Beaching It

Okay ... so I kind of got the directions messed up resulting in us never really making it to an actual beach. We did however hunt all day for seashells and attempted to break our ankles by climbing over rocks. We did dip our toes in the ocean and scream in squeamish delight when seaweed crashed upon us as a wave pushed it to shore. We filled our buckets up with clam shells, so much so that you just may receive a gift of a few in the mail ... because we do have a lot and we are generous that way.

On the docket for tomorrow? Well ... it is Canada Day you know so we will be whoopin it up and partaking in the festivities. We will start out with the pancake breakfast followed by a parade and then we are off to that nifty market that I am so in love with and will party like rock stars getting our faces painted, balloons made in animal shapes and stuffing our faces in birthday cake.

It is going to be so much fun! Why don't you join us?

Playing with Balls

Yesterday saw us relaxing a bit. The travel and sleep deprivation caught up to the kids which in turn gave them short fuses that easily lead to tears, refusing to eat and lots of whining. Thus, we decided to stick close to home and explore our surroundings within the vicinity.

We spent the morning down at the market again where we just can't get enough of. The views are spectacular, the boats coming in and out of port are fascinating to the kids and the overall ambiance of the market is so Caribbean like. You can purchase any kind of food fresh: seafood, meat products, bread, pasta, fruits and vegetables; most of which is certified organic. The upstairs section of the market has trendy little shops that are pricey but unique. The upstairs also hosts a ball pit for kids and a kid's barber shop where they can sit in cars, planes or boat and have their haircut while watching a movie. It is the same as Beaners for those of you back in Calgary.

Again, you will have to pardon the photos as my sister's computer doesn't have any type of editing programs on it so I can't even take out the devil red eyes of the kids. Although, truth be told, I think that he was borrowing their little bodies for periods of the day .....

Down the slippery slide into the pit of balls Kaelen goes.

Into the pit Masyn goes. It took her a little longer to befriend the slide so she was content just to jump into the pit.

Masyn sitting in the pink Barbie car. I selfishly wouldn't let her get her haircut because I love her locks too much.


Kaelen meanwhile needed a trim as his hair grows at the rate of weeds, so he in turn got a buzz cut. Although the picture appears to contradict me, he was very excited about the haircut and having it done in the Spiderman car.

The afternoon saw us having a tour at my sister's office. Do I even have to mention that they have a few fancy rooms that are WALL TO WALL with FULL WINE RACKS. My mouth honestly started drooling and I envisioned myself locking myself in a room to do a wee bit of sampling. After the tour, the kids and I headed back to North Van and went on a little hike around the area. When I say hike, I mean we scaled steep hills in search for a playground that was not all nouveau like. After an hour, we discovered one that the kids enjoyed and spent another hour climbing our hearts out.

After a fabulous dinner with great company we surprisingly headed back down to the market for a walk just in case we missed out on a shipping barge or cruise ship leaving or arriving. Needless to say, the kids slept like angels last night. Not bad for a relaxing day huh?

Today sees us heading over to West Vancouver to spend the day on the beach hunting for seashells. Until later ......

A Whale of A Time

Busy day today and wow, are we having fun! Lets see .... we went shopping, to the Vancouver Aquarium, to Lonsdale Quay Market and met up with family that I haven't seen in years. We took pictures - lots of pictures but A) my sister doesn't have any kind of editing program and many of the pictures are dark so I am hoping that editing will help them out and B) none of us are photogenic. Like seriously. Any picture that involved one of us someone was looking the other way, had their eyes closed or some stupid cheesy grin caught in the middle of a sentence.

But, just to show you that I am not all that bad when taking photos, I will leave you with a few teasers:

One of the hundreds of butterflies in the rain forest section of the Vancouver Aquarium.


Even though editing could be used, this one is still pretty cool with the kids enjoying the dolphin show from below. We didn't get to see the baby whale (which was the whole point of going), but these entertaining and captivating creatures more than made up for the disappointment of baby viewing.

Auntie Tee Tee and Masyn attempting to play in the "nouveau" style of playgrounds in the trendier areas of Vancouver. My kids gave it a royal thumbs down and would much rather stick to the slides and swings.

This is what my sister gets to wake up to every day: the cityscape of downtown from across the bay. Bitch .....

On the docket for tomorrow: more time at the market (because it is so very cool) which is only a block away from my sister's condo. Bitch ...... sorry, I digress. Oh ya, the market, an old style playground two blocks from her condo and a visit to my sister's office, which I might add is stocked full of wine as she works for a subsidiary division of the largest alcohol company in the world. Bitch ......

Oh, but did I mention that I do love her? Yep ... she has a case of wine that she is so thoughtfully donating to me.

Smelling The Ocean

We made it. And, the kids thankfully were blessed little angels throughout the entire drive down to Vancouver. We were up and on the road for 5:00 am and drove to Osoyoos, BC for a picnic and splash in the lake. Did I forget to mention that I also fell IN LOVE with Osoyoos? As in I hope that hubby bought a lotto ticket last night and we won kind of love so we could build a fabulous love shack kind of cabin on the lake kind of love? And, with being from Calgary and now Cranbrook, my kids haven't really been around any kind of water other than a sprinkler, so the novelty of dipping their toes in the lakes was thrilling to say the least.

We spent 2 1/2 hours on the beach there and then drove the rest of the way to Vancouver, pulling into Auntie Tee Tee's condo unit just before 6 pm. You could smell the ocean humidity about 1 1/2 hours out of Vancouver and my body started singing in delight. I thrive on humidity - like love it. My body goes into over drive and thrums with endless amounts of energy just begging to be burned off. After unloading the truck, we took a little walk as Auntie Tee Tee lives one block from an open market place that fronts on one of the major shipping ports as well as overlooks downtown Vancouver. The kids were treated to a cruise ship setting sail, hydro planes landing and the sea bus (ferry) arriving. We were in glorious heaven after being cooped up in the truck for so long.

Today we are off to the Vancouver Aquarium to check out the new baby beluga whale and to enjoy some of the other attractions located in Stanley Park. Don't worry .... I will take lots of pictures over the next few days and will share them with you all. Until later!

Off to The Races

And we are off ..... in about 7 hours from now. See you in Vancouver, BC and I will be sure to share some of my adventures with those of you who can't make it. (okay ... all of you, but it sounded exciting there for a moment no?)

A Flash Of Something

I got home from work late last night. Okay, well not super late but late as in midnight. It was dark, it was peaceful and it was soothingly fresh seeing as I was couped up in an air conditioned building for the previous 6 hours. For me, it takes a little time to unwind from work at the golf course. I serve in the restaurant/lounge up there and most Thursday nights are hoppin. There are only two of us so we work hard and make good money for doing so. And, if I hit the hay immediately when I get home, I will dream of inputting orders in the computer, messing up someones dinner order or dealing with an upset member over some completely bizarre dreamworld situation.

Last night though, I was completely exhausted. It was a long day with the daycare kids and I was alone at the golf course for most of the night, so ran my hiney off. I gave no thought to the bizarre dreams that would occur, instead I was completely focused upon hitting the hay. After washing my face and midway brushing my teeth, I for some reason caught a flash of something in the mirror that grabbed my attention. You see, the bathroom window was open so if you paid attention, you could see what was going on across the street and up the road. Stopping in mid brush, toothbrush frozen on the front teeth, I tried to focus on what exactly the flash was. It took a full minute for my mind to process what I was looking at: a naked man. Yep folks. I am pretty sure that I saw my brand new neighbour walking around in the buff in the middle of the night. Now, each to their own I say and we are all born naked, so being naked shouldn't be a big deal, however, I can assure you that there was no way I was going to hit the hay right away after that for that would be a guarantee for a nightmare or too.

Why? Lets just say that he isn't exactly GQ material - you know, something worth an erotic fantasy or two right out of a steamy, hot bodied, strong, rich kind of man romance novel.

Stop the Madness!

Don't ya just hate it when something seems like such a great idea at the time that you go ahead and commit to it, only to find out when you get to that actual moment, you find yourself beating your head against the wall in hopes that your brain will wake up? Uh huh ... I have got it too right now. And a bad case of the stupids.

Here is what my week was like and is going to be like:

Last weekend: Sam Steele days. Two parades, kiddyfest and activities in the park two full days. Yardwork. Housework. Playing with my kids.

This week ... so far: Daycare kids, sick kids, working at night at the golf course, housework and packing for a trip.

This weekend: Drive to Vancouver at 5am Saturday morning BY MYSELF with the kids. Expected driving time: 12 - 13 hours IN ONE DAY. Sunday take kids to Vancouver Aquarium and visit with cousins.

Next week: Spend week in Vancouver visiting sister, heading back home to Cranbrook starting Friday. Did I mention in all of my wisdom that Friday is the ONLY DAY OFF that hubby has and we won't ever be here to enjoy it with him??? Saturday sees me turning 29 years young (again) but will be spent driving ....

Following week: Run daycare, drive Kaelen to and from soccer camp that runs everyday for one week, work Monday and Thursday night at the golf course, yardwork (to catch up on), housework (to get caught up on), grocery shopping and care for my kids.

Following week: Run daycare, drive Kaelen to and from golf camp that runs everyday for one week, work Monday and Thursday night at the golf course, yardwork (that I didn't get done the week before with yard now an overgrown weed pit), housework (that I didn't do and now the laundry has grown legs and is running away), grocery shopping (that I probably didn't get down the week before and we are now out of peanut butter and crackers) and care for my own kids.

So the question is: How come four months ago the above scenario seemed like no big deal? Apparently I need some serious help.

Trying to Keep The Pace

Lets see, posting has been minimal (again) because well ... life is just like that. Too many things on the go, so here is a little recap but I wish you luck on keeping up with this mother of a long, world record like post:


Last Friday saw us at Fort Steele, BC. It is an easy 10 minute maximum drive from Cranbrook and you are treated with breath taking sights such as this:

And this:

And as you are catching your breath from the incredible sights surrounding you, you are also treated to stepping into the past and capture a glimpse of life in a heritage town. Currently, this little park offers an abundance of baby critters such as horses, cows, goats and pigs. The other animals are slightly jealous of the attention the other animals are getting so therefore target suckers such as us to entertain themselves. Case in hand: crazy chicken below:

This rooster entertained all of the kids (daycare kids and my own) for 15 minutes and actually suckered my son into believing that he was the next "Chicken Whisperer". This bird would shout his cockadoodledo at the top of his lungs in answer to my son's clucking attempt. If another child, adult or animal attempted to partake in this rooster version of American Idol, the silence was deafening. If my son broke the silence with his doodledo version, the damn bird would have his rebuttal twice as loud. And, at one point, the rooster in the pen across the alley way, joined in to make it a threesome harmony for a solid five minutes. It was a sight to be seen that had visitors, employees and all around in peals of laughter, tears and amazement. After tearing my son away from his bonding moment with the other males, there was a little gold panning to be done:

And yes, eureka was called and the kids came home with water filled vials of their gold specks.

The weekend was filled with yard work, house work and playing with my kids.

Monday saw Kaelen having another hearing test and a follow up appointment with the specialist to determine what our next course of action will be for him. The hearing test went well. In fact, his hearing has improved since his adenoid surgery, unlike his health. And, we did not get to see the specialist to determine our next course of action. We will have to wait until August 4th for that information because, well, that is our stellar medical system for you: too many people in need; not enough specialists.

Tuesday was Kaelen's last day of soccer. The night was great as Daddy was able to join us and seeing as McDonalds sponsored Kaelen's soccer league, there was a wind up there. Darn. I managed to shovel a Quarter Pounder Meal into my gullet without any issues.

Thursday morning saw Kaelen graduating from preschool and Mommy choking on a few tears that morning. How the hell did he grow so fast? My baby, my best friend will be going to kindergarten come the fall. And he will be turning five in the fall.

Thursday night saw me back at the golf course because well, I am a sucker for punishment. I work every Thursday night helping out the Food & Beverage department and come July, it will be Monday nights too. It makes for long days with the daycare and this, but we are hoping to be able to go on another family vacation this winter, with hopes of returning back to Disneyland so a Mommy has to do what it takes to ensure that happens.

That brings me to today, Friday. It is the gulp ... Monster Trucks ... which hubby will be indebted to me forever for doing this seeing as he had a mental fart and booked a member function over at the golf course that required his presence. So off I go with my son to the gulp, Monster Trucks, and even though I am not a big drinker, I just may have to ease the pain by consuming one or two beverages during the "show". It is also Sam Steele Days this weekend so it is a busy one for us as we will be attending the parades and festivities.

Until Monday at least ......

Dressing My Dolly

Anyone who knows me, knows that I am not a fashionista by any means. I don't have a sense of style mostly due to having the challenge of never finding clothes that actually fit my long legs, bubble butt, short waisted torso and non existing breasts.

Having said that, have I ever mentioned at how much I LOVE dressing my daughter? It may not be stylish, but for me, it certainly adds to her overall cuteness.

Rescued!

It's a Bird! No, it's a plane! No .... It's Super Kaelen!

Have no fears my friends, Super Kaelen and his trusty side kick Princess Masyn will fight all my battles for me to ensure that I am well protected. What a truly lucky Mommy I am!

No Answers ..... Yet

No answers were forth coming for Kaelen's appointment this past Thursday. There was a lot of vagueness on behalf of the specialist, unwilling to question his partner's decision (in front of us) as to why things were done the way they were. I can appreciate that and I can respect the decision as to why the original specialist did the things the way he did. After all, he was only treating Kaelen for the issue that was at hand: damaged hearing due to enlarged adenoids and speech complications due to said adenoids. He wasn't looking for other issues at hand because we had never identified them as issues. They were never issues that we were aware of. Until recently, we have never dealt with sore throats nor ear infections. Our issue has always been with the little man's speech; you either understand him or not. And, a majority of people are in the second category as opposed to the first.

The good news is that our new specialist has booked Kaelen in for a hearing test next week to determine whether or not Kaelen has actually suffered further hearing damage. He wants to cover all bases of issues at hand to be able to treat them all at once upon surgery. At this point, we know that the tonsils are coming out, but the specialist wants to ensure that is the only surgery that is needed and if not, then he can do all things necessary in one surgery as opposed to multiple.

So, we wait until June 15th, the hearing test, to see where we go from here.

Give My Girl Some Love Will Ya?

Hey, for all of my loyal fellow bloggers and lurkers, could you do me a favour today (being Friday) or tomorrow (being Saturday)? My girlfriend, Goofball, is having a big day tomorrow: she is getting married!!

Please head on over here to wish her a happy day, a life filled with love, happiness and laughter. I am so truly happy for her and her man and you can't imagine how much I wish that I could be there for the big day. I am filled with guilt with having no money to do so but instead I will deal with it and shower them with loving thoughts over the weekend. That and a few interesting things that just may arrive on their doorstep over the next week or two .......

Goofball and Mr. Goofball: I love you both and wish you the absolute best on your special day. Know that I am there in spirit and thoughts and look forward to talking with you both and listening to you share your day with me.

Waiting for Answers

Today is the day where hopefully answers will come forth. Answers to how we are going to help Kaelen get better. Ever since the removal of his adenoids back in March, he has been dealing with tonsillitis, hearing loss, ear infections and now speech loss as we can't understand what he is saying.

The adenoids were removed to prevent further hearing damage due to consistent fluid being trapped within the ear canals resulting from over large adenoids. The surgery went so easy and we lived in bliss for three weeks post surgery; all was looking good, until we derailed. Isn't that always the case?

Kaelen was seen by another specialist a few weeks back at the hospital and we are to go back this morning. He questioned why the tonsils were never taken out as they are on the large side of normal as well and he felt that they were the contributing factor to Kaelen's speech issues. He also felt (at the time) that Kaelen likely has always had major ear infections within the ear drum and tonsillitis and that he just never conveyed that pain/discomfort to us. How did he know this? Scar tissue, the sheer size of the tonsils after repetitive flare ups and so forth.

So folks, keep your fingers crossed for us that we can get some kind of diagnosis today to help ease the little man's problems. And of course, I hope the specialist is prepared because I have a list as long as my 36" inseam of questions that I want answered.

Roughin It

The weather was perfect, the excitement filled the air and we were going to do it: rough it tent style. The kids were flying with anticipation of checking out their new haunts for the weekend and well, truthfully, I was fighting with my inner Princess to stay down and not go all diva on me about sleeping on the ground, having no running water nor toilet within 25 steps from me.

Calling upon my inner girl guide experiences hidden within the deep recesses of my overloaded brain, I managed to erect the tent at a record speed of one hour. And during that time, a few expletives were let go, sand and dirt got tracked into the tent (the horror upon horrors for a anal clean freak) as the kids attempted to climb in to check the digs out and I only managed drill my finger into the ground with the mallet once.

With our palace finally established we quickly began to furnish the inside with the needed necessities to survive the weekend: a queen airbed, futon mattress, sleeping bags, blankets, pillows, stuffed animal friends, shelves to put drinks, snacks and yes, the portable DVD player on. Our palace could now rival any harem tent for luxury. After a fabulous BBQ dinner at a picnic table, teaching my son how to pee in the trees and jumping into our PJ's, we settled in for the night with a movie, chips and serious cuddles on the airbed.

A few hours later, the sun finally went down and it was time for bed. The kids were out immediately, cuddled into one another while I lay there starring at the ceiling listening to the noises about me and knew that there would be minimal sleep for me that night. The Mommy Ears kicked in picking up every noise right down to a mouse fart. But the lack of Z's was well worth it seeing the huge grin on my children's faces when they woke up in the morning and enthusiastically declared that camping is so much fun.

The sad thing of this story? We roughed it in our backyard and I snuck into the house a few times to pee on the toilet. And the funny part of the story? I have promised the kids to take them camping this summer outside of the backyard. Snort, don't worry, I am laughing at the thought too.