I lied

I did. I said the last post was a buttload of pictures. But this is the *real* buttload of pictures. Hang on to your knickers.

We just got back from a family reunion at Bear Lake. It was lovely.

It took us about 18 hours of driving to get where we were going. We broke it into two days. A jaunt down to Medicine Hat "the Drumheller way," and then down to the lake.

Claire enjoyed the trip.


Sometimes you have to resort to crazy ways to keep yourself entertained.


We played eye spy, did puppet shows, had sing alongs, made forts and had lots of laughs and lots of stops along the way.

The girls sleeping in the car. Thankfully this happened quite a bit during our trip.



We were lucky enough to stay at the Jensens new place in Medicine Hat. The stars aligned and the Thompsons were in town at the same time, so we had an impromptu JeThompTon extravaganza.


Our family decided to rent a house for everyone to stay in and it was a great idea. Here's a picture of it. Guess how much it was selling for? $399 000. That's right. We all had been guessing 1.2 million or so. A house that costs that much in Edmonton does *not* look like this and is *not* overlooking a beautiful lake. Sheesh.


However, there was one drawback. THE DRIVEWAY. This was the scariest driveway of my life. Turning off the tiny, windy road down this was like going off the edge of a cliff. I don't know how, but Ryan managed to back down several times without killing us all. Amazing.


Our lovely bedroom.


Lake view from the house.


The steep winding road to get to the house.


Ryan and I on the deck when we first arrived, after driving 13 hours in one day.



As usual, we had tons of fun together whether it was structured activities or just lounging around. But it wouldn't be a Patterson reunion without games. Somehow Uncle Mike manages to cram this many games into their car every time.


Grandpa and Madeline having a serious chat, enjoying the beautiful weather.


Ry and Rob contemplating life and music.


Following Grandma's tradition of waste not, want not, we tried to only use one cup each. Some of the names inscribed on these cups were quite creative.


Because we got back late from our seadooing, we missed the scavenger hunt. That put Ryan in an ideal position to be the judge of the remaining 3 groups. Nola was very attentive to his comforts but that still didn't help her team win. :)


Maddie with Mel's birthday boa.


Joel and Claire spending some quality time together. He's so sweet to her.


Madeline helping Grandma make birthday cakes. We celebrated Mel, Tori, Brandon and Carrie's birthdays while there.


Playing Family History Jeopardy on the deck. Good job Nola!


Madeline found a furry friend in the house. Meet Teddy.



Last time we were at the lake, Grandma introduced us to the world of the Pickleville Playhouse and Juanito Bandito. We were happy to see that this year they were doing a sequel of sorts.

It was hilarious!


Us at the play.


We had a ton of fun at the beach and on the lake, despite many of our white Canadian bodies being scorched by the sun (especially Daren, Joel and Ryan)

Ryan and I at the beach.


Madeline and her trusty floaty crab. I swear she didn't know what to do. She was so excited and kept flitting from one activity to another, staying about 5 seconds at each one.


The boys sharing a seadoo, Ryan Greg and Rob.


Madeline hanging out with Ryan and Daren.


Where are my feet mom?


The girls playing with the parachute.


Ryan wakeboarding like a pro.


Claire enjoying the beach. She even fell asleep.


Claire and Ryan at the beach.


Brandon, Steph, Ryan and I on the seadoos. GEEKY TOURIST PHOTO!


One last family picture before heading back home.


We all have our cheesy jokes about Butte Montana (BUTT...ha ha). But we had a fun time staying there. It definitely helps break up the long drive home.

Hotel bed jumping!


Having fun in the hotel pool.


When we got home, we expected that Madeline would be glad to have her own bed back, but no. She kept asking if we could go back to the hotel.

It was a wonderful trip with wonderful people. Did I mention it was wonderful? It was wonderful and we loved it. This was definitely our kind of camping. And it was wonderful. :)

A buttload of pictures

We've been up to lots of shenanigans lately. Also, don't say I didn't warn you about the number of pictures. I totally did. In the title.

We went to the opening parade for Capital Ex and it was great fun!

Maddie and I on the train on the way to the parade.


Maddie and Christopher took turns having to go to the bathroom. Luckily we were right across the street from City Centre Mall. Next time I think we'll find a spot in the shade since the kids wilted pretty fast in the intense heat.


Claire had a blast at the parade. She giggled herself silly every time there was a band, a car horn, a siren, a street cleaner or music of any kind. It was so fun to watch her. She got a special panda bear doll from the Shriner's group. They stopped the whole parade to hand it to her. It was quite sweet. (This picture is taken after we switched to the shady side of the street about 3/4 the way through)


This guy waved right at me as I was taking his picture. :)


After the parade we headed over to City Hall to enjoy the wading pool. Unfortunately, everyone else had the same idea, but it was fun. Here's Claire and Lisa soaking up the sun.


Maddie had a great time and made lots of friends.




We got to attend two bridal showers for Steph. The first was a mad-hatter tea party at Mel and Nat's place, so of course we wore our nicest hats.

Madeline was in tea heaven.


I love this picture of Claire.


I think we were the only ones who wore hats, but it was fun. :)


The second shower was out in Wetaskiwin at mom and dad's place. It was a lot of fun, but I didn't take any pictures.

I had a bit of an adventure. While moving a box, a heavy die-cutter thingie that was on the top took a tumble and landed on my hand. This was the result. I am very surprised that it didn't crush my hand. All I have is a cut on my finger, so I was lucky, but my rings were not.



For the second year we attended Monday Morning Magic. It's a special program at Capital Ex where they open up the family rides for kids with disabilities and their families for a few hours. There are athletes, tv crews, clowns, mascots all wandering around, riding with the kids and it's just a great atmosphere. Luckily I had Rob to help me this year. :)

Oilers at Capital Ex. Zack Stortini Ladislav Smid and Tom Gilbert.


Us and "Bearemy"


A real, live Eskimo, Kai Ellis.


Maddie's been talking for weeks about rollercoasters, so it was the first ride we went on.


They had the best clowns there. They were so sweet and fun. Not creepy at all, which is rare as far as clowns go.


The twisty boat ride.


Enjoying the carousel.


Madeline's dream - driving an ambulance. She already wants to drive the car and I keep telling her that she has to be 16. She promptly tells me that she *is* 16 already.


Claire liked the feel of the fire hoses.


Dutifully planting a potato in the kids area. We learned how to be good farmers.


Claire was an expert fisher.


This is where Rob really came from.


The Butterfly Hatching Station - it was so cool to watch them!


Awaiting the fabulous Super Dogs while enjoying our bag lunches.


It's a great program and we have had lots of fun both years. Lots of volunteers make it happen and I'm very grateful to them.

Ryan and I went to Macbeth at Shakespeare in the park. 'Twas very dramatic. I would heartily recommend it. It's a very fun night out. But I think next time we'll go to the comedy to shake things up a bit. Woo.

Here's the stage.


And here we are.



Ryan and I also took in Taste of Edmonton for the first time. It was great. We had beef tenderloin wrapped in bacon, crab and cream cheese fried wontons, cheese empanadas, spring rolls, coconut ice cream and leprechaun pie. Yummers.

The girls and Lisa and I attended a couple of library presentations at the Whitemud Crossing branch. One was all about snakes and the other was shadow puppets which was perfect for Claire and her vision. I love that library.


Here are some recent Maddie-isms.


We had Oreos yesterday and she hands me the two completely cleaned off cookies after licking off the centre and says: "I don't like the crusts."

Mom: "Maddie, where did those hiccups come from?"
Maddie: "Mexico."

She's obsessed with going to Mexico. For the past two days she's been packing her luggage which includes all the magnets from the fridge, her flash cards and lipstick. She keeps telling me that we're leaving in 15 minutes and that she's going to drive.

I can tell she's growing up because she's getting more and more frustrated with Dora. Dora will ask, "Where is bear's house?" or some equally inane question and Maddie will answer, in an exasperated voice, "It's right over there!"

The girls make me laugh every day. :)