Our Summer

Here are some highlights from our summer. The weather was pretty poor as far is summer is concerned but we still had lots and lots of fun. The pictures are in no particular order since I still get mixed up on how this thing works with uploading pictures to blogger. So I will just explain things as I go. There are lots of pictures so have fun! It might take a while to get through them all so grab a drink and a snack!

We went on a road trip in the middle of August to Lake Louise for a family reunion for Skips mom's side of the family. We wanted to kid the kids occupied and also give them a break from their seats so we made two fairly long stops along the way. One of them was at a McDonald's play place and the other was at a park. It really helped to break the trip up a bit and let the kids get out some energy.

We stayed in the Lake Louise Inn. Which had a little kitchenette and a separate sleeping room. Here is Duncan playing cars one morning.

The sandbox was a huge hit. It kept the kid's busy for hours. Especially Duncan, who attached himself to a plastic dump truck from there that he kept referring to as "My truck!". That kid has cars and trucks on the brain I tell ya!

One morning we saw a ground squirrel coming up to our porch door. We were having toast so we decided to give it some. The kids thought it was the best thing in the world.Duncan likes his evening beer!

At the lake. The water is so beautiful. We wanted to go on a canoe ride but it was to expensive for our liking.

The little girls had their nails done one afternoon while the little boys played in the Sand Box.

Skyla loves music and she just loved listening to this harp player at the Chateau Lake Louise. She liked it so much that we decided to get her a CD and she even had it autographed with her name on it! She told us later that she wants to play the hard sometime when she is bigger.

Best Uncle in the world Uncle Riley!

Auntie Angela had organized all these activities for the kids to do. (Such a life saver!) One of the activities was face painting. They also did play dough (and goo), princess and prince crowns, and shakers.

Here is Skyla looking so grown up drinking her coffee (with extra cream in it)!

We went to 'I love Regina Day' in the park. The kid's really enjoyed getting their faces painted. (Despite how serious Duncan looks in the photo's. He was so proud!

The kids had their first hair cuts ever. Skyla's was just a token cut to trim off the ends but Duncan was starting to develop a serious Mullet. We almost didn't want to cut it because it was too cute but we knew that we needed too.

Skyla just loves to pose for the camera and she is so photogenic too. She is our little model.

The kids got their first rain coats this summer as well. It has been such a wet summer for us this year. But the kids really enjoyed splashing around in the puddles.

Skyla with her new Chinese hair sticks. She just loves playing in the toy box.

As usual we went to 'Regina Buffalo Days' again this summer. We actually went twice because we didn't get to see all the attractions we wanted to see on the first day. The lions was one of them. And they had this great big white lion. It was beautiful!

Both Skyla and Duncan love to jump, so jump they did.

Duncan, of course, had to go on the race car and then so did Skyla. Duncan, however, cried at the end of the ride.

And the catepillar.

And the fair is never the fair without cotton candy. Duncan gobbled! And then washed his hands off in the ducky pond game. (Maybe that is why the water is blue! All the kids and their blue cotton candy.)

The merry-go-round is the all time favorite! Especially for Skyla. She had her horse picked out way ahead of time. So cute! Look how tall and lean she is getting!

Skyla just loves the ponies too! The real ones that is.

We also went to the 'Buffalo Days' parade.

And the petting zoo was the first thing to see. The children love to go in the pen and feed the goats and sheep.

And the new swimming pool that has a sprinkler coming out the blow hole! The kids love it!

This is Skyla getting married. She wanted me to find her a wedding dress and my shirt was the closest thing.

Duncan with his usual goofy grin. What a nut case that one is! Always clowning around!

And the last picture of all is our little super model. She is just beautiful!

Our Rescued Robin

A couple of weeks ago we were walking down the sidewalk on a busy street in our neighborhood. We came upon a baby robin just standing in the middle of the sidewalk and there was a dead sibling lying next to it. The baby robin was very small and at first we could see no mother in sight. We looked up in the tree above us and there was a nest right above so we figured they had some how fallen out of the tree and one of them just happened to survive. We didn't think it was safe to just leave the bird there so we picked it up and started walking home with it. That was when the mother flew over us freaking out. We feared that the bird would wonder onto the street and get ran over so we proceeded to bring it home with us. When we got home we looked up on the Internet about baby robins and got some information on how to care for this little critter. Unfortunately there was no where here in Regina to care for it so we set forth to take on the responsibility ourselves. At first the robin could do nothing for its self (it could barely hop at all yet) so we set out to find some food for it. We found a couple of flies; some worms from our garden; and some moths and that is what we fed it. It came to us with hardly any wing feathers, no neck feathers, and no tail feathers but as the days went on it grew very quickly and it now has all it's feathers. She (Skyla figures it is a girl) can now fly really well and is now starting to hunt for some food on her own. She (Skip named her Chirpy) still comes to us quite a bit for food but not as often as before. We figure she will be pretty much on her own soon but believe that she will continue to hang around here since she has gotten so used to us. We have enjoyed having her around but realize that she is a wild creature and needs to be out on her own. We actually kind of look forward to when she is totally self sufficient because she has required a lot of time and energy searching for worms and other food for her and she used to eat every half hour when she was really small so it was a huge responsibility. I don't have a recent picture of her yet but when I do I will post that so you can see how she has progressed.

Duncan turns two!

So, believe it or not my little guy turned two the other day. It was a proud day but at the same time a sad day for me. My baby, my youngest is no longer a baby anymore. He is now officially a little boy! This is hard for me since making the decision to stop at two kids (unless there is an accident or we change our minds). This means that we will never have another baby in the house (except for twenty odd years from now when our kids have kids) and in some ways I will really really miss that. Don't get me wrong, I think our decision was a good one for now at this point in our lives but that doesn't mean I won't miss cuddling a newborn in my arms and feeling their soft baby hair on my face.

It was a proud day however because I have watched my son go from this tiny little infant to a little man that can do so many things all by himself. I've watched his little personality develop into this sweet, wonderful little guy that is so full of life and energy and curiosity. I love (and hate) how he can go from this tender, gentle boy to this little terror who has a scream so high pitched that it could literally damage your ear drums. I love how physical and athletic he is. How he can maneuver his riding car around the breakfast with such speed and finesse. I love his speech how he mingles his own little words in with real English words in a way that only Mommy and Daddy can understand what he is saying. (agoos water, agoos nuts, agoos racker -translated: I want water, I want nuts, I want a cracker!) I love how he has one car in each hand all the time and you can constantly hear him repeating the words "Big Car, Big Truck!" I love how excited he gets over the smallest things like having a bath or going in his wading pool. He is just the best little boy ever and I love him to pieces and I thank God every day for giving me this awesome little guy. What an absolute treasure he is.

The Month of May

May was a really big and busy month for us. From trying to get the garden bed prepared and then seeded to going to visit my sister and her husband and their new little baby, lots was going on. In the middle of the month my parents came to visit after stopping in to see the new little one as well. We had a wonderful visit with them. Below are some pictures of our trip to the Bird Sanctuary.

After my parents left we had a few short days to ourselves in order to pack and get ready for a short trip out to Saskatoon for Skip's brother Riley's University Graduation family get together. Then it was off to Red Deer for another short visit with Skip's Aunt and Uncle. Afterwards we zoomed off to Calgary to visit the new little bundle of joy. The kids had fun hiding in the suitcases while I was trying to pack for our trip. We joked that we should book two tickets to Disney Land and just stow the kids away in the suitcases! They fit so nice and snug in there.

Where are the kids? They've gone missing? Have you seen them Skip?

Oh and just in time for my parents to come we finally pretty much finished our bathroom renovation! Yay! Aside from a few decorative touches everything is done and looking very spiffy I might add. It looks to me like an article from a home decorating magazine or an advertisement for the spa! I love it! And Skip should be very proud because he did all the work himself!

The trip was long in the van but the kids did amazingly well. I am just thankful that it wasn't super hot or super cold.

We had lots of fun at my sisters. Hopefully the kids weren't to crazy for them! Hey, we were just preparing them for this stage of parenthood. The crazy toddler/preschooler age!

It was my birthday at the beginning of this month. The kids and Skip got me some lovely gardening/beach hats. I love them! Oh, and I love the kids too!

I also went on a big much needed shopping spree while in Calgary and bought myself a few new outfits. This shirt was one of them. And I almost forgot, for mothers day Skip surprised me with a portable dishwasher. This was all thanks to our wonderful income tax return. Gotta love the Income Tax Return!