3.5 Week Adventure

I just got back yesterday from a two-day 22-hour drive from Calgary, Alberta. Did I mention there were four kids in the car ages 5, 3, 2, and 1. My sister in-law was with me but I'm sure you can imagine what fun we had. It's REALLY good to be home.

We started our adventure in Utah. The girls and I flew at the end of June to visit my family. It was a fun week hanging out with the fam and catching up with friends. When we arrived my mom had set up a dollhouse and some little toy cupboards and shelves with all sorts of dolls and pretend food, plus a little shopping cart. The girls were in HEAVEN. My mom, sister, and I made it out on one little shopping trip which was nice but we decided next time we will not take Esther and Lucy who are less than good shoppers. I also got to have lunch with some old friends and it was so nice to catch up with them. I had some great pictures but somehow managed to delete them being the great camera-wizardess that I am.

The second week John drove to Utah and picked us up and we headed up to Dickey Lake, Montana, a.k.a. PARADISE. Not only were the lake and surrounding mountains a glorious sight, the "cabin" itself was an amazing and spacious piece of work. Thank you to the Spackmans and Beth and Stu for getting us those accommodations. We met all of John's family in Montana and enjoyed a week of water skiing, kayaking, jet skiing, swimming, and any sort of water sport. The girls loved playing with their cousins and loved the water as long as they were no deeper than two inches. I had so much fun water skiing--it's been a long time since I've been able to spend that much time in the water. The water was even perfect--not too cold and amazingly clear. I had such a good time getting to know John's family more.

This was the main activity enjoyed by the youngsters. Looking for crawdads and seashells (rocks with lines on them according to Esther). If you look closely you can see Lucy losing it because she would only last a minute or so before the texture on her feet got to her or she would lose her balance and fall in the water.

This is a miracle of a picture because Esther actually got in this tube by her own free will. She is scared of butterflies but she managed a tube ride behind the jet ski (Daddy was driving). She definitely didn't want to do it a second time but I'm proud of her for giving it one shot.

Here's Lucy and me hanging out on the porch. I could sit on that back porch for hours just soaking up the scenery--it was so rejuvenating. I'm looking a little pale because midweek I decided to stay up all night vomiting. You would think it's one of my favorite pastimes but no... there's nothing I hate worse than throwing up but it seems to be my curse (haven't forgotten the ill-fated wedding night).

Here's Esther really enjoying the boat ride and two seconds later Esther is zonked out on her cousin. Some one's been staying up too late!

Here's Daddy and Lucy hanging out on the dock. Notice the beautiful background. I think they were waiting for me to get back from water skiing. Lucy can barely handle parting with me so she wanted to wait close by.

This is what happens when you celebrate the week of the 4th with Canadians in Montana: a "God Bless America" cake from Costco to be eaten on the 1st of July to celebrate Canadian independence. We also sang the Canadian anthem (when I say we I mean they because I have not yet learned "Oh, Canada"). Thank goodness on the 4th the other residences on the lake did lots of fireworks so we were able to enjoy some American 4th festivities.

This is Esther and her cousin Olivia. They were like two peas in a pod at the "cabinet" (as Esther calls it) and were constantly playing. Aren't they cute in their princess pajamas?

Here's Lucy in her dreaded life jacket. She hated wearing that thing and was not too comfortable with the rocks and water either.

This was Lucy's favorite activity at the cabin--attempting to put her swimsuit on over and over and then taking it off. Yes, she is trying to put her shirt on her legs.

This is Esther a split second after hearing some loud thunder. I think the fear in her eyes is so adorable and again, I can't believe how pretty this place is.

The four Thompson brothers taking it easy. They all deserved this great vacation!

After Montana, John and Stu headed back to California and Beth and I, with the kids, headed up to Calgary for some more fun and family. We were able to stay at Beth's parents' house and I can't thanks the Spackmans enough for their kind hospitality. We were able to do some shopping, lots of playing, and lots of visiting. My girls were sick for the first part and that was rough without John around. Then the rest of the week they were SO GRUMPY. I think the combination of a new place and not enough sleep was a bit lethal. On Wednesday we went to the Calgary Stampede. We did some fun kids activities, watched a Super Dogs show, rode a couple rides, ate yummy fried food, and saw some farm animals. It was mostly enjoyable although next time I do not want to take Miss Lucy. Most of the activities were too advanced for her and she was too old to be content to just sit in the stroller so it made for some major frustration on both sides. Then at the end of the day Esther had a huge tantrum about using the restroom before we left the stampede grounds. It was the first of many potty tantrums to come because she rediscovered her fear of loud flushing toilets. Oh joy. She ended up not going before we left despite my repeated promised not to flush it until she went out. I think she was just too tired to cope with life so the loud restroom was out of the question. She even fell asleep in the stroller on the train ride home and she never does that.

Here is Quinn, Drew, and Esther on the fun Bee ride at the Stampede. Esther LOVED it!

Calgary was a blast (minus the grumpy times and screamy times). It was fun to see my in-law's houses and spend lots of time with them. I wish they didn't live so far away!

This is the scene I got to enjoy for 22 hours, except Esther was in her seat belt of course. They did pretty well. The only fighting from Walker and Esther was when Walker would threaten her with his transformers and she was feeling extra sensitive. Most of the squawking came from Lucy and Drew. Despite the fact that Lucy only speaks one word at a time they still managed to argue. Lucy would say "shoe," and Drew would scream back, "No, I'm NOT a shoe!!!" Or Lucy would say "car," and Drew would respond, "That's MY CAR!!" Sometimes they would just scream at each other. When we stopped to eat or rest and they got too close then one of them would push or start swiping at the other. It was sometimes humorous and sometimes CRAZY. Kids are funny. I do have to give proper thanks to the portable DVD player. We wouldn't have made it otherwise--special thanks to Dora, Diego, the Backyardigans, and the Wonder Pets. It was definitely an adventure and I am so thankful we made it back safely and for the most part sanely. Home sweet home!!!