Some Summer- A very long post

Pictures and stories from July 2012~ This has been one very full month!

1. Canada Day Long Weekend
Steve had to make his way up to Ft. McMurray after the long weekend, so we thought it'd be fun to take the kids to visit friends and family in Edmonton. It was great timing for a little break from our everyday life and we loved all the time we got to spend with people we love!

 Kalea has this new "thing" she does whenever I try to take pictures of her in her bathing suit, she does all these poses??? I have no idea where she learned any of these because the only magazines in our house are of the home & garden variety, and the only tv she watches is of the kid-friendly cartoon variety. Anyways, we all have natural talents right? LOL

We spent all day Saturday at Wizard Lake with Steve's uncle Wilf and his family, and Opa brought his boat out too! Kalea went for her very first tube ride, and Brynlee was a complete "water wimp" and freaked out too much to even make an attempt at a boat ride. She is such a girl sometimes.
 Really, this day of boating was all for Steve, the only time he got out on the water last year was at our family reunion, and it was short lived, so he's been crying about that for the last year. I'm glad his need for water time was fulfilled if only so I don't have to hear about it anymore :P
*Sidenote* Going to the lake is so different as a Mom, as in, it's a nice change of scenery but still a heck of a lot of work, am I right? I still had fun, but gone are the days of carefree sunbathing while Steve has his fun in the water...sigh...

The night that I arrived in Edmonton (Steve brought the girls up on the Thursday night and I came the following day) we met my best friend and her little family down at Kinsmen for some playtime. It was so fun to watch our kids play together and have fun at a place where we have so many of our own fun memories. Brynlee was dead asleep when we arrived so Steve plopped her in a swing and she gradually woke up (see bottom right picture), poor girl had no clue where she was in that moment, but she was real happy to be in the swing and I think she probably tried every single swing at the park that night. Crazy kid.

2. Calgary Stampede 100th Birthday
Early this spring I mentioned that it would be fun to go to the chuckwagon races and the grandstand show since in 7yrs Steve and I had never actually gone to any of the actual Rodeo part of the Stampede. My brother and sister had never been either, so Dad got us all tickets to go. It was awesome to get to see some of the action, and really that's what the Stampede is all about, that and mini-donuts, I am a sucker for those and they did not disappoint. This year, the grandstand show featured Paul Brandt and I found myself completely enthralled by the performances that accompanied each of the songs that he sang. It was really well thought out and well executed on all levels and I was super impressed. When he sang "Alberta Bound" I got chills, it was amazing to hear it live, in a crowd of people who "get-it" and I felt really proud and blessed that this is where I come from.

The best part about Stampede this year were the amazing fireworks displays that they put on at the grounds and 4 or 5 different locations throughout the city. So fri/sat/sun nights of the Stampede we got a great view of fireworks right from our deck! Pretty awesome! We don't know how we'll ever find such a perfect location if we ever move from here, we are SO lucky!

3. Cousin Time
This year Serena and her family moved from Edmonton to Raymond, but it was a long process full of stops in Calgary, Hawaii, Arizona and finally Raymond. The kids really missed their cousins, it's cute because they randomly ask for them, but sad when you have to explain that they are too far away for a visit. Skype is sure a lifesaver when families are all over the place! This day was so hot, the kids spent the majority of it outside playing and splashing in Oma and Grandpa's backyard. It was great and we're happy that our cousins are just a 2hr drive away now!

Some things that I've noticed about the girls lately... Kalea is starting to assert herself as the big sister and is letting Brynlee get away with less, becoming a little bit bossy, and definitely starting to play the blame game. Brynlee is very good at being the second child, she likes to make us laugh and get extra attention whenever and however she can, she loves to bug her big sister and reacts overreacts to EVERYTHING. They are getting a lot better at sharing and are starting to care more about each others feelings, in fact, Brynlee usually brings Kalea one of her toys as a peace offering when she apologizes for something. Kalea has a soft spot for her sister and when I explain that something Kalea has done has hurt Brynlee's feelings, she gets really sad about it. Being kind is a big deal around here. They are really good girls and love each other so much, they don't like to be separated for very long and when they are, they talk about the other sister almost the entire time! They also won't go to bed without each other, I've tried to send one or the other to bed early for disobeying around bedtime, etc... only it doesn't work so well because they start crying so bad for the other that it just becomes a huge tear-fest that no mama wants to deal with at that part of the day. Needless to say I feel bad for anyone who tries to wedge their way between these girls, they'll definitely have their work cut out for them!
That pretty much wraps up our July, next post we'll have to share all the fun of an all-day 4yr old birthday party- I'm still recovering from it and it wasn't even for my kid!