Adventures in Calgary

Molly started Kindergarten at Varsity Acres School in Calgary. It is a French Immersion school. Her first day was a bit overwhelming at first. She was clinging to our hands more than I've ever experienced before but I could tell she was also very excited. Her teacher is M. Nicole Duteau. We all did a quick tour of the school and then she was gone...just like that. No muss, no fuss. She's loving it so far. And we're loving her teacher. All in all we couldn't ask for a better experience.

We had a great birthday party for Jake. Dinosaurs were the theme. I decorated the backyard with balloons. We borrowed a ball pit from Brit for the kids to play in. I made Jake's favourite cake - carrot cake - and decorated it with dinosaurs. Jacob, Elias and Walker came to play with Jake. Leah and Solaiya came to play with Molly. The kids all played well. Jake loved everyone singing for him. On his real birthday we let him eat more cake for breakfast. YUM! I still can't believe he's two already! I have so much love for Jake.

Molly's friend Max moved to Vancouver. On his last day in Calgary we took him to Callaway Park so that he and Molly could have one last great day playing together. We're very sad that Max isn't just down the street anymore but we're looking forward to having him as a pen pal!

This summer we took the kids to Ontario. Originally we were just supposed to go and see my parents for 5 days (because Molly is 5 years old) but then Noel's grandma Mary died so we ended up extending our holiday by 5 more days and doing a tour of eastern Ontario. We landed in Toronto - Air Canada lost one of our bags. Drove to Buck Lake for dinner with Aunt Barb and Uncle Norm. Drove to Ottawa to try to get our bags. Bags never showed. Went to the funeral. Had a great day playing with the cousins. Finally got our bag hours after we needed it. Drove back to Buck Lake where Molly had an amazing visit with Ella and got to swim in the lake. And then drove to Hamilton for a relaxing and fun visit with Grandma Cookie and Grandpa Jim. The kids travelled really well and enjoyed every minute of seeing family. This trip gives me hope for travelling more as a family. But we have no pictures to show for it. Or at least I don't. This is the only one I have. Poor little guy!

Noel and Molly decided to give camping a try in the back yard. I wasn't ready to have Jake sleep outside yet. Maybe next summer. The night started well but then some neighbours were having a deck party and the noise drove them inside. Molly's favourite part of camping? Singing by the campfire and eating marshmallows.

This was a big stampede year for us. Molly and I went to the park 3 times! We saw Splash'n Boots 5 or 6 different times. We saw Barney, The Ponies, Wags and Dorothy and the Ice Show. We ate mini donuts, wiggle chips and waffles on a stick. Jake loved the agriculture barns. He ran from stall to stall yelling about the animals. I do love going to Stampede with the kids!

Molly's first ballet recital went really well. But man oh man was it LONG!!!!! Grandma Nancy, Grandpa Andrew and Jessie all made it out to watch the show. Molly was on stage for about 30 seconds of the 3 hour show. She loved being on stage. And loved wearing all that makeup. My nightmare!!

Because Molly was an amazing big sister for Jake right from the day he was born and because she was so patient with me breastfeeding and generally just paying a lot of attention to Jake I decided to take her on a special Mom and Molly trip to Vancouver to see Nancy and Scarlett (and Magnus and Roth too). What an amazing weekend we had. The weather was spectacular. Nancy's work had a float in a parade that we got to ride on. The kids got along so incredibly well. Molly got to go to the aquarium and got to put her feet in the ocean. I got a great visit with amazing friends. It was just what we both needed. I just wish we could afford to do it more often.