Summer Holidays

Teachers are probably the only adults who still refer to July and August as "summer holidays". Whatever you call it, the first month of it has certainly flown by quickly with two family reunions, a trip to Calgary and the Rockies, celebrating Kaylie's 3rd birthday, and perpetually planning for the first two weeks of August wherein I am in charge of campmeeting's Kindergarten program followed by our church's VBS. (Back to back craziness!!!)

Good thing we had such a relaxing and fun July-- although Mama's climb up a bazillion stairs to the top of Sanson's Peak on Sulpher Mountain in Banff would hardly be what Mama would call fun or relaxing. More like, exhausting and terrifying-- as when you get to the top they have nothing but a few wire cables up as a barrier to keep your 2 and 5 year old from plummeting to their deaths. Needless to say, the trip down was a lot easier and when it began to spit-- two beautiful rainbows appeared in the valley so close you almost thought you could touch them. Definitely one of those God moments, and I was fortunate enough to have my camera with me to capture it. Though the colors in the photo aren't as brilliant as they were on that day-- still pretty awesome to have got it on film-- or is that silicon, given today's digital age. We also took in Banff's Bow Falls. Kaylie was especially impressed with the waterfall, and wanted to know " do sharks live in that ocean."

We spent the next two days in Calgary-- one at the zoo and the other at Calaway Park. Both were a lot of fun. The animitronic Dinosaur display at the zoo sort of freaked Kaylie out-- but Connor loved it. The rides at Calaway were lots of fun, and we stayed right up to the closing of the gates so the kids were pretty exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel. Unfortunately, pretty exhausted does not mean completely exhausted, ergo, the 2 hours spent in the hotel pool and waterpark both nights. Thank goodness for the hottubs that revived Kent's and my aching muscles.

This was the first time we've ever really enjoyed the hotel pools, as Connor and Emily have always been a little cautious in the water. While Connor still liked to hang back, avoiding the slides, Emily braved the curves and twists this time around and had a great time. And what about Kaylie? Well she is a tadpole in water with absolutely no fear. Fiercely independent, she insisted on swimming by herself (with a lifejacket of course) and by the end of the trip could paddle her way around the pool to wherever she needed to go. It was a lot of fun, and it seems we'll have to get to the pool a little more often now that all three of the kids seem to enjoy it. Who knows, maybe even Kent will learn to like it if we keep introducing him to the water.

While in Alberta we also did two family reunions which both had the same theme-- FOOD. It seems that every reunion is destined to have too much potato salad, too many deserts, and without saying, too many calories. It was good seeing family members I hadn't seen for a while, as well as a few I had never met before.

Alas, all good things must come to an end and we find ourselves back in Saskatchewan where it spent most of July raining. This past week, though, has been quite hot and dry. If it keeps it up, Campmeeting should be lost of fun in my "little log heat trap"-- er, I mean cabin. The kids are excited and looking forward to going-- in fact Emily is going to go away on her own to Adventure Camp this coming week. She loves making new friends, so I'm sure she'll do okay and not get too homesick. It's just me that's going to have to deal with the parental anxieties of sending her away for the first time. But hey, besides near-drowning, accidental choking, run-away horses, rock climbing falls, and archery injuries, what can really go wrong at a Summer camp? Hopefully she, like so many before her, will survive the week and have lots of fun!

Connor is a little bummed out that she gets to go to camp ahead of him-- but I'm sure he'll find it nice not being bossed around for a few days- except by Mom of course. Connor has become a total sports nut in the past few months, so I'm sure he'll find some sport to keep him active.

He especially enjoys playing soccer and is convinced I could be the next David Beckham if I just applied myself a little more. He will tell you he prefers playing with me over Kent, because I'm slow and easy to beat--unlike his dad, who's "in it to win it". Me, I prefer to be on the sidelines blowing on one of those crazy South African woofer horns.

Speaking of blowing horns-- we pulled out the party horns to celebrate Kaylie's third birthday a day early, tonight. She loves the Disney Princesses, so they were on hand-- or rather on cake-- to help us celebrate. She understands the whole birthday thing pretty well by now, as we've attended three different birthday parties this month. Funny thing, someone taught her the words to happy birthday incorrectly, so she likes to sing-- You look like a monkey and you smell like one too-- although in her case it was a princess, not a monkey.

Kaylie takes this whole princess thing very seriously-- insisting on wearing and sleeping in princess dresses 80% of the time. Belle is definitely her favorite-- although she'll settle for SnowWhite or the Island Princess Barbie outfit in a pinch-- aka-- Belle's dress is in the wash. And do not call her a queen! That ticks her royal highness off. In fact, when I called her a drama queen today, she informed me, quite indignantly, that she was a princess, not a queen. The good thing is, as of 12:00 midnight tonight, the terrible twos will be behind us, and we'll awake to a polite, well-behaved, compliant three year old, who like Cinderella, won't mind cleaning up all the messes she leaves behind. Now there's a fairytale if I ever heard one. Good thing she's cute-- even with icing on her nose.

Anyways, hope you enjoyed the photos of the royal family and their summer tour. Ta, ta for now.