Our Adventures

It's good to know that with all we've done this summer, there is still three weeks left to go. The week between our road trip and leaving for Herbert we had a our year end two pitch softball tournament. When our team leader first entered our team into the league, he put us in the D division, our name was the "good tryers" and he didn't expect us to be too good. But we did really good for our season, only losing around 5 games out of 30 and by the time our year end tournament came they had put us with the A division teams. We had a lot of fun over the weekend, playing some really close games, only losing one in the round robin. We ended up coming in 2nd place for the whole tournament so we were pretty proud of how we played. It was a lot of fun to play on this team, even though the rules are a little different than baseball, we enjoyed getting out during the week and playing ball. We also had a going away/birthday party at Denis and Andrea's one night. It was great to have everybody together, we enjoyed a good meal together and a perfect night to sit around the fire.


Fun with Friends
We left for Herbert on July 24th and drove straight through with no major problems or traffic. The first couple days at the farm were just with Chris' parents so we had a good time relaxing, going for walks/runs, babysitting Cole together one evening and Chris and his dad helped clean up a neighbours yard that a tornado had hit just before we drove out. That Saturday we all headed to the Rider game in Regina. It was looking like it was going to be cold and rainy but it ended up being just the opposite, blazing hot with not a cloud in the sky. We eventually got shade in our section and then it was a perfect temperature to watch the game. The game was good until the very end when the Riders blew it but it was fun to be back in Mosaic Stadium for a game. On Sunday, Ryan, Randi and us went down to the lake to her parents trailer and spent the day on the lake enjoying the sunshine. A group of people including Randi swam across the lake in water that was not too smooth. I decided to jump in at about a half a mile left and swam with Randi for the rest of the way. The boys also decided to motivate Randi in the middle of the lake by jumping off and swimming with her but they didn't last too long. We also went out tubing and flew our kite, ate some delicious ribs and just lounged around in the shade at their site.

On Sunday we had a quick visit with the grandparents and then we drove out to Elkwater Lake on the Alberta side of Cypress Hills Provincial Park. We spent three nights there with everyone and had a lot of fun. Most of our days were spent down at the beach suntanning, swimming, playing catch, eating ice cream and building sandcastles for Cole to destroy. We each prepared a supper or a brunch and ate some really good meals. At night we huddled around on one of the cabin decks for a fire. We played tennis in the evenings with Ryan and Randi and now I want to play it all the time. Everyone had their chance to go for a stroll with Cole as he was always on the move, always wanting to go somewhere and pointing to let you know. It was a great litte getaway with everyone and we hope to do it next summer.

The rest of the time at the farm the boys helped get stuff ready for Harvest, I came along in the grain truck to haul wheat but most the time I spent reading my book or watching some of the Olympics. Friday night we hung out at Chris' other grandparents with them and some of the cousins/aunt/uncle. Then the big Herbert 100th celebration weekend began. Saturday we went out to watch the parade. There was definitely more in the parade this time then I've seen before, I'd have to say the fire department one was my favorite. After that we walked around, got some pulled pork for lunch and then rollkuchen for dessert (which I'm making my own of today because I like fresh stuff best). We spent a little time at the park trying to find people Chris knew and then we went to the Rodeo. I remember going to the rodeo years ago but this one was more fun to watch for some reason. After the rodeo all the cousins headed out to Al and Val's farm. We went to get Molly and after getting attacked by one of their dogs, she had fun running around for hours with their other dog. The boys played some football in the yard after supper while the girls watched in amazement, yeah right. We ended off the night with a rousing game of catch phrase which we of course let the boys win or we wouldn't hear the end of it. Sunday we relaxed at the farm and then went to the lake for a bit. In the evening we went to see some of the Falk side family and enjoyed some pizza together and a good chat on the deck in the evening. At 10pm we all walked to the Herbert School and set up our chairs to watch the fireworks. They were literally shot off only 50 meters away from us so it was pretty amazing to be so close, you could feel the pounding in your chest when a big one went off. I was quite impressed, probably some of the best we've ever seen. Monday the boys went golfing in the morning and Chris helped his dad for a bit on the farm. That evening everyone came over for a weiner roast and we took a few family pictures. Ryan and Randi left that evening and we left the next morning, driving straight through again. It was a great trip filled with lots of fun times and now we look forward to Christmas, just booked our flights yesterday!


Herbert Summer
Since we've been back we've kept it pretty low key. Watched Olympics, played tennis, did yard work, Chris has started planning for his outdoor ed program, did lots of laundry and enjoyed this hot weather we still have. A few days ago we helped pack up Denis and Andrea's house as they made the trek to Canmore. With a 26 foot truck it was a just enough to fit all their stuff. It was kind of surreal, it doesn't feel like they are actually gone now but we hope to see them again soon whether when they visit or when we visit them. Now with three weeks left it's crunch time for  Chris to get ideas and things organized for the next school year so we won't be doing as many fun things. We do plan on taking our canoe out a few times though and going on a few hikes. In the mean time I'm going to try and soak up as much sun as I can because before I know it summer will be over.