Tagged by Lindsay

Lindsay at no invitation required tagged me in her most recent post and is now forcing me to answer a few questions for her. She also made me update my blog (below), so you can see she is very persuasive...


So here you go Lindsay, answers to everything you have always been dying to ask me, but never quite found the right opportunity to do so! =D I hope everyone else feels enlightened as well.


1. Favorite age you have been so far? Probably around 25. Living in BC, taking fantastic vacations in the Bahamas, still had a pre-baby body and no grey hair... =) Although I might say 27 and 29 were pretty good years for me too, as that was when each of my kids was born. Also very good times...

2. If you could be fluent in any other language, what would it be? French - seems the most useful. Speaking "man" might have some good uses too though....

3. If you could have something right now, anything, what would it be? Sorry, I gotta say a few million dollars. Boring answer, I know, but then I could take my time getting all the OTHER things I want right now! Actually, I would settle for a Cookie Dough Blizzard...

4. What is one aisle you always have to walk down when you go to Walmart? Kids clothing. Another boring answer. But they are cute and cheap!!! Although admittedly I try to avoid Walmart at all costs... but it is just so CHEAP!!!

5. What is one thing your spouse/partner does that drives you crazy (don’t worry, we won’t tell:)? He cannot be seperated from his iPhone for more than 5 minutes at a time. He must know where it is always. And must give it a special cuddle before bed every night. Honestly, I'm a little scared for my position in this family. I just pray that Apple never comes out with an "iWife" app.

I am supposed to tag 5 more people and ask them 5 new questions, but I don't think I know 5 people who blog enough to do this. Well, I should say there are many blogs that I read faithfully, but I don't think any of them read mine...

We'll see...

Camping in Cypress Hills!!

Another looong list of posts about our recent camping trip to the Cypress Hills with Ryan's side of the family! I should really save these and only post one a week so I have things to keep updating this with! Apparently there are a number of people I need to keep entertained... ;)

The obligatory photo of the kids in the hammock. You can tell the kids are getting bigger when the hammock sags to the ground when all 4 of them climb in!

This is what we saw a lot of the weekend - blue skies, with big clouds rolling through on and off. These clouds obey traffic signs too. =)


Big clouds mean big beautiful rainbows:

The squirrels were well fed that weekend! Ate an entire bag of cookies overnight and the peanut butter buns the kids left on the table made this guy think he'd died and gone to heaven.

T-Rex Centre!!!

This could quite possibly be Graye's favourite place EVER. The T-Rex Centre, located in Eastend, was built into a hill on the exact location the Tyranosaurus Rex bones were found. This is the largest T-Rex that has been found anywhere on earth, weighing over 1 ton more than the second largest discovery.

The kids getting the "5 year old" tour:


After the tour, they set up a "dinosaur excavation" for the kids. Each kid got a plaster rock in which there was a little dinosaur they had to chisel out. They loved it and seeing them in those goggles was the best part for me!

Hangin' around camp...

They each got a lollipop and immediately all went and sat down by this tree to eat them all on their own. Maybe it's something like the "smoking section" for preschoolers.

*POP*

Tegan blowing bubbles for Kristen and Chris's new Newfoundland puppy, Odin.

Flying kites in huge skies...

**POP**

(Water balloons. Took a ridiculous amount of effort to break... despite how many broke when I was filling them up. =b)

Fishing!

No, we didn't catch any actual fish, though Ella and Maizie seriously put my casting skills to shame! We actually lost a couple "fish" in the process (plastic ones that came with the rods).

West Block

We drove to the West Block of Cypress Hills one day and played on the Conglomerate Cliffs. I think the queasiness in my stomach nearly got the better of me a few times while watching Graye throw rocks over the cliff edge! Still, it's an absolutely amazing place to see...


I love this picture - Ryan thought it looked like the promo shot for a rock band. "Brothers from Other* Mothers" (*except for the ones that are from the same mother)


No, your eyes do not deceive you. That is snow. And yes we camped in a tent... with a 2 and 3 year old. It was freakin' cold at night, but the kids did amazing. I think I was the biggest baby there.

Going on bug collecting expeditions - gear included tweezers, magnifying glass and bug holder with various compartments. All these things also double as bug torture tools when in the hands of 2-4 year olds.


We visited a winery which was really nice - and we had sun! With warmth!!

The kids were most impressed with the hills of rocks.

Graye just started soccer and had his first practice yesterday. I gotta hand it to the coach - trying to corral 8 little kids and teach them even one thing about the actual game is a pretty big task! It was the cutest and funniest thing I've seen in ages! Graye seemed to always be trailing a little behind his teammates, but I think that's just because he was absorbing the fine details. ;) He definitely had enthusiasm though!


I have some good pictures too, unfortunately they don't want to upload on here (anyone know what error 400 is? =b) Ah, well.

Newfoundland!!

I went to St. John's, Newfoundland last weekend for a work conference. It was such a great place, I loved it! Downtown, where we stayed and "worked", was the historic area. All the buildings were different colours and it was all so friendly and cheery (despite a day of snow!) I think all I ate while there was seafood - fish and chips, cod chowder and, of course, lobster! It was sooooo good.


We decided that since we were going all the way there just for a work weekend, we better do something fun as well - so we went on an ocean kayak tour! The weather predicted snow that day, but it ended up being the best day we had there. We were too early to see icebergs, whales, puffins... or anything really! But the scenery and experience was still amazing. I would love to go again a little later in the season and see all the ocean life that moves in.




We paddled into a cave - really cool, but we had to go in backwards and every time a swell came we would go up, then slide back towards the walls - scary!! Although we were reassured that it was perfectly safe, the kayaks were plastic and not going to sink, etc. etc... =)



Not too bad a place to spend at a conference! Next year it's in Toronto - I might not be so inclined to go. =D (Although I could get in some good shopping!!)

Life and other...

Moving ever closer towards those rockstar careers!


A rare moment of sharing caught on film!

I painted my toenails and both kids couldn't keep their hands off of them! They kept saying, "Nice toes mommy. They're niiiice..." Tegan then figured she'd do hers also and went to get a marker out of the drawer to colour them. I told her to wait and I'd do hers too - which then prompted Graye to ask for his to be done as well. At least I found my blue nailpolish! They were both tremendously happy with it, Graye sitting on the kitchen floor and admiring his for some time:

My parents' cat will endure pretty much anything... including excessive love!



Tegan paints exactly like her mom - more paint on her hands, legs, face, etc. than is on the paper: