August Long Weekend

Laura was 1 day overdue and was bound and determined to enjoy her last pregnant weekend, also celebrating her 5th wedding anniversary with Craig, at the lake. So all but a few family members joined us at the lake for an absolutely gorgeous day. The kids had fun in the dingy and of course on the real boat and in the tube!

I went on the boat just once and took a few pictures of Braden in the tube with cousin Luke and Uncle Craig. They all just had a blast and I'm so glad we get to make these memories with such wonderful people!




We had a nice, big picnic with great food. The kids wore themselves out silly and it was time to head home. But not before a few family pictures...of whoever was around!

And then of course there's the two pregnant sisters! Better late than never to take a pregnancy picture together!

We are waiting to hear some exciting baby news! Laura went into labor/was induced last night! Good luck Nelson family!

Our BC Summer Vacation Part 3

This is the last BC post! I will always attest that this blog is for me and my family. I don't write to appease to anyone...but at the same time I don't want to bore my readers with every.single.detail of everything we do. So this is our last day in BC, which was 1 week ago today. We spent it at Parker Cover on the Okanagan Lake. This is where Jay's grandparents retired to and he spent 6 weeks there every summer. I'm happy we can share this with Braden!


The weather was beautiful, there was lots of shade provided by the big, beautiful trees if we needed it...and Braden and Jay enjoyed floating around the lake in the dingy and building sandcastles on the little beach.

Even the doggy had a great time on our vacation. I don't know if she really appreciates coming, after all...she is just a dog! But it sure beats a week in the kennel, at least we figure so!

 

Then that little thief stole my chair as I got up to take those pictures of him and the dog. Braden moves a LOT faster than Mommy these days!



Then it was back to the lake. He loved to pull the boat down to the water "all by 'yself!"

 

And was very proud of his sandcastle that he built with Daddy!

I loved this vacation so much! I aspire to bring my mom, meet up with Nelsons, my in-laws if they can make it too, and have Ben, Jess, & Abby there at the same time next year. These kids are going to have a great time growing up together, I want to do big family vacations and make lots and lots of memories together. Family is just so important and I cherish mine every day. We are stronger now than ever!

Our First Camping Trip

It's something I've wanted to do with Braden since he got here. Take him camping. I know his first summer at 5-7 months old he would have been great! We even had the trip booked...but it rained so we cancelled. That summer it didn't really get nice until August. Last year, he was 16-18 months old and there was NO WAY I was taking that hooligan camping! That still marks the "worst" age and stage we've ever been through with Braden. Not old enough to listen, yet completely marching to the beat of his own drum. Did not want to sit still for a minute to eat and constantly running away - ACK! Anywho, we booked a Sunday night, Monday night trip to a campground only 1.5 hours away with a big lake...this way we could stay cool with the heat wave and the family could meet us there with the boat! (Andplusalso we could bail at any time and take the short drive home!)

The kids all had a lot of fun, everyone went tubing, and Kihei was SO well behaved. Jay had to really encourage her to come and cool down in the lake...she is not a water dog by nature!

I love our family pictures! The progression of Braden NOT wanting to stop his fun to take a picture and Kihei obsessively staring at a chocolate lab hoping we'll let her go and play with it! The family came to our campsite for supper.


Then we were on our own. It was hot. I mean, really hot. 32C which is about 90F. We only get maybe 5 days in the 30's all summer if we're "lucky". It's just too hot for most Albertans, we're not climatized to the heat and humidity like that! Here's a summary of our evening/night:

1 - Braden and Kihei were VERY well behaved, better than I expected - especially the dog!

2 - Braden enjoying his bath in the 5th wheel, I remember this as a kid too!

3 - A bit of #SheReadsTruth camping style for me

4 - S'mores with Jay

5 - Braden and Daddy still sleeping at 9AM

6 - Braden enjoying pancakes for breakfast

So, the night. I'll try to summarize as best I can!

• Braden had been very excited to sleep in his Special Camping Bed....until it was time to sleep. No nap and a bedtime of 9PM, 2 hours later than usual and the kid was READY for bed yet tried to protest the same
• 2 stories and 2 songs later, I laid with him as he was fussing, rubbed his back and he was out
• 1:30AM I hear him cry out...but he settles
• 1:45AM full on crying and calling out for me, I go down to settle him
• Sing him songs, rub his back...nope! He wants to go play outside, he thinks this 4.5 hour "sleep" is it and it's time to go!
• I try lying with him, he says "Mommy go!" but then fusses as soon as I try and settle back in our bed
• I try letting him play with the iPad
• Jay steps in around 3:30 and I believe by 4AM we were all finally sleeping again
• Braden is not the kind of kid that has ever been able to sleep with us, so I was shocked to see the boys sleeping together when I got up in the morning

So Jay took Braden & Kihei for a bike ride while I made breakfast, and then we went to the lake for the morning.

Jay took all of these next pictures, he's pretty proud of himself!

 I didn't take any pictures of us playing in the lake, because I was hot, tired and didn't want to lug around my DSLR in the sun/water. Braden had a wonderful, wonderful time and finally has the attention span to stay at the beach and play. When we went to Maui 6 months ago...not so much! We came back to our campsite, had lunch, Jay and I talked it over and were luckily on the same wavelength and decided that after Braden's nap...we'd pack up and leave. It was just TOO HOT, no A/C in the trailer, and we really didn't want to risk another sleepless night for all 3 of us. So I put Braden down for his nap shortly after 12, I ended up falling asleep with him for THREE HOURS which I couldn't believe, he slept for 1 more hour as we packed and cleaned up...and then we were ready to hit the road.

TOO hot to camp for our Albertan butts!

But our "fun" wasn't over yet. Jay's truck has always had a problem with the coolant...so sure enough, a few minutes on the highway out of the town we camped at...Jay's truck is overheating and we're pulled over on the highway. The truck is spewing steam everywhere and Jay got a jug of coolant in it and we barely made it back to town. God was good to us that day, there was a gas station for Jay to buy coolant, a McDonald's with an air conditioned play place for me and Braden to kill time, and a nice, shady tree for Kihei to stay cool under. 1.5 hours later, the truck had cooled down enough and we made it, by the grace of God, back home the 1.5 hour drive.

That was a lot of work to go camping for 1 day and 1 night! BUT, we learned a ton, I know what more to expect next time we go and we will never go during a heat wave even though the really nice, sunny weather seemed appealing at the time. We're sure learning a lot about family trips!! You gotta learn one way or the other, right?! It kind of felt like a Griswold camping trip, but it's one to remember forever!

First Day at the Lake This Summer!

Well, it seemed to take awhile, but summer finally got here and we're having some great days in the forecast too. So we finally rounded up the troops and headed to Sheerness Lake for the day. Joy dropped Danika off and Craig was at work up north, but everyone else was there and we had a wonderful time!

This is the beautiful drive to the lake through the Drumheller badlands

Good thing Braden had an awesome nap on the way to the lake!

And it's a good thing that he did have that nap because he did not stop running/walking/moving the whole time, unless he was on the boat or the 10 minutes he stopped to eat a lot of supper! That's not even an exaggeration, just ask anyone that was there!

He would have loved to just "drive" the boat all day!

Look at my big boy going down the slide all by himself!



Laura, whether she likes it or not, turned 25 yesterday!

Mmmm! Grandma made a yummy cake that everyone loved! EVERYONE!




After one last, late boat ride and wakeboard for Jay we finally headed home at 8:30PM which is at least 1.5 hours past Braden's bedtime. The lake sure tires you out...

It took him about 20 minutes to fall asleep in the truck, we got home, he woke up, had some giggles and cuddles and fell right back asleep. What a great kid!....and a great day!