Woops

There went July. I started this blog entry, trying to squeeze one more into the month, but life swept me away and here I am, in August.

So let's start with July, shall we?

Apparently the sand in the sandbox is too mainstream for Madeline.

We attended an "underwater puppet show" at the library - they did shadow puppetry and glow in the dark shape puppetry with an underwater theme. It was especially good for Claire, who paid close attention to the lights and the shadows.

We had a fun time at the Street Performer's Festival.

The train ride is a big part of the adventure. :)

Kathy and I relived our teenaged years at the NKOTBSB concert and had an absolute blast!

We were definitely not the craziest "old" ladies there! :)

We took a spur of the moment trip to Slave Lake to visit the Thompsons, and had a great time! Here we are at the top of Marten Mountain overlooking the lake.

On our walk to the park, Ben and Madeline took the lead. It was very cute!

Hanging out on the bridge. Don't we all look so cool?

The whole gang, minus Ben, who is hiding out of the frame.

The girls and I took in the Capital Ex kick off parade and had a great time together.

Madeline has been playing hairdresser a lot lately.

Here is Ryan, getting all spiffied up.

For the third year in a row, we attended Monday Morning Magic at Capital Ex, where the rides are opened up only for families of kids with disabilities. We always have a great time.

Ryan and his new friend Ricky Ray - he knows his dad will LOVE this picture!

Ryan and the girls spent an afternoon at Rob and Olivia's and enjoyed a lovely summer day with them and Cairo.

Madeline reminds me a lot of "Fancy Nancy," the character in a children's book series who loves to make things fancy. Ryan found a bottle of "fancy" lemonade at the grocery store and promised her a delicious, elegant breakfast with it to drink the next morning.

She dressed for the occasion and we enjoyed a beautiful picnic as a family.

We had another fun time with the Thompsons when they came to visit us.

We explored a new park together.

Pictured above with Claire is Lisa - our lovely helper for the summer. She's been a welcome addition to our family a few times a week and we really love having her around! Luckily she doesn't mind hanging out with us!

In other news:

My sister Mel is doing well on her mission in Ireland. We get to hear from her about once a week via email and it's good to have that contact with her.

I started something "fun" this month. Steph and Brandon transferred the reins of their flyer route over to me, so each week I load up my ipod with some good songs and traipse through our neighbourhood, delivering the junk mail that people complain about. Despite feeling like a kid with a paper route again, it's a nice chance to get to know our neighbourhood and get a little exercise and extra money.

Ryan's been working hard at the Apple Store this summer, even running one of the summer camps for kids.

We got to help out a bit with Greg & Steph's move to their first house! We're glad to have them close by and are so happy for them.

Madeline's friend Oliver had a fun birthday party at a spray park and we enjoyed a lovely summer afternoon with friends.

We've spent a lot of rainy days inside and ventured outside whenever we could.

We definitely had an enjoyable July. :)

Happy Canada Day!

We had a great Canada Day with family and friends.

Madeline and I worked on this red velvet cake and it turned out very tastily. :)

We headed out to Wetaskiwin and spent some time in the sun, waiting for Rob's band performance. Some of us got a little too much sun.

Luckily there was a park nearby to keep Maddie busy.

After the somewhat incompetent tech team got everything figured out, Rob's band was able to do a stellar job. It was neat to see him in action.

Pants and Animals - Woo!

Claire loved the music!

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at Grandma and Grandpa Patterson's place.

We had lots of fun on the trampoline.

We spent some time in the hot tub, fighting off the mosquitos and playing games with Madeline.

Claire had good cuddles with Grandma and Grandpa after having some stomach troubles.

We also managed to sneak in a few family pictures in our Canada day garb.

It's tradition now. :)

We headed back up to the city for the fireworks and they were great.

Madeline got a sweet ride on Ryan's shoulders as we trekked a ways to find a good spot.

It was a wonderful end to the day and a fitting reminder of what a great country we live in!

Friggin' June

It went a bit too fast.

Here we are. School's done. Summer's in full swing. We're all a little older, a little wiser.

Speaking of older...

Before:

After:

Both Claire & Madeline finished their school years.

Madeline will move on to the 4 year old class at Malmo Pre-kindergarten, after a wonderful experience in the 3 year old class.

One of Madeline's year-end activities in preschool was a trip to the zoo.

Grandma Patterson accompanied her and they had a wonderful time together.

Claire is going to be in grade 1 in September at Grace Martin.

She'll move up with lots of her friends and we're looking forward to a great year.

We've been very lucky to have wonderful teachers for our kids.

Here is Claire and her entourage. :)

Claire and some of her friends.

Many of them will run to greet her as they can see us coming from our house.

We celebrated Steph's birthday at her place with a great BBQ.

Madeline's always right in there, being helpful.

Val discovered Claire's new favourite way to snuggle.

We were walking home from Auntie Steph's house after the birthday party and crossing a very bumpy street. Madeline was concerned about how rough the road was for Claire's wheelchair. She looked at me and said, "I wish Claire could walk." It's the first time she's ever said something like that. It wasn't said in a mean or a whiny way, but sincerely. I wish that too, Madeline.

Claire is our human pretzel :)

Such a sleepy cutie pie :)

Claire has finished Little Bits for the summer. As she gets bigger, taller and more wiggly, it's harder for the side-walkers to help her sit up straight. We're hoping that she'll be able to continue in the Fall, with reassessment with a physiotherapist to make sure that we're supporting her correctly.

Madeline and the other siblings that come to watch riding are always good sports, finding ways to entertain themselves.

Here the kids were hopping back and forth over the line while running full tilt!

Despite some setbacks at a few lessons, the last two rides of the season were very positive.

Ryan's been having fun with his new ipod and a program called Instagram.

Here are a few pictures he's taken with it. It's a pretty fun program!

Auntie Natalie has been helping out with babysitting a lot lately.

She always comes prepared with exciting crafts and fun toys!

DJ Samurai (a.k.a. Ryan) rocked out the tunes at the year-end Campbelltown Dance.

Guess the theme!

We had a fun time dancing and listening to the music. Claire had some glow in the dark bracelets and a wand that she held onto for most of the night.

Madeline was up on the stage with Ryan nearly the entire dance.

She took her job of twirling the disco ball very seriously.

When she did get down on the floor to dance, she would be moving so fast I couldn't catch her. Here's the best dance picture I could grab.

Madeline said to me, "Mommy, I'm going to marry a handsome boy who doesn't hate the world." Sounds like a plan to me.