triplog .001

...and possibly the only entry, you never know.  This is a brief account of what we've done since leaving home with unedited, uncool snapshots.  Not riveting reading but a record of our trip at least!

Day 1

Hammer down from home (6:42am) to Calgary.  We met Mark and Roel for ice cream but mostly I chased Ezra around a mall.  He did great in the car but once he was loose he was wild.  Then I fed him ice cream.  Back on the road, late dinner/night snack in Medicine Hat and a change into jammies.  Shut down for the night in Swift Current.  Slammed my finger in the car door on the way up to the room and bled all over the suitcases, scaring the tar out of the kids that were awake.  I kept my cool most of the day and didn't have to referee a single fight.  The kids travelled fantastically, I was proud.  The stretch between Calgary and Medicine Hat was stunning.  Shiny, icy white fields reflecting the setting sun.  It woke up my prairie spirit and I felt like a younger version of myself (until about 10pm, at which point I felt like a much older version of myself).

Day 2
We took FULL advantage of the "continental" breakfast the Best Western put on.  Waffles included.  Then we went for a swim and hot tub before packing up.  Rolled into Winnipeg at 9pm and stopped by my brother's place to get keys and say a quick hi to the family.  Mom & dad arrived from the Dominican Republic at 1am!

Day 3
We stuck close to home and enjoyed catching up with mom and dad, running basic errands and stocking the fridge.  The kids did not want to leave the house or yard, having had enough of that whole car thing.

                                          Spreading the snow so it melts faster!

                                          baking with grandma

Day 4
I roused the troops early to head out to the country to attend Lisa's bootcamp.  I loved being there and meeting some of the women I know from online.  They let me do a little belly dance warmup so we started with laughs! I even had the luxury of hanging out with that lovely lady and inspirational trainer for a while afterwards too.  Related:  my legs are sore. 

Another sunny afternoon spent on the yard, playing hard in the snow and mud.  Ivy got a "snow booter". The old geezers in the house (myself included) were mystified by the shorts/snow combo as well as the barefoot mud/ice appeal. Well, actually I get it but wasn't brave enough to do it anymore.

Then we were off to see Chad, Crystal & the girls.  They treated us to a huge taco salad feast, we watched Roel on a game show re-run (go Roel!), and factored in some wii dancing.  Ezra got some good quality guy time playing mariokart with Chad and getting chased around. 

     Chad had a really cool artifact to show us from one of his co-workers - a snake skin!

                                                 


Day 5
We started the day slowly with coffee and lounging at home.  We puttered on over to the Forks for a full breakfast (bacon and eggs for $3.99 - they know how to party on the prairies), a bit of shopping and river watching.  The tourist info centre there is like a mini-museum and we wandered around there happily for a while too. 

       Dad was kind enough to give us a lift on his sweet ride, a replica of the first tractor he learned to drive!

There was some serious consternation about the Kids Museum being closed for reno's but luckily we knew that ahead of time.  In the afternoon mom & I headed over to the pottery shop and I ruminated about supplies and bought a few tools.  I'll be heading back there to pick up some clay.  Tonight we watched slides from when I was wee, the kids thought it was pretty cute.  It was crazy to recognize that my parents were younger in those photos than I am now.  These moments really are priceless.

If you've made it to the end of this post you'll see that the spacing is gibbled and will assume that I'm too exhausted to care enough to fix it. You are right. Have to stay awake to put the kids to bed!