Visit with gramma & grampa and plenty of outside time

Lair's parents came to town for a 2 day visit. One day was spent at the Reilly Park wading pool. It was 30 degrees and full of awesome. It was nice to be able to share our special spot with them.

Later that week I met Darcy and the boys at Reilly Park, again, another terrific afternoon.

One saturday afternoon Quinn and I met Auntie Karen at Eau Claire where we hung out at the Spray Park, then walked the river. A fantastic afternoon.


Quinn & I met Debbie and her 6 year old son at a Spray Park near Glenmore park. We haven't seen eachother in 6 years. It was pretty cool. Even though we have totally grown apart and have our differences of opinions - you sure can't take away the BFF bond we have from our childhood/teens.

Frog #2.... er... 3....

So awhile back, Quinn got his first Fish tank. He has a beautiful Beta named Johnny Sideshow and 'had' a little frog named Surf.

Well, Surf only lasted a few weeks. We didn't hide his death from Quinn. Did the royal flush. Mourned and cried all morning, spoke of the good times we had with Surf etc....


Well, after about 6 weeks, we got Frog #2. Quinn named the little frog 'Big'. Big was rather lethargic. Didn't do too much. And 24 hours later went belly up! CRAP! This time we didn't say anything. Instead I removed him and for a day we 'just can't find him - he is a good hider'. Lair came home that night with a new frog and we made the switch.

Thankfully, this new frog is active! He's always swimming around and entertaining us. He eats well, and holds his own with Johnny Sideshow. Phew!

As well we picked up a Zebra Snail ~ 'Zippy'.

So we are doing well with the aquatic critters. I am super attached to them - I think more so than Quinn!

Best Friends For Ever... For Real!

B H A R A T H I was in town in August.

Quinn and I went to Mano & Balas and had a great visit. Then we took the kids (she has 3!) to the zoo for the day, then went out for dinner (us, Lair, Mano, Bala, and Lavy!). It was a great day!

You would think we are still living beside eachother and a constant in eachothers lives. Amazing how you can pick up on a friendship even after decades of being separated.

Strength at the gym

So we joined the gym on June 1st. I've only lost 5 pounds, but I know I'm probably losing inches too. (I don't plan to do measurements till September). One really cool thing is how much the weight on the Machines has increased since day one.

When I started I could only do one set of 12. Now I'm doing 2 sets of 10.

.............................June___Aug
Low Back..................75___205lbs
Leg extension..........40___115
Leg Curl....................50___105
Seated Row..............40___90
Chest Press..............25___60
Shoulder Lateral Raise......20___35
Bicep.........................30___50
Tricep.......................30___50

I have girly arms, the last 3 have been the hardest to strengthen!

For cardio I prefer the tread mill - I power walk and jog. My stamina has sure increased! As well I've been taking yoga/pilates/Tai Chi classes - they offer about 8 classes but I haven't ventured to any non-yoga type ones yet. They have a spin room for spin cycle class. I took one class and have absolutely no desire to ever do that again!


It's been fun going to the gym - super awesome being able to do it with Lawrence. He's lost over 25 pounds! How awesome is that!


It will be interesting to see how we look next summer! I think we're actually going to succeed this time!

School.... again.... ? who would have ever thought.

I'll put it out there - I'm looking to go back to school....

I'm happy, scared, frustrated. I have NO clue what to study...

I REGRET not trying harder in high school. I don't have my sciences - just the stoner route Science 14/24.... NO Chem/Phys/Bio 10, 20 or 30... So if I were to go a medical/scientific route it would be years of upgrading... which I have no intention of doing unless we win the lottery!!!

I have my G.E.D., and I graduated from SAIT with my Marketing Diploma... That was in 1995. In my opinion, pretty much everything I learned is A) out of my memory, and B) somewhat obsolete. Before graduating, I was actually an Accounting major, but I couldn't keep my core course GPA high enough to go on to a designation, that's when I switched to marketing.

So there I was, a college graduate. And what did I do? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING. I kept working as a receptionist for Re/Max.

W.T.F. was I thinking?!?! Why didn't anyone push me to go fourth and try to start the career I just spent all that time & money on? ^%^$*!!! =( I would have been better off spending all those years and money TRAVELING, seeing the world! Ug.


Now here I am, almost 35 and I feel like I have nothing going for me (career wise)... What do I want to do when I grow up? Well - I can't even guess at the position or industry, but all I will strive for is GOOD money and FLEX time so I can be with Quinn before and after school and lots during the summer months...

My stomach is in knots trying to even wrap my head around all this. I will most likely have to work part-time to...


The ultimate goal, excluding money and Quinn time, is that I will have a darn good paying job in 2-4 years - good enough to support our family while Lawrence goes to school. So while I am in school - Lair will be upgrading, so he can get some higher education too.


The next 4-8 years is going to be tough.


We need a money tree!






I'm sure it will all work out. Instead of looking down the road, perhaps I'll start by opening the front door.

5 updates below...

5 updates below... That should catch you up!!

I just want to hold Quinn and never let go...

Just got an e-mail this morning from Quinn's pre-school. One of his classmates, I little girl who is 3.5 years old, passed away last week in an 'accident'. It does not state what happened. My head just spins with all the crazy shit that could happen to a little one in their own household, or outside...

With this thought - my heart also goes out to the family who lost their 3 year old girl in a freak accident downtown last week when the wind storm blew a piece of sheet metal down 18 stories killing the little girl walking on the side walk with her family in front of the Calgary tower...




I just want to hold Quinn forever, and never let go. Being away from him is so hard because I can't protect him when he's not with me. I could just hang on to him forever in my little bubble of safety and love....

Wave pool fun

On monday we asked Quinn what he would like to do and he said go swimming. Other than camping, we have yet to go swimming since we moved back to Calgary. So we went to the Southland Leisure Center Wave Pool. I do believe this was my first time ever going to this one. It's pretty cool. They have a great 'little guy' water park, plus 2 big slides, tank, hot tub, tot pool, etc.

Quinn loved the slides. I didn't take him on the big ones as they spit you out the bottom pretty hard. Neither Lair or I are big water park fans anymore so we won't take Quinn to a waterslide park (edmonton or chestermere, etc) until he is old enough to go on them by himself.


We all had lots of fun. I want to enroll Quinn in swimming lessons, he does fairly well, but it's time he actually learn how to swim, hold his breath, etc. He certainly has no fear of water!

Calloway Park

On Lair's last day of his 2 weeks vacation, we decided to take Quinn to Calloway Park. neither Quinn or Lawrence have ever been there! And I have tons of great memories of going with Bharathi or Debbie as kids and teens =) I don't think I had been in almost 20 years!

It hasn't changed too much. They've expanded some of the land and added new rides. It has been well maintained and painted etc - I was thinking it may be ghetto, but was impressed.

Quinn loves the rides and we loved watching him go on them. Such joy, excitement and happiness! Hopefully next time we go will be with other little ones so he can share the experience with a friend (Caleb? Jasmin&Max? Connor?)...

Quinn went on the little roller coaster over and over again!

While at the ball pit, a minor accident happened. The ride attendants hold a tall metal bar that shows the allowable size of kids to go on the ride. This big Heavy metal bar slipped out of the girls hands and bonked Quinn on the head! Oh my goodness! After a few minutes of tears, he shook it off and we didn't make a big deal out of it. There was no blood & no bump.; It was a simple accident - I told the (teen) girl who was freaking out not to worry about it.

The rest of our day was fantastic. I even took Quinn on the big Tidal wave - TWICE! We would have gone a third time, but a little guy sitting across from us puked (lots), thankfully once the ride slowed down. Seeing that was enough to not chance that happening to Quinn!

To end our day, all of us went on the Log ride - THREE times in a row! I was super happy that Quinn liked it, but even better for me was the fact that Lair tried it, and liked it, and went on 3 times with us. If I haven't mentioned it before - he is not a rider - he is a coat holder. He gets motion sick very easily (i.e., in a car, boat, plane), so rides have always been off limits for him. Hopefully this little experience has opened new light on rides. When we eventually make it to Disney Land, I've told him he can take some Gravol and will be going on most of the 'easy' rides with us.

So - on our way out, we went to the Administration office as I wanted to report my complaint about those big heavy metal height bars. I was not complaining about the incident, but about the metal bars. I told them there is no reason to use the metal - that wood or plastic would be just as good. I marked down that I want them to contact me in the future to see how this issue has been resolved.

They insisted Quinn see the Medic, no problem. And we went on our merry way.

Thankfully this little incident was just that - little. No blood, no bump - No law suit! However, it would be super if we could get a Family Seasons Pass for next year for free!??

Camping in Drumheller

Upon our return from Motion Notion, we did laundry, re-packed, bought groceries and headed out yet again on another mini-vacation.

The plan was to meet The Parentau's, the Allen's, and Tracy at Dinosaur Provincial Park - 3 hours SE from Calgary.

We got a frantic phone call from Ursula around noon saying 'STOP! don't come here!'. They had just spent 6 hours driving there to find out 10 days prior there was a flash flood which invoked a mosquito infestation! She said there was no point in even trying to combat them - they were terribly bitin in the little time they were outside their truck.

Lucky for all us Calgarians, we hadn't left the city yet. We decided to head to Drumheller instead. Albert's Cousin who was en route to dino prov park found a great site, the Bleriot Ferry Provincial Recreation Area . Right beside that little ferry in drum.

I have memories of that little ferry as my dad always took us camping in the drum area. So it was really cool getting to experience that with Quinn.

We arrived around 4pm & set up camp. At MoNo we liked Karen & Davids sun shelter so much, we decided to buy ourselves one. And boy was it needed! The sun was blaring hot! We decided not to put the Fly on our tent ~ this would keep it cooler and have more air flowing through... We are in the desert - no need for the fly... right?

By dinner time, Karen, David, Justin, Tracy (and her puppies) arrived and were all set up. The beginning to another fabulous weekend.

Saturday, the whole day, was spent down by/in the river. It was so warm! The current was very minimal which made it a wonderful watery playground for the kids. They were able to run up shore and float down to where we were. Super cool!

In the early evening, us ladies decided to go for a skinny dip - LOL, frolicking river nymphs, we had lots of fun. Funniest part was when a mom, dad & teen boy came to look at the river - ha ha ha - luckily we were pretty far away, but close enough to know we were bare!

Saturday night we had some Martini's.... and boy was I ever done in! I doesn't help that I was drinking all day in the sun... I was mentally and physically spent and went to sleep.... (er... passed out?)...

I awoke to a sprinkling of water of my face... What the.... then the sprinkles turned in to drops - and the drops turned into torrential downpour and a wicked wicked thunder storm! Holy smokes! We don't have the fly on! Lair and I sprang into action - half naked ran out and un-pegged the sun shelter and moved it over our tent (not an easy task for 2 people!), probably took us 10 minutes, and in that time there were puddles of water on our air mattress :( and puddles on the tent floor. All our stuff was wet. Luckily we had extra blankets in the van as it had been so hot we didn't need them all. So cold, wet & shivering, Lair & I laid and wondered if our tent would fly away, or if there would be a flash flood... man the thunder was loud and lightning bright!

When we first woke up, he rolled over and put the blanket over his head, and through all of this, Quinn didn't even stir!

What an ordeal (and I was pretty hung over!). . . So, a very valuable lesson was learned.... always put on your tent fly!

On sunday, tracy, Karen, David & Justin packed up. Us & The Parentaus were staying one more night. Luckily it was warm enough all day to dry out all our wet stuff!

Sunday afternoon we headed over to the Tyrell Museum. I haven't been there since it opened. It was very impressive. Quinn is still a little young, but he did very well. I look forward to taking him there when he's older and has more interest.

Monday we all packed up. before we parted ways, we went to the Go-Cart track =) Super fun! I haven't been in probably 15 years. I love it! They had double carts, so we were able to take the kids. I took Quinn for 5 laps, then switched with Lair and he went for 5 laps. Quinn seemed to have a great time, but by the time he & Lair were done he kept saying 'I'm dizzy'; so I'm thinking he got a little go-cart sick? Luckily he didn't puke or anything!

We said farewell to our lovely edmontonians, went to Boston Pizza for lunch, then made our way home.

Mini-vacation #2 a great success! (even with the crazy wet storm).

Motion Notion - Quinn's first Electronic Music Festival

We got away for a fantastic mini vacation in mid July.

We headed up to Edmonton on July 15, then went to Bent River Ranch near Drayton Valley to attend an Electronic Music Festival, MOTION NOTION with Chosen family, and the best part was, we had QUINN with us!

Ursula was volunteering so we were able to get in super early with her. We had a great camping spot which easily accommodated the 10 tents, 1 tent-trailer, 1 out-fitters tent and 2 sun shelters.

Through out the day our friends arrived. So nice to be with everyone. The kids (Quinn, Max, Jasmine) were excited to see their aunties & uncles. Lair & I were super excited as Alex Gray (Munki) made his way from Lloyd to attend with us! It was awesome getting to share this experience with him.

After a good dinner, we kept the kids up later so they could see the party at dusk. They all had ear protection, glow sticks/ropes and light sabres. Quinn liked all the lights but I think he was a little over whelmed by the tons of people. He asked to go to bed, so I took him back and tucked him in. Lair ventured out to the party while I sat back at camp with Karen & David and others who came and went through out the night.

Friday we spent the day by/in the river beside the beach stage. The river was chilly, but bearable, though the farther out you went the stronger the current. There was a Hooping 101 class on the beach too! Lots of fun and I learned a few basic tricks.

Friday night was mine & Ursula's night to go shake a leg. Again, we brought the kids down at dusk and again Quinn wanted to go to bed, since it was Lair's night in, he decided to turn in early with little man and get a good nights sleep.

Sleep?..... this was not an option for us! We headed to main stage once the Psy-trance begun and we danced the night away and danced the sun up, and proudly, the two MOMS were literally, the LAST two people dancing on main stage when they finally shut it down. Woo-hoo! High-5 Ursula! So much fun!!!
This is us in the final moments of the stage before it shut down. GO MOMS!

I didn't want to wake up Lair & Quinn when I went to bed so Jo-anne offered me to sleep in their tent trailer (THANK YOU!). So I slept the morning away and met everyone down at the beach stage around noon.

There was an advanced hooping class, but I decided not to attend as I haven't mastered the basics yet. So instead ended up spending most of the afternoon in the middle of the river with Kevin and people who came and went.

Lair, Quinn and I went to main stage in the mid afternoon for a downtempo set. It was lovely! Quinn played in the sand that was the dancefloor while Lair visited with friends and I danced. It will forever be a memory of mine dancing around him, oblivious to the beauty around him!

Saturday Night: We wanted to take the kids down earlier this time (8pm) so they could play & dance a little longer, but the skies opened up and it poured HARD for about an hour.... when it finally stopped, we put on our rubber boots and headed down to main stage. This time we had an additional 6 kid-letts with us, so a little army of little ones LOL... Atom Tobin was on.... his set/music, IMHO sucked... like - a lot! And even Quinn said "Mom... (frown)... this is NOT the music we listen too!!" lol He didn't want to stick around. What can I say, my boy likes is 4/4 beat! So we left and I put Quinn to bed.

It was Lair's night out, I went to bed around midnight.

Sunday we all slowly started to pack. I went to the beach with Rita and the kids for awhile, then we all slowly made our departure. I was a bit emotional as I was thinking of fond memories of Sean.... How I miss him. =(

We brought Munki back to Ursula's where his friends picked him up to take him home. What a lovely surprise, Justyn came down! It was nice to get a good hug and actually sit in the same room with him (v.s. chatting on facebook). Unfortunately, we were a tired bunch in need of food and sleep.

After a great meal of Vietnamese and a movie, we all, including the kids, crashed hard!

Monday Lair, Quinn and I made our way back to Calgary.

Motion Notion with the kids was a fantastic experience and one which I was so happy to have Quinn a part of. Lair & I met at a party; it kind of closed the circle having our son attend his first party. <3