July 18

Of course I took TONS of pictures on Jimmie’s special day… here is more to enjoy!

Just the girls waiting outside Karyn’s house

The world’s largest dinosaur from below

Information plaque

Pre lunch photo

Post church meandering

Educational fun

Karyn and Ken

Authoritative pointing finger

Me and my brother

Apparently pollinating flowers?

My brother

Bones

Mammoth under attack

How much do we weigh?

Water

And yet another dinosaur

Cousins

Us girls

Echo and Cousin Veronika

July 18

Ok ok I taunt and taunt and… you have to wait ONE MORE ENTRY to read our biggest adventure… I be evil! Anyway Wednesday… well it is a very SPECIAL Wednesday… this is the day we celebrate my nephew Jimmie’s 7th birthday!

Waiting for Daddy so we could all leave for the museum

But first Karyn, Veronika, Ken and myself with kids in tow had some before party plans. We started off at the Little Church. I think Veronika, Karyn and I all remember times we had visited this place in our childhoods. I was definite… we HAD TO take the kids there. It actually is meant to seat 6 adults but our little ones fit in quite nicely. Emanuel was quick to  take the pulpit and Echo LOVED the small scale seating. 

Gotta love the rebuild story AND the amateur attempt at making it read dirty

Little Church

Future minister?

Just her size

I absolutely love the landscape in Drumheller and valley. There is something very timeless about it. 

The Badlands

Me

Gavin and Emanuel

After the church it was time for lunch at A&W where we took up half the seating in the restaurant. 

We do fill a restaurant

After lunch we split the kids between all 3 cars for novelty sake and then headed down the road for the main attraction – Tyrell Museum and Jimmie’s birthday. I remember many trips to this particular museum, my brother was a total dinosaur encyclopedia growing up! We met right up with the birthday boy, my brother, sister in law and Gammie. With the hurried phone calls confirming that Grandma and Grandpa Mike were running late and the boys running wild we opted to head into the museum and let them catch up (thank you Ted for the free pass in by the way!!).

Outside the museum

We saw dinosaurs, dinosaurs and… well other stuff… all on fast forward and with the same chaotic feel as herding kittens. BUT everyone had a blast!

ROAR

Fishy

Echo spent the majority of her time with Aunty Holly as Trinity monopolized Aunty Karyn.

Aunty Holly and Echo

We measured kids against a giant dinosaur leg…

All 6 kids

And of course had a family photo taken…

Extended family

Just the Reinsch-Johnsons

And then it was onto the gift shop where each of the kids got free reign (within reason) to pick a present… There was quite the variety… a plush dinosaur (pink), a geology set… etc etc and yours truly got herself a monogrammed blanket with a carrying strap (with Canada on it) since there was no plushy critters with the museum’s info emblazoned on it.

Shopping

After that it was back into the cars (or in the birthday boy’s case the cab they rented for the day) and onto the giant dinosaur statue that overlooks the splash park (slippery) and the fountain (safer). So that we could… SPLASH… seriously any town we can we splash!

Dinosaur themed of course

Miss Echo (who also biffed it and bit her lip!)

Fountain

Splashy

Don’t forget present time! There were some special gifts to the boys and girls from their cousin as well…

Gift time

Echo with her special Strawberry Shortcake set

And then… ICE CREAM! Just across the street and everything!

In the parlor

The partakers

With ice cream and heat and a long day with an early start it was time to say good bye… tearful and huggy but it was done and off we started on our next big adventure… check back for our next entry where I will finally divulge it!!! 

Sleepy

Now how do you start a Monday the right way? Well… walk your mother’s dog with two happy little boys. There was even some treasure found! Zander found a penny and a marble! Very exciting, and on our walk we practiced spelling random words… Zander absolutely LOVED the one on one time and is determined that we need to do it much more often. 

Found treasure

I have to admit that as much as I do not want our own family dog… grandma’s is our dog now lock stock and barrow and we love her. I think she rather loves us as well! I was a mean Mommy on Monday and forced the boys to get all educational… outside… in the front… with… GASP… CHALK! Yup, I gave them a list of names of everyone in our family and Grandma and Grandpa Mike and Gypsy and told them to go create. I think they did a great job!

Our family courtesy of Gavin... I especially love the hair

We did our usual school stuff… and made our way through our day with baby and dog in perfect alignment for entertaining themselves. I do love how well they have bonded together!

Buddies

We had surprise visitors, a friend of mine and mom’s came by slurpee in hand (seriously EVERYONE knows my addiction)… Tammy and 2 of her kids (Veronica and Russel). VISITING TIME! You never realize how much a supportive friend is helpful when you are feeling a little down. We chatted about life, frustrations, silly things… and watched our babies enjoy each other’s company. Russel is MUCH younger than Echo but almost the same size. She kept petting him like she does the dog and following him as he crawled. I love it when she plays with other kids. She is so happy! 

Toys!

Travel buddies

I have a new goal – I am going to take the two patterned rolls of duct tape Tammie got me and make a lunchbox for her daughter. I have some ideas I just need to go to Michaels in the city next weekend (church again) and get some purple to tie it all together (none in town here at Walmart boo). A new challenge is always welcome, I just need to finish up the purses I have for sale on the 9th first… and the headbands… and a few more stacked bows… oops! Oh and I think there are a few featureless owls STILL!

After we saw off our friends it was time to make a family trip to Walmart for food and a few craft supplies… oh and a stop off at Dollarama for more RC Cola… I had had a really rough morning with tears and all first thing so I did take a walk before lunch SOLO to get some perk me up items! So yes, it was a TWO slurpee day… and I emotionally need it. Sometime being a woman SUCKS! And as Ken says… it HAS TO BE at the end of the month when right now that is an instant high stress time…

So we had to make it up with Tuesday… I decided to be one on one with the dog and speed walk my way to happiness… when Mommy is the one out of sorts sometimes SHE needs a time out. So I took one, with Gypsy. I have to say I love that feeling where we both just focused on the walk and what we could find out and about. The rest of the world, for that period of time, did not matter. Just Gypsy, me and whatever we saw as we wandered around the neighbourhood. I came back much more stable and ready to work with the boys on their books. And wow are we creating wonderful adventure books! 

A little crafting too

Oh and of course the cake mix I had picked up the day before (chocolate) made wonderful cupcakes for everyone to have a bit of chocolate therapy!

Note the missing one that Ken stole before I could take a picture

With more time in the backyard enjoying the sunshine and rather nice weather we are really enjoying our opportunities to see fresh air and play without electronics and book work. Sandboxes are a great medium for creative play! As is being in charge of your baby sister on a sunny day! 

Fun in the sun

Though Echo did spend some time playing dollhouse…

Dolly time

And we had to bust out Echo’s toy from Dollarama… a no name brand version of the AquaDoodle. If she and Trinity keep on enjoying this one as much as they have I may even have to invest in the brand version… we had one back when and the boys love it but it wore out and it looks like they have improved it over the years!

Doodle time

Now we could not let another day go by without crossing something off our list! This time it was TWO somethings – the fountain on one side of the lake and the swan which apparently felt like being on the other! Add in a bridge, some green grass (and some trees) and a nice drive and I think everyone had a good  time. 

The girls

With Daddy

The fountain

The swan

Now with TWO items crossed off I think we were ALL ready to head back to the house… Supper, baths and BED… and then, come midnight, Grandma and Grandpa Mike home from their Nebraska vacation! WOW has it really been almost 2 weeks??? So I am no longer dog mommy but I still get to spend lots of time with her – apparently I am loved at this point and she enjoys being at my feet when I take my quiet time in the kitchen to craft. And I really must get crafting more… time is ticking! If you are going to be in the neighbourhood remember – JUNE 9th… ELKS LODGE… 10 am to 4pm!! We will have a table (It’s a Hoot and Friends)…

Finding our stride AND our balance