Science Experiment

Macie and Wade were needing some special time to have with mommy so mom thought that it would be a good idea to do a science experiment with the classic vinegar and banking soda with the addition of some food colour for effects.

Macie learned that if you combine certain chemicals they react- in this case they erupt like a volcano.


Wade learned that it was like a volcano exploding and it was fun.

Wade's Spirit Excellence Award

Each month, Holy Cross gives one special student  an award that was recommended by the teach. This month Wade received the award because of he was kind to his class mates band because he helps others around him. We are so proud of Wade because he chooses to help others instead of being selfish. Keep up the good work Wade. Always remember, that you will find more happiness in helping others that you will is satisfying your own wants..

Kalinda's Birthday

What do you get the girl who has everything....? ok not everything but lots of things.... answer: A night out.  But that requires a baby sitter.    Ahh Check.. got that figured out. Lydia Burgess, she can drive. and she brought a huge bag of garden items.
What can be done in Cold Lake on a week night/ school night.. Ahh

Lets try an escape room. And dinner. 

Kalinda is so keen on using her new bike that we had to bike around for the evening. 

Stop 1: Dinner at OJs. Ok this means sweet potato fries and dill dip no question, followed by 3 or 4 other appetizers... all of which were delicious.

Stop 2: Off to the escape room... Our friends the Ellis showed up to help add fun to the night. The owner, who opened up shop for us, because he had nothing else going, on was super awesome and he showed us all 4 rooms and  gave us the chance to choose. We had to choose "Violet's Room"

Violet and her family disappeared decades ago from their home, and the mystery continues to haunt the town. How did they vanish without a trace that fateful night and who or WHAT was responsible? Many feel the answer lies right here in Violets room, but it was locked for fear it will curse any who enter. Visitors flock from far and wide to attempt to unveil the mystery, to lift the curse of Violets room once and for all.

It was so well done up with very creepy props and trap doors, latch's, hidden doors, black light effects.  it was awesome. We had a blast, but we needed some hints to help us get going.  There were some very tricky items to figure out. Good exercise for the brain. Cant wait to go again.

A SPECIAL VISIT

All Summer long Macie and Wade have been collecting cards from the Peace Officers here in the town of Cold Lake. There was a total of 6 that we needed to find. Anytime we saw a Peace Officer the kids would run up and ask them for there card. A couple times we lucked out and got 2 at the same time. One of the Officers was even nice enough to come to our house after we had helped him move a heavy rock that was stuck on the road. He didn't have any of his cards with him and so he drove to our house later that night to bring us his card and some fun colouring books. It was such a fun part of our summer and finally last week we got our 6th and last card. The Officers ended up surprising Macie and Wade buy coming to there school and pulling Macie out of class and giving them a certificate and a stuffed animal and a cool touque. It was so sweet and our kids absolutely loved it. We are so impressed with the Peace Officers here in Cold Lake, they are always finding a way to make our community a better and safer place. 

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL!!!

Summer is over and it is time for back to School. Macie was not scared but sad to not be at home with Mom and Dad all day. She put on a brave face though and had a very successful first day of school, even had a special visit which I will talk about in my next post. Wade was worried all summer long but last night something changed and he was so excited this morning to go to school. He went inside with no hesitations and came out grinning from ear to ear and the end of his first day. Macie's teacher Mme Sarah seams awesome and we already know Wade's teacher Mme Valerie is superb. So excited for these two and all the knew things they are going to learn this year.

SOMEONE'S WALKING

Well she took a little longer then our other two, but she has been wanting to do it forever. Finally last Wednesday night me and the kiddos were hanging out in the family room and she just started doing it. She had been walking for quit a long time but she always needed to hold our hand or use her walker. So when she finally started doing it on her own she was a maniac. She was practically running. For almost over an hour that first night she went back and forth between  Me and the piano bench just laughing and smiling and feeling so proud of herself. Since figuring out this whole walking thing it is all she wants to do now. She is pretty darn cute when she does it and still so proud of herself.

Summer Camping In Devon

We had big dream of a large family vacation to California, but we didn't save enough money, so we decided to change the destination to a little closer location. So we chose South Dakota, well our time line was such that we would be right in the middle of Sturgis bike rally, the biggest bike rally north of the Mississippi, so we changed again to go to Kelowna. Well, Kalinda ended up getting ankle surgery in July, and we knew that she would be in a lot of pain and would miss out on too much so we changed it to camping along the river in Devon AB. That is quite the change, I know.... 

     Our journey commenced Monday August 13 with a truck and trailer full of stuff. Our first stop was Glendon at the perogy park where there is a tram that the kids love to ride. Even Kansas took a ride. Mommy was denied any such pleasure. 

     Our next stop was the Ukrainian Village heritage site.  We did the quick tour and found out life in Alberta in the early 1900s. We saw the grain elevator, the police station, the train station, a gas station, a blacksmith and a school house. The kids got to take a ride on a horse drawn buggy for the large tour of all the different homesteads. We ended with some Ukrainian food. It was worth the stop. 

      We made it to our campsite in the Lions Park Campground in Devon just in time to set up and do some small scale exploring of the camp grounds. Luckily the park was right next to our camper, but the bathroom was not (poor mom). 

      Tuesday, we tried the bike trails around the park, which were a bit too hilly for our kids so we just biked around the camp ground. In the afternoon we rented tubes and Macie, Wade and Daddy floated down the river for an hour. That was a blast. Our tubes got tethered together so no one would get separated. Daddy's tube did not have a bottom in it so his bottom got wet, which the kids loved.  Thanks to Wade for carrying Daddy's sandals on your tube and keeping them nice and dry. After the tube trip, we found a beach area to play in the water for a bit. We forgot Kansas' bathing suit so she wore the only suit she had, her birthday suit.. :(  We got back to camp around 530 and ate a tinfoil dinner after which the kids played at the park till it was too dark to think so they wondered back to our site.

       Wednesday, we went to the city and checked out Telus World of Science the dinosaur exhibit.

we also watched the panda bear IMAX movie. The kids loved the whole thing, the movie, the exhibit, the hands on science exhibits, and the space area.  I caught both kids touching copperlite. ;) 

      After that we tried our luck at West Edmonton Mall. Poor Mom hiked a few Kms up and down that mall, even with the wheel chair we borrowed. We took a photo of big foot, a hockey player, a beautiful princess with her horse, and some creepy dude trying to be a cowboy. 

     Before bed time we tried our luck fishing on the river. It was hard to find a good spot, so we just got some practice in, no fish. We did catch a Macie, some salid, a few sticks and some branches.

      Thursday was pack up and head home, it was a short trip but we had lots of fun. Always glad we do things like this even though they seem overwhelming, its always so worth it.

  

SOMEONE IS ONE!!!

Crazy this day has come and gone. How is our baby already one year's old. It's been on crazy amazing year with this girl and we have just loved having this little girl in our life and home.

Kansas so far

-Like all my kids is a champion sleeper. Goes to bed between 7 and 8PM and wakes up every morning between 7 and 8 AM.

- She is one good eater and eats pretty much anything we give her. She especially loves Cheese, Yogurt drinks, Sweet Potatoes, Butternut Squash, Puffs, and all kinds of fruit.

- She is a crawling machine and loves walking all over the house as long as she has someone to hold her hand or her walker. It won't be long before she is walking by herself.

- She loves playing with any kind of toys and especially loves Balls, and toys that make noise. We just recently brought up Macie's Kitchen and her new favourite thing to do is go and play with the kitchen, opening and closing the doors and picking up the pots and pans.

- She is so in love with all of her Family, but has a special love for her Daddy. Daddy is pretty smitten with her as well. 

- Her health has been pretty good so far, the Ptosis in her eye does not happen as much as it use to, but we are still waiting to see a Neurologist to discuss the possibility of her having Myasthenia Gravis. 

- She is still such a tiny little bug and weighs around 18 lbs with not a lot of fat rolls. 

- She definitely can be stubborn though when she wants something, and likes to be difficult when trying to comfort her, she hates being cuddled and you have to just put her down and walk away and let her sooth or calm herself down. She also hates teething and can get pretty miserable when a tooth is coming in, and of course with being a little stubborn she won't ever take the chew toys we give her to help, she has to find some random thing around the house to chew on that is not good for her to be putting in her mouth. 

- She loves sucking her thumb and the minute you lay her down in her bed she grabs one of her favourite blankets and puts her thumb in her mouth and rubs her blanket with her hands. It is so stinking adorable, and even though it is probably not the best thing for her teeth, she is so cute when she does it. 

- A couple months ago she learned to wave, give high fives, and clap her hands.

- Her Laugh, Smile, Giggle are so ridiculously cute, they just brighten your day. 

- What else to say, she is one pretty awesome kid and we all just Love her so much. So excited to start to see her next milestones. Walking, Talking, Playing more with toys. 

We celebrated her Birthday today with some yummy supper, then some Chocolate Cupcakes Dad made with Ice Cream. She loved the cupcake and almost devoured the whole thing. Then she did a fabulous job unwrapping a couple presents we got for her. We kept it pretty low key as we already have some many toys from Macie and Wade. Just a couple fun shaped balls and a little toy that plays music. She seemed pretty happy with it all. 

JUST LIKE DAD

I came outside from just having put Kansas down for a nap and saw this adorable guy trying to be just like his Dad. It was so stinking cute, I hope he watches his Dad lots and tries hard to be like him always. His Dad is one pretty amazing guy and if Wade can turn out to be just like him, I'd be a pretty Happy Mom!

20 KM's

Last year we challenged this girl to do a 20 KM bike ride (to Kinisoo Beach and back) She didn't quit have the endurance yet but did do a 14 KM bike ride, still impressive for a 5 year old. This year we challenged her again to try and bike to the Beach and back with us, and she did it. Barely even phased her actually. She rocked it and probably could have gone farther. This little girls endurance is incredible. She is now so confident and strong on her bike it is so awesome going for bike rides and not having to worry if she is going to be able to handle it.  We are looking forward for many long family bike rides in the future.