Fall Kid Pics

I finally got a new camera that I love and decided to take some pictures of the kids after the leaves turned. We went to the park and the kids got to play and I got to as well. I love my camera and having adorable subjects helps too.

Last camping trip of the season

Lauren on the Columbia Icefield glacier

Luke and Lauren jumping off the boat launch at Maligne Lake

Angel Glacier

An ice cave at Angel Glacier that some geniuses thought would be safe to walk around in.

Our last camping trip of the season was to Jasper National Park. I asked some friends from my MOMS group if they wanted to go and they agreed and we had a great time. We saw Angel Glacier, Maligne Lake and the Columbia Icefield glacier during our time in Jasper. We couldn't have asked for better weather or company.

Berry Picking

There is a berry up here called a Saskatoon. It is kind of like a blueberry and they are pretty tasty. There are a few family owned farms on the outskirts of Calgary where you can go berry picking so we decided to do just that. We got buckets, slapped on the sunscreen and started picking. We picked 2 buckets worth of berries and the kids had a good time. Luke liked squeezing the berries and getting the juice but now he says he doesn't like them. Go figure.

What were we going to do with all these berries you may wonder? Well there was a pamphlet that gave all kinds of recipes and we have tried a few. The first was a Saskatoon berry pie and it was good. Next we tried the smoothie but none of us are really big fans of smoothies so that didn't go over very well. The muffins were really good and I also made some freezer jam. After all that we had a whole bag left over so I froze the rest. Hopefully I can bring some down at Christmas.

Maxcey's visit Maxcey's

Luke and Ben discovered this toy and thought that it looked like a light cycle from Tron.

We were so excited when our Maxcey cousins came to visit us this summer. The kids were beside themselves and we had a countdown to when they were going to arrive. We had a fantastic time with them. We went to Lake Louise, did the Banff Gondola ride and went out to Ol'Macdonald's camping resort. Needless to say the visit was way to short.

Calgary Stampede (read: rodeo)

There were also some rides that the kids loved. Luke as usual loves to play the carnival games and is freakishly good at them. After a while though we decided to go put that money to better use and ended up at the Lego store instead.

We went to the Calgary Stampede on the last day. It was just like the Houston rodeo even the weather!!! Of course here we went in June and in Houston you go in March. Lauren got to meet the My Little Ponies and Luke had a run in with a cow while riding a tractor.

Camping in Kananaskis

A few weeks ago we went camping in Kananaskis. We had lunch with Daddy at noon and he suggested we go camping for the weekend. Great idea! But I had a lot to do before we could leave. The kids were in the car at 5 waiting to go, they were so excited. We finally made it out of town at 7:30pm. We got to the campsite at 8:45 and were able to set up the tent with no problem since the sun doesn't set here in the summer until around 9:45 or so. The next morning we went on 2 different hikes which the kids really enjoyed. We found a playground at a campsite close to us so the kids played there for a while. Some more kids joined L & L at the playground and they played together really well. They played chase and they dubbed Luke 'Ninja Kid' because he was too fast for them to get. The weather could have been a bit better but at least it didn't rain on us. It was in the upper 60's and at night it was in the 40's which was kind of chilly for us. Overall we had a great weekend and I am so glad that the kids like to hike and camp.

End of School

Here are Lauren and some of her friends from preschool. She loves them a lot.

This is Luke and his teacher Ms. Novello. She will be his teacher next year too which will be good because he won't have to 'get used to' a new teacher. Plus I really like her:)

You may be wondering why she is holding a cucumber. Well I was in charge of the teacher gift for a few of the parents so I put in a cucumer because she is as cool as a cucumber. Some nuts because the kids drove her nuts sometimes. A packet of seeds because she helped their knowledge grow and some other odds and ends plus some wine and a bookstore gift card. She was pretty happy with it.

Lauren's school had an end of year party at Bowness Park and the kids had a ton of fun. Unfortunately I didn't give Lauren her allergy meds and her eyes were really bothering her. These two were her teachers this year. Ms. Amber and Ms. Krishna.

Cake flowers

Here are the flowers that I made last week in my flowers and cake class.

The one on the top left is the Wilton rose which came out awesome. My teacher even said it was really good. the one on the top right is a fondant flower. These were awesome. I missed the first class but she let me make it up and showed me how to do them. Technically the 3 different parts should be 3 different colors but I had red so I used red. I plan to make these for my final cake next week so I will post and you can see what they should really look like. Now for the last one. It is supposed to be a daffodil. I got the hang of it after a bit but the problem is you obviously need all the petals to be even and you need 6. These take practice. After the previous class where we made apple blossoms and primroses, or attempted to make because those were a complete bomb, I was glad to kind of get the hang of the daffodil.

More Waterton Lakes

Right before we left Waterton we rented a surrey and biked around the park. Jeff and I found out how out of shape we are. We were only on this thing for 20 minutes before we turned it back in. It was not easy pedaling around town, up and down and against wind. It isn't going to detour me from wanting a bike though:) The kids loved this part of the trip.

Going down to the border

A mama bear with her 4 babies.

Bighorn sheep on the side of the road just outside the townsite.

A rock bed at the beginning of our hike.

Red Rock Canyon waterfall

We went to the town of Waterton Lakes the first weekend in June. The reason for this impromptu trip was because our visa expired on June 6th. Jeff just received some paperwork the week before so we decided that the most expeditious way to take care of the visas was to go to the border. Luckily Waterton is 30 minutes from an immigration crossing so we made a weekend of it. The town was beautiful. A very quaint town untouched by commericalism. The only corporate restaurant was a Subway. We stayed in the Bear Mountain Motel which was built in the 60's and not really updated since then and it was great! We went to immigration the morning after we got in and renewed our visas (without too much issue) and then went on a hike to Red Rock Canyon in the afternoon. The hike wasn't bad at all. The only problem we encountered was muddy patches due to melting snow. The kids liked the falls once we got there. The kids had the most fun throwing rocks into the river at the end of our hike. We saw a lot of different kinds of animals, most notably bears! We also saw bighorn sheep, mountain goats (near a playground in the townsite) and some deer.

The Death Star

Getting started. Yes, the instruction booklet is coil bound.

Lauren thought it lost it's novelty after awhile.

Putting on the last piece!

The Death Star took the whole weekend to complete but it was a great project. Luke was constantly wanting us to play with him, which actually meant put the Death Star together and quit taking breaks.

Walking in our neighborhood

We have some amazing pathways right in our neighborhood. One we have to drive to since it is on the other side of our neighborhood but it is a fantastic walk. The kids and I went on this walk the other day. It takes us along the Bow River. The second picture you see is of the kiddos in the 'Whomping Willow.' (Those of you who are Harry Potter fans will get the reference). We went on another walk a few days later, at the kids' insistence, and this will become at least a bi-weekly event which is awesome.

My cake decorating exploits

I just finished up a fondant and gum paste class. We didn't learn how to cover a cake with fondant until the last class AFTER Luke's birthday but my instructor told me how to go about it. The Lego's could have looked a little better but I think I did a pretty good job for not having true instruction beforehand. The second picture is on a fondant covered cake plate and then some of the flowers that I made. These flowers were so easy! Well except for the carnation, that was a pain and I don't like how it turned out. I am awesome at roses though:) I do have a picture of my finished cake but I don't really like the colors on it so I don't want to post it. It has a ruffled part and has the Calla Lilies on top. I am supposed to start the icing flowers class next week so we shall see how that goes, but I think that anytime I put flowers on a cake I am going to use fondant.

Luke's 7th Birthday

Luke learned how to blow up balloons on his birthday!

The girls and I made bottle cap necklaces while

the boys made Lego cars.

This was part of the treasure hunt. They followed clues

until they found the treasure which was full of Lego Star

Wars S-wing fighters and bottle cap necklace makings.

Our homemade Lego brick pinata (that didn't last very long).

Luke had a really good birthday. We had a party at the house with some of his friends from school. At first we were only going to invite boys but then a girl in his class said that she wanted to come so we ended up inviting the whole class. We had a treasure hunt and some other activities that the kids really liked (whew it was hard thinking up things that these kids would like to do).