Slugs

This summer we ventured out to BC to visit my parents place in Chilliwack. They are not there that often due to dads monthly work rotation in and out of Russia and mom setting up base closer to him in the UK. This August though we decided to try to meet up in Chilliwack, Estelle and her kids also made the long trek up. On our first full day there we went for a really nice hike to Bridal falls.

The hike is pretty short but you are in the beautiful BC forest. It was raining that day, though since the trees were so big and dense you didn't really get wet, and so the slugs were out. My mom has a brother that had made BC his home long ago while everyone else stayed in Calgary. One of the few memories I have of a visit to BC while I was a kid was of enormous slugs. The kids had a great time collecting every slug they could see and gathering them on their lovely slug home on a stump. I am certain all the slugs were ecstatic to see one another.

First Day

Yesterday was my first day at my new job. As a treat Alli made this crafty chocolate tipped pencil for me to take. I have to be honest, it is an exciting and proud moment for me to display my kids paraphernalia, especially when I can recollect doing similar things as a kid. For example what kid didn't make their father some sort of clay cup or dish for Fathers Day? I will be consuming the chocolate tip but the rest of the pencil will be displayed.

Crafty Alli

This is Alli's first painting. It was an acrylic paint by number from her birthday. I think it is awesome.

Happy Birthday Alli

Alli, being our oldest, gets to experience a lot of things first out of our kids. That means she gets to set the standard for her siblings and plough the path. Setting the standard may be fun but ploughing can't be too much fun. She gets to make the mistakes and train her parents. Then she gets to disseminate this information to the younger ones. Jen and I are both second children so we don't have the experience to draw on. One thing for sure, she is getting big fast. This year was another great birthday. She had a kid party which went pretty well but being a July baby, attendance is always a problem. I remember always having that problem as a kid, not the most fun but we did have a few kids make it despite it being summer holidays. We also had a fun family celebration, and again grandma sent her home with enough things to keep he occupied for some time. Alli has been into crafty things recently and loves to make cards or other things for friends and family. Grandma thought it prudent to expand her craft collection, and boy did it expand. Once we got home Alli just felt like laying it all out on her craft table so she could soak it all in.

And as I have mentioned on several occasions my favourite part is the video Jen puts together. And since I love it so much I feel like sharing. Happy birthday Alli.

Fathers Day 2011

Yesterday was fathers day and it was a great day. I got to sleep in, well as much as you can with 9am church. Jenny made a lovely breakfast of blueberry scones. We then were off to church where they handed out Dad’s root beer with a medal on it that said “Top Pop”. I think it was a clever hit. Then home to a little nap and a nice lunch of bread, cheeses, crackers, bruschetta and salad. Next off to Jenny’s parents for a family meal. Busy day but really nice.

Jen had the idea of preparing a clever video for her dad of the grandkids being interviewed about him. I love Jenny’s videos, I am also probably a little biased since they usually contain my kids. This one is quite entertaining, I was in tears laughing so hard. So I though I would share, enjoy…

Relocating H2O

It is a custom in this frozen place to relocate newly fallen frozen H2O (aka snow) from the sidewalks and driveways to the grassy areas. This allows people and vehicles to use the areas without the fear of falling, slipping or getting stuck. I hope yesterday was the last time I will have to do this until the fall.

On Friday it was relatively warm and the existing snow melted, we though spring was here finally… Well, not quite yet. Calgary is known for it’s bazar weather so this should really come as no surprise, however, Calgary also isn’t known for it’s large snow falls. We really don’t usually get that much snow, this year has been an exception. Yesterdays snow fall was quite a large one.

 

Smoking

Jenny and I have been spending some time recently painting a rental property of my dad’s that he bought 4 years ago. When he first bought it there was a “cat lady” who lived in the one side of the place. By “cat lady” I mean an older lady who lives with her cats and who’s house has a continuous haze of smoke hanging above your head. We decided to no longer allow smoking in the place and so decided we needed to repaint the place, among other things. Last week I was painting the ceilings with a paint that is meant to lock in the smoke stains, it is a flat white color and I though I would snap a picture to share. If this doesn’t speak for the effects of smoking I don’t know what does.