Our summer so far...

Well, this summer is going by quickly. I am grateful for that! I admit, at the beginning of summer I counted how many weeks the kids had off from school. TEN WEEKS. Oh my! I love having the kids home and having a break from the regular routines of the school year, but 10 weeks can be a looong time. Well, we are now 7 weeks down and only 3 weeks to go. I admit that the first week was a little hairy, but things have been very good, for the most part.

Here's Adam running around in pajama bottoms, his little housecoat, hospital green colored Crocs (which he adores!) and a Star Wars light Saber. Crazy outfit, I know, but this is Adam's choice of 'Jedi' clothing to wear in the summer... he's ready to fight off who knows what. Meanwhile I stand inside and shake my head and wonder what the neighbors must think of how I 'let' my kids dress!



We decided that this summer we would stay close to home and vacation in Manitoba. Bryce is from Manitoba, but the rest of us aren't, so we decided to venture out and explore at home. The kids are just happy to go wherever we go. As long as we promise food & a road trip of any sort, they are thrilled. Simple expectations, I love it!

One of the first things we did this summer was to go see 'Sarah the camel' in Glenboro. The kids LOVED the camel... and when it was time to leave, it took a bit to round the kids up & convince them that it was time to go.

Here's Madi and June having fun together. FYI, June loves to match her clothes with Madi's clothes. She also loves to pick out what Madi wears. Little type A mom in the making...

When we did get them rounded up, we took the kids for a picnic at Spruce Woods. It was an impromptu picnic, I grabbed some watermelon, cucumbers & carrots from home and then we stopped by the store & picked up some ice cream drumsticks on the way out. We also stopped by the Kelley's bakery and picked up some yummy pizza! We had a fun time!



We also had another picnic in Spruce Woods. This time we had more time to spend there. So we took the kids to the play park there and also to see the sand dunes, also known as the Spirit Sands.



















And this is what my kids look like when they are getting tired... it was 1.6 kms to get to the sand dunes. They slept well that night! :)



Oh, and how could I forget?!! I went away by MYSELF. Try not to die of shock. Yes, I did leave Bryce "alone with his own children" for 4 days. I flew to Edmonton to visit my family and Bryce took the kids home He survived me leaving, I came home to the same number of children... and most importantly, I returned home feeling sane again! It was a great visit and I was able to see all my brothers, my sister & my parents... we ate lots of good food & shopped a bunch too! Good trip! Thank you Mom, Dad, Lindsay & Liam for having me! (I realize now that I don't think I even took one picture while I was there. I guess if I'm not taking a picture, there's no reason for me to actually have a picture taken of me...)

We also decided to take the kids horseback riding. Dorothy Heaman, a lady from our church, has a bunch of horses at her home. She was nice enough to have us over so the kids could pet & ride the horses. The kids had a wonderful time! We are so glad they were able to go.

Here's June petting the horse.

Adam is cute as a button!

Noah had a GREAT time!

Madi before the ride...

... and after her ride.

And here is Madi after her ride... she was SO upset that we took her off of the horse!



And here's Bryce trying to console Madi.











Dorothy also showed the kids her chickens! The kids had so much fun!

Please chicken, be a nice chicken and do not peck my Madi!

And afterwards, she took us to see if the chickens had laid any eggs. And they had... 4 eggs! They were still watm. The kids thought it was so neat to hold a fresh egg.

I was a bit worried Madi would break the egg but she didn't.

Another highlight this summer was that Adam lost 3 teeth in one week! His bottom tooth was the first to go & if I remember correctly, it was on a Monday night. He was thrilled! Then on Thursday, the kids were jumping on our neighbors trampoline & Adam hit his mouth on Kimmie's head. His top, front 2 teeth were already loose, but after hitting his face, his tooth was just hanging there. It came out later that night when he was brushing his teeth... and he caught it just before it fell down the drain. Good reflexes Adam! Well, Adam obviously didn't think he had lost enough teeth at that point... by time Saturday came around, he pulled out his other loose tooth! He was so proud of himself. I think he may be a dentist in the making... he was so happy that he had a good method to pull out teeth. I have heard him telling the neighborhood kids exactly how to get a loose tooth out. Funny boy. Currently, Adam has one more loose tooth and he's wiggling it like crazy. It's just a matter of time before it's gone...

Tooth #1 gone

Tooth #2 gone. (I like Adam's checkerboard/hill billy smile!)

Tooth #3 gone. My boy the toothless wonder!

August long weekend we decided to take a trip to Winnipeg. We had initially planned to take the kids to the zoo, but once we got there, we realized that the weather wasn't co-operating and we weren't dressed properly. So we took the kids to Toys R Us and did a little bit of shopping at the mall. I can tell that the kids are related to me... they are always happy to go shopping! ;) We also took them to Olive Garden for lunch, which was fun. It's always nice to eat out... I love it because it means that I didn't make it and I don't have to clean up! Good times!





And Bryce wins the reward for telling the boys to bring in their new lego! It was wonderful! The girls colored & the boys built lego... very good!





We also met up with my childhood friend, Leslie Newton, now Keating. Leslie and I were neighbors & friends as little babies & toddlers and our mothers were really good friends too. Her family moved away & we didn't see each other for a number of years. Then my family moved to St. Albert and on my first day in a new school, Leslie & I were reunited! We were good friends for a number of years... which brought our moms together again.... they were always comparing notes to see if we were really doing what we said we were doing! Anyways, that's another story for another time! OK, long story short, Leslie & I found each other on Facebook a little while ago & we realized that we had the opportunity to meet up with each other again. So Bryce, the kids & I went over for a BBQ at one of Leslie's friends house in Winnipeg. It was absolutely GREAT to see her again! It was like we had never been seperated. The only thing that was clearly different was that we had husbands & children and she has a bit of an accent becuase she is now living in Australia! What a wonderful night we had. I hope we will have the chance to do this again one day. :) Love you Leslie!! :)



June had the camera and took some random shots... many were VERY random, but this one was good. Bryce & I are talking with Leslie & her husband, Shane, while Madi & her daughter, Mae play together.



We are still planning on taking a few more weekend trips. We'll see how things go with the weather. I'll post some more as the summer goes on. Oh yes, that reminds me.... only THREE WEEKS UNTIL SCHOOL STARTS! Still very excited about that.... :)