…and after 3 days of excitement, activity and family fun we are home safe and sound… well safe with 2 little ones with mild colds and a nice mess of things in the living room to return to their proper place!

We got a bit of a late start on Friday – Ken had some things to do on the computer and the family decided to let me sleep in, but eventually we headed out the door and after dropping off library books, picking up slurpees for Ken and myself and a little snack for everyone, we were out of the city. First stop once we hit what the boys call “Grandma’s City” was the drugstore Gavin’s godmother Christine now works. Talk about BUSY! Trinity and I dropped in quickly to say hi and tell her to call us sometime (we missed meeting up this weekend due to conflicting plans). Apparently the amount of people in right now is for prescriptions and cold remedies is almost overwhelming!

This particular pharmacy had hand cleanser for sale AND for use in the store EVERYWHERE – it is also the pharmacy that, while Christine was working was HELD UP last week!!! She said the guy slipped her a note asking for a drug and that he had a gun… scary!!! So she gave him A drug (she didn’t have the one he wanted – or couldn’t spot it quickly) and then as soon as he left, she and the 2 other girls working in the pharmacy scrambled to spy out his licence plate and call the police. Thursday my mom let me know that the same guy had been cornered in someone’s house, shot up the house and then tried to kill himself by shooting himself in the chest (TRIED to)… thankfully they managed to get him out of there and thankfully he did NOT try to do the same to Christine and her co-workers! Talk about scary!

Our next stop was the long awaited one – Grandma’s Work! She works at a lovely thrift shop that is an off shoot of her previous position within the company – the Clothing Depot. She deals with individuals with physical and mental disabilities (what is the PC term now?) with the intention of helping these individuals be functioning individuals in the community as much as they are able. So each day they have a client in to do work and what not. She has been with the company over 10 years now I do believe.

So the kids played with the for sale toys and tried on skates – we managed to get a pair for each of the twins for 4.00 a piece, mom will keep an eye out for a pair for Emanuel… and a great find – wrapping paper for 1.50!

Then off to Grandma’s house to wait for her and Mike to get off work. There was plenty to play with and a dog in the backyard. The kids were in HEAVEN! For supper – crock pot roast!!! YUM! Definitely a hit with the whole family.

Sleeping arrangements were nice and easy – mom and Mike have a ton of the spare rooms with beds in them! The twins got what has been “their room” from the very start… Emanuel bedded down in the computer room (I was so proud – the bed was high up with no guard and he managed NOT to fall off either night!) and Ken, Trinity and I took the spare bedroom downstairs. The only difficulty – the boys were up at 6:30 the next morning! BUT Mom and Mike snuggled with Emanuel until a more reasonable time.

We got spoiled for breakfast BOTH days – Saturday was Mike’s day off and we woke up to homemade waffles topped with strawberries and whipped cream! Total yum! And the next morning they treated us to breakfast at the Elk hall. (Grandpa MacLean – my mom’s dad – was rather high up with the Elks – in a different town). What a spread – pancakes, eggs, ham and sausage. The boys are more than we expected and even Trinity had a nice pile of ham with a pancake.

Our Saturday was somewhat relaxing (before the evening Trick or Treating)… in the morning we headed over to AUC with Mike to have a tour of the new library, maintenance building and check out the remodelling on the gym and cafeteria. What a change in the library!

The Shorter Upstairs Stack - Reference - Tons of Windows!

Actually what a change on campus – this is the school where Ken and I got our degrees though we were there before the U of A bought it up for a further campus. The original building – Founder’s Hall – remains unchanged though they intend on fixing up the interior.

And of course the statue of Martin Luther (not King – the founder of Lutheranism – before the buy out this school was supported by the Lutheran church), though apparently some people think it should be removed… I understand but at the same time – he represents a lot of non-religious values – the courage to speak out when you believe something is wrong… the strength of character to set off on your own… it could not have been easy to walk away from the Catholic church in such an in your face manner!

So it was a bit of a walk down memory lane – I had a course there, remember when all that was GRASS… remember the ravine and the old bridge that is now a land bridge?? The boys were bored but for Ken and myself it was terrific!

Oh speaking of new things – Trinity has mastered the art of the stairs – well going UP them! So what was the first thing she did when we got into the library and went down the stairs… turn around and try to go back up them ACK!

After a nice nap for all 4 kids – and a bit of one for Ken – we dressed up the kids in their costumes and headed back out to visit Grandma at work. Sadly she had already sold yesterday’s costume AND that day’s so no picture to share but the kids were oohed and awed over by customers and friends alike. We fed the boys and Trinity supper while we waited for Grandma to finish up work and then as soon as she got home the kids, Harley in costume (she was SuperDog), Ken, Grandma and myself went out to Trick or Treat.

Strawberry!

Trinity was determined to walk to 3 whole houses! Thankfully at the 3rd house the lady was giving out goody bags and once she got one of those she was all done with the walking and quite willing to sit in the stroller. Soon after that a kind lady gave us some grocery bags to put our candy in when the boys’ pumpkins filled and did we ever need them! We were only out for an hour and they raked in the candy! Some of the houses were giving out cans of pop, one little felt bags with popcorn.

Emanuel did really well though after a while you had to keep an eye out for the houses that he didn’t want to go up to to make sure they weren’t getting something like a pop that he would be upset about missing out on. We only had one incident with a running child (Gavin) slipping in a hole in a driveway when we specifically told him NOT TO run. Mom pointed out something kinda neat about their costumes – Emanuel the Elephant, Zander the Zebra and Gavin the Gorilla (ok so we fudged that last one a little but still… and they picked them all out THEMSELVES!).

Once we got home it took a bit to calm every one down and mom and I had to sort the candy. Though once pjs were on and teeth brushed they all crashed pretty quickly.

We saw Mom and Mike off to a bike part sale out of town before we tidied up their home and headed off ourselves. This afternoon was great – naps for all 4 kids and myself and then Ken snuck in a shorter one after… what I am NOT looking forward to is the amount of tidying with all the stuff we took to mom’s, are bringing back and had yet to clean before we left. Add to that two more dead fish in the tank – including the NEW catfish! (thank goodness BEFORE the 2 weeks was up… so we can take it back with some water, get a new fish and get the water tested) and there is a lot to get caught up with!

Here is our last Halloween book – The Fierce Yellow Pumpkin by Margaret Wise Brown.

I think all 6 of us have caught the cold so here is hoping tomorrow we are healthy enough to get to work putting together our Halloween lapbooks! Then back to fall!

Puppy and Baby and Daddy... Oh My!