Swimming!!

This post is coming to you live from over the border, and I've got a fun 'first' to share with you. First, a couple of shots from the weekend.

 

We did not have a lot of snow this winter, and it's been an early spring, so what snow we did have has been gone for a while.  This is what we woke up to Saturday morning.  There always has to be one last snow...

This is from Easter Sunday.  Highlights were that Nolan got to meet another aunt and uncle and two cousins, and we found out that there's another cousin on the way!!  K & J are due in November - it was good timing that I took along the bag of maternity clothes she had loaned me!

M and N having fun with the mirror in our hotel room today.  We came down into North Dakota on Monday, along with half of Regina according to the border crossing guard.  The kids do have the week off school... I've never done the Minot shopping thing before, and we came this time because Sean needed to pick up some car parts - they didn't ship to Canada, so he had them sent to a parcel pickup service here.  We decided to made a little trip of it and get in some family time since he had to come anyway.  We went as far as Minot yesterday and walked the mall to check out what they had that was different than home.  This morning we checked out the Hobby Lobby and then hit the road for Grand Forks.  Sean will get his goods tomorrow morning, then we'll explore here for the day, and head back to Minot for another night, then head home Thursday.  A short drive each day is not too bad with the little guy, as he does sleep most of the drive time.  He is being very accommodating about not getting too fussy, since we are either all together in small spaces, like the car and the hotel room, or in public, like shops and restaurants...  He does have his moments, of course, but it could be way worse!

So the big first - since were are staying in hotels, with pools, we thought we'd pack his swim stuff and see if it worked out to get him wet:

 

In the swim pants and cute bathing suit...  It's size 6-9 months, and fits him great!  (Yep, he's not even 3 months yet.)  They have a good kiddie pool here that was a decent temperature, and he did great.  It was just like a big bath, except he didn't get quite as splashy.  Enough to get it in his face, though!

Of course M liked the kiddie pool too.  I took N back for a bath and bedtime and the other two got in more swimming and hot tubbing.  Our little road trip is turning into not a bad little vacation.

Baby Steps

Wish us luck!  We're off on a 6 hour car ride this afternoon, and hoping Nolan does well.  Otherwise, it could be a whole lot longer than that. 

He's been awake or falling asleep most of this morning, so I've been packing in baby steps, pulling things out in whatever room we happen to be walking in - now I've finally got him down, so I need to go finish all those started piles and get packed!

I am very excited to introduce him to the rest of my family...

A Weekend in Winnipeg

We had a great time last weekend with the whole family.  This is the first time most of them have seen me with my baby belly - it was fun to show that off. 

Other than just seeing everyone, some highlights of the weekend were golfing with Sean, Dad & Dave, playing train dominoes till late into the night, and playing with little Zach.

I probably should address the football issue.  You'll notice a lot of Bomber gear in these shots (including Si's blue & yellow braces!) - the Labour Day Classic is an annual game between our two city's football teams.  They were 7-1 going into the game and Saskatchewan had a terrible season start and was at 1-7.  Lots of swaggering going into it from the Winnipeg side, I understand, although I generally abstain from all things having to do with the rivalry between the two teams.  So there we were, Sean watching the game with all the Bomber fan relatives - and the Riders win.  That game, played in Regina, is always followed by the same teams playing in Winnipeg the next weekend.  Apparently the Riders won again today... (sorry, guys!)  Good thing they're both going back to their own divisions to play after this.

Can't wait to go back!

Home Again

I started choosing photos to post and the list got way too long, so I posted them on facebook instead; follow this link to see them.

The pictures are all from Jasper, but we spend a day and a half in Edmonton on the way there, and came back via Banff so we could see more of the mountains.

We had a great time seeing awesome sights, and although slightly sunnier and dryer and warmer would have been nice, the weather didn't stop us from much.

Wild Wedding Whirlwind Weekend!

Just like last year, our only two weddings of the year fell on the same weekend.  Only this time, they were in two different provinces!

Jenn Brace (now Armstrong) married Craig on Friday in a beautiful (and purple!) extravaganza.  We ducked out of the reception at 10:30 along with Holly and David to hit the road to Alberta.  Making it to Medicine Hat in the middle of the night, we got about 4 hours sleep, then drove the rest of the way to Airdrie in the morning.  We got there in enough time for lunch and a change in BP's restrooms into our wedding duds.  Katie McIntyre (now Kadun) married Nick in another great day.

Tomorrow I'll have more for you, and pictures, but we need some sleep after all that driving!  Here's one to leave you with: