Our Summer...so far!

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Lazy days of Summer...

It's 8:30 in the morning, and we're anticipating another beautiful sunny day in Saskatchewan.  This week Rebekah has VBS each morning. 

One of the things we are trying to teach our kids is our responsibility to others.  Consequently, we've decided this summer that we are collecting shoes to give to those who have very little.  The funny thing is that often when I'm talking to Rebekah about the importance of helping others her response is, "Why?"  But then later, out of the blue, she'll start talking about why we are helping others, how it's so important, and how little others in the world really have.  It can be truly humbling at times. 

  Yesterday, Rebekah and I went for a walk without shoes, just to experience what it is like for so many everyday. So we've started collecting shoes from those in our community. And we'll add our shoes that we no longer fit or use.

Birthday Boy!

"Happy Birthday to you!!", Chloe repeatedly shrieked. She loves birthdays, in fact, anyone's birthday, and will run around in circles singing, at the top of her lungs, Happy Birthday to you!

Yesterday was Glynn's birthday. In the past, we've had parties, even a Star Wars themed party, barbeques, or fires to commemorate the occassion, but this year we celebrate quietly at home. The girls were still as excited as ever.

Since Glynn's favourite is cheesecake that was the birthday cake I made. This year it was chocolate covered pineapple cheesecake. I've never made a cheesecake with pineapple before. It's simply amazing. The lightness of the cake is complimentary to the decadence of the chocolate.

Then the presents. We narrowly averted disaster; Glynn accidently stepped on one of his gifts. Chloe and Rebekah bought him a new pair of sunglasses, since his last pair broke months ago. And, fortunately, they are well-crafted. From the sound it made, both Glynn and I thought he had broken them; however, when he unwrapped them, they were unscathed. I also gave him a soccer book called: A Beautiful Game. It tells the stories of the most gifted soccer players, and how growing up playing the game changed their lives.

Adventures in Regina

Tonight, as I was putting Chloe to bed, she looked up at me with her big blue eyes and said, "I want to talk with you." And so began our conversation reminiscing the day's events. Today was an abenture day. Not a typo. That's the way we pronounce it in our house. I'm sure someday it will be pronounced adventures, but, today, it's abentures.

As we talked, Chloe's face lit up as she remembered the huge slide at Evraz Park. Our location today was Regina. And this was our first stop. Chloe, Rebekah and Glynn loved racing in potato sacks down the huge slide that is several story's tall. I took pictures. That's my job. Anyway, they must've made a dozen trips down the slide.

Rebekah and Chloe also got to ride the train. Evraz park has a little steam engine that only children under 12 can ride. This was an exciting moment for both of them. Rebekah and Chloe rode in a car together. If at any point it crossed Chloe's mind to try to bolt, it certainly didn't show on her face. Wind blowing through her blonde hair and a big smile on her face. Of course, Rebekah waved every time she went by us.

Our next stop was the Royal Saskatchewan Museum. We went last summer, but the girls are young enough that they didn't remember it, Chloe especially. There's a special dinosaur section that Chloe loved. They also have an automated life like dinosaur called Megamunch that Chloe didn't love. When you push the button it moves and roars. Chloe cowered. Then Glynn and Chloe left. Rebekah, however, found megamunch fascinating.

Both girls loved looking at the displays of fossils and rocks. They both collect rocks. I have no idea why, except that my Grandma Christopherson collected rocks too. She loved it; maybe it's in the genes. They also enjoyed finding the little animals hidden in the displays. At one point, Chloe knelt down next to the display, pressed her nose against the glass and said, "hello 'coon." Her short form for Racoon.

After the museum, we headed to Candy Cane park, which derives its name from the tree-like structures painted with red and white stripes. The play equipment was completely re-done from when we were there last year. Not only was it beautiful, but the girls had such a great time. Chloe loves to climb, so she loved tackling the rock climbing wall. Rebekah loves to swing. There were a number of toys that swung in different ways, including the good old tire swing.

We finished off the day with McDonald's and donuts from Tim Horton's. It was a great day.

Another hot one

It's 9 AM, and it's 22 degrees already. You know it's going to be a hot one today! Unfortunately, Glynn has to work all day in this weather. The past two days, he's put in almost 13 hours each day. Hopefully today won't be as long.

The girls are outside playing. We try to spend as much time outside as possible, and for how hot it's going to be today, it definitely has to be in the morning. Rebekah and Chloe easily meet the recommended guideline of 30-60 minutes of exercise a day.

Yesterday we went for groceries. It's an adventure taking these two with me. We narrowly averted several crises, and ended up buying two battery operated toothbrushes that were not on my list. But as I said to Glynn, "how many children beg for toothbrushes?" Usually it's candy or toys. So I'm good with toothbrushes.

We also spent an hour at the waterpark in MJ before lunch. Chloe, I think, is pretty fearless. This can be good and bad. She loves to climb stuff, and seems to have no fear when doing so. When we arrived at the park, her first statement was, "What can I climb?" So climb she did. I prefer she climbs play structures than my furniture. I have a feeling, in a few years, Glynn will need to rescue her because she's stuck in a tree somewhere.

As for me, I've been painting. Painting our wicker furniture that sits in the gazebo. Painting our kitchen cupboards. At this point, I'm not sure why I decided that was a good idea. And today I need to paint the trim around the front door. Over the next week I'm hoping to get the bathroom painted, and by the end of the summer the deck. But we'll see.

The Beach

This may be a short post; I'm wiped. On Canada Day, we took the girls to Moose Jaw for the day. This year the festivities were held at the Western Development Museum. The girl's played on 8 different types of bouncers, fed animals at the petting zoo, and chowed down on some Cotton Candy.

Chloe loved feeding the baby sheep. But she didn't want to give them her cone. She wanted to eat it. Of course after livestock have been eating grain out of it, we wouldn't let her. If we lived on a farm, we probably wouldn't think twice about it, but since she's not that fortunate, no cone for her. Cotton Candy was the lure to give up the cone to the donkey. Even then she was still fairly irrate about the whole deal.

After spending several hours jumping, Rebekah decided a change in locale would be good, something cooler, preferably. So we headed to Crescent Park so the girl's could enjoy the paddling pool and water park. They didn't bother so much with the spray park, as with the pool. They both love to swim; in fact, we call them our water babies.

True to Rebekah, she immediately made friends with several little girls, and then spent the afternoon swimming around and playing games with them. Chloe, followed them around, and eventually made a little friend of her own. Rebekah is one of the most social children I've ever met.

Today we headed to Buffalo Pound Provincial Park for the day. It's a wonderful park about 1/2 an hour from here. There's a lake, beach, pool and beautiful park with bbq/picnic facilities and playground. So we spent most of the day swimming. Glynn attempted to build a sandcastle, but couldn't get his sand the right consistency for it to stay together. Rebekah scoured the shore for shells. Last year we were able to get many; unfortunately this year, we left with only three.

The weather was beautiful. I think it reached about 25 C, with a clear blue sky. Now, we're all tired and ready for bed.

Happy Canada Day!!

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Star Wars in Concert!!

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Last night Glynn and I attended Star Wars in Concert. For two huge Star Wars fans this was an A-MAZ-ING experience! In the lobby, encased in glass, were all kinds of memorabilia from the Skywalker Ranch, C3P0, Ewoks, blaster pistols, you name it. The most popular displays were Chewbacca and Darth Vadar.

We had amazing seats, sixth row from the stage. For Glynn, it really was like a dream come true. The shocking thing is, it even began like a movie, with the THX sounds, and the 20th Century Fox music, all played by the Star Wars symphony. The opening was narrated by James Earl Jones, as Darth Vadar, and to our shock, the rest of the show was narrated by Anthony Daniels, in person, who is the voice of C3P0.

Basically, the show tells the story of all six stories of Star Wars, but it's broken into different genres. The music was sensational. My favourite was the scene from the Cantina. There was also a laser light show throughout different parts. During the finale, part of the brass section was wearing Rider hats, a big deal in Rider Nation!