Gavin's extra tooth

Gavin has an extra tooth. Well, should I say had. It was a baby tooth just hanging out in his gums. It was discovered when the dentist did some x-rays. The little tooth was in a bad spot and was likely going to cause damage to the adult tooth.

Today he had surgery to remove that little tooth.

He was very brave and so was Mommy. I don't like general anesthetic on kids, but he did great.

The actual surgery took 10 minutes. We were on our way home an hour and a half after his appointment.

Certainly not the surgical drama we are used too. And it was weighing on my mind. But now, it is done.

Thought we'd have a boring summer

We had few plans for this summer, so I thought... we'd be bored! Sheesh - was I wrong.

We have been so busy. Crazy busy. Playing with friends, birthday parties, Grandparents to hang out with and a few wee road trips.

Busy times.

The pictures are from a little trip to a farm near Calgary that was doing an open house. We went with Jolie and kids. Also from our trip to Drumheller yesterday to visit with Ali and her family, we crashed their vacation. But... we had fun doing it!

We are done the birthday parties for a couple weeks or so. Bit of a break on that front. Whew!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as we are.

Roasting marshmellows

Sticky fun!

Jasper again

Sorry to break it up like this, but we took a ton of pictures.

The next day we all went to Athabasca falls and I felt more anxious than you can imagine with the kids. It is very safe, big cement walls and fences, but still, yikes the height and water made me nervous. Mari and Gavin drove to the falls with Mom and Dad and apparently she had them all laughing. She was very concerned and upset because the water "falls." She didn't want the water to hurt itself. I think now, after seeing it she'll have a better idea of the concept behind water falls.

The afternoon was shopping in Jasper. Auntie Pam and Uncle Tom gave them each a bit of money to spend in Jasper, so they were excited to do that. Then we drove to lake Annette for more water play in the sand. And I finally relaxed. It was a safe distance from all highways, parking lots, the water was calm and fairly shallow at the edges. Whew! A few moments of peace.

Gavin built elaborate canals and just enjoyed that so much. The girls tried to play "Save Mommy," but Mommy plays rougher and they ended up getting sloshed around in the very cold water, not exactly what they wanted.

We did all the things we set out to do and we managed to avoid most of the rain. It was a great vacation and the kids are already asking when we can go back.

Jasper

We had so much fun in Jasper. They were so excited to see Grandma and Grandpa. The little cabins we were in, were just by the Athabasca river. The cold, fast rushing, terrifying Athabasca river. It amazed me that things that didn't scare me before were now very scary, because I had kids to watch.

We stopped at the sand dunes, on the Jasper lake side as the water levels were too high on the Talbot lake side.

The girls were enjoying a game of "Save Grandma." It was sooo fun and Grandma was a great sport. Gavin and Grandpa explored along the beach and had a few scientific discussions. Better Grandpa than me!

We stopped up the road for a picnic at the east end of Talbot lake. We spotted a gorgeous male elk with a full rack. Pretty special site.

Wes and I took the kids up from there to Miette Hot Springs. Mom never did like the road and they declined. It seemed warmer than I remembered. The kids loved it. Mari wanted to go back to the "hod pool." Bronwyn wanted to bring Grandma back, she was having a hard time understanding why the drive up would bother her.

The rest of the evening was spent goofing off at the cabin.

Good fun, tiring day!

Sherwood Park

We rolled into Sherwood Park with a great deal of excitement. My kids just think their big cousins are SOOOOO cool.

I just can't get over how quickly time flies. It just seems the other day when I would pull up at their house and see three little head (roughly same ages as my kids) bobbing in the window excited to see their Auntie. Now, I'm rolling up with three bobbing little heads who can't wait to get in to see their big cousins.

We did lots of stuff while there. Swimming, playing, lots of vidoe games for Gavin, nice meals, and lovely visits. Good time in all.

We are home

We arrived home last night. I had planned to do a quick blog post but unfortunately I left my brain somewhere around Canmore. Still haven't found it, but I'll do my best to soldier on. There are something you can just do without, this seems to be one of them.


The kids did great yesterday - it was a long driving day. We stopped quite a lot and a couple stops were long ones - so the kids could get a break from the car. So it took us about 9 hours to get from Jasper to Calgary. When I was in University I would often drive through the park to go home for visits, it usually took me about 6 hours from Calgary to Hinton. But I had a better bladder then, and I didn't have three kids, nor a husband who has to stop and take a picture of every single mountain.


We had a lovely trip. I'll post some pictures and explain our adventures.

Road trip

We are off on a road trip.

The kids and I are going first to Sherwood Park to visit with Josh! Mari talks about Josh all the time - so its Josh's house! But we are all very excited to see everyone even if there name isn't Josh.

Then we are headed to Jasper to meet up with Wes and my folks. Should be fun if it doesn't rain the whole time.

I'll be back in a week or so armed with lots of pictures.

Happy Canada Day!

Great excitement in this house for Canada Day. We watched a bit of the early festivities from Ottawa. The arrival of Prince William and Kate. Nice that they could join the party, but I'm afraid to say Kate seems to have stolen the show.

Gavin seems to think (and I blame this on the school earth day celebrations) that you should celebrate Canada day by walking around the neighborhood picking up garbage. While I think this is a great idea I'm not willing to do it on a day when we are having company. I promised him we'd do it one day soon.

We are having the MacKenzie's and our Irish friends the Peoples over tonight. Should be fun. Wes worked today, but is home now - whew!

I worked too. I have literally been on my feet all day. Hope the food is good - that is the best outcome.

Hope you all have a wonderful Canada Day - whether you are a Canadian or not! We love the world here.