Happy Birthday Mum

My birthday began at 12 mn when I came home from work and went to the basement to empty the tumble drier, as I was doing that I heard the dreaded sound of drip drip drip . We have been renovating the basement and they had crimped a pipe, but was now leaking. So I woke James up and we were hunting around with head torches to find the leak. Eventually we found it, got a bucket and turned the water off. So then I was getting ready for bed and i hear the sounds of tiny footsteps and the door to Heather's bedroom opening, she scrambled into our bed eager to ask if it was my birthday yet, she proceeded to then tell me about the big yellow cake that she had bought and a pressie in a nice bag. I told her that the sooner she gets to sleep the sooner it will be my birthday and that she should keep the cake as a surprise for the morning!! Two hours it took her to get back to sleep with her arm wrapped round my neck !!!
That day we went to see some horses with the kids in Banff and then went to an outdoor hot tub, the weather had got cold and as we got into the hot tub it started to snow. The kids loved it and Heather is really enjoying the water at the moment, ducking under and trying to see what she can see with her goggles on. We followed that with a nice lunch at one of the hotels which was lovely. then home for a late afternoon movie for the kids.So all in all it was a nice family day.

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With a few days of great summer like weather, everybody is making good use of time outdoors. The kids have enjoyed evenings at the park, hikes to Grassi Lakes, play park picnics with pre-school friends after school and fun on the bikes.


Heather has been enjoying her bike for a while now and is able to cycle alongside me as I tow Finlay in the chariot. There is a biking park not too far from our house and Heather cycled beside me all the way there and had fun walking on the balancing trails and riding over the bumps. Finlay had fun on the balance trails and also enjoyed playing in the dust, kicking it, throwing it, sitting and lying in it and they both got completely covered in it.

We're going on a camping trip.......we're not scared

After much deliberating and contemplating about purchasing a trailer for camping holidays, we finally decided to stick with the tent and forgo the comforts of a travel trailer. The idea was extremely tempting, warm comforts, solid four walls, inside cooking facilities and the list goes on. However once we thought about the practicalities of cost to purchase, possibly having to upgrade the truck to tow the thing, storage costs when not in use and the cost of fuel when towing it on long distances Ohh and to add in the fact that James is a slight workaholic on top of shift work and the reality is that we wouldn't use it to its full potential. Oh and not to mention that I like to stay in cabins and have plans to travel further afield!!!
Therefore I have booked a camping trip to a place called Surveyor lake for our vacation time.

Initially I was thinking 4 nights and then James thought 6, I'm thinking that he is trying to put me off and succum to a travel trailer!!!

Known as the BCW ( best campsite in the World) !!! Great for kids, with sandy beaches, warm lake water, adventure play ground. Great for parents, with hot showers and biking and hiking trails galore and great for all of us, with painted turtles that bathe on the banks of the lake, time outdoors with fire pits and great camp food!!! Now I know that this is by no means going to be a relaxing vacation, however I think the kids will love it. They have already been practicing the sleeping bag routine and love being outside in their mini play tent.

And as everybody knows kids love the outdoors, water, sand and stones.

Happy, screaming Easter

So Sweet, before the sweets.

Well it is Easter time and Heather was excited about the Easter bunny arriving and bringing her some treats. I don't think she realized just how much fun it was all going to be.
In Canada, Easter egg hunts are a bit of a tradition for kids to go and find plastic eggs filled with little goodies. A friend of ours has an Easter egg hunt every year in her garden and this year was the first time Heather really understood the idea and was getting right into it. There was egg decorating, followed by an egg hunt and then followed by cake!!!

All her eggs in the basket.

However, apparently my children do not do well on chocolate.

The following day the Easter bunny had delivered an assortment of mini eggs and chocolate bunnies. The kids were beside themselves with excitement and awe, so how could I deny them a treat before breakfast!!!

Ohhhh How could I ?

Well later in the morning the community have an early egg hunt, find your eggs and hand them in and trade for a few mini eggs. Heather and Finlay worked as a team and found a handful of eggs. They were happy to trade them in and we sat at the park and enjoyed a few more bites of chocolate. Well not long after, the tables turned for me......Before I knew it, I was the parent with the screaming kids, crying and shouting, demanding and over emotional. It was now my turn to be the focus of onlooking parents with my screaming and shouting children!!!! It very quickly became evident that it was time to vacate the scene and try to refocus my kids. So I picked Finlay up kicking and screaming, took Heather by the hand, crying and shouting and led them both to the sound proofing of the truck. As I walked I met the glance of another parent who just smiled. After loading the pair of them into the truck and closed the doors, I realized that the truck was not that sound proofed and I could still hear them from outside!!
Finlay fell asleep and Heather had a good run around in the park closer to home. Eventually they seemed to be appeased and life seemed much more manageable!!!

Snow angels and hunting for trolls

After a mild start to March we had another dumping of snow which was exciting for the skiers and also for Heather. She enjoyed playing at the parks and making snow angels. We also went for a hike to Troll Falls and Heather was convinced that she was going on a Troll hunt. There had been a snow shoer ahead of us who was leaving large foot prints on the trail and this added to Heather's excitement.

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She came out with the story that she was going to give him a birthday present. She was also very disappointed when we arrived and there was no troll to be found. The waterfall had frozen and had water running behind the ice, so we explained that the troll was sleeping during the winter behind the ice and that we could come back in spring to visit him then. She then decided to leave her stick as a birthday present for when he wakes up!!!!
The things you have to say to make life better
We will just have to see if she remembers the story when spring comes and we try the hike again
Unfortunately the batteries ran out just as I caught her seeing the frozen waterfall.