Hot times!

Well, it's been a hot week around here resulting in much time spent in the pool and airconditioning at my Mom and Dad's :) They also have visitors from Holland with 3 cute kids, so it's also extra-entertaining for Chelsie. She quite loves swimming though, and needs no encouragement to find her swimsuit. She's brought it to me several mornings already - "wimming? Chelsie wimming?" is her hopeful question! Our temperatures have been breaking 120-year records (that's when they started recording!) so we've enjoyed the 'wimming a lot! Chelsie's getting a bit too brave - she'll step right in if you're not watching, or she'll turn around and slide in off the edge as if she were going down stairs! She loves nothing more than getting her face int he water. I'm glad she's not scared, but we always have to have 2 eyes on her!

Besides swimming, we've been picking up the visitors from the airport, shopping to the outlet stores in the US - great deals for the Gap and Tommy clothes if you're from Holland, helping the O family move, and working on some creative projects...The canvas idea was from Treasury of Memories...and the sewing has been fun :) I saw a purse I wanted to try to imitate and ended up with a completely different one, but I'm happy with it! A couple of pictures below...
While I worked on these, Chelsie was busy reading to her dolly. She's a true girl - she'll carry her purse and dolly around the entire day and enjoy every minute of dressing her baby, and taking care of her. I love it :)
Who can resist those beautiful baby blues?!
Tonight we have visitors for a BBQ, so I'd better get going on that! Enjoy your weekend!

Adventures - hiking and cleaning

Ever gone hiking where you end up on the wrong trail? That was Melissa and me on Tuesday morning - it turned out to be quite the adventure! We were going to hike Mount Thom together as Chelsie had gone for a 'much needed sleepover' at Nana's (my mom's words, not mine!). So we left here at 8 and headed up to the mountain. We hiked the upper loop in no time at all, and thoroughly enjoyed the view of Promontory, some of the valley, and Cultus Lake...
"There's my Mom and Dad's house!"
then we decided to do the lower loop too. Well, we got on the wrong trail and got on a trail with lots of ups and downs that ended up on Promontory. Meanwhile, the Envoy was sitting up at the start of Mount Thom! We called Melissa's Dad, he picked us up, and we stopped at their house for a cold drink before driving back to our vehicle. Needless to say, next time we'll drive 2 cars just in case it were to happen again! We both had a good laugh and enjoyed the beauty of the hike and the time together.

A couple of shots of Tuesday afternoon ...Chelsie enjoying this book with Nana. She can fill in the blanks...Someone special is at the door - who could it be? It's Nana! What does Nana have in her suitcase? Teddy! What is Nana taking out of the oven? Cookies! Yum, yum, yum, yum! That part's pretty cute :)

Jodene and I tackled a major project on her summer work list - the rec room closet. During the cleaning...

Afterwards.

Sorry - no pictures of the before mess! I had it emptied before I thought of it.
Enjoy this sunny day!

Last week...

Thursday evening, the O family joined us for the first corn-on-the cob of the year and the kids played together in the pool for a couple of hours before... 4 out of 5 got a bath before the whole family headed home :) Can anyone tell who's related?!Saturday saw Melissa and I heading to Hicks Lake to try out the trail there and find out if it was 'stroller friendly.' It wasn't always friendly, but it was a great workout and we'll definitely do it again. Chelsie enjoyed looking ahead for the next bridge and seeing the lake through the trees. It took us just over an hour, and we decided that next time a swim will be in order before returning home. We browsed the Harrison Arts Festival and enjoyed a yummy ice cream before checking out the building at the Beeke's and heading home.
Notice the trail going uphill behind Meliss...a little extra effort required with a stroller!

Tonight - a fun card class with Deanna at Clipper STreet :) I'm QUITE looking forward to it! Chelsie gets a sleepover at Nana's house at Nana's request. She came to me this morning carrying her swimsuit - "wim? wim? Chelsie? wim?" Thinks she's a fan of 'wimming'?! She wasn't impressed when I told her that she could swim with Auntie Jodene later.

Noodle fun

Ah the joys of spaghetti!

'All done Mama', as she holds out her bowl :)

Who can't love this face?!

A few more...

Still a few more pictures from our time in Alberta...
Staying at Jason and Sherilyn's...I think Jordie was ready to adopt Brian - they played hockey together for quite awhile!
Notice where she's sitting...behind the seat :)
Peek-a-boo!
The afternoon between the ceremony and reception...
concert by request

We walked to Ray and Ria's - it was hot!Curtis' friend Evelyn

Sunday afternoon time with the family and visitors...
These are Oma's 3 great grand-children...this was the best picture we got - Chelsie walked away almost immediately, and Hailey was off crawling leaving poor Tyson alone!
Isn't he cute?!
Brendan really wanted to hold Chels, but she wasn't going for it...he did get his legs hugged when this calf stretched a little far out of his pen!
The ever popular dog :)

We got to meet both Tyson and Hailey for the first time :)

Love you, Grampa!
Driving home - thankful to have Uncle 'Dondal' along to read books and keep Chelsie somewhat happy...notice the big tear in the corner of her eye.

And a nice peaceful time :)My turn to drive...more sleep for these two.

Creative moments...

I'm so excited! I have 2 more layouts to finish before our road trip is done and I'm on to China :):):) This one was fun to complete! I did change the caption just now by adding...and a few bird species to add to our birding list. Enjoy.

PS. I also finished a project for in our house today...pictures coming once I've hung it - it turned out great, too! Hooray for creative days!

Fort Steele

Fort Steele is a great place to visit. The buildings and scenery were neat, but it was the actors in the village which MADE it amazing. I think they must have been theater students on summer break or something - they were good!
Entering Fort Steele...

Meeting the horses - enjoyed by Chelsie and Donal alike.I watched the gold panning for awhile - this man gave 'free' lessons if you bought a bag of pay dirt...this guy had some gold in his pan, but it took awhile to wash the dirt away!
Relaxing in the sun
Meeting the Jersey cow - the few animals were Chelsie's favorite part, of course
Shortly into our visit, Curtis was arrested by the constable...for what, you ask? Indecent exposure - his knees were showing!

In jail for his crime! It was a short-lived penalty :)
The guy sitting beside the constable gave us many laughs. He was the town bum/drunk and kept us highly entertained by running from the constable, breaking out of jail (with my dad's help!), and inputting his valuable opinion into every situation. Here the constable was trying to catch him, but he said it was 'too hot' to run.

A couple who had a part in most scenesThis girl had just arrived in town and was looking for her brother. She sang us a song hoping to earn a penny...Dad put a little extra pressure on her by standing where he was.

This girl was one of the girls from a nearby town...can you tell from her dress what role she played?! Her ankles are even showing!This was the owner of the saloon who sold Benjamin her little bottle of liquor in broad daylight...

As this proper lady whisked her children by...Sadly for Benjamin and the saloon keeper, the constable was watching and they were both arrested...
A courtcase was held. Curtis (once again) was found guilty of stealing potatoes and he had to work 50 hours of community service to pay for this new crime.
Benjamin Pugh was set to be sent out of town on the stage when his sister came to his rescue. She was quite delighted to have found him and assured the constable that her mother had not raised him to act like this. It was a happy ending as they rushed off to see their mother together.

And a smile to finish...Chelsie enjoying the side bin of an old tractor.