Road Trip 2010

After scrambling like crazy to get everything done that we needed to (and I do mean scrambling!) we were able to leave on schedule last Wednesday from Abbotsford. The van and trailer were loaded up and we started off!

I spent quite a bit of the trip sitting in the back between the boys - it was surprisingly comfortable and SO handy when Silas was fussy/hungry/thirsty.

Playing at the park in Revelstoke - a road trip tradition.

(Click here to see a similar shot from last year.)

Silas' meeting with an oreo cookie...

Our first day of driving was the longest and we pulled in quite late to our friends house in Cochrane, AB. We spent the night and the next morning with Craig & Janelle's family of 5 that is pretty much a mirror image of ours (boy, girl, boy - all around the same age as ours).

Micah & Nathan:

Keziah & India:

Unfortunately I didn't manage to get a picture of Silas and his little friend, Jax :(

Our 2nd day of travel was C-O-L-D. Last year southern Alberta was the hot spot on our trip. This time it was as cool as 6 degrees and windy and rainy all day. Erik and I agreed that, with the wind, it felt colder than winter in BC. Brrr. So, because of the nasty weather, our stops that day were very brief. We were almost to the 7 hour point of our day when I realized that we hadn't taken Silas out of his car seat once! And he was so content - I figured we'd better just let him be :)

Apparently we passed through the AB/SK border just hours before the rain washed out that section of the Trans-Canada. Crazy! And we made it to Herbert in time for a late supper at Erik's grandparents' house.

We stayed 2 nights in Herbert and spent part of our "day off" exploring Erik's grandparents' old farmyard near Hodgeville, SK.

The farm house.

Old siding (I thought it looked kinda neat :)

Micah took this one:

Erik was feeling nostalgic:

Water pump in the barn:

One of our "finds". We considered taking it with us but, in the end, decided to leave it.

As we climbed into the van the last morning in Herbert, we got our first taste of the prairie mosquitos. A few of them managed to find their way into our van as we left - causing a panic attack by the older 2 kids. At this point we figured we'd better prepare them for the bugs that would be waiting for us in Manitoba...

All in all, travel went amazingly well! Now that we've got some experience with driving across the country we've come up with a good list of helpful hints for road-tripping with kids:

- be sure to pack lots of snacks, lots of movies, and lots of wet-wipes (having several packages of wet-wipes strategically placed around the van is even better!)

- make the kids try to go to the bathroom EVERY time you stop (even if they say they don't have to)

- if there is a baby/toddler who needs entertaining/feeding along the way, and you have an extra seat in the back... use it!

- and if you have to stay up in the front seat, put kids snacks into little zip-loc bags that can be tossed back to them (I promise, your aim will improve with time and practice!)

Stay tuned for the "Summer in Manitoba" edition of my blog. I hope to blog a little bit more frequently now that we're settled in :)

Summer Plans

Life continues to move at a startling pace. Is it really June already?

Maybe it just hasn't felt like June because it's been raining here for about a month. I'm ready for some summer!

And speaking of summer, it has come to my attention that I neglected to mention the fact that we are spending the entire summer in Manitoba with my family. I was SO sure that I had mentioned it in this post, but apparently I didn't! So, yes - for those of you who don't know - we're leaving next week to spend the rest of June and all of July & August on my parents' farm. Erik is going to be doing some renovations on my parents' cabin as well as some other random jobs (we've been assured that there will not be any lack of work for him!). And the kids and I will enjoy the wide open space of a HUGE yard and a wide open schedule to connect with family and friends.

After last year's trip, we knew we wanted to make another road-trip through the prairies this summer. At Christmas, my parents started talking about us coming for an extended time so Erik could do some work there. And eventually it has evolved into us spending our entire summer there. We thought originally that we might sell our house before the summer so we could avoid mortgage payments on a house that we're not using! But selling just isn't feasible right now (a couple of mortgage payments are way cheaper than those realtor fees!) so we found ourselves wishing we would've planned ahead to find some renters.

But, apparently God can work with last-minute time frames :)

We made a connection last week with a fantastic missionary family who needs a place to rent until sometime in August when they leave on their next term. Um, could it have worked out any more perfectly??

So, now we're trying to tie up all sorts of loose ends here. Plus, we have to make our house "live-able" for another family, which means packing some things away and creating a bit of space in closets and cabinets for their things. It feels good, though, to know that our house won't be sitting empty.

Anyway, besides that, I have pictures to post! It's been much too long...

The days that the sun has happened to peek through those persistent clouds, we have maximized it! Keziah was enjoying her lunch outdoors the other day:

Silas is a professional crawler and I don't believe he aspires to do anything else at this point (i.e. standing up on 2 feet and walking). I've never had a crawler in the summer before and I'm being introduced to the dirty hands and calloused knees that come with this combination.

I'm not sure what elicited this look from Micah, but it is definitely consistent with his personality :)

Fun times with Daddy!

I dressed the boys in matching shirts for the first time a couple of weeks ago :)

We hung a swing in the garage last week for Silas to enjoy (for lack of a better place to hang it!). Swings are his absolute favourite thing these days and he will squeal and screech even if we just drive past the park! It's been great to have a place to stick him when the kids are riding their bikes outside or Erik is working. As you can see, it's also handy for getting baby boys to sleep when nothing else seems to be working...

This is Silas's special blankie. It was a baby gift for Micah several years ago and I brought it out of storage for Silas. It has quickly become his favourite. I bought him a different one in hopes that we could make a transition (since the current one is already thread-bare and see-through!), but I'm afraid the old, thin blanket still holds the key to his heart :)

Captain Destruction

Last night Silas wouldn't go to bed until almost 10. He stood and screamed his head off in his crib every time I tried. So, since he was relatively happy to play by himself, I let him stay up. I was lounging on the couch, watching TV, when I heard rustling tin foil...



"Hey Mom."


"Oh, did I do that?"


And I guess I didn't clean it up fast enough. Next thing I knew there was about 5 metres of plastic wrap unraveled and twisted in such a way that it was totally unusable....

I probably should child-proof my kitchen, but when it provides him with so many hours of quiet play, the clean-up I have to do somehow seems worth it :)

Other Goings Ons

After the wedding we had a few days in Georgia to hang out before we came back home. One of our stops was at the Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta. It was amazing - though if it wasn't for the football-stadium-sized tank with whale sharks and other enormous fish, I would say that it's comparable to the Vancouver aquarium.



Having a little too much fun with our 3D glasses on...

Meanwhile at home, "Granny" (my mom) was keeping busy looking after the kids. Thankfully everyone stayed healthy and safe, and the weather turned beautiful and sunny!

Silas did great and was so used to Granny taking care of him. When we got back he was more than willing to let Granny feed him and put him to sleep. So much nicer than the days when Micah & Keziah were little and wouldn't get warmed up to Granny (or Grandpa) until it was time for them to leave.

I missed Mother's Day with the kids while we were away - including the Mother's Day tea at Micah's preschool. But Granny was able to go in my place and Micah got to bring home a plant for his mom and his grand-mom :)

A few days after we returned, Micah had his very first baseball game. I signed him up for the Kids Interchurch Baseball League - a very low pressure way for kids to have fun and learn a bit about the game. Micah was really nervous about it and needed some convincing, but he did great.

Micah and his friend Max chatting in the outfield.

A clip of his first time up at bat.

Keziah and I spent last Saturday afternoon at a Tinkerbell birthday party. She got to dress up like a fairy for the event and I couldn't help taking lots of pictures :)

Erik & my mom did some work on our little "yard" this past week - putting in new bark mulch and a few plants.

And a little trip to Birchwood Dairy...

Today we dropped my mom off at the airport. It was so great having her here. And the weather was perfect right up until she left - now it's rain, rain, rain for the rest of the week... :(

Chris & Jessica

So many pictures to post, so little time...

I will start with the biggest event of recent days: the wedding of Chris & Jessica. Chris & Erik are cousins and, being only a year apart in age, have been quite close over the years. I actually knew Chris before I knew Erik, since we were freshman together at Bethany Bible School back in the day. It was awesome to get the chance to attend his wedding in Braselton, Georgia (just outside of Atlanta) and it was especially nice to go away without the kids :)

They got married in a beautiful little church in the woods...

Erik's Uncle Gary, Auntie Doreen, and cousins Mark & Chris.

Waiting in line to sign the guest book with Erik's Aunt Sharon & Aunt Shirley.

The many groomsmen waiting for the many bridesmaids to arrive.

I love this video of Chris watching his bride walk down the aisle.

At the golf course, waiting for the reception to begin.

All of the tables were named with locations that have significance for the couple - from Ontario to Nairobi. Our table was aptly named "Vancouver".

We love Jon Hamm.

Brothers.

After some dinner and dancing the couple had the grandest wedding exit we've ever witnessed - a helicopter landed on the green right outside of the reception hall, ready to whisk Chris & Jessica away to their hotel. All the pictures I had of the helicopter departure were much too dark and not worth posting - but definitely a fun moment for us guests!