Okay now where was I?...............
Oh yes, the next day lol. We slept in a lot this vacation, I'll tell you that right off the bat. We never get to and definitely needed the rest so it was magnificent to be able to do that. I remember, however, that most mornings were freezing in Mom and Dad's house as they leave the windows open at night so as to keep the home cooler during the day. Understandable.
Our children truly enjoyed hooking up with all of their friends, especially swimming at the pool. Today, however, we decided to pay a visit to some special friends of ours. The Melchiors. Jeff Melchior has been a good friend of mine most of my adult life our personalities can find humor in almost anything we see or hear. It's a fantastic friendship in my opinion. We could talk for hours about everything and even if we don't see eye to eye we still respect each other's opinions and occasionally are swayed to agree, rare, but it happens right Jeff?
We had a most uncommon experience years back where I spent a good 2 hours bearing my testimony of things possible to Jeff in his life if he chose it. There were steps to consider on certain aspects of his life and I remember having the strongest impressions that all those things he was stomping his feet at not getting right this second were always his for the taking but he might be looking in the wrong places.
One day, finally, he met Julia. A beautiful red headed South African girl. All we heard before meeting her was how like me she was. Great! Of course we knew we'd love her right away! My husband is also South African. South Africans have an amazing cultural bond between them that is great to experience and I loved watching Julia bring out my husband's SA accent and recall his Afrikaans. Such a wonderful culture that I had already been exposed to and loved and now I get to live with it every day, I'm spoiled rotten.
We drove up to their house, this was the one day that it decided to rain and rain and rain some more without letting up. No complaints from us. Was a driving, visiting kind of day anyways. We found their home without trouble and got to meet their ambitious dog, Milo. Such a cute boy he his aren't ya! I was and still am amazed that they even fit into that apartment with all of the medical supplies that Jeff needs for dialysis but we were at home and cozy just the same. I was so happy when I saw their smiling faces. You never realize how much you miss people until you can't be around them as often as you're used to.
We drove into Olds for a bite to eat I think it was Bill's Steakhouse but I'm not sure if I have the right place. We had a very rambunctious 2 yr old that thought running around was all the rage. Food was incredibly good. I myself had some poutine that was considered an appetizer and bigger than my personal pizza lol. Thai pizza that was so unbelievable good this chef needs to go into pizza business if he can, was to die for! Of couse the SA's had lamb, no surprise there and said it was very well done.
We have this weird habit, however, of locking into intimate, important conversations more often in public than in private. I think it's a habit because Jeff and I went out so much talking at restaurants getting stuck in good conversation and the occasional debate, sometimes heated but not always. Tonight was no exception. I'm sure the people around us were having important conversations of their own but I caught more than one table eyeing us during our conversation with a look of intrigue on their faces. I'm flattered that we are so interesting to them. We are the elite after all right Jeff? Rofl. Sorry inside joke that, our closest friends and spouses know though now don't you. Strong feelings of good futures, poking fun at the kids and things they used to do one of which Jeff still uses to this day lol. Reminiscing of past events too funny and spectacular and numerous to mention. ( If you all knew everything about me I'd shock the crap out of you trust me safer not to know lol) Was amazingly fun and a wonderous night of laughter, friendship and love. I love and miss you guys terribly already.
Then came the drive home, which let's face it after 3 days of driving to get there 3 hours is a piece of cake. I remember falling asleep a couple of times but mostly I remember the way the rain fell on the prairies, the ways it smelt of mountain freshness, and............. the traffic in Calgary! Oi! And, the rise of the Lethbridge lights in the distance. Feels like home. Big smile on my face. Eyes flutter shut.
Monday, July 30, 2012
Monday, July 16, 2012
Vacations contd part deux
Have you ever noticed that you are either extremely exhausted when you're almost to your destination orrrr the exact opposite you all hyper and excited? I was so tired and thinking please just get there just get there I need a shower and rest and sleep. The once we got across the border we were singing and groovin to tunes all hyper n stuff. Amazing what a small happy thought can accomplish. Mine was, the sweet smell of hay and prairie grasses, ah it's good to be home. Our excitement definitely rubbed off on our sweet baby girl she started singing and dancing in her car seat and constantly saying what's that? We kept saying you are almost at Grandma's house yay! She would just laugh.
We barely made it into the driveway and had Grandma and Grandpa excitedly greeting us. Lots of hugs and kisses and how are yous. It was great! First time I've been home in four years. Toddler girl though wasn't too sure about all this. When we said Grandma she was thinking the one she usually sees once a month so she had this funny look of confusion and maybe even a tad bit of a grumpy in there lol. We made it in the house everyone to their rooms with luggage in tow. We decided that since our baby girl had done so well with camping we would set up her air mattress and sleeping bag for the duration of our stay. She did very well and loved it. Was a great adventure to her.
We enjoyed some barbecue and salads. Then like a waaalllll it hit us. Holy crap am I tired! I enjoyed the conversation and delighted in my children's smiles. Then I delighted in a get the filth off me from the last campground with a nice hot clean shower. Another wall hits me. Wow I really am tired.
Our son decided that his home for the week was going to be Grandma and Grandpa's camper outside. Grabbed his stuff and sprinted to the camper like it was the greatest thing ever! And theeennnn it was dark lol. In a place he hasn't been since he was 8 yrs of age and instead of taking his time to get used to it, he rushes, without thinking, and then had a nice big bright smile when he discovered that Grandpa sleeps out there too. I'm pretty sure every single one of us snored that first night we were exhausted.
The time change didn't really affect us as of yet although my parents church service started at 9am so we totally missed that sleeping in. But we did manage to get up and ready to invade the 1pm since we were up around 10:30 am. WOW! Did I sleep past 8am for once?? Haven't done that since I had kids! We literally sat there like bags of potatoes, motionless, tired achy bodies, just waiting to head out to church. We sat there for an hour. I'm not sure if we even spoke. Our eldest daughter decided after joining Grandma and Grandpa at church and all her old friends recognizing her that she'd like to stay all day long for all 3 wards to visit with friends repeatedly going to Sunday School and Young Womens. Only she chickened out during the 11am Ward time and waited for us to come to attend the 1pm Sacrament to hitch a ride back home lol. It was a great idea like Dyllans woohooo a trailor! Uh huh.
Anywho we certainly enjoyed napping, and again eating spectacular food. My mom is a fantastic cook but Nate is starting to see where I get my planning chops from. She had a lot planned out but there were only 4 of us extra really. You know toddlers they eat air most of the time with an occasional pig out fest somewhere in the middle. We were stuffed to the gills the entire time were there! Poor Nate by the end of it was saying please no more food lol. But at the same time he resisted real well like a 4 yr old resists candy! Good food is always hard, impossible to say no to.
We really enjoyed Monday night with my Dad's side of the family! It was great to see them. My aunt had surgery on her foot and brought her very own photo album of the whole ordeal right down to the puss. Nothing like pictures of some good puss and stitches just before you eat a hamburger. Did I gross you out? Good! Could not believe how big my cousins kids had gotten was great to see how they "panned out". They're great kids she should be proud of them. I know I am. It was really nice to see everyone interacting. Well, almost everyone. My eldest was on the verge of turning 14 that week. She's usually outgoing and talks to people engaging in pretty good conversations even with strangers. But she avoided these kids like the plague. They even invited her to sit at their table. My first reaction was as judgemental as yours just was. How rude! But then over time I realized that she was shy and scared. That'll learn us to judge won't it. How insensitive!
So I grabbed the 16 yr old teenager of my cousin and her friend and said "She's just sitting on the couch in there hiding why don't you guys go in there and make her talk to you." They giggled and said ok and the rest of the night all I heard was children laughing, talking and teasing running around playing games. Music to my ears and reminiscent of my own childhood experiences. A bigger reason that I wanted to head home for two weeks. To give my own children the chance to make similar memories of their own that they could enjoy and share. I was shy sometimes too when I was younger. I always felt awkward at first when I visited my cousins but always warmed up to them in about an hour. Our daughter took 3 hours and had to be convinced by her older cousins lol. They had a great time and even tried to practically plan out our whole week from then on out so they could spend more time together. No one wanted to leave. Was great. Ahhh memories....to be contd.
We barely made it into the driveway and had Grandma and Grandpa excitedly greeting us. Lots of hugs and kisses and how are yous. It was great! First time I've been home in four years. Toddler girl though wasn't too sure about all this. When we said Grandma she was thinking the one she usually sees once a month so she had this funny look of confusion and maybe even a tad bit of a grumpy in there lol. We made it in the house everyone to their rooms with luggage in tow. We decided that since our baby girl had done so well with camping we would set up her air mattress and sleeping bag for the duration of our stay. She did very well and loved it. Was a great adventure to her.
We enjoyed some barbecue and salads. Then like a waaalllll it hit us. Holy crap am I tired! I enjoyed the conversation and delighted in my children's smiles. Then I delighted in a get the filth off me from the last campground with a nice hot clean shower. Another wall hits me. Wow I really am tired.
Our son decided that his home for the week was going to be Grandma and Grandpa's camper outside. Grabbed his stuff and sprinted to the camper like it was the greatest thing ever! And theeennnn it was dark lol. In a place he hasn't been since he was 8 yrs of age and instead of taking his time to get used to it, he rushes, without thinking, and then had a nice big bright smile when he discovered that Grandpa sleeps out there too. I'm pretty sure every single one of us snored that first night we were exhausted.
The time change didn't really affect us as of yet although my parents church service started at 9am so we totally missed that sleeping in. But we did manage to get up and ready to invade the 1pm since we were up around 10:30 am. WOW! Did I sleep past 8am for once?? Haven't done that since I had kids! We literally sat there like bags of potatoes, motionless, tired achy bodies, just waiting to head out to church. We sat there for an hour. I'm not sure if we even spoke. Our eldest daughter decided after joining Grandma and Grandpa at church and all her old friends recognizing her that she'd like to stay all day long for all 3 wards to visit with friends repeatedly going to Sunday School and Young Womens. Only she chickened out during the 11am Ward time and waited for us to come to attend the 1pm Sacrament to hitch a ride back home lol. It was a great idea like Dyllans woohooo a trailor! Uh huh.
Anywho we certainly enjoyed napping, and again eating spectacular food. My mom is a fantastic cook but Nate is starting to see where I get my planning chops from. She had a lot planned out but there were only 4 of us extra really. You know toddlers they eat air most of the time with an occasional pig out fest somewhere in the middle. We were stuffed to the gills the entire time were there! Poor Nate by the end of it was saying please no more food lol. But at the same time he resisted real well like a 4 yr old resists candy! Good food is always hard, impossible to say no to.
We really enjoyed Monday night with my Dad's side of the family! It was great to see them. My aunt had surgery on her foot and brought her very own photo album of the whole ordeal right down to the puss. Nothing like pictures of some good puss and stitches just before you eat a hamburger. Did I gross you out? Good! Could not believe how big my cousins kids had gotten was great to see how they "panned out". They're great kids she should be proud of them. I know I am. It was really nice to see everyone interacting. Well, almost everyone. My eldest was on the verge of turning 14 that week. She's usually outgoing and talks to people engaging in pretty good conversations even with strangers. But she avoided these kids like the plague. They even invited her to sit at their table. My first reaction was as judgemental as yours just was. How rude! But then over time I realized that she was shy and scared. That'll learn us to judge won't it. How insensitive!
So I grabbed the 16 yr old teenager of my cousin and her friend and said "She's just sitting on the couch in there hiding why don't you guys go in there and make her talk to you." They giggled and said ok and the rest of the night all I heard was children laughing, talking and teasing running around playing games. Music to my ears and reminiscent of my own childhood experiences. A bigger reason that I wanted to head home for two weeks. To give my own children the chance to make similar memories of their own that they could enjoy and share. I was shy sometimes too when I was younger. I always felt awkward at first when I visited my cousins but always warmed up to them in about an hour. Our daughter took 3 hours and had to be convinced by her older cousins lol. They had a great time and even tried to practically plan out our whole week from then on out so they could spend more time together. No one wanted to leave. Was great. Ahhh memories....to be contd.
Wednesday, July 11, 2012
Vacation Time! Journey Up.
So about 3 weeks ago our family embarked on our first vacation out of the country in quite sometime. We decided to drive from Missouri to Southern Alberta. Looonnnggg haul and with a 2 yr old and 2 teenagers in tow. First day we travelled about 11 1/2 hours to Nebraska and to save money on our trip knowing that gas is so expensive now we decided to camp our way up.
First stop, Niobrara State Park. Although it's beautiful with rolling hills and a river there is also a highway beside the tenting rv campsites and it was never really quiet, I'm guessing due to the casino just a few miles away. Still a very beautiful campground. They have a pool, quite a few cabins and a large house to be rented also called the ranch house and horseback riding. If you are tenting it they have showers you pay for with quarters that despite their harsh water sure felt good and a vending machine with cold beverages which if you were tenting as we were is a nice thing to have since we save our ice in the cooler for things like milk and fruit. My kids made fast friends almost instantly with nearby campers and enjoyed the large playground near the laundry room and washrooms. I think we set up camp completely without our kids and having traveled very well her first day our 2 yo daughter was in heaven playing outside before dinner and bedtime. Was a bit cold at night I remember hubby grabbing his towel as an extra blanket lol. I highly recommend doing this with youngsters. Suck it up, get an air mattress and a sleeping bag and go camping with them they will do better than you think. Other than the traffic and the coyotes yelping in the background a bit was overall a very nice stay would do it again in a heartbeat!
Morning came and we had ourselves some cereal, some "extra" playtime at the playground aka we packed up while the kids were distracted lol. Everything basically fit neatly into a canvas bag that strapped to the top of our van. We brought our own grill although note to people who stop here do NOT go to the local Walmart off of I-29 meat was terrible tasted like soap we ate buns with veggies and condiments instead for dinner the night before.
Day two was a little harder on us. Daddy was determined to get as far as he could with minimal stops on the second day which didn't fly well with our little miss at all. Even a 5-10 min stop at a gas station to gas up and use washrooms long enough to change her was enough to keep her going another 2-3 hours without complaint. It got so bad on that second day when we crossed into Wyoming that I literally yelled at hubby to let me out of the car because I couldn't take anymore of baby girl's screaming at me and I had tried everything I could think of. We had plenty of snacks and juice and toys and DVDs but she had been in the car almost 5 hours straight at this point, something I'm sure neither of us will ever do again! When we finally did stop in Sheridan we were less than an hour from our next camp spot in the Big Horn Foothills 10 miles south of the Wyoming Montana border. Dayton Wyoming.
It looked um questionable when we got there lots of junky looking stuff in, by and around the office. You could see that the people owning and running this campground were fairly old so complaining wasn't gonna happen. We chose a spot right beside the river, ahhhhhh have you ever camped right beside a river?? Like a lullabye to a baby I could have slept there a lot longer trust me! After we set up camp and ate our McDonalds ( yes we were scared of buying food after that soap meat experience), we decided to use the facilities. On their site it looked "authentic" camping beside a huuugggee playground and soccer field lots of trees and plumbing. Always good for me that flushable toilet. Until I went in. Ew ew ew ew!! Spiders and webs everywhere, old doors that don't shut all the way in the stalls, and ceiling that looks like it needs to be completely rebuilt. We were scared. I know, I'm a tough girl and can go through a lot but it was so icky in their and taking a shower to get rid of it was out of the question after looking at them no no. But the dirt was clean outside where my tent and bed were and the river sang me to sleep and drowned out any traffic and I love love loved it!! So despite the health hazard of a washroom which the health dept needs to burn down and force them to rebuild, I still liked it there.
We woke up quite early the next day I think mostly because of my bladder and the excitement that we were almost there! When you grow up near the rocky mountains and hit that part of Wyoming where you can see mountains galore for me it's like a kid in a candy store with a charge account! They are my love, my heart, my home I miss them terribly here in Missouri. After using the "facilities" and cringing all the way ( ew ew) we packed up and headed to the local store to seek donuts or any fruit we could eat ended up grabbing corn chips. Ah close enough right? We were now on our way to Billings for a quick stop and then to Great Falls, MT. My 2nd home away from home on the US side, besides Kalispell. Once we got there we realized we were over an hour ahead of schedule so we decided to grab a bit at Sonic and head to the 'duck pond'. Miss baby girl once again enjoying being outside running around.
Our family has this great ability in close proximity of each other over days to stick together. Which I truly appreciate! I really enjoyed listening to the whispering and giggling in the tent next to us housing our two oldest kids. I remember having memories like that and it was a great feeling to give my children memories like that as well.
I was warned that they had changed the US border buildings on the Canadian/US border but to be honest with you, it reminded me a little bit of East Germany. I'm not saying I don't understand it I do and I really appreciate the border patrol who work hard at what they do and are courteous and respectful to anyone entering the country whilst keeping it safe from criminal activity. Hard job that is. But I did have to giggle when I saw the facility. Had to be done. We enjoyed our Canadian patrol guard who welcomed us with a smile and some chit chat was a great experience. And then............we were in Canada and 45 minutes from my hometown and my parents home. Ahhhhhh my home. To be cont...
First stop, Niobrara State Park. Although it's beautiful with rolling hills and a river there is also a highway beside the tenting rv campsites and it was never really quiet, I'm guessing due to the casino just a few miles away. Still a very beautiful campground. They have a pool, quite a few cabins and a large house to be rented also called the ranch house and horseback riding. If you are tenting it they have showers you pay for with quarters that despite their harsh water sure felt good and a vending machine with cold beverages which if you were tenting as we were is a nice thing to have since we save our ice in the cooler for things like milk and fruit. My kids made fast friends almost instantly with nearby campers and enjoyed the large playground near the laundry room and washrooms. I think we set up camp completely without our kids and having traveled very well her first day our 2 yo daughter was in heaven playing outside before dinner and bedtime. Was a bit cold at night I remember hubby grabbing his towel as an extra blanket lol. I highly recommend doing this with youngsters. Suck it up, get an air mattress and a sleeping bag and go camping with them they will do better than you think. Other than the traffic and the coyotes yelping in the background a bit was overall a very nice stay would do it again in a heartbeat!
Morning came and we had ourselves some cereal, some "extra" playtime at the playground aka we packed up while the kids were distracted lol. Everything basically fit neatly into a canvas bag that strapped to the top of our van. We brought our own grill although note to people who stop here do NOT go to the local Walmart off of I-29 meat was terrible tasted like soap we ate buns with veggies and condiments instead for dinner the night before.
Day two was a little harder on us. Daddy was determined to get as far as he could with minimal stops on the second day which didn't fly well with our little miss at all. Even a 5-10 min stop at a gas station to gas up and use washrooms long enough to change her was enough to keep her going another 2-3 hours without complaint. It got so bad on that second day when we crossed into Wyoming that I literally yelled at hubby to let me out of the car because I couldn't take anymore of baby girl's screaming at me and I had tried everything I could think of. We had plenty of snacks and juice and toys and DVDs but she had been in the car almost 5 hours straight at this point, something I'm sure neither of us will ever do again! When we finally did stop in Sheridan we were less than an hour from our next camp spot in the Big Horn Foothills 10 miles south of the Wyoming Montana border. Dayton Wyoming.
It looked um questionable when we got there lots of junky looking stuff in, by and around the office. You could see that the people owning and running this campground were fairly old so complaining wasn't gonna happen. We chose a spot right beside the river, ahhhhhh have you ever camped right beside a river?? Like a lullabye to a baby I could have slept there a lot longer trust me! After we set up camp and ate our McDonalds ( yes we were scared of buying food after that soap meat experience), we decided to use the facilities. On their site it looked "authentic" camping beside a huuugggee playground and soccer field lots of trees and plumbing. Always good for me that flushable toilet. Until I went in. Ew ew ew ew!! Spiders and webs everywhere, old doors that don't shut all the way in the stalls, and ceiling that looks like it needs to be completely rebuilt. We were scared. I know, I'm a tough girl and can go through a lot but it was so icky in their and taking a shower to get rid of it was out of the question after looking at them no no. But the dirt was clean outside where my tent and bed were and the river sang me to sleep and drowned out any traffic and I love love loved it!! So despite the health hazard of a washroom which the health dept needs to burn down and force them to rebuild, I still liked it there.
We woke up quite early the next day I think mostly because of my bladder and the excitement that we were almost there! When you grow up near the rocky mountains and hit that part of Wyoming where you can see mountains galore for me it's like a kid in a candy store with a charge account! They are my love, my heart, my home I miss them terribly here in Missouri. After using the "facilities" and cringing all the way ( ew ew) we packed up and headed to the local store to seek donuts or any fruit we could eat ended up grabbing corn chips. Ah close enough right? We were now on our way to Billings for a quick stop and then to Great Falls, MT. My 2nd home away from home on the US side, besides Kalispell. Once we got there we realized we were over an hour ahead of schedule so we decided to grab a bit at Sonic and head to the 'duck pond'. Miss baby girl once again enjoying being outside running around.
Our family has this great ability in close proximity of each other over days to stick together. Which I truly appreciate! I really enjoyed listening to the whispering and giggling in the tent next to us housing our two oldest kids. I remember having memories like that and it was a great feeling to give my children memories like that as well.
I was warned that they had changed the US border buildings on the Canadian/US border but to be honest with you, it reminded me a little bit of East Germany. I'm not saying I don't understand it I do and I really appreciate the border patrol who work hard at what they do and are courteous and respectful to anyone entering the country whilst keeping it safe from criminal activity. Hard job that is. But I did have to giggle when I saw the facility. Had to be done. We enjoyed our Canadian patrol guard who welcomed us with a smile and some chit chat was a great experience. And then............we were in Canada and 45 minutes from my hometown and my parents home. Ahhhhhh my home. To be cont...
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