Fall is in the air. Also dust.

To begin, a hilarious photo.

Madeline's typical get-up. What a fun kid!


It's amazing how much can happen in just a few weeks.

We've said goodbye to summer and with it, Lisa. We shall miss her! Luckily we got to go swimming one last time, even though I did forget to wear my contacts and had to swim with glasses on. I don't recommend it, although I saw at least 2 other people wearing them in the pool so I wasn't alone.

We had the Thompsons over for a great visit. It's always such a treat to have friends stay over and Madeline asked about their anticipated arrival multiple times every day for about a week before. Next time I won't tell her they're coming until 2.5 days before they get here.

Madeline and Brigham. I have envisioned two options for their collective futures. 1. They get married. and/or 2. They take over the world together with a league of evil henchmen.


I had to put this picture up because it's freaking hilarious. Ryan's two favourite things. Technology and steak. iPad and BBQing some man meat. The steaks were deliciously provided by the Thompsons and were enjoyed by all. Well....all the parents.


I love this picture of all the kids having fun on the swing set. I plan on making them all pose for the exact same photograph in 15 years. I promise to post it as well.


Jason giving Ben a vigorous ride on the swirling circle of death at the park.


Claire and I navigating the wood chips. Surprisingly wood chips are one of the best park fillers to drive a wheelchair over.



We had a lovely evening at the Olive Garden with the fam and Brandon's parents after Steph went through the temple for the first time. We took the bike for our trip and it was lots of fun.

I've been busy with Malmo Parents Association stuff. It's been incredibly busy and the year hasn't officially started yet. I hope that things will calm down as we get into the schedule. We've managed to hire a TA with one week's notice and our Annual General meeting went off without a hitch, although I was hoping someone else would volunteer to be the president so I could graciously step down and do a dance of joy. Alas, it did not happen.

We saw Scott Pilgrim and Inception. Well, Ryan saw Scott Pilgrim three times. Once with Rob. Once with Jason. Once with me. I think it still wasn't enough for him.

Ryan took a lovely trip to the dump! I know you're excited to read this, but it was a very cathartic experience for us. We got rid of a bunch of weeds/trees that were growing beside the garage. It had to be documented because it looks so nice out there now.

Madeline had a fun playdate with Abby and luckily it was a beautiful, warm day so we even broke out the sprinkler again and had a lovely outdoor tea party as well.

Ryan's been having fun with Young Men's activities, including a boating extravaganza and a game of Running Scared (kind of like Fugitive).

Then there was the wedding. The event of the summer we'd all been looking forward to. Unfortunately Ryan couldn't make the trek down to Cardston because he had school meetings, so Rob took one for the team and traveled with me and the girls. Dad put us up in a lovely hotel with awesome water slides.

The happy couple!


Mom & Dad and all their kids. Half of us are married off now.


Claire and Madeline, being beautiful in their princess dresses.


Steph and Brandon and their unofficial flower girl nieces (minus the littlest one, who was having a sad day). It was fun to get to know Brandon's family a bit better.


There were lots of hair-blowing incidents in the pictures. 'Twas a typical Southern Alberta windy day.


Madeline viewed the grass area in front of the temple as her personal twirling zone, and acted accordingly. She was also doing loops around the flower beds on the concrete edging. Luckily she kept her dress quite clean, until we gave her chocolate cookies to tide her over until the family dinner.


After the wedding we switched to Back To School mode. Ryan's teaching grade 5 again at Campbelltown and Claire started kindergarten at Grace Martin, right across the street from our house. She's got a great aide and a good support system and we think it's going to be an exciting year for her. Madeline starts preschool next week and will go two mornings a week. Then horseback riding starts the week after and then possibly ballet class. It's all coming together. Soon we will have no free time! Isn't that the goal? :)

Claire and all of her paraphernalia on her first day of school. She's a high maintenance diva who requires a lot of accoutrements.


We had one last summer hurrah at Mom and Dad's house. They recently acquired a lovely hot tub and we just had to go and test it out. Claire is the hot tub connoisseur. She approves whole heartedly.

Ryan and Claire. She's awake but in a state of extreme relaxation. That's what hot tubs do to her and she loves it.


Mel and Maddie, Claire and I enjoying the water.


We're one step closer to completing our deck project. That is, we now have the door that will lead out on to the deck.

Our window that became a door. What a beautiful transformation.


Our new door.


Snacks that I like:

PhillySwirl Stix (the best popsicles I have ever had)
Heinz Bagel Bites (a satisfying snack)
Fruitsations (like eating actual fruit!)

*(P.S. None of these products has any actual nutritional value)

*(P.P.S. No, I am not getting paid to endorse any of these products but I will gladly accept monetary compensation for my glowing recommendations if it happens to come my way)

The Jackster, Jack-E, Jack-o-rama, makin' copies

I tried to find a video link for the Rob Schneider "Makin' copies" SNL skit, but no dice. For those of you who don't know what I'm talking about, I seem crazy right now.

Anyway, here's the run down of last week.

We had our garage sale! It went quite well, with the help of Kijiji and a couple of nice days. Do people usually sell all their stuff? We have quite a bit left over and most of it will be going to Goodwill. Is it mushy to say that I cried when I set out the little baby clothes? It's the end of an era and no matter how sure you are about a decision, it's still hard to have a door like that closed. END OF INTROSPECTION. :)

Here's Ryan hiding amongst the boxes. He was a great salesman.


We had Rob's help with the girls during the garage sale extravaganza and he accompanied Ryan to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World. Ryan announced, upon returning home, that it is in his Top Five Movies Of All Time. Yes, all that capitalization was necessary.

We were anticipating a black light puppet show at the library, but the lady doing it got appendicitis. I guess I can forgive her for that. Instead we made jungle puppets and had fun with Grandma Patterson who came with us.

Ryan and I went out for a delicious date night at The Keg (thanks Airmiles for having a good restaurant amongst your redemption options). And luckily it was Lobster Summer! Woo. I love lobster.

Ryan's been doing some work out at my parents place and a bit with Trevor. Money has been a little more sporadic than we had anticipated, so if anyone needs a kidney and is prepared to offer top dollar, Ryan and I both have a spare one.

On a less money-grubbing note, we had a lovely time at the CNIB family picnic. They always plan such nice events, but hardly anyone comes! We were the first to arrive and only one of 4 families that came. We stayed the longest as well, which totally goes against my socializing agenda. However, it was fun and we got lots of goodies, including some Braille books and magnets and toys and t-shirts. Bonus.

Because we were one of the only ones there, we got lots of quality time with Dizzy the clown. He made the girls balloon hats, swords and scabbards, flower bracelets, an apple, and flowers. Also, we got a little magic show that had both girls giggling.


Maddie fishing for treasures. She got this gooey gunk that makes farting sounds when you push on it. Thanks CNIB. We might have to "lose" it soon.


The weather was funny. It would rain for 2 minutes, then get super hot. This happened about 3 times. Luckily we had a big tent to hide under during the downpours. Here is Claire enjoying a sunny period.


She's ready for the big leagues now.


Claire getting her balloon flower from Dizzy.



Claire got new leg braces and new weighted lap belt for school. We're getting excited for her to start kindergarten, although it seems strange to have a child that age!

It's cliche to say (and it's cliche to say it's cliche) but I can't believe how fast the summer has flown by. We're getting school supply lists in the mail (why does Claire need 2 boxes of Kleenex and 3 large glue sticks??? It boggles the mind), I'm starting to get emails about Malmo parent meetings (I didn't manage to weasel out of the president role - hopefully some avid parent will volunteer to take over for me at the Annual General Meeting! Fingers crossed!). I have to go out tomorrow and buy backpacks and new shoes and new clothes.

I remember how excited I always was at this time of year when I was a kid. You still had enough time to do fun summer activities, but you had all that lovely new stuff accumulating and it was all tied up with the anxiety and anticipation of a new year, new school, new grade, new friends, new classes, etc. For us, Ryan being a teacher, September seems like our "New Year." We should do a count down to midnight the day before school, but then we'd all be too tired the next day. Let's just have cupcakes instead.

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. :)