u-pick

 Mak and I had a date this afternoon -- saskatoon picking!  We went to our local U-pick Happy Acres.

The intention was to get saskatoons.  And we did ... but I had to scramble and pick as many as I could in between playground visits, petting zoo visits, and thorough inspections of the machinery:

Thanks to Maklin leading the way in exploring the place from corner to corner, we happened upon a patch of plump ripe raspberries.  YUM.  I picked berries ... Mak played with the inch-worm he found.

It was a hot, muggy, buggy sort of day.  But it was a blast!!  Good thing I wasn't dependent on Maklin's berry picking skills though!!!

9mo

Maisy has now been out in the world just as long (give or take a few days) as she was inside me.

And boy is she on the go!!! Crawling vertically happens as frequently and efficiently as crawling horizontally.
   * stairs
   * the deck
   * the bench seat in the trailer
   * into/onto low chairs
   * the table if she can reach it (once on one of the above surfaces)
   * up and over boxes
   * over the shelf under the coffee table
   * ...

Basically -- if she decides she's going somewhere, she goes.  Forward, backward, over, under .... whatever it takes!   oiyy...

where adventures begin

Our annual camping trip with the Hermansons = FUN.

This year we went to Crimson Lake; this is a campsite we will absolutely be revisiting.  It might just be the best campground we've stayed at!  Beautiful private campsites; we were just off well-kept walking trails loaded with berries (apparently the land of this campground was at one time a berry farm), an awesome beach for the kids to wade and play; and clean well-kept facilities.  

Unfortunately we had one rainy day (thank goodness for the swimming pool in Rocky!)  But the kids did fine.  Play-dough, reading, swimming ... everyone was still in good spirits when the sun came out.  Sunday was hot and sunny - Beach Day!!!!

The kids rode their bikes quite a bit - Atli and Maklin cruising around on their run bikes.  Atli's almost a year younger than Mak, but the same size and comparable gross motor skills.  They could ride together, but at least at this age, their personalities clash a little.  Mak seems to have a bit more in common with Seth (he's a few years older than Mak).

Will be cool to watch these kids interact over the years ... we'll have to keep up these camping trips!!

View clockwise from top left - and repeat.
There.  Now it's like you were there watching with me!

bike trials

Mak is generally a fairly conservative little man.  When he first started riding his bike, J set up a ramp to open his eyes to the endless possibilities ... this was daunting.  Mak walked it holding hands with Dada a number of times before he was comfortable with it.

Didn't take him long though!  Now he wants to try anything Dada will do on his bike.  He rides up and down ramps, does wheelies ...

stairs ...

And balance has been achieved; he's a gliding machine!!

There are moments ...

But lately he's been riding circles around us! (literally ...)  These snippets don't even really do it justice - but you get the idea!

foodie

Finally.  Mae is legitimately interested in food.  At least most of the time.  She's been eating some for a bit, but at just under 9 months ... she is now opening her mouth willingly, puts food in her own mouth, and asks for more.

Especially yogurt.  Girl loves her yo'.

cabooga 13

On the way home from Saskatchewan, we camped the night at Aspen Crossing.   It's not exactly a small family oriented campground, but the whole place is about trains - so we thought Mak would still enjoy it.  Yup!

Mak loved looking at all the old farm equipment they had around, plus all the trains and train paraphernalia.  He even picked out a blue & silver crushed velour train Christmas ornament as a keepsake.  There are a few old cabooses done up as guest suites where you can stay (cool idea - they do this at Footloose Caboose near Tofield as well).  Anyway, Mak insists that it's not 'caboose'; it's 'cabooga.'  uh-huh.

The best part about the stay?  Mak got to ride his bike all over the place, and Mae loved riding in the backpack.

The worst part about the stay?  For some strange reason, bedtime took several hours and was all-consuming.  So much for having tea & dessert, watching the sunset, playing a game, and/or talking after the kids were in bed.  It was past our bedtime by the time they were asleep.  I'm not exactly superstitious; but we were at campsite #13 ... on Friday the 13th.  Just sayin' ...

We stopped at the visitor information centre in Red Deer for lunch (a great advantage of pulling your own kitchen with you!) and blew off some stink at the playground.  Justin and Mak saw a swarm of literally thousands of dragonflies.  When I got to the playground ... there were only a handful.

I snapped a lot of pictures trying to get a good dragonfly shot.  This was the best I did.

great(s)

When you make an 8+hr drive (which takes considerably longer with little kids) you have to cram in as much visiting as possible while you're home.

Despite being home for a reunion on the other side of the family, we managed to fit in two visits with Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa Simmons, and Auntie Gail (she's 'great' too!).

Mak remembers visiting them and for the first time on our trip seemed his old self.  Welcome back Mak - we missed you!!

And as always -- out came the rocking horse.