How can it be a month already

I know how a month can go by so fast - we've been SO busy! I have LOADS of pics on the camera, hoping to get them up here Monday!

What has the past month brought? I was gone to Pennsylvania Aug 8 - 12, so the boys had fun everyday with Chantelle (our neighbours daughter who babysat for us). There was no problems that I heard about, and both kids liked to eat crackers all day! aiaiai

Then home for a week - Landon went to daycamp again, and this time there were no illnesses contracted which was great. He sure enjoyed himself, and didn't complain too much when I dropped him off. I have to admit, those afternoons with Landon at camp and Arlan napping were dreamy!

Aug 20 we flew to Toronto - stayed a week and came home Aug 28. Liz & Rob kept the boys while John and I traveled on to Montreal for a wedding (which was actually 1.5 hours north of Montreal). The wedding was a LOT of fun, and it was so great to get out and see John's friends without the kidlets.
Then back to TO for the week. We had a lot of fun - swimming several times, we drove to Niagara Falls one day, we went to the Canadian National Exhibition and the kids went on rides ALL day -- so much FUN! It really was a great week. (except when Landon got bit by a yellowjacket ... that wasn't fun for him, right under his nose poor kid!)

Then home again to all the stuff I hadn't been getting to this past month, and here we are Sept long weekend already! It's been an incredible summer - so many great memories and visits! But I'm glad to stay home for a couple of weeks as well :-)

Watch for some pics to come...

PS - John took Landon's training wheels off of his bike today, and he zooms along the back path like nobody's business! How did he get so big??

PPS - And Arlan climbs out of his crib like a pro too ... started the week before Toronto. He actually dive-bombs out of it into the lazy-boy recliner sitting beside the crib. This morning I woke up to patting on my head "Mommy, I up now!" at 6:50 am :-/ Big boy bed coming right up ...

Weekend photos

GOLF! Oh how I love to golf!
Here's a shot of my incredible form on follow-thru - HA! My score would not reflect that statement. Although I did have my first ever "pitch-in" from about 50 yards out :-D
John and I had to take a picture to commemorate, it's so seldom we get to golf together. In fact, only when Uncle Neville and Aunt Mary come it seems...













When we got back from golfing, we "discovered" Aunt Mary buying treats for Landon and Arlan from the ice cream truck. I guess Landon heard the truck and said "there's the ice cream truck." I don't think he realized you can BUY ice cream from it (until now!), because when Aunt Mary said "Yes! Let's go get you some ice cream!", he looked at her like she was nuts. He did not look at her that way after getting a treat - that's for sure! Lucky kid...
To top it off, Landon was looking ultra stylish in John's shirt and his rubber boots ... nice.

Pics of us together. Uncle Neville and the boys had SO much FUN! Like Arlan's underwear? He asked for undies, so we put them on over his diaper! Silly kid. He also has one of Landon's runners on, and one of his sandals (on the wrong foot). He's quite the character.

On Sunday we had a BBQ as some friends from John's high school were in town (Doug and Melissa on the right). So it was a mini-reunion with them and Brian & Patricia (who live in Calgary and John reconnected with when we moved here, after 15 years or so....). It was a fun house, with 6 kids and 6 adults (the kids were all older than our two, ranging from 10 - 14, so they entertained Landon and Arlan nicely). It was such a fun day - in fact an incredible weekend that will live in my memory for a long time just because it was so great!

Gettin' Ready...

We are getting ready to head out tomorrow for the long weekend. I just checked the forecast - 20 all weekend. So not super hot, which will likely be a blessing! I'm sure the boys will still have a blast at the beach :-) I'm not looking forward to packing - which will be all that I do tomorrow morning since I haven't even started yet.

We had a great day today though. I met a great gal at Coffee n Scream for a visit while the boys played. Then we met Mike & Kathleen (I used to work with Mike) and their kids at the zoo. It had been much longer than I realized since we were last at the zoo. Arlan was already sleepy when we got there, so he just hung out in the stroller. Landon whined because he was tired from Coffee N Scream and wanted to ride too (and I brought only the umbrella stroller!). But it all worked out, we wandered about, had some lunch, played, and then came home.

On the way home, I managed to catch the 'ground-breaking' for the new Coventry Hills Middle School - slated to open Sept 2012. This will be the school the boys attend for Grades 5 - 8. I hadn't been at one of these ceremonies before, so that was kind of neat.

Then we came home. Arlan had a good nap while Landon and I washed off the driveway and side of the house, and watered the flowers. I hooked up the new sprinkler I bought for the boys, which broke within 3 seconds (cheap Superstore junk!). Then Landon had a fit when Arlan woke up and was sent to his room where he promptly crashed. So he's still awake, of course! His schedule's definitely off-kilter for the past 10 days or so ... won't likely improve while we're gone. Maybe not all summer since he doesn't have to get up for preschool until Sept! Maybe I'll have to break down and be waking him up in the mornings ... he's been sleeping later and later ... he's so much like his mother!

Anyway, that's the news from here. Tomorrow will be rushing around and packing - we'll hopefully be on the road by 2. See you next month :-) Until next time...

Pics from Swifty

My cousin, Mark, and I when I was in Swifty in early May. This is at the Big I, of course!!

Landon, Ryder and Arlan. Amazing that I captured all three of them sitting at the same time. Yup - they're watching tv - the only thing that could slow them down!

We had a visit with Great Grandpa in Swifty as well. This is about as good as I could get these two munchkins to sit with Great Grandpa!! Stinkers...

Success - and Landon's FOUR

Landon's birthday party (and the entire weekend) was very successful! We had a great party - with no meltdowns or fights or anything (phew!). Landon had a blast with friends here and presents. He definitely has the idea of presents now - it's all he wanted to do was to open presents! LOL His favourite was his new two-wheeler (with training wheels), which he took to immediately. He can even leave "blackies" when he stops! I can hardly wait for warmer weather, he'll be riding his bike all the time I'm sure.
Present fave #2 was his first HotWheels set -- some monster truck slammin' jammin' fire shootin' thing a ma hooey. He plays with it non-stop.
We've also started a "chores" list for Landon. He gets stamps when he does his chores, and when he gets enough stamps he can have money and can buy what he wants (which fluctuates between more monster trucks, Frosters from Mac's - which he refers to as treats - and today he was going to buy a movie). He's quite proud when he gets to put stamps on the chart, as I haven't let him use my stamps before. And the chart is up high, we have to help him up there, so it's a big deal.

Arlan loved the weekend too. Grandma and Grandpa were here. He kept pointing to Grandpa and saying "Look! Grandpaaaaa!" with big grin on his face. He is talking more and more, now it's just to figure out what he's saying. "rhoni" means macaroni, got that one figured out tonight. He loved the toys and people and everything on the weekend as well. He didn't even make it through the party - he went to nap right after lunch and missed the present opening and everything! lol Last night both boys were snoozing early - Arlan didn't even want to hear all of his "tory".
Arlan LOVES stories at bedtime. All you have to do is mention story-time and he's burning up the stairs. I didn't know where he went the other night, I went upstairs and there's Arlan laying in the middle of Landon's bed, looking at me with bright eyes, "Tory!" Too funny! Landon quite tolerant of Arlan sharing story-time with him, thankfully. Although the past 2 nights he's taken to reading his own stories in mom's bed ... Dad changed that one up tonight though. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I have the camera and all the wonderful pictures sitting here. I have to upload and go through them and hope to be able to do that tomorrow night. The kids are much less tolerant of mommy on the computer these days - I really don't get much chance at all before they're in bed. And I certainly don't get blocks of time to get anything major, like pictures, accomplished throughout the day. So hopefully tomorrow evening...

Oh yeah - and Landon had his 4-year check up on Monday morning. He's just a smidgen under 40 pounds, and is 40.5" tall. 75th percentile for both height and weight, as he's always been. Everything else is great. He was a big boy too. I asked him to sit nicely beside mommy and show Arlan how a good boy waits patiently for the doctor. And he did it! For only about 45 seconds, but he did it!! lol Now to get that patience stretched out a bit further...

until next time...

Party Time!

Landon and Arlan had so much fun yesterday! We hosted a 'block' Christmas get-together with the other parents (aka other adults yearning for adult interaction!). So Landon got to play with Caitlin and Katelyn, Braden, Camryn, and the twins Dera and Evan, and his future wife Lexi (she's 8 months old, but Landon loves her. Well, he loves Lexi's older sister Camryn too, so there could be trouble there...*sigh*). Arlan thought it was pretty fun too - especially as Landon let him come into his bedroom to play along with all the kids (Arlan's eyes light right up every time he catches a glimpse of Landon's bedroom ... all those trains and tracks!).
We had a nice time too - it was pot-luck eat-all-you-can! So much food - but made it nice and relaxing for everyone. Hopefully we'll do more block get-togethers coming up ... we've been talking that we should just alternate hosts and do it monthly (wishful thinking - every 3 months would be more likely!!). But it was definitely nice, and all of the kids played SO WELL together it was awesome!

So now we're into the final stretch leading up to Xmas. We'll be assembling gifts and wrapping and packing for SK this week. Landon's so excited for Santa it's almost ridiculous. Arlan has no clue what's coming, but I'm sure he'll love the excitement of it all. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone and visiting :-) Plus spending the time at Grandma and Grandpa's new house will be exciting!!

No preschool this week, not until Jan 12 :-/ How will Landon survive? He's loving it - making crafts (my first homemade Xmas ornament ... popsicle stick Rudolph :-D). Plus we've got Landon in skating lessons in January (new skates for Xmas from mom & dad), and Arlan in swim lessons (on one of the days Landon's in preschool, works out nicely). I really enjoy having that time one-on-one with Arlan, since I've never really had it up until now (except the day camp days in the summer, which Landon keeps asking to go to even now!).

Ok, so I'm a teensy bit excited for Christmas too. It is my favourite time of year! Until next time...

RIP Grandma Martha -- we miss you and I sure wish the boys could meet you! I know you're enjoying them from wherever you watch over us from.

All right already, I'll post!

We haven't been doing too much, or maybe it's just been so much that time is flying by and I'm not posting often enough (as I'm being reminded).

Hmmmm, let's see. Arlan has some new words. He says "Dank Youuuuuu" when he hands us something, or when we give him something. He always says "miiiiiine!" a LOT. And his fave new thing is to squeal VERY loudly when he wants something Landon won't let him have, then he cries like the world is ending and looks to mom and dad for sympathy. Pretty funny to witness actually. He hasn't done it too much because we aren't giving in to the ploy, but it is comical to watch.

Landon is turning into such a good big brother. He makes sure Arlan doesn't play with anything dangerous, well actually he makes sure Arlan doesn't play with anything at all usually!! But he does make sure to take away non-toy items and such, and puts them on the cupboard. He really does watch out for Arlan. That is heart-warming to see.

We went to Medicine Hat last weekend, stayed with Julie. It was a good visit, and the boys were well behaved (read: Landon didn't break anything this time). Both boys slept on the way down there, so the ride was HEAVENLY! Landon did pee while he slept though, so was pretty grumpy when he woke up to a wet carseat (and a pants change on 3rd Street downtown Medicine Hat!!). It also meant Landon was up until midnight, but he was very well behaved, so Julie and I visited and Landon went to bed with me. He got to play "camp-out", sleeping on a foam mattress on the floor in his sleeping bag. Now he wants to play 'camp-out' at home and sleep in a tent in the basement. We haven't ventured there yet, but maybe we'll have to let him try one night. One of us can always sleep in the bed down there in case he wakes scared or whatever.

Other than that, just been busy with candles, which is fun. Had a Xmas Faire last weekend. The boys came and spent some time at the child-minding area which was really cool. They had to sign in or whatever, and both of them stayed right there. Landon was loving the cars and playmat of course, and I think Arlan stayed because Landon was there. When I asked Landon at the end of the day what he did all day (because he did spend most of it at home with dad), he said "we played sharing!" and meant at the child-minding. So cute

Oh yeah, the boys did get their H1N1 shots, last Tuesday. Poor Landon - didn't know what was coming until they were swabbing his arm. We drove home from Medicine Hat and when we got to the city I asked him if we should go get vaccines. He was quite excited by that idea, so we went! No line-ups, which was fantastic. Both boys cried, but we had no reactions whatsoever, which is quite nice.

Well, Arlan's babbling away in bed, I'd best go get him. Sorry no pics ... will try to remember to take some soon. We need a new camera for Xmas Grandma *hint hint*
Until next time...

Pics from Saskatoon

We had such a nice visit in Saskatoon...it's too bad Arlan didn't feel better while we were there :-( Poor munchkin. So far, only the one molar has come through (while we were in S'toon) -- but he's still plenty grumpy throughout the day so I think there must be more on the way. He isn't nearly as miserable as last weekend, but he just has no patience and is whiny all the day long. Poor mouth...

Here's some pics of Landon doing what he does. Climbing (and jumping and trying to conquer all inanimate objects), and asking "why" about something that .. really, I don't know WHY!! LOL I do like the pic of him examining the twig - that twig was a source of entertainment for him for about 30 minutes. Not all nice, quiet contemplation, mind you -- after this moment of peace, he ran around like it was a sword, whopping and hollering like a true 3-year-old boy!!




We took some 'family' pics too. I like the one with all of us. Yup - it was on Sunday, and the RIDERS did win :-)

Then me with the boys (John's artistic photo skills coming through here). That's about as good as it could get when I had a deathgrip on Landon to keep him on my knee, and Arlan was crying or whining 99% of the time!!

The picture of Arlan on John shows what Arlan spent most of Saturday doing...lying on us. He just wanted to be held. He laid across my chest as I was laying back on the couch; feet dangling off the couch, body across my chest, head resting on my arm. Then he'd lift his head, bite my arm (HARD I tell you), and put his head back down. A minute later, CHOMP!, and lay his head back down. You couldn't help but feel sorry for him, although it is so tiring when they're miserable. But John and I did just sit back and soak up some snuggle time ... thankful that Aunty Rosemary and Uncle Bob are wonderful hosts who didn't grumble about Arlan's fussing (to our faces anyway!), and that Landon was entertained solely by being somewhere else. Phew!

This week Arlan is still fussy, and Landon is more and more jealous of the attention Arlan's getting. So Landon's starting making Arlan noises, grunting and pointing instead of using words, and whining. So fun. Love my life, really!

But, Arlan is saying more words. Still loves "burhhhhs!" (birds). Now also says "cah" (car), "truh" (truck), "buh" (bus), "bah" (bottle), "reh" (red), "spoo" (spoon). Oh yeah, and he has been fussing away in his high chair too, which I've been putting down to a sore mouth. But nope - he actually wanted utensils! Silly mom...so I gave him a spoon and fork tonight, and he happily ate almost everything up, using the spoon and fork!! WHERE'S MY BABY!!! *sigh* he's growing up WAY too fast....

until next time...

We're home again :-)

We are home again after having a nice visit in Saskatoon. Landon had an absolute blast, and did NOT want to leave this morning at all!! I kind of wanted to stay too, we were having quite a nice time!! Poor Arlan needed to get home though - poor kid. He's had an awful fever all weekend, I think it's due to teething as there are no other symptoms. So he has been MISERABLE! Fever that we've been treating, and he has no energy ... sits on us most of the time, will play a bit, and then needs to sleep. Not the usual fun Arlan we're used to, that's for sure.
But Arlan did perk up when we went to Lilja's 2nd birthday party on Sunday ... it was about the only time he was spry!! He really enjoyed the activity, and the toys!! He particularly liked Noah's Wiggles guitar...

The reason for the fever: well at least 1 tooth has popped through. His first molar on the bottom right. Now, he only has 2 teeth on top ... why he's already popping out a molar!!?? But, I'm remembering Landon getting 6 teeth in one week at age 15 months...Arlan will be 15 months next week. So maybe we're in for a bout of teething here, and we'll see some more come in the top, as well as this molar (maybe an eye tooth or two, by the looks of his poor, red eyes).

Landon had so much fun at Lilja's, he didn't want to leave, and has asked many times to go back!! Lilja got some cool gifts for her birthday, and Landon was in there enjoying them - especially a Tonka dumptruck, and a play-and-learn centre (fisher price). He was very patient though, through the gift-opening. It must've been SO hard for him, but he waited and let Lilja open her own gifts. It just about killed him to let her get that dump-truck opened..... I was very proud of him. He did, however, blow her candles out for her on the birthday cake before any of us could even blink!! I don't think the cake even made it all the way on to the table, and POOF!! lol But the candles were re-lit and Lilja had her turn too :-)

Other than that - John golfed with Brian (I bowed out, as I didn't want to leave sick Arlan with Aunty Rosemary, and wouldn't have enjoyed myself worrying about him anyway). I did a couple of runs with Brian - pushing my pace and distance (while it was a nice, easy run for him as he's running a half-marathon next weekend), we had nice dinners, and it was a really good time.

The driving was fine - if you can stand 4,312,937 questions from Landon!! "What's that truck carrying?", "Why is your blinker on?", "Why does grass grow here?". And then Landon's statement about an hour outside of Calgary "I wanna go to Kapuskasing!!!" aiaiaiai (Aunty Rosemary read him a story with Kapuskasing in it!! LOL). We were quite happy to let Landon out and get away from question period, that's for sure. And to think, Arlan will be doing the same thing in 2 years!! aAAAAAAARRRRRGGGGGGGHHHH

Now back to reality, and what appears to be fall. I will get some pics up this week I hope... Until next time...

Playing with Iden

Iden came over and entertained Landon for a day. It was such a treat - they played so well together. I sure hope he can come back soon, I really enjoyed having him here.

We went to the park in the morning -- they climbed and slid and swung (swang? swinged?).

Then an afternoon snack for all the kids. Arlan loved the goldfish the most :-) of course

Some popsicles too, especially after playing outside, it was so hot.

Arlan loved both watching the big boys and playing with them as much as possible. Little stinker. I'm not sure Iden quite knew what to make of the little imitator following them around!! Landon mostly ignores Arlan, Iden just growled at him LOL

Whoops -- where have the days gone!

Aunty Allison was here for a visit - Arlan of course checked her out, and once he determined that she was ok, she was REALLY ok!! LOL Both boys loved visiting and playing with her -- and Allison got the best form of birth control ever (gotta love kids!). Ah well. We didn't do as much this year as we did last year when she was here, I think because Arlan needs to nap at home now I don't have the same 'freedom'. But she and I did "float the Bow" (drop a raft in to the Bow River, and float downstream) ... it was 30' and clear blue skies that Friday, it was WONDERFUL!!

Other than that - we've been hanging out at home. Iden spent a day with Landon last week, they had a lot of fun. It was cute to watch them - they'd play, then get sick of each other and go their separate ways, then they'd play together again. I didn't see any hitting going on, so Landon must've realized he can just go play on his own - he doesn't need to hit the other kid to make them leave!! LOL

Arlan now copies every single thing that Landon does. EVERYTHING! Landon was humming / moaning / singing into the empty water can (making a lovely sound!), and Arlan was right over there. Landon has to 'bite' the top of the umbrella pole, Arlan got right up there too. Landon hands on the cross bar on the swingset, so does Arlan!! Arlan follows him around ALL day long, doing everything his big bro does. The nicest times are when Landon plays back ... like they chase each other pushing trucks around the back yard, or they'll play in the sandbox together, that type of thing. Makes my heart melt :-D heh heh

I've also noticed Arlan is starting to stand his ground and fight back a bit. We've finally just got to the point where we've implemented the rule: if Arlan is crying or fussing, Landon has to quite doing whatever it is he's doing to him. That also goes for dad ... if Landon starts crying or fussing, DAD has to quit tormenting LANDON! Landon is getting a bit better with that rule, since "LEAVE HIM ALONE!" just wasn't getting any of us anywhere!!
But Arlan was walking up to Landon and pushing him today -- quite a change. It was ticking Landon off too, as he was trying to eat his "treat" (a Froster from Mac's). I just let it go, I know I'll be refereeing often enough.

Arlan is absolutely HATING his bath these days too! It's weird, when we run the tub, he stands at the edge wanting to get in ... he loves to play in water (and has succeeded in thoroughly soaking himself in the TOILET on occassion!!!! YUCK!). But when you put him in the tub, he is crying full volume and scrabbling to get out. Tonight I got in with him to see if it would help, but nope. I don't know what it is ... I remember Landon going through a phase of being afraid on the faucet, maybe I'll put a sock on it next bathtime to see if that helps. Or else we'll try our big tub (that helped with Landon too).

We took the boys swimming to an outdoor pool on Sunday - they loved it. Landon could JUST touch at the edge, so he had fun playing around. Then he jumped in 100 times, and went down the big slide twice, and then the smaller slide many many more times. Arlan was tentative to start, but we got him in the water and he sort of enjoyed it...although he was clamped on pretty hard! It did convince me to register him for swim lessons though, so both boys are starting lessons mid-Sept (until early Nov). Landon is unparented lessons now, so I will take Arlan in the tot pool while Landon has lessons for some extra water time with mommy! A neighbour and I are doing a kid-swap for lessons, to Landon will go there when Arlan has his lesson, and I'll have Lexi when Camryn has her lesson - works out quite well!

I guess I should get myself ready for bed. A late run tonight has me all keyed up! LOL Until next time (with some pics hopefully...)

Landon's FIRST camping trip

Landon most DEFINITELY loved camping!! He's been asking to go to Uncle Greg's trailer since we got home!! Well, actually, he wanted to come home (he told us on Friday "I really really really really really really really want to go home" ... but when asked further, he wanted to bring the trailer home with us!!).

Rhonda and Clay came to visit and camp with us too, which was awesome!! It was great to see them again. Drew and Landon played together lots (Drew will be 5 in October). Bailey (who's 8) found herself a little friend in the trailer right beside them (Wrangler's trailer ...) and so we didn't see them much. They were actually "working" at the Clearwater Lake store for the cool and rainy days!! So cute!

Grandma and Grandpa came out on Friday, despite the rain. Grandpa helped Landon and the others roast some marshmallows during a lull in the sprinkling. Then we headed to White Bear for the lawnmower races (this is done every year in Whitebear to kick off the Kyle Rodeo weekend). What a treat ... I've never seen anything like that, that's for sure!!! They had 'smoke-shows' (burning rubber!! LOL), and raced garden tractors. Landon's highlights were going for a ride on the back of the monster truck, and going for a ride in the ambulance (depending on when you ask him, each of these take their turn as favourite). I should clarify - the ambulance ride was with Aunty Yvonne, who was on call for the lawnmower races. She and her partner Doug drove Landon around White Bear for a few minutes while the rest of us had supper in the bar :-D John and I also enjoyed learning that what 'they' say is true, White Bear really DOES have the best wings EVER! LOL















Here's just a good shot of Landon playing with trucks - really concentrating. I like this photo. He played with his new-found friend Kris's trucks the entire time we were there. As it turns out, Kris is the son of another friend from University that I hadn't seen in, oh, 16 years or so!!! So Rhonda, Tracy and I had a good time catching up with each other too!! We were able to get to a drive-in movie together too (along with my sis) which was great ... we saw The Hangover - a great movie to watch with friends.

Landon has entered into the "lookatme!" stage -- with everything he does!! It's either "watch this!" or "Look at me!" or "I'll show you". yay

LOTS of firsts for Landon this week: 1) camping, of course; 2) sleeping in a tent -- his preferred sleeping arrangment for the week was sleeping with dad in the tent; 3) sleeping in the bunk (of the trailer); 4) flying a kite; and 5) having a sleep-over with Drew and Bailey (which might've been his preferred sleeping arrangement, but we figured one night was enough!!). It was a great week, and we are all looking forward to doing it again next year!! I can HARDLY wait!!

On Thursday it was windy, so Landon got a chance to fly his first kite. He really enjoyed it actually -- a great activity for him, running!!! LOL

Arlan's first camping trip

Arlan LOVED camping at Clearwater - even though it was chilly (and a bit rainy I hate to say).
He made a little friend -- Wrangler was camped beside Rhonda & Clay, who came down to join us for the dreary week!!


YAY - SO much fun!! This time mom was thinking "Arlan learned to walk just in time"
Arlan enjoyed the playground too - although he didn't spend nearly as much time there as Landon did.



The view is MUCH better up on Aunty's shoulders!

Checking out the dock at the beach when we first arrived. We spent one day on the beach of the three full days we were there. The next was windy and cool, Friday was rainy :-(

August long weekend wedding :-)

Ok - this isn't really about the "Life and Times of Arlan and Landon" as they weren't there, but I love the pics!! LOL Landon and Arlan spent August long weekend entertaining Grandma and Grandpa on the farm. They were very busy -- Landon helped Grandpa shoot gophers, pick up the paper (which involved going to the bar to drink [root] beer and eat chips, and clean out bins). Arlan showed off his new walking skills, and perfected his stair- and couch-climbing abilities.

John and I had a weekend AWAY!! GLORIOUS! Friday we drove from the farm to Winnipeg, where we met up with the Tremendons, and continued out to Kenora for a fabulous wedding (hence the pic of the people kissing). I've a couple pics of us gals (the Tremendons), and one of "the guys" too :-) What a great looking bunch we all were!! Especially the bride and groom (congrats again to Trish & Phil!!!). The outside pics are taken at Trish's family cottage ... a great place for a wedding, that's for sure!

The wedding reception and dance was on the MS Kenora. The water shot is just that - a shot from the boat. An absolutely glorious place for the reception - we all had an absolute blast.

Sunday we went back to Winnipeg. We lunched with Aunty Margaret, checking out her new pad (VERY nice). Then over to Pam & Kevin's for the night. We went OUT for wings, visited with Wes a bit, and then sang to "American Idol" on the Wii!! TOO funny.

Monday was a long drive back to the farm!! I was glad to get back to see my boys though. Unfortunately, neither they nor I lost our summer colds over that long weekend :-( But we all had lots of fun.

More of Visits with cousins

We enjoyed a wonderful BBQ at Uncle Rob's brother-in-law's brothers house (got that?) on Saturday July 25. It was a beautiful day, and a wonderful time. Even Arlan got into the festitivies!!! LOL

I love these pics -- Arlan's modeling one of the hats that was purchased that day, and checking my messages for me (one of his favourite things to do!).

Landon had so much fun playing with Isabel and Isabel's "other cousin" Jake ... and this water rocket! They spent plenty of time shooting that thing off!! There were also MANY trucks for Landon to hoard, er I mean play with. He found an ambulance and wouldn't put it down in case someone else touched it. He would climb the play- structure and slide with it clutched in his hands!!

Visiting with Thomson & Izzy

Aunty Liz, Uncle Rob, cousins Thomson and Isabel came to visit!! They arrived July 24, and thankfully we had pretty nice weather all weekend long.

Arlan absolutely LOVED all the action - he was in his glory, giggling and smiling and turning circles. I think he must've thought "I learned to walk JUST IN TIME!!" LOL

We spent some time hanging out -- watching a few cartoons.

But we also managed to get out and "play" a bit too. Everyone (but me) did some shopping and bought cowboy boots and hats (now I'm the odd-one out ... or is that the 'not-so-odd' one out???). We also headed downtown to Prince's Island Park to play at the splash pool, and to feed the birds (right beside the big sign that says "Don't feed the birds" which we all somehow failed to see). Landon had a blast in the water, and even Arlan enjoyed exploring a bit too, although he was a bit more timid.

We've been busy..

Sorry for so few posts - we've been busy, doing summery things.
Uncle Neville and Aunt Mary were here for a few days (July 9 - 12), we had a great visit. I even got to golf with John and Uncle Neville while Aunt Mary watched the boys ... what a TREAT! Thank you AGAIN Aunt Mary - we truly appreciate it.
And we've been getting a project done -- putting rock beside the house. We are helping our neighbour out quite a bit with this project, too ... Which means it's a LOT bigger than it needed to be. But we worked up the dead grass, moved some soil around to level things out, put landscaping fabric down, and John's moving rock as I type (I put a couple of shifts in earlier today). He will get plenty close to done tonight - will likely be able to finish up tomorrow. I'm so HAPPY! That's been a big project that we've just been putting off, it'll be nice to be done. And it'll look good too!!

Other than that - just getting prepped for Aunty Liz, Uncle Rob, Thomson and Isabel's arrival this Friday! THAT is going to be AWESOME!! The weather promises to be gorgous, and the kids will have an absolute BLAST! YAY!! Spray pools, here we come...

Anyways, I'll sign off now - will try to get a few more pics posted a bit more frequently ... will definitely have some next week, after the visit from the cousins. until then...

Landon FUN

Landon actually did some 'crafts' with mommy today!! I can hardly believe it ... first time he spent any amount of time doing anything like this with me (outside of painting and play-doh I guess). He's been wanting to make a caterpillar like in the story Miss Bindergarten celebrates the 100th day of Kindergarten. It's a rainy day today, so we got it done. Landon cut out all the stripes and glued them on, plus the grass (the block on the bottom right ... it actually sticks up a bit from the paper), and glued all the other pieces on. So we hung it up in his room, and he's a little bit proud (well, so is mommy!).

Uncle Neville and Aunt Mary were here Sat night for a visit. Aunt Mary has a conference in Banff all week, then they're back here Thursday until Sunday again. It was a good visit - Landon still has a sweet spot for Uncle Neville, that's for sure. And after taking his time to check them both our thoroughly, Arlan settled right in to enjoying their company too. I'm really looking forward to Friday - Aunt Mary is going to babysit the boys while Uncle Neville, John and I golf :-D

This pic is from Landon having so much fun in the neighbours blow-up waterslide. I wasn't there that day, John took the boys over. I guess Landon simply climbed up, slid down, climbed up, slid down ... all afternoon. He had a blast!

Sask Travels

We had such a great trip back to Saskatchewan. Both boys travel very well, and they even behaved (for the most part) in the restaurants!! lol
We made it to Grandma & Grandpa's on the 27. Landon gave Grandpa puppy-dog eyes and got a ride in the grain truck that night (Grandpa was worried the neighbours would think him nuts, driving the grain truck through the fields, etc!!LOL).

Then Sunday we headed to Frontier Days in Swift Current. Well, Arlan and Grandma stayed at the farm - too hot for wee ones, and he would need to be home for bed early anyways, so they spent some quality time together.
We weren't sure if Landon would like the rides, so we bought coupons (not the wristband). Well ... he LOVED the rides. After about 4 rides we were going to buy MORE coupons (of course), Landon pulling me along, saying "I LIKE this place!!!!" So we did some more rides, introduced Landon to corn dogs, avoided the games like the plague, mom ate a caramel apple (YUM!), and a few more rides. Then to Carla and Dave's (well, Jackson and Ryders house according to Landon) for the night. We did make it back to the fair to watch the fireworks with Grandpa though. I wish you could've seen his face (read: I wish I could've captured his expression on film). His eyes were so big, and he was sooooo excited. I think Grandpa had fun watching the fireworks with Landon too!
We spend the night at Carla and Dave's after watching fireworks. Landon outlasted all the other kids ... and many adults too. Our little rockstar! *sigh* but we all had a ton of fun.

Monday was a quiet day - we had lunch at Carla's with Mark and Tanya (so good to see them), then out to the farm where we were all quite sleepy (save Landon of course, who napped on the ride out...). Aunty Yvonne came out to the farm as well, it was good to visit with her too!!
Tuesday we went to Moose Jaw to check out Grandma and Grandpa's house - looking pretty darned good. Then a lunch, and a trip to the spray park which Landon loved again. He sure loves water!! he didn't go in the kiddie pool, but had a blast in the park, especially loving the excavator. Some ice cream on the way out of town, and Landon was fast asleep again. So much so that he didn't wake up when we got home so I put him on the couch thinking Arlan would wake him. Nope - so after another hour on the couch I put him to bed thinking maybe he'd be out all night. He didn't so much as flinch when I put him to bed ... but woke up 30 minutes later full of energy for the night (of course!!). Gotta love that kid! Arlan on the other hand went to bed by 7 (give or take 30 minutes) every night, no matter what had happened during the day. So very different those two!

Then Wed we came home again - it was sure nice to be home again!! I did make a trip back to the Hat Thursday for a funeral Friday morning though. That was a tough day. Thankfully the boys travel well, and they were quite well behaved at Julie's too (sorry about the footstool again ... send us the bill!). Jenay watched the boys Friday morning while I was at the funeral service, and we came back to Calgary. Now there's no travel plans for several weeks, and I'm thankful for it!!

Landon loved playing at the parks!!

Landon was in his glory, going to parks to play with his cousins!! YAY We went to a park with a pirate ship one day, but I forgot my camera :-/ I wasn't so silly when we went to the castle park though! I love the looks on his face as he was doing the different things. The concentration while climbing the ropes. The almost-scared thrill-seeker as he's ready to come down the tunnel slide! I think Landon could've stayed there ALL day!!