Wish We Were There

Sadly, we didn't make it up to Canada this summer for vacation. Trent could only get a week off from work because he'd had to take a week off for his school trip to Washington DC (and took more time off when Ezra was born). Since it takes a day to fly and usually another day to drive out to the lake where Trent's family vacations (and then again in reverse at the end of the trip), a week is a pretty tight turnaround.

We brainstormed lots of different plans where I would fly up separately with the kids or Trent would work remotely or we would all fly up separately...We tried so hard to make it work, but it was just getting way too complicated. Trent's mom, Wyona, was really creative and offered help in a lot of different ways, but we finally decided to wait until Christmas to go up. Dell shuts down for the week of Christmas, so it's like we get a bonus vacation week.

And as much as I like escaping the oppressive Texas heat in August, there is something to be said for experiencing real winter weather (and snow!) in Canada in December. I honestly love the cold (though I've never had to shovel a driveway or drive much in it), and Trent thinks I'm crazy or bluffing or both.

In any case, here are some pictures from last summer that I never posted. It really makes me wish I was there right now!

At the shore of Morraine Lake, my favorite place in Banff. Look at the color of that water!

Aunt Zoe and Senya at Lake Louise. Trent and I honeymooned in this area; gorgeous, gorgeous!

Looking down from the gondola ride up Sulphur Mountain. My brothers Thad and Jared (in the car behind us in the picture) went with us last summer, so we stopped to see some of the best sights on our drive out to the lake.

Thad and Jared, at the top of Sulphur Mountain.

An exotic chicken at a nearby petting zoo. See resemblance to brother Thad above. Both of my brothers take pride in their hair and they each had a chicken twin who felt the same way at this place, but I didn't get a picture of Jared's!

Pure bliss!

Ivan and cousin Audra (4 months older) playing a fun game: Ivan climbs up on the stool and waits for Audra to push him over the arm of the couch.

Senya playing down at the beach.

Ivan and Aunt Tonia experimenting with "Indian Paint" rocks. Aunt Tonia was generous enough to let Ivan draw all over her with it to see how it worked.

All of Trent's family on the "train rock." This is a gigantic boulder in the yard where the kids run whenever a train comes by. There are tracks at the bottom of the mountain by the lake, and standing on top of the rock offers the best view.

Fond memories...

Visit From the North

We just wrapped up 2 weeks of fun with a visit from Trent's parents from Calgary. They stayed with us a week, took a break to go on a cruise out of Galveston, then came back for another week.

Some of the visit's highlights:

Blowing and dying eggs for Easter; Ivan had some difficulty using the spoon to keep the empty eggs submerged, so he opted to use his hands. We thought we would have a blue-handed boy for days, but by coincidence, we ended up blowing bubbles outside afterwards, and it cleaned the dye right off.

Did you know that kids will play at a Dairy Queen playscape for 2 hours if you let them? I'm sure Senya and Ivan would agree that grandparents are much more fun than their mom. Here Senya is being a great big sister and trying to help Ivan up onto a ledge that he couldn't make on his own.

Greg and Ivan became fast friends and set up trains to play with. When Greg dared to sneak away to the other room to grab a Kleenex, Ivan was right behind him, calling "Granddad! Granddad!" to come back and play.

Senya watched and read the news online with Granddad to find out what was going on in the world. He was endlessly patient, answering all her questions for over an hour. "What's an earthquake?" "Why are those people sad?" "Do we have earthquakes in Texas?"

Ivan and Senya try out some new trucks with Grandma.

Trying out some new outdoor toys.

We did an embarrassing amount of yardwork when Greg and Wyona were in town. Embarrassing because there was so much to catch up on and embarrassing because houseguests shouldn't really be doing any kind of yardwork. Luckily, the kids loved being outside for days on end, so we got tons done.

Most of the tourist attractions on the agenda were our favorite eating destinations: Rudy's, of course, Chuy's, The Cheesecake Factory, Jardin Corona (our favorite Mexican place), Carino's, dare I go on?

There were also dance lessons in the living room, mango keylime cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory, handmade baby blankets, shopping trips to Ross, and many handyman projects completed. What a great time!

Orr Family Farm

We recently visited my brother Noel and his family in Oklahoma City. It was a quick weekend trip, and most of the time was spent watching Senya and Ivan play with their 2-yr-old cousin, Grace. One activity we enjoyed was visiting a local farm that has seasonal activities, and I hate to admit it, but the Orr Family Farm beats the pants off our local pumpkin patch. The only thing we have on them is the price.

Some of our favorite things:

• jumping pillows (picture a gigantic jumphouse floor)
• pedal cars (even small enough for the littlest of kids)
• train ride around the property
• carousel
• huge slides made of plastic culverts
• an actual pumpkin patch (as in pumpkins growing on a vine)

Senya (almost 4), Grace (2), Ivan (21 months)

Ivan, 'Is her pumpkin bigger than mine?'

Ivan and Grace trying out the pedal cars

The jumping pillow (Ivan was a little wary, so Trent held him at first); it had about the same bounce factor as a jumphouse (as opposed to a trampoline), so the dads could do flips without the kids next to them flying off. These things were huge (about 3 times what you can see in the picture).