Putting It Off

I've been putting off writing a post, because there was just so much to say, I didn't know where to start.  And life has been a whirl of activity since we came home, so ordered thoughts have been somewhat few & far between.  I decided to give you a quick run-down of the whole adventure, and then pick up where I am today.  I will likely pop back to the trip a time or two, to share about some adventures, but the when will just have to be a surprise.

 

 

• The girls, Liam & I flew to Winnipeg on our own, to hang with my mom for a few days.  It was a really nice time, although the day of traveling was long.  I don't enjoy flying very much, and the descending was hard on both Gwenyth's & Liam's ears.  Soooo good to see my mom waiting for us at the airport, though!

 

• Stuart collected Brian from summer camp, and the two of them headed east together.  They stayed a night with Stu's sister, and another on the road, before arriving in Winnipeg safe & sound.

 

• My aunt's funeral went well.  The service was lovely, although naturally sad.  All but one of my mom's siblings made it, which meant I had 9 aunts & uncles, as well as various cousins, second-cousins and in-laws to catch up with. 

 

• My cousin, who has been teaching English in Japan for the last several years, came into town the next day, so we were able to visit with him as well.  He hadn't met Stuart or the kids, so it was really great.

 

• We drove two days to Stuart's parent's place on St. Joseph Island, camping along the way.

 

• We were surprised to see Stuart's sister (the one he had visited on they way to Winnipeg), had decided to come out, too, turning the time into an impromtu family reunion.  From what I heard, it was the first time in about 15 years that all three of the kids had been together with their parents.  My father-in-law seemed to be doing better than I had imagined, which was a relief.

 

• I had a chance to mow the lawn with the riding lawn mower at both parent's houses, prompting Brian to say, "Oh, no - is Mom trying to be a farmer again?!?".

 

• Lots of fun ensued in Ontario - we visited an alpaca farm, I took my first (but hopefully not last) yoga class, us girls lunched at a fabulous tea room.

 

• We headed west to Winnipeg again, arriving in time for Gwenyth's 5th birthday.

 

• My mom threw a great bash for her, complete with strawberry cake.  Yum.

 

• After a bit more visiting, we drove to Saskatchewan, where I had the chance to meet one of my "imaginary friends", as the kids call my blogger buddies.  Judy was a gracious host, allowed the entire brood into her beautiful home, fed the lot of us, and even sweet-talked Stuart & her hubby into taking the kids to the park so we could rummage her stash.  I left with a happy heart, wonderful memories, and a bag of Sa-Weeet! yarn.

 

• Once Stuart dragged me from Judy's, we headed on to Drumheller, Alberta, home of the Royal Tyrrell Museum, full of dinosaurs of every possible ilk.  We spent a couple of days there, and then headed for home, stopping, of course, at Ikea on the way.

 

• It was wonderful to arrive at home safe & sound, and we had a very sucessful trip (although I may not be inclined to drive 9200+ km with 4 children again anytime soon...

 

Phew - did you read all of that?  Yikes, even in summary the journey is turning into an epic.  Now that I've bit the bullet and jotted it down, I feel less guilty, and think I just might be able to start blogging again!

   

 

Comments

[colleen]

WOWZERS, that's a lotta stuff! I'm tired just reading it ;)
sounds like you had an awesome time and I can't wait for more details

[Gina]

It sounds like an incredible family vacation with many wonderful happy memories. Next time you're anywhre in Southern Alberta please let me know! I'd be more than happy to indulge in a road trip just for the pleasure of a visit!

[Sheri]

I love Drumheller! We drove from the south shore of Nova Scotia to Fort McMurray, AB, and back, looping down to Calgary to my BFs for a week in August 2007. The boys were 4 and 7 at the time. Going out wasn't so bad, but coming home... That was another story!

[Rebecca]

What a busy sounding trip and how lovely that you managed a bit of a family reunion.

[Andrea]

Wow! So much going on with you. I guess this will be a summer to remember for quite a while :)

[Patty]

So lucky are we huh Charity? Glad the trip was so spectacular. And you look pretty smashing on that lawn mower!