Vacation over, time to get back into routine!

We are back home safe and sound after a great vacation of visiting family and friends! Quick recap of our last week in Alberta: on Monday we were off to Calgary. We stayed with Terry and Marilyn and I had to chance to visit with some great friends while we were there. It feels a bit more like we were just visiting than it did last time, I guess that feeling will just increase each time we go. On Wednesday, we headed off to a cold and gloomy Canmore. We were supposed to meet my parents there, but they didn't make it out so we had a big (expensive) condo all to ourselves. We had a nice time in spite of the weather and circumstances, and went to the local Aquatics center for a few hours on Thursday (the hot tub at our condo was closed and it was an outdoor pool, so not an option for us!). Oh yeah and Lynsey pulled out a top front tooth on Wednesday, too! It was hanging by a thread and she wouldn't pull it out, so frustrating! We finally told her she had to pull it out because she was going to choke on it at night, so she let Brian do it (with much convincing). Friday we packed up and they let us use the pool after we checked out since the hot tub was up and running again. We killed some time at the Balzac mall on the way through Calgary and then off to the family campout. It was a very nice weekend, the kids had lots of fun and we had a 50th anniversary celebration for my parents on Saturday night. It was a great time of reminiscing!

Our trip home was not an uneventful as I would have liked unfortunately. Sunday we made it to Fernie, and we didn't have any issues on that day. The kids had fun at the pool, slept reasonably well. Monday, we were on pace to be home around dinner time. We were on the I-90, about 240 miles out of Seattle, when it happened. We got a flat tire. Ugh. Luckily it happened in a fairly undramatic way, I was able to pull over safely and it happened to be on a stretch of highway that had a large shoulder and lots of room beside the highway as well (and the flat tire was on the passenger side). As far as flat tires go, it was about as good a situation as you could hope for, aside from it happening right by a roadside turnout. Nathan and Lynsey got out and played in the grass (although Nathan was playing in a culvert and then a State of Washington truck came by and told us that there are rattlesnakes in the culverts, so we promptly got him out, yikes!). There was a Les Schwab tire center about 20 miles ahead in Ritzville, so Brian put on our mini spare tire and off we went to the tire shop. The kids did amazingly well as we were waiting for them to fix our tire - they just ran around the store, Adam didn't even get upset at all! Amazing! So after about a 2 hour delay, we were back on the road with a newly patched tire. Thinking we had the worst of the trouble out of the way, we see a sign saying that the Snoqualmie pass up ahead would be closed at 7pm for "an hour or more". I looked at the clock and it was 6:50 and we were about 40 miles away from it. Great. I looked at Google maps to see if there were any detours we could take, but unfortunately there aren't usually a lot of roads through mountains. There was one road that we could have taken, but it was going to take 2 hours longer so we decided we should just wait it out on the I-90 closure. Our 8:30pm arrival time turned into 9:30. Nathan and Lynsey had fun running on the road, so it wasn't all for nothing:). It was so nice to be home! And all our fish were alive this time, yay!

This week has been about catching up and trying to settle into some kind of routine before school starts again on Tuesday. Lynsey had her meet and greet with her teacher yesterday which was nice, found out her teacher is Mr. Daly and she does know some of the kids in her class. It looks like they just scrambled up the classes. She seems okay with not being in her BFF's class, I told her they would see each other at recess and could still have playdates. Trying to get everyone on a decent bedtime schedule has been a bit of a challenge, but we're getting there! Everyone was asleep/settled by 9:30 last night, so we're getting closer! Nathan has been a bit easier at bedtime lately, letting us actually leave the room so that's encouraging.

All in all, we had a great time back home! Two and a half weeks away at a time is a bit much, but it worked out okay. I'm not sure I would do such a long time away when the kids are this little again, but I don't regret giving it a go:). We were really happy with how Adam especially handled all the transitions that last week - he was a superstar! He had loads of fun at the campout, really the only problem was at group picture time. We were doing the picture at the firepit but lo and behold, no one was making a fire! Very troubling for both him and Nathan actually! So they are the only kids crying on the big family picture, sigh. Oh Kaylene's baby is crying too, but he's a baby!

Back to routine! But first we get a long weekend with no agenda, no plans. Looking forward to just taking it easy! And NO SWIMMING! So done with swimsuits for a while! I'm glad the kids like water and it was a lot of fun, but a few weeks without swimming will be a good thing!

Holiday time! Hangin' in Alberta and coming up on our one year anniversary of leaving!

Lots to catch up on! Let's see - the first weekend in August, Brian's parents were around and on Sunday, Brian and his dad went to Seafair (big air and boat show). This left myself and Frances to do something with the kids, so we took them to Remlinger Farms! What a neat place! Lynsey got the most enjoyment out of it, although I think Nathan wins for enjoying one single ride the most (I think he could have ridden that little train around that oval track all day long!). Adam was a bit difficult, didn't want to do any rides, but he did find an old school bus and did not want to leave it - he just climbed in and out of that thing. Brian's parents were around until we left on Thursday, so they took Lynsey to the Science Center one day, and Brian and I got a date night to the Melting Pot which was kind of fun.

Thursday morning of that week, we were off on our trip to Alberta! We had made Adam this book about all the places we were visiting with pictures of the people and places so that, in theory, he could be more prepared for what was coming next. It didn't work out well for us. That first day, he just wanted to get to the hotel, no stops required for him! Stopping for lunch was not on his agenda! Luckily the first day we only drove to Kamloops and we hung out in the pool when we got there which was nice. Thank goodness Mark was good with taking Nathan down the waterslide, so not my thing! Supper was tricky, the food took long and Adam was stressed and he actually peed in the restaurant:(. In the end, Brian's parents got the food to go and we just ate in the room, which we really should have done in the first place in hindsight. The kids did not want to go to sleep that first night. It was awful - a nightmare that just wouldn't end! Brian's mom stepped in to help around 11 and once the kids got some separation, it wasn't long before they were all asleep. The next day traveling was a long one. The lunch stop again was so tough - Adam wanted nothing to do with getting out of the van. The best stretch was when Brian's dad drove from Golden to Calgary - there was a point in time where all three kids were asleep! Glorious! In Calgary, we moved the boys to Mark and Frances' car so they could go to Edmonton, and off Lynsey and I went to Three Hills for Sean's wedding. Right when we got there, we learned that my dad had his defibrillator go off, so he was in Emergency in the Three Hills hospital. He ended up being transferred to Red Deer the next morning so they could figure out what was going on, so unfortunately my parents ended up missing the wedding. As far as I know, the device malfunctioned and they sorted everything out in Edmonton this week, so hopefully this won't happen again! The wedding was really nice, it's so cool to see my nieces and nephews so grown up and getting married! And Lynsey was with a babysitter at my sister Mary's place for the reception, so I felt very relaxed and free:). It was really great to catch up with some family!

Sunday we made our way to Red Deer and stopped in to visit my dad for a bit, then off to Edmonton. The boys had done really well so that was good. We just hung out in Edmonton all week, very relaxing! I worked on a 2000 piece puzzle with Frances (which we unfortunately had to abandon half way through because Nathan had pulled it off the board for the third time, turkey!) and on a digital scrapbooking project, and I ran on the treadmill three times which was apparently very necessary because I did not do too well! Apparently not really exercising for a few weeks doesn't do wonders for your fitness. We also went to Westlock on Tuesday to visit with my friend Ruthy, but other than that, we didn't do too much! Thursday night, Steve and Andrea came, and Friday morning Mike and Annie came, and then I was off to the airport to pick up Brian! So great to have him back! Lynsey was especially happy to see him, she has had a bit of a rough last few days. Very easily ticked off and snappy, I almost feel like I have a teenager around! She is currently at the World Waterpark with Brian (and Mike and Annie and Steve and Andrea) so hopefully some Daddy time will soften her up a bit! Nathan was a bit funny last night, he wouldn't let Brian comfort him, only Mom. I guess he felt a bit abandoned, hopefully that passes soon.

All in all, we've had a great time back in Alberta so far! It's a bit strange to be back here as we approach our one year anniversary on leaving, all still a bit surreal. I like being back but I am at peace about going back to our life out there when this is all over (especially when I start scratching my many mosquito bites, grrr). Monday we head to Calgary for a few days, then to Canmore for a few days, then to Sylvan Lake for my family's campout. Still lots of adventures left! Hoping Adam copes well, the trip wasn't good but he has done pretty well here at Grandma and Grandpa's house. They rented a portable hot tub which the kids have loved and spent quite a bit of time in. Hoping that he doesn't crash next week with all the changes! Pray for us!

The beginning of the end of naps . . . :(

We've had some visitors since my last post. On Saturday, we met up with Mark and Katie (friends from Calgary). We went to the zoo in the morning and in the afternoon, their kids came over for a while so Mark and Katie could have a date to celebrate their anniversary. Lynsey was thrilled to get to hang out with Alyssa again! Brian's parents came in on Friday and left on Monday, but they will be back again this Friday - Adam is already asking for Grandma and Grandpa to come back! We had some family pictures done on Sunday and it actually went really well! I was a bit disappointed with the photographer, he wasn't very creative and he didn't try very many poses, but what can you do, it was a groupon! The ones he did get actually turned out much better than expected, especially the ones he got of the boys.

Something else exciting that happened last week is that we finally got our long awaited bunk beds! It's so nice that Adam finally has a bed! We moved Lynsey's bed into Nathan's room, and I just ordered a twin mattress for Nathan so he can sleep on Lynsey's bed for now. It is so crowded in there with his toddler bed and that big bed, it just makes sense to transition him to a twin bed now and get rid of the toddler bed. Sleep hasn't been Nathan's favorite thing lately - he went from having two to three hour naps to having just one nap this week! What?! This seems so sudden, he just doesn't want to nap anymore - and when he does nap, you can bet he'll be up until 10! I'm hoping this isn't the permanent end and we do get more napping from him yet. It is kind of nice that he seems to be at a place where at least if we NEED him to skip a nap, it should be possible, but we'll see - you know he'll be too tired to make it on the day you need him to. Isn't that the law of nature? He is growing up in so many ways, just wish it wasn't in this department haha! He answers questions more consistently now, speaks in much more full sentences, such an interesting little guy!

Adam had a bit of a setback when I took him for a haircut last week - he freaked out just like he used to. I am hoping it's just a one off, but it was a bit discouraging to be sure. He's had a bit of a hard time at school, too, often getting upset for the last hour or so of school. I hope that a nice long break will be good for everyone. He gets to spend over a week at Grandma and Grandpa's house coming up at the end of next week, and I think he will enjoy that.

Lynsey has learned how to make her own ponytails, so you can bet that there are all kinds of ponytail concoctions in her hair on a daily basis! It was unfortunate timing with our family pictures, but I agreed to let her have one ponytail in the front of her hair - it's not like I've ever been super picky about hair and clothes on family pictures before, maybe one day I will be! Oh and she passed her swimming lessons, hurray! We won't do another set until next summer, but at least we know she can move on to level 2.

It has been very hot here for a long time, with a short break of a few days last week, and I am sort of wishing for just some low 20's partly sunny weather already! At least we have found ways to cool the house off so it's not so bad anymore. I know, I know, winter is coming, but winter isn't so bad here so I'm not dreading it that much. We have gone to some beaches and taken advantage of the nice weather here and there, but outings are so much work that I just can't do them every day. At least our back yard has lots of shade in the evenings!