Week Four

Week Four of Summer Vacation!

This week began with our community Stampede breakfast. Each year we enjoy the delightful breakfast of live music, yummy food, treats for the kids and the bouncer. This year the kids got sheriff stars on Laredo’s to match last year’s bandanas. After filling up on pancakes, eggs, sausages, baked beans and hash browns it was time to hit the park circuit.

The first stop was at Belvedere-Parkway and then we were off to Bowness park. The weather warmed up, the sun came out and we were all happy to hang out for a few hours. DaddyJ took over the spin master duties, sending SparkJ and CubJ into fits of laughter. At Bowness there was great fun to be had trying to out run the Mommy-paparazzi!

Tuesday we met the cousins at Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump. This is an amazing interpretive center describing how the first nations people have made use of the cliff to hunt buffalo for over 5700 years. The site does an exceptional job of explaining the importance of the buffalo, the planning that goes into the hunt and use of all parts of the animal. The information presented shows the complex culture of the first nations people, the devastation that can happen when we take nature for granted and power we all have to affect change. One can quickly see why this historic site is designated as a UNESCO World Heritage site as it helps its visitors value nature and the lessons already learned by past generations. We highly recommend a trip to Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump if you have the chance.

We have lost cabin pressure, place your chip bag over your mouth and nose while breathing normally!

Fort MacLeod for lunch!

Wednesday, we were off to the Calgary Stampede! The kids had a great time riding the rides, exploring all of the fun houses, and playing games. We managed to eat our fair share of mini donuts, hot dogs/corn dogs, cheddar nuggets, root beer and lemonades. One of the highlights of the day was our tour through the Agricultural section. The kids loved seeing the cows, horses, pigs and learning about the growing cycle of plants including canola. Conveniently, after doing a report on Peru and Alpacas, CubJ got to see both Alpacas and Lama’s. SparkJ loved seeing the Budweiser Clydsdales and their sleeping Dalmatian dog. For me the milk and cookies from the giant milk container at the end, are always a great treat in support of the food bank!

Snack time! All hail the returning donut hero, the wagon wheel and chocolate milk!!

Friday morning we met up with our cousins for dim sum. It is always a happy day when the cousins get to hang out together, let alone when there is rice and egg tarts involved! Everyone ate their fill of delicious food and enjoyed a second visit this week. It has been spectacular having so many fun chances of visit with our cousins this summer. We are always thankful for the chances we have to hangout with our cousins, this year has been outstanding.

Saturday night it was time for a bbq with AuntieC and UnlceR. Luckily we were also able to also visit with GrannieJ and GranpaG. It was a so nice to see all four of them. We enjoyed a delightful dinner of ribs, potatoes, green bean salad and amazing velvet cupcakes. It was an ideal night of catching up with dear friends, delicious food and lots of laughter. The kids enjoyed the chance to visit, play with the animals and make good use of the ever indulgent UnlceR. He managed to hook CubJ up with enough butter for four potatoes when he ate one, and managed to get SparkJ another half of a cupcake despite all of the protests of Mommy and Auntie! It was a wonderful evening and an ideal way to wrap up the week.

Week four was the week of adventures! We enoyed family, friends, historical sites and all of fun of the Stampede. While it was a sad year for the Calgary Stampede, we enjoyed one of your best trips to the grounds ever. We hope that week five will bring CubJ great fun at sleep away summer camp and SparkJ her own special memories.

May this post find you all well and enjoying your own summer!

Best wishes,

MommyJ

Week Three of Summer Vacation ~ The Week We Ate Out

Week three of summer vacation was a relaxing week. This summer we decided to create “The Great Park Challenge”. Our goal is to try out as many different parks and playgrounds as we can. This week we added two new parks to our repertoire.

Sunday we enjoyed a lovely lunch at our favourite Lebanese restaurant, Village Pita. We always enjoy the meat pies, fresh baked pita bread covered in savoury ground meats, grilled and folded in half. These are truly fantastic! The adults also enjoy the cheese pies and olives. There are always an interesting mix of people in the store to watch. It varies from young party boys who are hung over, the devoted who are heading to prayers, and the local office workers who love the cheap and delicious food. In the afternoon, the kids headed off to do some bike riding.

Monday was a quiet day spent hanging out around home in morning and then we had a late lunch with DaddyJ! There was great food, beer with floating berries and ice cream for the kids. What more could we ask for? After lunch it was time to do a bit of shopping to get CubJ ready for sleep away camp in a little more than a week.

Tuesday we tried out a new breakfast food restaurant, Cora. CubJ had and enormous waffle covered in strawberries and custard! SparkJ had a crepe filled with Nutella, bananas and whipped cream while I had an omelette rolled in crepe covered in hollandaise sauce. Our food was fantastic, the service good and a place we would recommend. We have often seen the line to get into Cora to be very long, by going at 1:30pm, we were able to walk right in. After all of that great food it was time to find a new park to try out! We found a great park at a nearby school. It has the all important climbing structure, with the added bonus of a second level. The kids were in heaven playing right up until it started to thunder!

Wednesday we returned to the same park for a longer session. There were many kids to play with, the weather was quite hot and sunny and we hung out for almost two hours. To cool off we headed out for some icy summer drinks at Starbucks and to pick up some sushi for dinner. It was a very a great day!

Thursday, we got to have lunch with AuntieCR! It was a great chance for CubJ to see her after a few years, and SparkJ’s to meet her. Both kids really enjoyed their time with AuntieCr and the yummy sushi at Sumo. The food great, the company fantastic and the service all right. After lunch we went to fresh park near our local pool. This park proves perfect as there are bike paths surrounding the playground, thus ensuring that both little campers are happy. CubJ enjoyed riding his bike in loops, over the grass and under the bridge. SparkJ hung out in the playground climbing, digging and trying out all of the slides.

Friday we enjoyed doing little other than watching the Stampede Parade on tv and doing a bit of journaling to capture the adventures of the week. In the afternoon it was time for the boys to get their hair cut. Another pre-sleep away camp to-do item ticked off of our list. The evening was spent quietly hanging out at home watching a movie.

We wrapped up the week with DaddyJ and CubJ playing a game of pick up cricket, a trip to Dim Sum and a rainy day trip to Lic’s for ice cream. It was the perfect day to get a nice summer time trip to Lic’s in without having to wait in the line that snakes out of the store! SparkJ had rainbow, CubJ had chocolate chip cookie dough, DaddyJ had Mac toffee, and I had neopolatian. With everyone’s belly stuffed we headed home before the rain started.

Week three was the eating out week. We tried out new places, caught up with family and enjoyed our favourite things.

It was a great week with lots of playing. May week four be just as much fun with Stampede and Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump on our calendar of events. May this post find you all well and enjoying your summer vacation!

Best Wishes Always,

MommyJ

Week 2 of Summer Vacation

Week two of summer vacation was a quieter and more relaxed week. We spent most of the week enjoying the great outdoors. The weather was gloriously nice, many bright sunny days and warm temperatures. In fact, it is officially summer, as we have turned on the AC.

We enjoyed a picnic and bike riding at Baker park on Tuesday. CubJ has learned to ride his bike well in a short period of time. SparkJ, is gaining confidence in riding her bike, but can occasionally find herself rolling backwards in slopes! LOL To wrap up our time at Baker Park we brought out the Cricket gear. The kids enjoyed playing catch, CubJ some batting and my shins did not take to many hits from errant throws.

Wednesday, we headed back to the park with DaddyJ for the triple play. Again, CubJ showed off continuing improvement in his speed and control on his bike. SparkJ was a little slower than the day before as a result of a topple. Next, it was time for some skateboarding in the common. SparkJ is starting to gain some confidence, she is now able to get on,off and roll without assistance! We hold out hope that she may soon start to propel herself on her own. CubJ did not spend too much time on his board as he is really enjoying biking. For the third instalment of fun, we played a little bit of Cricket.

My bowling (pitching) is improving, CubJ is getting better at tracking the bowl for batting, and SparkJ throw is a work in progress. The highlight of our Cricket time was DaddyJ’s batting. It was a comedic scene of him using far too small equipment! The distance the balls traveled varied wildly and gave us all a number of belly aching laughs. Thankfully the kids kept their helmets on as one of the errant balls bounced off of CubJ’s head!

That evening was the wrap up of the Sparks year. SparkJ showed us a number of fun games she had learned, sang some new songs and generally had a fun time hanging out with her friends. We look forward to seeing our leaders and their baby in the fall. Thanks for a great year Leaders C and J!

Happy Canada Day 2010! This year we spent a relaxing Canada Day on a playground tour of the nearby Rockies. Our tour started out with a stop in Canmore. While we were on our way to Beamer’s Coffee for “cinnamon buns the size of a baby’s head”, we caught some of the Canada Day Parade. Conveniently, by sitting at the window seats in the cafe, we were able to watch the parade while snacking to our hearts content. It was an ideal way to watch a parade.

After Beamers we headed to the Millennium Park to play at the playground. There were many Canada Day celebratory activities going on in the park. We played to the beat of the marching band. May families were also taking the opportunity to play in the cooler weather. We enjoyed ourselves for nearly an hour until it became a bit too crowded for comfort. To avoid the growing crowds, we headed on to Banff. While there we toured two different parks, ate lunch at Earls and made a trip to our favourite store. The kids ranked it as one of their best Canada Days!

We wrapped up the week with a trip to Peter’s Drive In, a first for the kids and a visit to Calaway Park. The kids were shocked at the sheer size of the milk shakes at Peter’s. Once they saw the size of the cups, it became instantly clear why we had recommended that they share a shake. I think that they enjoyed their trip and will ask to go back later in the summer. Calaway Park with Daddy was a great time. They ran into a classmate of SparkJ and her older brother while in line for the mini-roller-coaster. This worked out perfectly, he bigger boys rode the big rides while the girls enjoyed the smaller rides together. DaddyJ was thrilled to avoid a trip on the Vomit Comet! Thanks K and Q for the chance to hang out.

Week two of summer vacation was a good one, we hope that this is an indication of what it to come in week three! We hope that you too are enjoying a wonderful summer vacation and look forward to hearing all about it. Best Wishes for summer fun to you all ~ MommyJ