First Night Apart

This past week, we experienced something that we haven't experienced in the last two years...being kidless overnight. And not just one night, but TWO. For our 12th anniversary, Terry and I arranged a night out and a hotel stay at the River Cree Resort in Edmonton. Our reservation was for Monday, so we dropped Emma off at Uncle Chris and Auntie Jo's on Sunday night, with a plan to pick her up on Tuesday after we checked out of the hotel.

I made sure to phone Emma before bedtimes to say good night and each morning to say good morning to see how things were going. For each phone call I got a very excited, "HI MOMMY!" after which Emma would talk for about two minutes and then rush off the phone with a "See you later!" I figured she was having so much fun away from her boring parents that she didn't care to spend time on the phone.

After speaking with Auntie Jo on Tuesday, we all decided that Emma could spend the whole day Wednesday there as well, giving Terry and I more time to wind down after we get home. Emma was cool with that, looking forward to swimming the next day with her cousin.

However, we got a phone call early Wednesday morning from Aunty Jo. Apparently Emma missed her mommy and was ready to come home. She asked Aunty Jo to phone us and ask us to come get her. A quiet day with Terry would have been nice, but actually, mommy was really missing Emma too, so I was pretty excited to go get her. It's amazing how time away from your kids really gives you much more appreciation of them!

Let me tell you, I don't think I've ever seen Emma so excited as when she saw us show up at Auntie Jo's house. She jumped right into my arms and squeezed me so tight all the while squealing with delight. Then it was daddy's turn. And then it was my turn, then daddy's turn....then my turn again. :) I hate to say that I was really quite surprised to get this reaction! Nothing ever really seems to phase Emma, but it appears as though she REALLY missed us!

Tomorrow, unfortunately, is back to work for us. :( I told Emma of this, and she asked me if she was going back to school. I explained to her that she still has six weeks until school and that she'll be hanging out at Auntie Jo's to do LOTs of schoolwork. Emma is quite puzzled by this. She has no concept of time, so telling her she has no school for six weeks means nothing to her. She has just gotten so used to the routine of going to school when we go to work. Hopefully she'll enjoy her time with family and learn lots from her cousin, who apparently has far more patience to teach Emma than we do...thank goodness. :)

On Thursday, we wound down our vacation with a trip to Sylvan Lake, about an hour and a half away. We hadn't been there in years and I forgot what a cool place it is! We had loads of fun at the outdoor waterslides. Emma and I slid all day, while daddy spent the majority of his time sleeping in the sun. Afterwords, we enjoyed the benefits of our new truck...we were able to bring all of our bikes with us to enjoy a bike ride along the lake. It was so much fun!

Waiting to Leave:


Waterslides:


Emma Having fun:




Ice Cream....Round 1:


Bike Riding:


Sunset:




Ice Cream...Round 2

Happy Birthday Canada!!!

Two years ago today, we were killing time in Donetsk wishing we were in Canada. We are SO incredibly blessed to live in such a wonderful country. Canada Day has so much more meaning to us now for many reasons! :):) And today we CELEBRATE!!!

Emma was really excited to go to the parade today. This was her third one, so she knows what we're talking about now when we tell her we're going to a parade. She's still a little freaked out by all the big fire engines, but all the pretty floats and free candy help her overcome that fear a little bit!

After the parade, it was off to the Leduc grain elevator. Can you believe I've lived here almost my entire life and have never been in the grain elevator? It was actually kind of neat to see. Of course, it was of no interest to Emma who doesn't even know what grain is! But the free bouncy house and horse and wagon rides were right up her alley! While the horse and wagon rounded the block, Emma excitedly waved her flag and shouted "Happy Canada Day" to all who passed by.

Tonight we'll keep Emma up way past her bedtime to check out the fireworks show. Not that it really matters. Bedtime has not been adhered to much in the last week since school is over and Terry and I are off work for a couple weeks!

On Monday we went and checked out Emma's new school. We met a few teachers and checked out her classroom, the gym and the library. Emma is VERY excited and kept saying how "awesome" everything was. (That's her new word lately!) She had lots of questions too, like Will there be a bell? Will there be recess? Where are the lockers? This school isn't quite as fancy as her last one, so she's a little bummed that she only gets a cubby hole instead of a locker. But the new playground is "awesome" so that's all that really matters, right?

Until the end of next week, we will enjoy some time off together. This last week has been awesome (ok, I guess I know where Emma picked up that word!) We've spent a lot of time just hangin' out together and playing. Once we go back to work, Terry will be driving Emma to Devon daily to hang out with her Uncle Chris, Auntie Jo and Jade. Emma will get to do lots of playing and swimming with her cousin, but also LOTS of schoolwork so she doesn't lose what she's learned over the past year! (we hope)

Emma's referral to the pediatric developmental specialist was supposed to come to fruition this month, but since we haven't heard from them yet, it looks like she won't get in now till September. Kind of a bummer, as we were hoping to have some sort of suggestions before the new school year started, but at least we know it's still coming early in the school year.

Well, that's all for now folks. To all of our Canadian followers, have a great Canada Day!!!