so happy

for the summer heat. and for all of us to be healthy to enjoy it!


we went to a local park that has a spray deck, and all of us had a blast. it wasn't too busy until a couple of daycares joined us. and then there was the water balloon fight. Kiara was not as impressed as Aidan. they both love balloons, but i think that Aidan was in awe that balloons could also be filled with water.


it was very cool this morning so we went to check out the fringe festival. we got there shortly after the opening ceremonies...which i think we'll try to attend. Aidan got his face painted for the first time ever. Kiara has had her face airbrushed, so this was old stuff for her. they made their own medals and played games. Aidan had perma-grin. Kiara started to push other kids...thankfully she is apologizing. still deciding if this should make me proud of my little bully....can't wait until this phase comes to an end. for the price of a very nice dinner (for me!) in a respectable restaurant i fed my kids green onion cakes, mini-donuts and a fresh coconut. seriously....am i just cheap to think that $4 for a small bag of mini-donuts is overpriced? or do i just not get out enough to be aware of inflation? i also told them that we will be eating extra vegetables at supper time to make up for our carb-sugar lunch. Roslyn, i can already see your reaction....it's okay to do this as a special occasion, right?!




this was free fun. i got lots of practice with my new camera. of course the best bubbles were before the camera came out of the bag....


another day i thought it would be fun for a river valley walk. of course i brought the camera. i would love to do a photo shoot down there with the kids. try to get them dressed and hair done....and see if luck will be on my side.

i'm happy with this one. need some practice with the manual setting to get a clearer view of my subject.

this one talks a million miles a minute. literally. so far he has been rather quiet in group settings...but getting prepared for those comments from his teachers that he "likes to contribute to group discussions". Kris is quiet. and for the most part Kiara is rather quiet too. Kris thought i was a "talker"....boy he never knew how wrong he could be....

it is amazing how much stuff Kiara learns from Aidan. some days it is cute. we won't get into the "other days".

this was at the end of our walk. notice they are ignoring me? have i mentioned that neither of them is still for long? this faster shutter speed is a godsend!

if you were to ask them what their mother looked like, their description would probably look like this:

yeah. no wonder they run the opposite the direction when they see what i'm wearing.....

okay off to do more stuff. without the camera!

loving

summer!


some days i get really overwhelmed. a garage that has taken the entire summer to work on and is still not complete. (especially tough when i truly thought it would be done in a month of weekends....mmmhmmm....i will not be so naive next time.....) a yard that is a mess...especially tough when our yard was actually quite nice at one time. escaping to our tiny house is not a big help either!


here are some parts of summer that i have still enjoyed. and it was nice to see that after looking at a few photos that i actually don't have photos of everything that makes me happy. sad that i have not taken enough photos {and also very laughable!}.

this apple is on our newest apple tree. it is completely burdened with apples. we're taking this as a good sign!
the unfortunate {yeah i had to add that} part is that we have been pelted with a few hailstorms, so all of our apples are dented on at least one side. this photo is taken from the apples' good side....see even apples have a better side!
{sorry i'm still healing from the corny experience earlier this week...i'm sure it will pass}

and a few of the raspberry plants managed to survive all the garage "experience". the kids enjoy eating these daily.

and even the pear tree is doing very well. especially considering it has been practically abandoned and surrounded by junk for most of the growing season.

and the favourite toy of the season.

they are still perfecting "the slide". i keep encouraging them to lay flat. perhaps my refusal to demonstrate the skill is part of the problem. i remind myself that they are only young children, and they have plenty of time to practice this skill....as i relax on my lawnchair and drink my pina colada.

today Aidan insisted that we have a water fight. i tried to get him to teach Kiara the necessary water fighting skills. that didn't work. she is great for defence, but hopeless in offence. no worries though, i properly soaked the boy. and realized after the war that his aim has improved greatly. my soaked clothing and wet hair proved that rather well. he did try to get me to wear my swimsuit...it is like he knew.....

everyday Aidan tells Kristian that they need to work. poor man has put in a long days work and has to have his son tell him to do more of it! there has got to be a way to get those kids to share their excess energy with us. it just isn't fair. i love that Aidan is starting to mature a little in his social skills. he has caught on that we get great joy in teasing him. i love his line...."you're joking, right mommy?" he has such a sweet way of saying it.

came across some neat entries tonight in the blog world....

go see Kathy Thompson and these baby photos. they will make you melt.

and there is a neat post about photography tutorial and tips for the beginner at Saucy's blog. even if you hate photography, it is fun to read her posts. i also love that she posted photos of her camera....great photos and she uses a point and shoot.

well, off to get rested for another busy day.....

keeping it light

where has the week gone?


why do summer days have to pass so quickly? especially the nice ones?


i think the hilight of the week was a trip to Lacombe. it didn't start out so great. we were definitely a gong show from the moment we woke up until an hour after we got to our destination. thankfully things improved dramatically and the day ended on a much more fabulous note!


Kiara has not proven herself to be a fun travelling companion. we just can't wait until she starts to share what makes driving so annoying...no not really. i discovered on our last car trip that two things make a huge difference to her life while travelling. one is a variety of snacks. who can argue with that? the second is movies. we got ourselves a set of screens and they don't make the trip perfect, but they sure contribute to keeping my sanity. which we all know is worth a great deal these days!


we met up with my friend, Stacey and her daughter Taylor and her mother at the Lacombe Corn Maze. very country. very fun.

recycled tire becomes a horse.
these were all attached to an old horse training wheel, so it also turned manually like a ferris wheel. the older kids were able to touch the ground to make the horses buck and run...

i wish i got a better photo of his face....see how he is holding on? this slide wiggled everything out of you. one poor woman got conned into going down the slide by her daughter. now that would have been a great picture!

we loved the activities in the courtyard. but we came to do the maze...

they had a maze for little kids. very basic. no one got lost.

so then we tried the real maze. they have it divided up into 3 phases. the third phase had only one marker to find. perfect, we thought. and it was. a little tricky. but no one got lost. although it did help to have Kiara in a rental wagon with food.

so far so good, we tried the first phase. found the first marker, and then we kept getting into dead ends. i'm not sure if the two oldest kids knew what they were doing, or even why we were doing it. but they loved running on the paths. at one point they ran like Forrest Gump. Stacey ran after them. i stayed with Kiara and the wagon. Stacey's mom went the other direction determined to find out where we went wrong. for five minutes i heard nothing and began to wonder what plan the farm had to rescue two toddlers and a grandmother from the maze. fortunately the kids found their way out. then were found by Stacey. and slowly the rest of us left the maze.

it was at this point we realized there was a second side to the large sign at the entrances to the mazes. those trails aren't for sissies. we got the kids together and returned to the fun and relaxation and stress-free environment of the courtyard.

we decided that we will come back.....in another four years....with walkie-talkies...or whatever fabulous technology they have at that point!

no pun intended....lots of the areas had some corny themes.

here is the "corn box". i think they spent at least an hour here.

there was the famous jumping pillow.

it is perfect for draining energy from every one. Kiara was not so sure about the concept. but Aidan and Taylor had a blast.

here is another activity we did at the end of the day. rubber duck races. all three of the kids liked the pumps. Kiara wasn't strong enough to work them, but she liked the ducks much better.

Lacombe used to have a hole-in-the-wall ice cream store. cheap and yummy ice cream. the town is becoming modernized now. they old creamery store is gone. the ice cream store has now moved into the brand new theatre across the street. it is still good. and it is still cheap. but the whole experience is not the same. i took the kids through the Tim Horton's drive thru instead. that is also new. it was at this point that i discovered Kiara who hadn't complained for a while, was actually sound asleep.

not a whole lot of stuff to report. our alley is now a ditch. and our concrete sidewalk blocks are now removed and not our problem anymore. soooo nice. the kids are fascinated with this first stage of new alley replacement. these two have seen more construction action in their short lives...we've lived here for ten years and this is the most we have seen in the neighborhood too. we're just so lucky we got our concrete when we did. the garage package also got delivered just before the alley was blocked.

had an awesome evening out with some friends, and ended the evening on the phone to 911. long and weird story...we're fine. a woman we didn't know needed help.....totally strange situation, and scary.

i've been trying to work on a project that is worth teaching. part of that process involves two things for me. one is looking for ideas. the second is just working on layouts or projects. and somewhere in the looking and working, i figure something out! i now have a zillion photos to have to go through. this blog is helpful because i can go back and that helps jog my memory of the fun stuff that is worth focusing a project on or even a layout. right now is a fun time at the store because of all the new products coming in. the girls were so busy tonight. there was a class. lots of shoppers. and a ton of stuff to put on the shelves. i was so shocked with the amount of stuff that came in this week that i didn't have enough time to look at everything. it was also one of those nights when i intended to just look.....maybe it was a good thing i didn't have time on my side? let's just say that Kaiser is kicking it. at least for this week! lol