Swimming, finally!

Mason finally got to start his swimming lessons today. Although he is a little confused because he keeps asking for his "snow suit." Not sure if he knows its too cold to swim, or just gets the words confused since they both end in suit.


He got to work on floating and blowing bubbles.







This is him jumping. He won't jump until he has hold of someone.

And here he is trying to get the rings off the bottom of the pool.

Of course he is trying to do it without getting his face wet.


And look here, the only 3 yr old in the pool to pick up the rings with his feet! I mean, why bother getting your face wet when you don't have to?

I still didn't care for the whole dressing room situation, and I didn't even have to change. With a preschooler its impossible to get everyone dry and then go outside. Its so much easier to swim when its hot outside.

Oh, and I'm definitely not Canadian yet. We went to the grocery store and this white thing fell out of the sky right next to me. My thought was, what the heck was that. A lady walking toward me must have seen the look on my face (and since she spoke to me she must not have been Canadian either) and she says "Is it really going to snow, again?!" That's right, white things falling from the sky....snow! Luckily there were just a few flakes, but even after all the snow I had already forgotten about snow.

Gymnastics

It seems spring may finally be springing around these parts. But its still a little too cold in the morning for much outdoor activity. Today we went to gymnastics. They have open gym every Wednesday, and Mason gets to use all of the equipment. He has a great time.

Yay! I made it to the top! (He makes it to the top every time, but he always seems surprised. )

This is his favorite activity. Running back and forth on these two runs. He often gets other kids involved in his running too.

And tomorrow we start swimming lessons!

Does winter ever end?

I had planned to take a picture of all the new buds on our tree. Surely they would indicate that Spring is just about here. Although you can still see the buds if you look closely, mostly what you see today is.....SNOW! AGAIN!

But hey, we don't care, we are going to follow the calendar to know what we should be doing. So, Mason starts swimming lessons next week! (Indoor pool, of course.)

Swing set

We picked up a swing set for Mason today. Kind of an early birthday present. We have to spend so much of our time in the house we needed something for him to do outside now that the weather is almost bearable. And it took about 2 hrs to get this done. The temp was around 43 F, which turned out to be way too cold with the wind. Our hands are still thawing out nearly an hour later. But Mason loves his new swing set.

Feeding the "Ducks"

Mason and I are having a hard time adjusting to the quiet house now that everyone is gone. We decided to head out to the pond to feed the ducks. We went to the pond with Kennedy and Cooper and didn't think to bring any bread for the ducks. It turns out the ducks were geese. The same two geese come to the pond every year, according to a man walking his dog today. The one goose we saw was not interested in our bread, thankfully. We did see two ducks land in the pond, but they too didn't bother to even check out our bread. Definitely not Texas ducks that come running anytime anyone throws anything into the water. We threw all the bread in anyway, even when we didn't even see any fish.

The goose was busy guarding his territory before we left. Two other geese kept trying to land in his pond and he kept chasing them and scaring them off. Lots of flying around and honking. They are some big birds. Probably taller than Mason. And take a look at him standing on the roof. Kennedy and Cooper didn't get to see any Canadian Geese while they were here, so I got pictures.

Goodbye

Everyone had to leave today for home. They have to make the 3 hour drive to Calgary before taking the 4 hour plane ride. It will sure be a rough day for them. And to add the their experience we have a true Alberta day for them. Its been snowing most of the night with blowing snow and sleet. The temp is right around freezing and the roads are icy. They are just about there by now though.

WEM Trip

On Monday we headed out to West Edmonton Mall. We got a bit of a late start as everyone slept a little late after the late night. The one thing Shea had on her list to see was the Sea Lion show in the mall. We spent some time at Galaxy Land, where even Shea rode the big roller coaster. The kids all got to ride rides. Chad and Frank went upstairs to visit the casino, but apparently the don't have Craps tables.

After that we headed to the food court to eat and then to buy tickets to the Sea Lion show. We drove the RC boats near the pirate ship, looked at all the creatures in the sea life caverns (penguins, caiman, snakes, sharks, and other sea creatures.) Then some ice cream, and finally the show. The kids had a lot of fun with that, and even Tyler got in on the show.

We made a stop by the Disney store and then one last ride on the carousel before heading home.

Easter

The kids all got up and hunted Easter Eggs Sunday morning. Then they spent the day playing and hanging out. We had a ham dinner/lunch, and I tried my hand at my mom's potatoe salad. It turned out pretty close to hers, but still not quite as good. And I ended up making about 4 gallons of it.

In the afternoon we took the kids to the park and had some fun on the playground and at the pond.

In the evening we had our friends over for dinner. Everyone seemed to have a good time visiting and eating. It was a late night for everyone.

Dying Eggs

Saturday we took the long drive back to Edmonton, about 4 hours. After some time playing, the kids dyed Easter Eggs to prepare for the Easter bunny. Even Tyler helped out.

Mountains with Cousins

My brother and his family came up to spend Easter with us. We met them in Calgary (the only way to get a direct flight from Houston), and headed over to Banff. We went to a ski resort, Lake Louise, Bow Falls, Cave and Basin, and the Upper Hot Springs. We had a very full and tiring visit.

Easter

We are just about ready to head out to Calgary to meet Chad, Shea, Kennedy and Cooper. We are going to spend a couple of nights in the mountains and then back home for Easter. Kennedy already called to say she was on the plane and she would see us in 4.....minutes. Its actually 4 hours, so that's going to be one long plane ride.

And to top it all off, THERE IS NO SNOW IN THE FRONT YARD!!!! Of course everything is still covered in sand and dirt and mud, but its supposed to rain, so maybe everything will be nice and green when we get back?!?!?!

Still Melting

Well, its almost a week later, but look at how the snow is quickly dwindling away. Now are yard gets trampled on, so it doesn't really show how the snow melts.


This is the neighbour's (that's how they spell it in Canada) yard. Isn't it interesting how the snow melts away? Click on the picture to make it bigger to really see what's going on.