Summers here!

So long grades two and five, hello grade three and six! The school year ended well for both LittleJ’s with each of them being promoted to the next grade. Yeah LittleJ’s! The Mom's are stoked that there are no more school runs, no more lunches, no more homework....

To start out the summer fun, we had a great evening of pizza and the movie Brave with our BuddyP and BuddyC. A great time was had by all : there was playing, gaming, movie treats and even a sleepover for BuddyP. Thank you for the great evening everyone.

As a part of our summer vacation we thought we would try out some new places and visit some of our favourites. So far we have taken in:

· Fat City Frankswhich was DELICIOUS! I had the Jersey Shore Dog, which had homemade meatballs, marinara sauce, a great dog and provolone cheese. While wildly filling, it was fantastic. I highly recommend trying out Fat City Franks http://www.fatcityfranks.com/

· Diner Deluxe this is a favourite of DaddyJ and mine! I am convinced that this is the home of both the best potato pancake and hollandaise sauce in the city. For something new, I thought it would be fun to take the kids here to try it out. Not surprisingly, they loved it to! Come mid-morning during the week and enjoy one of the best breakfasts in the west! http://www.dinerdeluxe.com/our-story-2

· Mucho Burrito While not new to us, it is always a great place to enjoy some of the best soft tacos in the city. Even SparkJ can easily eat two beef (you know, the shredded slow cooked beef, not that ground beef mixture I pass off as tacos at home lol) tacos here. For me, there is nothing else to have beyond the Fish Quesadilla made with the yummiest tilapia ever. For those of you who have had Baja Fresh, this is a close as you will get on this side of the border. http://www.muchoburrito.com/menu/

· Brewsterswhere we are all fans of the wings (when SparkJ is not missing all of her teeth) and Snowman and I always enjoy watching the blueberries bounce up and down in tall glass of Blackfoot Blueberry Wheat ale. http://brewsters.ca/

· Tubby Dogthis is an institution that has become a fast favourite with the LittleJ’s. I believe that when one of their recent weekly dogs had maple baked beans on it, it ratcheted up another notch in CubJ’s eyes. Maple beans and a hot dog, now you are speaking directly to his heart! http://www.tubbydog.com/category/specials/

No summer vacation would be complete here in Calgary without a trip to the Calgary Stampede. DaddyJ joined us for an awesome day of rides, fair food and gaming! The weather was HOT, plus 30˚C and sunny all day long. We took a few breaks in the shade by touring the Ag in the City exhibit, the Barns to see the miniature ponies and the draft horses (nothing like the extremes of the horse spectrum to keep it interesting) and the Canadian Armed Forces displays. It would appear that CubJ is leaning towards joining Army Cadets when he is old enough, or so he thinks until AuntieA, UncleP and MommyJ are done with him and then it will be Air Cadets! ;) I must say, I really enjoy watching the kids have fun at the Stampede on the rides and touring the exhibitors hall to see all of the products I never knew I needed that are for sale!

As a surprise addition to our Stampede fun this year, I learned that DaddyJ can sleep ANYWHERE and CubJ took in his first concert:

· DaddyJ went to the RoundUp concert to see his all time favourite band, The Tragically Hip. It was a great day as one of his buddies flew in to town who is also a huge fan of the T.H.! I can say that there was a very good time had by both of those guys at the concert and I am thankful that DaddyJ did not have to get on a flight then next morning, ROTF LOL!

· CubJ and I got a huge surprise when DaddyJ got us two tickets to see Garth Brooks!!!!!! It was an amazing concert. Not for having a fancy stage or lots of special effect, but rather because Garth Brooks could be one of the most naturally inclined showman ever. He had 16,000 fans screaming and singing for over two hours as he played “I love this song” one after another. When his wife Trisha Yearwood came out and did a duet with him, the crowd went wild and she continued with two of her own songs: Walk Away Joe and She’s in Love with the Boy. It was a memorable concert. For CubJ, this was his first concert! To say that Garth set the bar a bit high is an understatement. While he liked several Garth songs before the concert, I can assure you that he is a convert now! GO Garth! Thanks for the AWESOME surprise DaddyJ.

It turns out that we are a hospitable sort of people! We got a family of birdies after two Robins built a nest on the back of our house above an outdoor speaker. We are not sure how well the babies are going to fair given all of the hawks, magpies, crows, coyotes and dogs in the neighbourhood, but we will have our fingers crossed for them!

DaddyJ managed to take in UFC 149 which had some great seconds of entertainment and lots of dull parts. Oh well, I guess now he can cross off seeing MMA live off of his list of things to do! While I am not a fan of MMA, I acknowledge that these are athletes in impressive shape with a variety of martial arts skills.

While SparkJ looks like she has been participating in MMA, she has simply been losing teeth like a MAD WOMAN. No ribs, wings or corn on the cob in her future. On the up side, the Tooth Fairy is padding her bank account!

Each summer brings us one of our biggest highlights which is seeing AuntieL, UncleD, CousinC and CousinR! This year, with them relocating to Houston next month, times are quick here in Canada and we made the most of our time to visit with a busy day of dim sum, playing and the park, laser tag/mah jong and Peter’s Drive Inn!