Friday, September 30, 2016
Impromptu fall photo shoot!
A couple weeks ago a friend told me about a street in Edmonton that I needed to see in the fall. Chris and I are always up for going someplace we've never been so we took off for an afternoon drive. The kids weren't thrilled...going for a drive and to look at leaves was not their idea of a fun afternoon! We stopped for lunch at Boston Pizza and then walked along a road that had the most beautiful fall colors! I brought my good camera and took some pics. It ended up being a day of outtakes, but they look so happy in the pics so I had to share.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Long drive home!
August 19th, the kids and I took off with my dad on a 4 day adventure back to Edmonton. A few months ago when we were planning our summer trip, we decided it would be best for Chris to fly home so he could get back to work and the kids, Chloe and I would drive. Now...I know better than to drive 24 hours alone with the kids so I asked my dad if he would want to ride along. Ended up...he drove the entire time and I was so thankful to have him and to spend the quality time together.
On Friday we drove from Decorah to Rapid City, SD. It rained off and on the whole time, but otherwise no problems at all. We stopped in Wall to see what the big deal with Wall Drug was and turns out...it was no big deal. Just hundreds of signs telling you to stop was a tourist trap! We ate ice cream and got back on the road! That night we checked in to our hotel, ate Applebees, went swimming and went to bed.
Saturday, we got up early and did a tour of the Black Hills. First we started with Bear Country, USA. It was basically a drive through zoo. It was pretty cool and a definite highlight for the kids. The best part was all the bears. They were just walking around your car, playing, eating...just going about their day! We were supposed to keep our windows up at all times, but I wanted to see a little clearer so I opened mine and quickly got reprimanded over a loud speaker to close them! They were watching apparently:)
'
After Bear Country, we headed to Keystone to see Mount Rushmore. It was so cool when we got to the point in the road where we could see it. Thankfully, it was a cool day (65 or so) so we were able to leave Chloe in the car with the windows cracked and head in to see the monument up close. If it weren't around lunch time, I would have loved to stay longer. There were some really neat things in the museum about how it was constructed, the people who did it and lots about the presidents. Next time!
The picture below is from the road...I think it was my favorite view because it just came out of nowhere!
Each flag represents one state and below it says when that state was admitted to the union.
Next we drove to Custer State Park, but quickly turned around when we got to the entrance and realized it would take us 3 hours to get through the park! Instead we took off and drove to the Badlands. It ended up being a little bit of a disaster, but we eventually made it there. When we left, we took a different road and realized that when we were in Wall, we were only 8 miles from the Badlands! We definitely should have done it on the way in. It was a breathtaking place. The pictures just don't do it justice. If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Bozeman, MT. On the way we stopped and drove through Sturgis, SD. It was a Sunday morning the week after the big motorcycle get together so not much was happening! We also made a stop at the Battle of Little BigHorn..aka Custer's last stand. It was pretty neat to take the driving tour through the rolling hills that this battle took place. It was too hot to leave Chloe on this day, so we didn't get out and tour the museum or anything. But the kids got a lesson on taking away land from the Native Americans, so it was worth the $20 entrance fee for 30 minutes of time there. When we got to Bozeman, we checked into our hotel and headed downtown for dinner. We ate at a really great outside diner and had a wonderful night. I fell in love with Bozeman in about 4 hours. Very cool place...if any of our kids decide to go to Montana State, I'll be okay with it:)
cemetery at Battle of Little Bighorn below
Monday we headed home! It was a long day (11 hours) and terrible conditions...windy roads with 80mph speed limit, lots of wind, smoke from the forest fires and then rain! It wasn't great and I was very grateful that my dad was driving. He was white knuckling it, but we made it home safely and were pretty happy to be home. My dad flew out Wednesday morning. Phew!! It didn't feel as crazy at the time as it does now when I'm writing it all down!
On Friday we drove from Decorah to Rapid City, SD. It rained off and on the whole time, but otherwise no problems at all. We stopped in Wall to see what the big deal with Wall Drug was and turns out...it was no big deal. Just hundreds of signs telling you to stop was a tourist trap! We ate ice cream and got back on the road! That night we checked in to our hotel, ate Applebees, went swimming and went to bed.
Saturday, we got up early and did a tour of the Black Hills. First we started with Bear Country, USA. It was basically a drive through zoo. It was pretty cool and a definite highlight for the kids. The best part was all the bears. They were just walking around your car, playing, eating...just going about their day! We were supposed to keep our windows up at all times, but I wanted to see a little clearer so I opened mine and quickly got reprimanded over a loud speaker to close them! They were watching apparently:)
'The picture below is from the road...I think it was my favorite view because it just came out of nowhere!
Each flag represents one state and below it says when that state was admitted to the union.
Max and Mya were obsessed with taking videos and pictures of everything on this trip! So they hauled their ipads everywhere.
After driving out of Mount Rushmore I looked out my rear view window and saw George's face sticking out!
Next we drove to Custer State Park, but quickly turned around when we got to the entrance and realized it would take us 3 hours to get through the park! Instead we took off and drove to the Badlands. It ended up being a little bit of a disaster, but we eventually made it there. When we left, we took a different road and realized that when we were in Wall, we were only 8 miles from the Badlands! We definitely should have done it on the way in. It was a breathtaking place. The pictures just don't do it justice. If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.
Sunday morning we got up early and headed to Bozeman, MT. On the way we stopped and drove through Sturgis, SD. It was a Sunday morning the week after the big motorcycle get together so not much was happening! We also made a stop at the Battle of Little BigHorn..aka Custer's last stand. It was pretty neat to take the driving tour through the rolling hills that this battle took place. It was too hot to leave Chloe on this day, so we didn't get out and tour the museum or anything. But the kids got a lesson on taking away land from the Native Americans, so it was worth the $20 entrance fee for 30 minutes of time there. When we got to Bozeman, we checked into our hotel and headed downtown for dinner. We ate at a really great outside diner and had a wonderful night. I fell in love with Bozeman in about 4 hours. Very cool place...if any of our kids decide to go to Montana State, I'll be okay with it:)
cemetery at Battle of Little Bighorn below
Monday we headed home! It was a long day (11 hours) and terrible conditions...windy roads with 80mph speed limit, lots of wind, smoke from the forest fires and then rain! It wasn't great and I was very grateful that my dad was driving. He was white knuckling it, but we made it home safely and were pretty happy to be home. My dad flew out Wednesday morning. Phew!! It didn't feel as crazy at the time as it does now when I'm writing it all down!
Friday, September 9, 2016
Kelowna
Chris and I have wanted to get to Kelowna, British Columbia since we moved here! A lot of people talk about this place and visit it frequently. The weather is very mild compared to Edmonton and it's in wine country...can't get much better than that! We look often and just decided a few weeks ago to head there over the September long weekend. We flew out Friday night after school got out and flew back home early morning on Tuesday in time for Chris to get to work and the kids to get to school!
We stayed at a place I found on VRBO. It was right near the lake and turned out to be a great place to stay. They had some flood damage so we ended up getting a nice discount too which didn't hurt;) On our first day there we drove around a bit to get our bearings and then we hit up the beach and played for a couple hours! The beaches there are amazing and have tons of fun equipment for the kids. After the beach we stocked up on some local produce from the orchards and then hit up a couple wineries. I have been to several wineries and Chris has too, but we've never been together! It was fun and we definitely need to do it again, but next time...sans kids. We ate lunch and then walked around the vineyard and played bocce ball...pretty perfect day.
Sunday we rented a boat and headed out on Okanagan Lake for the day! It was so so fun and the highlight of the trip for me. Lots of really rich people retire in Kelowna so the houses are amazing on the water. We did a little tubing and jumping in the lake, but most of the time was spent just crusing around looking at everything and taking in the view.
Monday we hit up the beach again in the morning and in the afternoon took a drive to the other side of the city to go to two more wineries. The kids did awesome...definitely not a super kid friendly place, but they did the best they could. All in all, a super fun little weekend getaway!
We stayed at a place I found on VRBO. It was right near the lake and turned out to be a great place to stay. They had some flood damage so we ended up getting a nice discount too which didn't hurt;) On our first day there we drove around a bit to get our bearings and then we hit up the beach and played for a couple hours! The beaches there are amazing and have tons of fun equipment for the kids. After the beach we stocked up on some local produce from the orchards and then hit up a couple wineries. I have been to several wineries and Chris has too, but we've never been together! It was fun and we definitely need to do it again, but next time...sans kids. We ate lunch and then walked around the vineyard and played bocce ball...pretty perfect day.
Sunday we rented a boat and headed out on Okanagan Lake for the day! It was so so fun and the highlight of the trip for me. Lots of really rich people retire in Kelowna so the houses are amazing on the water. We did a little tubing and jumping in the lake, but most of the time was spent just crusing around looking at everything and taking in the view.
Monday we hit up the beach again in the morning and in the afternoon took a drive to the other side of the city to go to two more wineries. The kids did awesome...definitely not a super kid friendly place, but they did the best they could. All in all, a super fun little weekend getaway!
Friday, September 2, 2016
First day of school!
Yesterday we started our 3rd school year here in Edmonton! The kids were pretty excited to start. Max was entering 4th grade, Mya 3rd and Ivy will be in half day kindergarten! They have different cut off dates here for kinder, so she would not be going in the states. Works out well for us, because she is more than ready to join her big bro and sis at school! All 3 got great teachers. We found out their teachers early Wednesday morning. By the time I woke up, my phone was blowing up with texts from the moms of the kids' friends wondering what class they were in! I just love this school we are in and the community of parents. I know what it feels like to be the new one to town so I don't take it for granted for one second that I have 25 people I could call who would do anything for me if I needed it at this school.
Chris helped me get them all settled, which was great. Max and Ivy's rooms are completely on opposite sides of the building and Mya is right in the middle. Mya got Max's teacher from last year and she's thrilled. Max got a teacher who was on maternity leave last year, but we've heard wonderful things about her and Ivy got Mrs. Theissen who is the best we've heard:) I spent the morning drinking coffee and having a pedicure with a friend! Then I spend the evening filling out paper work! I'm ready to not sign my name to anything else and also not write a check for a long, long time!
Enjoy some pictures!
Chris helped me get them all settled, which was great. Max and Ivy's rooms are completely on opposite sides of the building and Mya is right in the middle. Mya got Max's teacher from last year and she's thrilled. Max got a teacher who was on maternity leave last year, but we've heard wonderful things about her and Ivy got Mrs. Theissen who is the best we've heard:) I spent the morning drinking coffee and having a pedicure with a friend! Then I spend the evening filling out paper work! I'm ready to not sign my name to anything else and also not write a check for a long, long time!
Enjoy some pictures!
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