday, with Shauna serving a delicious supper, then more duct tape crafts (this time hand bags and pencil cases) with the kids. After getting the kids to bed, I spent some time gathering and packing up our things so we could leave early in the morning. I also got our water bottles ready and our travel food organized. Shauna even went out to get some treats for the girls. :)

Sunday morning, Neil and I were up bright and early to get the van loaded and the kids ready to go. Thanks to Shauna, the girls ate some toast before we left, and amazingly, we drove away about 7:15 a.m. Neil was on a mission to get back to Regina for the Riders home play-off game which started at 3:30 p.m. -- and we would lose an hour heading east. The trip went well. We had plenty of food, so didn't have to stop for that. We did make four quick stops for washrooms and fuel (once), and Neil made it to the game before 4:00 p.m. He was pretty anxious to get into the stadium by that time!

From there, the girls and I stopped at home very briefly and then headed to Yellow Grass where Dash was staying with my parents. Mom had invited us for supper and it happened to be Dash and Buffy's birthday that day, so the girls were anxious to see the dogs. I had a nice visit with Mom and Dad, and we saw the Riders' exciting win in double-OT. The girls, Dash, and I left for home about 8:30 p.m. I was relieved that I didn't feel too tired on the drive home. It was a very long day!

Many thanks to Shauna, Wayne, Cole, and Rian for your hospitality! We really enjoyed our stay with you. Thanks again to Mom and Dad for taking care of Dash for more than five days. Much appreciated!

Centered by chance

Pop quiz: What do Rugby ND, Lebanon KS, and Brady TX have in common?

No idea? Well, here's a bit of trivia for you: they are all the centre of a geographical space -- North America, the contiguous US, and Texas, respectively. Not only that, my family and I have been to all three of these places. And we weren't even trying to visit places that are at the centre of something! But when we noticed these landmarks, we used them as an opportunity to stretch our legs and have a little fun. That's how we roll on road trips. :)

I don't know how common it is for someone to have visited all of these places. I'm thinking, pretty rare, but conceivable. But I bet that no one else has ever made a scrapbook layout about all of these places! I hereby present The Most Obscure Scrapbook Topic Ever (in my books, anyway):

Journaling: How peculiar that we happened to travel through "the center of" places on three different occasions! We stayed overnight in Brady, TX on our way home from Weslaco in 2006; we went through Rugby, ND on our way from Minot to the International Peace Garden in the summer of 2009; and we went through Lebanon, KS on our way to Texas in December 2009, the day after we stayed with relatives in Neligh, NE. We weren't even aware of these landmarks until we saw the signs!

Credits: The map and labels are from JessicaSprague.com (Hybrid Project Friday 1: America the Beautiful by DigiTori, Tori Johnson); the rest is Bazzill cardstock, Stampin' Up! paper, American Crafts Thickers, AC felt flowers, and brads.

This layout was fun to make and I'm glad I made it! I didn't have a photo from Brady, so I used another Texas photo I had on hand and I printed out part of the brochure from the Hard Eight BBQ restaurant, which is what we really remember about our time in Brady (yum!).

Our trip to Saskatoon

On Sunday, August 1, we went to Saskatoon to visit my Grandma B. First thing upon arrival (5 p.m.), we pitched our tent at the Gordon Howe Campground in the south west part of the city. It is such a lovely well-maintained campground. I was glad to have made reservations a couple of weeks ago as it was completely full. On this trip, we stayed there at night but did not do any cooking there. I call it "half camping" and it's a pretty easy way to go!

We headed to Fuddruckers for supper -- of course! The girls did not remember what Fuddruckers was like even though we have been to a few. (I digress here to mention we have been to Fuddruckers in Houston, Sioux Falls, and Rapid City). The girls were excited to find out that lemon-lime slush was one of the drink choices with their meals. Neil and I both enjoyed bison burgers. It was all so good!

After supper, we went over to Grandma's place. We stayed for more than an hour. She gave Neil a cookbook with recipes submitted by Saskatchewan Roughriders players, and to me, a large baby photo of myself, taken by my uncle John. We also looked at a beautiful blanket that Grandma knitted in which every square is a different pattern. The girls were quite interested in her knitting tools, and Madeline kept saying she wanted to learn how to knit. I always enjoy the views from Grandma's suite and I always take pictures of it!

As we headed back to our campsite, the girls asked, and I agreed, that we could make S'mores this evening -- even though it was quite late already and we had to find a grocery store to get the ingredients. It was 10:45 p.m. by the time we were roasting the marshmallows! Oh well, that's what summer vacation is for, right? It was still quite warm and muggy outside. We didn't get to bed until 11:30 p.m. Just as we settled into our sleeping bags, it started raining and it rained ALL night (until about 6:00 a.m.)! Fortunately, our tent was on high ground. A few things that were touching tent walls got damp, but it was no big deal.

Monday morning, we could not find a local restaurant for breakfast as they were closed for the holiday (or not open until noon). Even Sophia wanted to go to a restaurant we don't have in Regina, but we settled on McDonald's. Oh well, it wasn't bad and we ate outside. From there, we headed over to Grandma's place. We planned our activities for the day and I worked on a few new pages for the scrapbook of heritage photos I had started over four years ago! (The scrapbook stayed with Grandma, so I wasn't able to work on it at home.) I was delighted that my cousins Sydney, Tanys, and Ellyn were able to come over for a visit, too. Unfortunately, Sydney and Tanys couldn't stay for long, but Ellyn stayed with us for the rest of the day. For lunch, we all walked (including Grandma) to the double-decker bus near the Bessborough hotel for hot dogs and ice cream. (And Saskatoon berry frozen yogurt for me.) Yum! My uncle Joel (who had talked to Grandma) found us there as we were finishing our lunch.

Mid-afternoon, we left Grandma's to go swimming at the Riversdale Pool (outdoor). Ellyn came with us, so we stopped by her house to get a swimming suit. We all had fun at the pool, although our time there was a bit too short (40 minutes in the pool) because we had a 5 p.m. reservation for supper. The water temperature was perfect and the girls loved the waterslide. Also, the girls really enjoyed having Ellyn there and it was great to have her help at the pool, too. From there, we went to Las Palapas Resort Grill where they serve "nuevo tropical cuisine." The atmosphere was fun and the food was pretty good (though too pricey for some things).

After supper, we went back to Grandma's, and then over to the Kinsmen Park across the street. The girls went on the carousel ride a couple times and we all went on the train. It was a beautiful evening for this, and there weren't many people there. We spent a bit more time at Grandma's in the evening, and had a very brief visit with my uncle Pat and aunt Alison when they picked up Ellyn. (They had been away all day doing work at their Emma Lake property).

We got back to our campsite around 9:30 p.m. We didn't start a fire because the grill was full of water, so we ate some uncooked S'mores. (Not so good, in my opinion!) The girls and I went to sleep about 11 p.m. while Neil stayed up reading by lantern light a bit longer. Neil and I were both annoyed with our loud-mouthed (and crass) neighbours. Fortunately, I had some ear plugs and the girls were tired enough to fall asleep quickly. That was the only bad thing about our tenting experience. Otherwise, it was very nice. No rain on the second night and the temperature was perfect.

Tuesday morning, we packed up our tent and checked out of the campground. We ate breakfast at Tim Horton's since we wanted something quick. We stopped by Grandma's briefly before going to the zoo at the Saskatoon Forestry Farm. We had a great morning there! It was neither hot nor cold out, so the animals were moving around, and there weren't too many people there either. Perfect! It's a nice little zoo. The girls loved it! I enjoyed the trees and vegetation, too.

On our way out, we went into the little butterfly greenhouse which is next to the parking lot (outside the zoo). There didn't appear to be many butterflies in there, but we were lucky to see some up close. They will step onto your finger if you put your hand right up to their feet. One butterfly climbed up Sophia's hair and then perched on her nose!

Before leaving the city, we looked for lunch on 8th Street and found Jerry's Food Emporium. What a fun place! We loved it. The food was good and the display of ice cream and gelato was too tempting! We all indulged in a treat after our late lunch. We hardly needed another bite to eat for the rest of the day! Straight to Regina after getting fuel, we arrived home at 4:30 p.m. and my mom arrived with Dash a short while later. Thanks Mom and Dad for keeping Dash while we were away!

July 25: The magic number

(1) A triptych of Saskatchewan skies (between Moose Jaw and Regina). I took all three of these photos within 30 minutes (8:37 to 9:03 pm) as we drove down the highway toward home. It was a full moon and this was a lucky shot (the other ten were terrible!). It's hard to get a decent photo of the moon without a tripod, let alone from a moving vehicle.

(2-5) Before heading home, we went to the groom's parents' lovely acreage just outside of Calgary for a couple hours. They had invited everyone out there for lunch. There's a creek running at the back of the property and there was a bunch of fragrant clover and alfalfa growing near the creek. The girls had lots more fun with their second cousins. I'm glad we had another chance to visit with relatives.

The drive home was pretty good, too, although I was not feeling very well and I took three naps (or tried to nap, anyway). Our longest stop was for supper at A&W in Swift Current. We got home just after 9:00 p.m. After unloading our things from Lou's car, Neil and the girls went to get Dash.

July 24: Larger than life

(1) Family portrait at a truck stop near Moose Jaw, taken on Sunday the 25th, on our way home from Calgary.

(2) Another pretty pond at the Calgary Zoo. I took far more photos of water than of animals on this zoo trip!

(3) There's something about giraffes. I always take photos of them. They have a nice indoor-outdoor enclosure at this zoo.

(4) Our table at the wedding of Collin (Neil's cousin) and Bridget. We were seated with Neil's cousin, Kathy, her husband, Art, and their three young daughters. The girls really hit it off and had so much fun together (especially the younger five). It was a great seating arrangement! :)

(5) The view from outside the hall where the wedding reception was held. The Rocky Mountains are on the horizon.

ETA:

I woke up with a very sore throat and could hardly force myself out of bed. (Not a surprise since I could feel something coming on the day before.) I couldn't really get moving until the Advil Cold & Sinus kicked in, so we were off to a later start than we had hoped. (And then I was on continuous ibuprofen and/or acetaminophen all weekend to manage the pain of my sore throat. Some cold meds also helped me stay awake.)

We went to the hotel's excellent breakfast buffet with Lou, then the five of us headed to the zoo (Lou stayed at the hotel to visit with his siblings). We arrived at the zoo at 10:30 a.m. and left shortly after 2:00 p.m. It was a hot and sunny Saturday and the zoo was jammed with people. We are used to visiting zoos during the off season or on cloudy, drizzly days, so we weren't accustomed to such crowds! Not ideal for seeing animals. Oh well; it was our only opportunity. Our kids had never been to this zoo before, and it is a great zoo. (We got a terrific price for zoo tickets by buying a family fun pack through the hotel at which we were staying, Executive Royal Inn North Calgary: one night accommodation, zoo tickets for five, and breakfast buffet for five for $159 -- about $100 off the full price of those things.)

The wedding was at 4:00 p.m. at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church, a very traditional parish -- the likes of which we had never seen before. All the ladies and little girls of the parish wore lacy scarves on their heads, there was no music during the hour+ long ceremony/mass, and the priest spoke a lot of Latin. It was really something to see.

The reception was at 5:30 p.m. at the Austrian Cultural Centre, a great venue for a wedding dinner and dance. We all had a wonderful time at this wedding, and it was so nice to see many relatives on Neil's dad's side that we had not seen for several years. I'm very glad we decided to go. My only regret is that we didn't get a picture of all five of us together at the wedding when we were all dressed up and looking quite nice. (Well, I also wish I had been feeling better!)

July 23: Life is but a dream

(1) One of many ponds at the Calgary Zoo, taken on Saturday the 24th. I was struck by the beautiful reflection in this one. (For this weekend, I have moved photos around to match the prompts since I didn't always have an opportunity for the prompt on the day it came out.)

(2) The water reservoir on my coffee maker. I think it looks a bit dreamy, don't you? :)

(3) Meet Georgia's Paper Pal, Mini Georgia! The girls had their pals out a few times on our little road trip.

(4) Neil driving his parents' Acadia. We were on our way to Calgary for a wedding. It was unusual, but rather nice, for me to sit in the second row of seats. Lou and Neil were in front and took turns driving. (Donna stayed home as she's recovering from knee surgery.) Georgia sat next to me, while Sophia and Madeline were in the third row. It was very handy for me to be so close to the kids for distribution of food, markers, wipes, etc. (And we sure needed a lot of wipes on this trip!)

(5) We saw many bright canola crops in Alberta.

ETA:

We left Regina at 10:30 a.m. and arrived in Calgary at 6:00 p.m., so we made good time. We didn't have to stop for lunch as Neil had made pizza for all of us the day before. We also had fruit, cheese, and a few other snacks for the kids along. The kids stayed occupied with DVDs, DSis, and doodling.

After checking in at our hotel, we went to White Spot for supper, a nearby family restaurant. The girls were delighted with the bubble gum milkshakes they had with their meal and then bubble gum ice cream for dessert! (eek) What a treat!

Also, thanks to L&B for taking care of Dash this weekend!

Texas vacation photos

This past weekend, I was determined to deal with the photos from our trip. I've learned it's better to do this sooner than later or it may not happen for a long time. (The last time we went to Texas, the photos sat on our computer for 2.5 years before I did anything with them!) I'm pleased to say I tackled the photos and I'm finished!

I spent a fair chunk of time in front of my computer over the past three days (at least it's centrally located, so I'm always in the midst of the action!) as I sifted through all the vacation photos (about 1350 after deleting the completely unusable), selected and ordered prints from Costco (320), selected a subset of those and uploaded them to Shutterfly for sharing (140), and then selected another smaller batch (40) and added them to my blog posts.

Also, after getting the prints, I put all of the photos from this trip as well as previous trips to Texas (2006 and 2002) into one large photo album (each trip in its own section). On all three of those vacations, we stayed in Trails End and visited the Gladys Porter Zoo, South Padre Island, and Nuevo Progreso in Mexico. Sophia was with us all three times, too. It's cool to see those photos together.

If you're interested in a glimpse of our most recent trip, you can look back at my blog posts and see 1-3 photos from each day (not always the best photos since my choices were limited by my decision not to include close-ups of the girls, but some of my favourites are posted here). If you'd like to see the full set of 140 photos: (1) If you have access to my password-protected Shutterfly site that I use to share photos on a monthly basis, you can go there and click on "Our Trip to Texas, Dec 2009-Jan 2010" in the left column; or (2) If you don't have access to that site, just let me know and I'll send you a link to the vacation photo site which is not password-protected (and this is why I'm not posting the link here).

Random notes on Dash, trip, life

In case you haven't guessed it, our pup's name came from The Incredibles (if you're not familiar with this movie, see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dash_Parr). (And Buffy's name came from the word buffalo. )

Numerous times on our trip I thought that despite having two GPS units on our window (one displayed the map/directions; the other displayed speed, distance, moving time, etc; we have two because Madeline won one), I would not enjoy a road trip without paper maps. GPS is awesome, but it's simply not satisfying or user-friendly for the big picture or orientation. I refer to the paper maps very frequently. I also really like having the CAA/AAA travel guides handy. I always look up the communities we're heading toward and read about their history and attractions if they have an entry. We also use these books to check out accommodations and dining establishments as a starting point (but we tend not to go to any restaurants listed, with the exception of Il Vicino in Colorado Springs with which we were extremely happy).

My hands are always dry, cracked, and bleeding in winter, but never so bad as this year. They didn't even get better through our whole trip to Texas. It's quite painful. I have been putting on lotion more than usual (even expensive stuff for cracked hands) and it's not helping.

I am horribly behind on reading and responding to email messages. While we were away, I used most of my computer time to document our trip and backup photos, so email went on the back burner. I can't stand seeing my inbox so full of unread messages. I especially want to look at all of the Mantay reunion correspondence ASAP! (I did take a peek at the blog last night and commented on one item.)

The girls' birthdays: One down, two to go, and no plans have been made. Gifts are handled though; they each picked an outfit at Walmart before we left. I also have a Junior Scrabble game and art set they can share. Otherwise, Dash is their gift.

I'll feel better about everything in my little universe once I view, select, print, and share photos from November and December! Normally, I'm able to keep up with these monthly tasks (which I enjoy), but I had no time for it during the past six weeks. When I get behind on recurring tasks like this, it just hovers in the background of my mind until I can do it.

On our trip to Texas, I kept track of all the money we spent. I hadn't done that before. Now I've done a few calculations to determine how much the traveling part of our trip cost per person (i.e., just travel time, not the time we spent in the Lower Rio Grande Valley). For fuel, lodging, food and drink, over 8 nights/9 days (not counting the night we spent with relatives), traveling about 7100 km, we spent $398 Canadian per person. That doesn't seem too bad to me, especially considering we had 10 non-fast-food meals in restaurants (8 suppers and 2 breakfasts) during that time. (If you're interested, the breakdown was $686/635US for fuel, $622/576US for lodging, and $682/632US for food and drink.) I'm sure it would cost us far more to fly the same distance -- and we wouldn't see and experience all of the things we do along the way. Sally asked if we would do a long road trip like this again and the answer is: yes, definitely! For the most part, I quite enjoy the travel days.

I really like the Dash timing last night. Neil took him out just before midnight and then I took him out at 5:45 a.m. when I got up. It was great not having to get up in the middle of the night, as I did the previous two nights.

January 9

Almost home

Breakfast: Richland Motor Inn expanded continental.

Departure (Sidney, MT): 8:35 a.m.

Pleasantly uneventful border crossing: I had spent the previous hour or so going through our receipts and categorizing our purchases and gifts, plus the food we were bringing back. The border official asked to see our receipts and my lists. She looked through them for a couple minutes and sent us on our way. I think it helps to be prepared.

Distance traveled: 322 km

Arrival (Regina, SK): 1:00 p.m. (we changed time zones and lost an hour). Arriving home from this vacation is even more exciting and scary than usual. See "back to reality" below.

Rest of the day: Neil hauled everything in from the van and I started unpacking and putting things away. I made quite a dent in it this afternoon. It was great to get home so early in the day. We've never done that before. The girls all played together in Sophia and Madeline's room for a long time. Most of their play involved stuffed animals, old and new, and creating a little skit that they performed for me. Neil also went out for some groceries and made supper. Meanwhile, Laurel called and told us about the Olympic torch relay event happening in the evening, and where we could meet her and Bronwyn (plus B's dad and step mom) if we chose to go. We decided it was an opportunity we couldn't pass up, so we ate quickly and then bundled up to spend the evening outside. I'm glad we went. It was pretty cool to see the Olympic flame in person, and it was great to see L&B after being away for three weeks. We saw lots of people we know, and it was fun to hear Jason Plumb sing Let's Paint the Whole World Green. I especially liked the national anthem part of the event. Also, B's step mom coordinated the national torch relay and she gave us a tour of the Sustainable Living Exhibit.

Back to reality: A new reality in many ways... We're picking up our puppy TOMORROW! And we're not ready for this! We'll prepare as much as we can in the morning and then we'll go pick him up from my parents' home in the afternoon. He's been there for a week already. Also, I start my new job on Monday! And it's quite different from what I've been doing. I will have a lot to learn. All of this is going to be exhausting! Also, the kids go back to school and their activities this week... Eek. I wish we all had another week off. Sigh.

January 8

Wyoming

Miles City, Montana

Departure (Casper, WY): 9:25 a.m.

Breakfast: Egg sandwiches and cinnamon buns to go from Riverside Grille in the hotel.

Stops: Sheridan, Miles City, Sidney.

Accomplished along the way: I finished sewing 20 badges on Sophia's Brownies sash (started yesterday)! I had put off this task for more than 5000 km. I'm glad I finally pulled it out and got it done.

Baffled by: The absence of window washing squeegees at gas stations in Wyoming and Montana.

Arrival (Sidney, MT): 5:35 p.m.

Distance traveled: 762 km

Supper: Pizza House, recommended by the hotel concierge. Yep, more pizza! Busy place -- always a good sign. We really enjoyed it.

Lodging: Richland Motor Inn

January 7

 
Entering Garden of the Gods (do you see me?)

Exploring the garden

Georgia's 4th birthday!

Departure (Colorado Springs, CO): We left our motel at 8:15 a.m. and went to BonTon's Cafe just down the street for breakfast. It was such a cute local place in Old Colorado City and we had a fantastic breakfast! Then we went to Garden of the Gods and didn't leave there until 10:30 a.m. This morning was perfect for Garden of the Gods.

Stops: Costco north of Denver, Glendo, Casper. I had wanted to go to a Costco in the US and this was the first one we saw. Plus, it was on the right side of the highway. We walked around for about 45 minutes and enjoyed looking at the various food products that we don't have at our Costco in Regina. We also bought some food such as cheese sticks that we could eat in the van for lunch today and over the next couple days.

Arrival (Casper, WY): 4:35 p.m.

Distance traveled: 556 km

Supper: The World Famous Wonder Bar. We found this in the Casper phone book. Burgers appeared to be the specialty of this restaurant, so Neil and I ordered the most intriguing one on the menu: The Garbage Can Burger. You don't know what will be on it until you get it. Neil's burger had mashed potatoes and a fried egg on it, and mine had pizza sauce, pepperoni, and mozzarella on it (as well as lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles on both). We both enjoyed our burgers very much! We really enjoyed the fresh potato chips that came with them, too. We told the waitress it was Georgia's birthday, so she got an extra special ice cream sundae for dessert: vanilla ice cream, chocolate sauce, whipped cream, and two big chocolate chip cookies. (Sophia and Madeline just had ice cream and chocolate sauce.) The four of us sang happy birthday to Georgia. She looked very delighted at that moment. :)

Lodging: Ramada Plaza. We were intent on finding a hotel with a pool today. We shopped around a bit and stayed here because the pool has mineral water, it was only 2.5 feet at one end (great for Georgia), and we could get a pool-side room. It was fabulous! (And inexpensive for such a nice hotel: $85.) We used the pool and hot tub for more than an hour, and we had the pool area to ourselves. The girls could splash and play to their heart's content.

January 5 and 6

January 5

Carlsbad Caverns National Park

Information display inside the caverns

Speleothems

Departure (Fort Stockton, TX): 8:50 a.m.

Breakfast: Eagle Donuts in Pecos.

Stops: Pecos, Loving, Carlsbad, Carlsbad Caverns, Carlsbad, Roswell.

Carlsbad Caverns: Absolutely fascinating. We took the elevator down (it takes one minute to go down 750 feet) and walked the Big Room route for 2.5 hours (which is supposed to take 1.5 hours). We each had our own audio device for the self-guided tour. The girls had a children's version of the audio. We all enjoyed what we saw of the caverns (there are several other routes and tours we didn't take). Georgia and Madeline just got tired of walking in the last 20-30 minutes. I took many photos but no photo can do it justice. Once out of the caverns, we spent some time in the gift shop/trading post and the girls each "adopted" a bat. They named their bats Jose, Troy, and Velma. :)

Arrival (Roswell, NM): 8:10 p.m.

Distance traveled: 346 km (plus 88 km to/from Carlsbad Caverns)

Supper: Red Chimney Real Pit Bar B Que in Carlsbad. We tried to go to Danny's Place (as recommended in a comment), but it was closed, and we were glad to find Red Chimney instead. We really enjoyed it. Despite having a big meal, I couldn't resist the peach cobbler with ice cream. Mmmm.

Lodging: Ramada Limited

***

January 6

Sunrise in Roswell

Storefront in Roswell

Breakfast: Ramada expanded continental.

Departure (Roswell, NM): 9:00 a.m.

Stops: Rest stop at 285/20, Las Vegas, rest stop near Maxwell, rest stop near Colorado City, Colorado Springs.

Arrival (Colorado Springs, CO): 4:10 p.m.

Distance traveled: 698 km

Sights: In Roswell, we enjoyed seeing all of the alien and UFO-themed signs and store fronts. In Colorado Springs, we drove around the amazing Garden of the Gods. Unfortunately, it was too cold and windy to walk within the park (and the dull gray sky didn't highlight the rocks like a blue sky would have; oh well). Neil and I were here 14 years ago (April 1996). We also enjoyed seeing the historic Old Colorado City district in Colorado Springs.

Supper: Il Vicino Wood Oven Pizza. We all loved this place. Amazing food at very reasonable prices. Sophia says it was her favourite restaurant on our trip.

Lodging: Garden of the Gods Motel

January 4

Near Seminole Canyon State Park

Departure (Trails End, Weslaco, TX): 8:45 a.m.

Stops: Escobares, Laredo, Texas Info Centre (35/83 Junction), Carrizo Springs, Sanderson, Fort Stockton.

Enjoyed along the way: interesting Spanish/Mexican architecture; cemeteries decorated with bright flowers and streamers; limón papas fritas (lime potato chips); Mexican pecan candy; a clear blue sky; playing "bake a yucky cake" with Sophia and Madeline; the wide-range of terrains, vegetation, and animals we saw (including two different species of hoofed animals with horns that we don't know the names of); views of Seminole Canyon State Park; a lovely sunset; an old windmill silhouetted against the sky at dusk.

Arrival (Fort Stockton, TX): 7:05 p.m.

Distance traveled: 849 km

Supper: Pizza Pro in Fort Stockton. The kids wanted pizza and I'm glad -- Pizza Pro was great! Thanks to our policy of only eating at restaurants we don't have at home, we didn't go to the Pizza Hut a block away.

Lodging: Budget Inn

January 3

Picking grapefruit beside the trailer

Our last day in the Rio Grande Valley. Sigh. I would love to be here a couple more days, but I know we'll enjoy the trip home much more if we have shorter days on the road. Plus, we're really looking forward to Carlsbad Caverns.

Donna and Lou have spoiled us with pancakes and sausage for breakfast many times over the past week, including today. What a treat!

I was determined to finish backing up our trip photos to a flash drive and I worked on that this morning. With the photos in two places (on the computer and flash drive), I could then delete them from the camera without worry.

The girls went to church with their grandparents. This was the perfect opportunity for us to get all of their Christmas gifts and their many purchases packed without interference. It was quite a challenge to get everything packed tightly so it would all fit in our van. At least we had the space which was freed up from the toddler clothes we took to Mexico.

After lunch, Neil and the girls went swimming. Unfortunately (for Neil especially), the water was very cold today as new water had been added to the pool in the morning. The girls loved every minute of it anyway, and they were in the pool close to an hour. After that, they all stayed in a warm bath for another 45 minutes.

Meanwhile, I packed clothes and everything else. I worked on it all afternoon when I wasn't washing or brushing the girls hair. I packed carefully and strategically to get everything in our suitcases (new clothes included) and minimize the luggage we'll have to take into our hotel rooms. As it is, we're leaving a few things for Donna and Lou to bring home with them, such as flip flops, sun suits, and life jackets.

After a great supper, I finished packing and Neil put as much as he could into the van. I don't think we've ever been so ready this far in advance of leaving. Nice!

Lou played cards with the girls for awhile before we put them to bed, about 9:00 p.m.

January 1 and 2

January 1

Isla Grand Beach Resort

We received some terrible news this morning: Uncle Doug (Donna's cousin) had died during the night. It was unexpected. He was only 64. I am very sad for his family.

We got ready for the day and packed up our things to check out of the hotel. As planned, we went to the Isla Grand Beach Resort (formerly The Radisson) for brunch. The restaurant overlooks the hotel's stunning pools and waterfall, many palm trees on the grounds, and the ocean in the background. It was a cool windy day the waves were high. (On the boat yesterday, the captain said there would be 10-foot waves today, whereas they were only 0-1 foot during our boat tour. We lucked out.)

The brunch buffet was excellent! The best I've ever had. Fantastic custom-made omelette, green chili sauce, fresh blueberry and pecan pancakes, among other things. I can see why Aunt Dot enjoys this place. (I'm glad Donna wanted to bring her here since this will be her last winter in Texas.)

After brunch, the girls enjoyed talking to the two parrots housed in large cages in the lobby of the hotel. Also, Georgia's dry cereal (saved from the buffet) spilled in the lobby and the janitor (or bell hop?) went to the restaurant to get her a new package of Lucky Charms.

On the way back to Weslaco, we stopped at Bobz World along the highway at Los Fresnos. The girls enjoyed looking around the store and spending some of their money on swimming suits, sun dresses, sea stars, and a pool volleyball.

We got back to Trails End about 2:00 p.m., and then went straight over to the nursing home where Uncle Jim is staying. It's just two minutes away. We visited with him in the front room where he was waiting for us.

The girls were itching to go swimming in the pool at Trails End. It had been a few days. As soon as we got back to trailer, the girls and I headed to the pool. The water was a very nice temperature and we stayed in the pool for an hour and 15 minutes, until 4:00 p.m. I sat in the hot tub for a few minutes before Georgia needed my help in the washroom. We showered and dressed and went over to Bruce and Shirley's for happy hour. The girls ate a lot of snacks there. I was impressed with Georgia who kept refilling her plate with broccoli and cauliflower. From there, we went to the Great China Buffet restaurant in Weslaco. There were five couples from Trails End, plus the five of us. The buffet has a big selection of food and it was good.

January 2

Main street in Nuevo Progeso

Afternoon snack at Ay Jalisco

Neil and I went to the Premium Outlets mall at 10:00 a.m. as we had a number of exchanges to make. We also picked up a few things requested by Bronwyn, Sophia, and Madeline from Justice. Meanwhile, Donna and Lou took the girls to the farmers market and HEB for groceries.

After lunch, we all went to Mexico for the afternoon. The girls were very excited to go to Pinky's and to buy some things along the main street in Progreso. They loved choosing and trying on princess dresses ("Prisney" brand; made in Mexico). These are very fancy costume dresses which seem to be well made (I hope so because they're not inexpensive!). Sophia bought a blue ball gown with a very full skirt; Madeline bought a blue and pink ball gown (very Barbie princess); and Georgia bought a green and white short dress (a la Tinkerbell).

We looked at a few things in the Canada store. I wanted to show the girls some giant marshmallows I had seen there. Unfortunately, this resulted in a bunch of marshmallows being purchased and Georgia having a total meltdown because I wouldn't let her buy a Halloween package of suckers. She cried and cried for a long time. Too long. I'm glad this doesn't happen often.

We went to Ay Jalisco to have drinks and nachos. Neil had some grilled jalepenos which were super hot (I had one bite and that was enough for me). The place was loud and lively with lots of people and live music. The girls had fun giving tips to the band and requesting songs (provided by Donna).

As soon as we were out of the restaurant, Sophia and Madeline bought purses made from candy wrappers. On the other side of the street, heading back toward the bridge, they all bought bracelets (fake silver with nice inlays).

Also, throughout our visit to Progreso, the girls made many coin and $1 donations to ladies sitting on the sidewalk holding out a cup, as well as a couple children.

Back at home, the girls donned their new dresses and put on a fashion show for their grandparents. They were pretty adorable prancing around. It will be challenging to find room for these dresses in our van for the way home, but it'll be worth it. They love dressing up.