July 4

posted only two days later....

happy fourth of july to my "american" sister and her family! (shhh....i think she really is an "alien"....heehee....love ya' Sarah!)


since the third of July was such a right-off for me and the kids...we stayed home. and it was definitely much safer that way for all of us. i truthfully felt better after we had a water fight in the backyard that afternoon. it was hot. and the kids needed to cool down. really.


the next day we took off to "the Fort". a good thing we waited!

it was not very busy compared to the last visit. no LONG line up to get in. and apparently Canada Day (a.k.a. Dominion Day) it was crazy busy. one of the train conductors said that it was busy, hot and tiring. everyone had short tempers that day. maybe when the kids are 6 and 8 it will be a good time to go....they can walk and understand long waits? of course that means i'll be 35 years old...and i hear that 35 year olds also don't have much patience....heehee

yes, i am certainly doing MUCH BETTER since my last post!

this time we took the streetcar to the end, near 1885 street. it was a good thing i thought to pack some food for lunch. as soon as we got off the car, they (yes, both of them, at the same time) saw the picnic tables and started to ask to eat.

we visited a couple of buildings on 1885 street to start.

Kiara loved this cradle. i don't know how any baby ever fell asleep with it rocking...yikes, it was loud! this house had a room with old toys that the kids could actually touch and play with. we'll see if they remember this on our next visit.

then we moved on to 1905 street.

Mrs. Rutherford would have probably fainted if she had been there to see this:

yes.

moving right along....

the kids played their version of crokinole. maybe they will be able to beat Grandpa Steeves?

the treat for the day was an ice cream cone. what was i thinking when i bought Kiara her own cone? oh right, that was when i stopped thinking. momentarily. you should have seen her eyes!

another cute but not great quality photo. i want to do some more touching up. later.

the plan was to take the train back to the front gates and ride on the carousel. caught the streetcar back to the end of the line....saved a lot of time. i thought! and just as we were nearly there...we heard the whistle of the steam engine. and of course i had already gotten their hopes up...

since we had so much extra time (like 30 minutes!) i bought a couple of tokens and we visited the pony and horse corral instead of the carousel.

good climber.

Aidan got to have the first ride. he loved it. better than a wooden horse he said.

and that train back to the front gates did not come soon enough! tired Kiara and a train. not the best mix. but alas...there was more water to splash each other with in the backyard. oh how i love summer!

and speaking of backyards.

this is the present state of our garage building.

the plastic comes off on Tuesday. (that sounds like so me kind of therapy!)

hmmm....and maybe next weekend we'll have photos of walls and a roof? we can only hope.)

you know it's going to be a

good day

when.....


Aidan climbs into bed with you and acts as if "morning" has arrived....then you look at your watch and realize it is 5:39 am....send him back to BED....and he does not sleep....but is mostly quiet...at least?

as you start to count the number of hours of sleep you actually got....remembering that Kiara did not fall asleep until after 10:00 pm...again! she thinks it is a joke that we tell her it is night time, put her in bed, say good night...when it is clearly daylight outside of her room! we would keep her up until 10:00 pm....if she was actually well mannered and would sleep past 8:oo am the next morning....maybe. evenings to ourselves are highly overrated....

at 7:54 am Aidan joins me in bed, this time fully clothed. proud as punch. and says, "aren't you happy that i got dressed without you telling me to?" oh boy. i would have been happier had i known you had just woken up a few minutes ago...not 3 hours ago!

by 8:00am both kids are awake. and soooo happy. and you just know that this happy attitude is not going to last....

and then that nagging worry. two tired children means two grumpy children. this is not good for my sanity. will it be more helpful to stay at home or get out of the house?

breakfast. Aidan proudly announces...man, why is he so hyper? more hyper than usual for him? glad someone was able to get rest.... he announces that he has had breakfast already. and it is obvious that he is proud of it. Kiara.....this girl could ask for food 50 times per day...and still not eat all that is given to her. her toast ended up in the garbage, after it was sat on and then thrown on the floor.

i'm needing coffee. it's brewed. it's even in the cup. ready to drink. if only i could sit long enough to drink it. and eat my toast. which thankfully has not been grabbed, sat on or thrown....

15 minutes of peace....quiet....all i need....i think.

i clean up the table. and later when i'm looking for my dish cloth....i find it in the garbage can. and i have no idea if it was me....or Kiara. Kristian did the dishes last night. still some garbage and dirty dishes on the counter. unwrapped kids' plates in the fridge. i remember hearing the dishwasher running last night....and it needs to be emptied.

finally. Aidan has found a toy to enjoy. i get Kiara sitting with paper, colouring book, crayons, stickers...even a pen.

and i get some time to actually eat my breakfast and drink my coffee.

and it is quiet enough to think. (remember that being a teacher i adapted to think in noisy environments.....so quiet is really a relative term...my quiet and the quiet you read about in the dictionary....not the same)

and then.....
what else is there to say?



i am thankful:

not all days are like this.

that i have a kitchen that can get dirty.

i have a dishwasher. and it works!

i have happy and busy children (at least for the moment).

nap time today should mean both kids sleeping. (and hoping for that 7:30pm bedtime to actually mean something tonight!)

my husband does help where he can at home. and actually made me an eye appointment to ensure that i did leave the house.

an eye doctor who did her best to make the appointment take as long as possible....and then tell me to go shopping....if my husband calls, they will tell him that it was a long eye exam...i totally forgot to even look at the frames in their office too....i guess i have to go back!

that in 12 more hours....it will be quiet in this house (dictionary quiet)....for at least ten hours.

i had a chance to get out on my own last night and found some great deals on kids' clothes at the GAP (and a pair of flip-flops for myself).

for passes to the zoo and fort edmonton. if i dare to leave my spot under the table...

that tomorrow is a brand new day "with no mistakes in it yet."

if we did move to Australia....we'd still have bad days. (anyone ever read that book?)

and finally....i'm thankful for coffee. and the chance to actually drink a cup!

happy CANADA day

eh?!


this holiday sure gets a new twist when you have kids.

it used to be the fireworks and campfires that were my favourite part of this day. now i can barely stay awake to watch the fireworks. and forget the campfire.

one day when the kids are older, it will be fun to take them out and watch the fireworks. we probably could do it now....but i'd have to fight to stay awake long enough, and then enjoy the company of crabby children, which would make me grumpy....and that is just not a good scene!

instead we took in some celebrations outside of the big city. ooohhhh.....

and it was fun! it involved all things fun for kids...including sugar. we all got too much sun and had way too much fun. can't wait to do it again next year! (or maybe sooner? there are always fun activities around the city every summer)


yesterday we had a busy day. Kris had the day off, so we spent some family time. part of the fun involved going to a splash park.

is she not adorable in this swimsuit? and i think she knows it.

we're working on increasing her enjoyment level of getting splashed.

and it is a long road ahead with this little diva, i think!

here they are on one of the "safe" structures. no chance for Kiara to get wet!

actually we had a lot of good photos from this trip. i'm sure they will be popping up in a lot of places.

it was also a day that we allowed Kiara to not have an afternoon nap. on Sunday she took two hours to fall asleep, only to sleep for another two. but then didn't fall asleep that night until nearly 11 pm. when the sun finally is setting these days. i'm sure part of this sleeping issue is related to daylight, and the other part is due to her age. makes for a long day for me.

any guesses what happened in our yard this morning?

here is a clue.

can you tell what Aidan is doing?

let's see if you were right....

sorry no photos of the cement truck. i was still in bed. sleeping. and not ashamed of it! Aidan woke up just in time to see the last of the cement poured. and that was probably best.

this photo makes it look like Kris did it on his own.

he had help. a friend. a brother. a father. hmmm....sounds like a movie title.

that's them at the top. and Aidan watching every step of the process. and copying.

the entire job went very well. as his dad said several times, "a good day to pour cement. can't ask for more perfect weather." these guys sure worked hard on it. they did the last minute stuff at around 7 am and i found evidence of Kristian making breakfast for everyone (too bad he married a lazy woman....ahem....actually she is the opposite.....it is the beauty sleep she lacks! yeah, i figured you'd like that comment!) cement arrived 45 minutes later. they had a quick coffee break around 10am while they waited for a particular moment to do one last thing to the cement. i did watch part of it. but i truly have no clue how to describe it. apparently there are several important steps to making good, solid and strong concrete. to save embarrassment....to myself and my family...i just smile and nod. as long as someone knows what they are doing....all is well.

and to further explain that i was of no value to this entire operation....i have photos to prove that i left and took the kids with me!

again, it was much better to keep tiny hands and feet away from big men with equipment and a lot of cement that was still wet. i'm sure you get the picture!

we went to the land of all things fun and entertaining for kids.

bubbles was one attraction. so were frisbees. hula hoops. balls.

and here is a new use for badminton rackets!!

some activity in a craft tent. i was impressed with his pencil grip. and his concentration. now this is sounding like comments on a report card....go figure! with a teacher as his mother....poor child! heehee

the kids decorated their own little bag.

all for FREE.

tattoos. sand pit. jumpy things.

FREE.

we also got to watch street performers. their favourite was Cap'n Arrr. very talented.

then they got to enjoy rainbow sno-cones made by some Girl Guides.

(i ordered them all in grape flavour...thinking it was best to do them all the same...and thought it was a safe flavour. then one of the girls commented on what a great order it was...so easy. and added how they had done rainbow ones... well i heard rainbow. and thus shattered the poor girl guide's "dream order". it was worth it! they were so cool.)

Kiara really enjoyed hers.

in the background there is one of the street performing family acts. we had a good laugh over this family friendly performance. my niece remembered the "naked guys". hmmmm. not quite. but close. the proof of their coverage (or lack there of) is in the photo above. when we first started to watch, they were dressed in suits and bowler hats. hopefully the kids were too busy eating their sno-cones for any permanent damage to be done!

and we ended the day doing this.

Aidan now wants to be a firefighter.

he just became the proud owner of a "water shooter" (as he named it!). so i think the similarity of this hose and his water shooter was not missed by his keen eye.

it will be interesting watching him play games after this experience. tonight when he played with his cousin, they were handymen and fixed anything they could. a good game for little boys! especially since they actually have some clue about what they are doing! very cute to watch.

wow! some very eventful and busy days we have had lately.

hopefully we can sleep in again tomorrow. or maybe i should be hoping that we will have a sound sleep. going to bed before the fireworks....at least it was a fun day.

the backyard will need a careful eye until the framing is completed. but maybe some water fun will be perfect. we'll see what the kids will feel like doing tomorrow. my dream is that they will both have a nap...at least an hour...and then be in bed asleep by 8pm. i doubt it will happen. but it is still fun to image what that would be like!