Back to school, back to school (*Sung Adam Sandler style)

Summer is over.  Alas and alack.  Here's how we ended it in our neck of the woods.

We attended a CNIB Year end Picnic and had lots of fun at Rundle Park.

Because the facility caters to people who have disabilities, there are a lot of cool features at the parks, these swings included.  Claire's having more fun than it appears....at least I hope.

Madeline stuck to Dizzy the Clown like glue.
She followed him around as his self-proclaimed assistant.
He was a very good sport and they got to be good friends.

Ryan and I at The Stewarts' house celebrating Brandon's birthday.

Just another example of how Claire can fall asleep any time, anywhere. 

Happy Birthday to Auntie Olivia!
Carrying on the Layton tradition of Shirley Temples and quarter chicken dinners at Swiss Chalet!

Madeline's newest interest is going for rides on the motorcycle with Ryan.
Here she is, all geared up for a drive.

Madeline and Ryan also had a fun daddy-daughter date where they had a yummy breakfast, played at the park and looked at fancy new motorbikes.

Madeline at our favourite new park.

I just had to include this.  Madeline can be a very creative dresser and sleeper.
We'll often find her asleep amidst a pile of pillows/blankets/toys/books.  She'll most often be wearing something other than the pajamas we put her to bed in.  Here's an example.  A sparkly gold sweater paired with sequinned pink spandex.  She also insisted on wearing that outfit several times afterwards.
Maybe those pants will have to be lost.   By accident.  Soon.

The girls and Ryan went on a walk to visit Auntie Steph and Uncle Brandon one day and got caught in the rain.  Luckily Claire helped Madeline out.

A major adventure of the summer was Ryan's trip to PAX in Seattle with a couple of his friends.  

Super cool scenery.

Meeting a Nintendo legend.

And a gaming legend, Morello.

And some pretty crazy stuff along the way.  

He brought home lots of swag, lots of stories and lots of fun pictures.  He was able to see some pretty cool new games and try them out.  He even tried out a new Dance Central Kinect game in front of a large crowd!
We're glad he had such a fun time.

While he was having his adventures, we had a few of our own.  Claire got a fancy new hair cut, courtesy of Grandma and Auntie Natalie.  We also celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Patterson in Wetaskiwin as they marked 30 years of marriage!

We got to see Uncle Rob's band, Pants and Animals play at the agricultural fair in Wetaskiwin.  They did SO well!

Grandma and Claire took in the music from a slight distance in order to maximize enjoyment.

Madeline found a dance partner and they boogied almost the whole set.

While both our husbands/dads were gone to PAX, we had a quick visit from the boys and Kate.  

We had some good fun playing together.

FREEZIES!

Liam and Claire jammed together on the piano.

It was really good to have Daddy home though!

Before school started again we had a few playdates, lots of fun with Lisa,  a swimming trip to the awesome new Terwillegar Pool (which included a fire alarm being pulled!), a final Stake Presidency family party at my parents' house before my dad and his colleagues were released after 10 years of service, Ryan sorting out his classroom and teaching a PD session on iPads, getting taught how to use the sling lift at Claire's school and meeting with her teacher and aide to get prepared for the year, organizing the Malmo Preschool AGM and getting the classroom technologically caught up and all the other little things that come with a new school year in this house.

Claire was extremely happy to start school again.  I couldn't get her to stay very still for a photo!  It's very surreal that my little girl is in Grade 1 this year!  Luckily there are a lot of friends from kindergarten that moved up with her.  It's good to see familiar faces!

Here are all the things we sent to the school for her!  She's got a great teacher, a great aide and a supportive administration.  We're lucky to be where we are.

Ryan's school year has begun and he hasn't had time to catch a breath.  Between working at the Apple store a few evenings a week and Saturdays, getting a new grade organized and planned, being the technology guru at his school and being a great dad and father - he's pretty exhausted!  We're so grateful for all he does.

I've been busy with transcriptions, school meetings, parent meetings and home stuff.

I'm looking forward to hitting our stride, getting in a schedule and buckling down for a great and productive year with only happy surprises in store.  It's worth hoping for, right?!  :)

Absolutely Agreeably Amusingly Amazing August

We spent the August long weekend (which, incidentally, started in July) heading down to Cochrane for Kim and Sean's wedding. It was a fun event and great to see everyone.

The girls were great travellers!

Across the street from the hotel there was a skate park, so we went over to watch Broc and Uncle Rob.

I thought it was hilarious to see Maddie and Cairo running around, especially since he had no pants on....ha ha!

The wedding was lovely!

Here was our attempt at a family picture, squinting into the sun.

Our drive from Cochrane to Mountain View the next day was beautiful!

Here was the beautiful Bed & Breakfast house that we rented.

Rocky Ridge Country Lodge

Here was the adjacent cottage where Greg, Steph, Noah and our family got to stay.

Sleeping arrangements for Claire are always a little tricky. My mom found this neat mattress for kids that had a ledge to keep her from rolling out. Madeline started out on the bed and Claire was on the mattress. One night we came in to check on them, and found them cuddling together. It was the cutest thing!

On our first day in Waterton, Ryan went golfing and the girls and I took a lake cruise with Mom & Natalie.

The wind was a little chilly on the way to Goat Haunt, Montana, which was the stop on the other side of the lake.

Madeline and I ventured out to sit on the front of the boat and got pretty windblown.

It was much warmer underneath.

Claire loved the experience!

When we made it to the US, we walked along some paths and did a bit of exploring before heading back.

Due to the less intense winds, we all sat on the bow of the boat on the return trip.

We met up with the golfers and had a picnic lunch by the lake and then ventured into the freezing cold water.

It was surprisingly comfy to sit on all those rocks, you just had to wiggle your butt a little bit to make an impression. Claire liked exploring the rocks with her hands.

We got to see Cameron Falls and do a bit of hiking up to the top.

Here we are, at the midway point of the hike.

We even saw some wildlife, up close and personal!

We spent some time at Red Rock Canyon. The entire drive there, Madeline was composing songs about "RED ROCK CANNNNNNYON!" It was hilarious.

This is just before Ryan, Rob, Madeline and I took our trek up the canyon and did some serious exploring. Ryan, Rob and Joel even went back the next day to see if they could get even further along the path and they had a great time exploring and going down some giant waterslides.

Isn't Noah just the cutest baby ever?!

We spent an afternoon at the Waterton reservoir to do some swimming and hang out on the beach.

They started out like this:

And ended up like this:

It was a lovely, windy, Southern Alberta day.

Madeline and I had lots of fun throwing rocks into the water.

We had lots of fun in the house, visiting with family, playing games and exploring all the nooks and crannies.

Our flexible Clairey.

To honour the memory of Grandma Patterson and how she would always include some "culture" in our family reunions, we attended a play at the Cardston Carriage House Theatre. It was based on the TV series "Happy Days," and there were some really good parts. Madeline loved the entire experience. Claire was so relaxed that she fell asleep. :)

Steph and I at the play!

The minute we walked in the door after our trip from Mountain View to Edmonton, Madeline got dressed up like this. She thinks that any type of stripes match any other kind of stripe. She's sporting a tutu that cousin Tori gave her and the flowers that Grandma gave her. Beautiful!

Madeline and I went to run errands one day and she fell asleep in this position!

On our way to Wicked! It was awesome and I'm glad that we went together! Ryan graciously offered to let me take a friend, but I wanted him. :)

Claire is a very creative sleeper. We call this her "lounging on the beach" pose.

We celebrated Cairo's second birthday today and had lots of fun with the fam. These pictures were all taken with Ryan's new phone that he's enjoying!

It's been an incredibly busy month already and it's only...the eighth day. Things will be getting progressively busier as we begin the ascent towards school days again!