Sunshine, rain, and rainbows.

 The cute boy child enjoying his new box of Lego from Grandma Langemann.

 Our friends, Matt and Val, came over late Sunday afternoon to hang out for a while. Thankful to the Lord for the fellowship we share!

 Just love this picture of Micah. Wonder if Philip will do that when he's 2 years old too!

 Just before they had to leave it started to rain, and then by the time they got to their car, the rain had stopped and a beautiful rainbow filled the sky. It was exciting to show to the girls, who are always drawing rainbows and seeing them in storybooks.

Seven for Seven

One Friday, smack in the middle of August, I took my three little kids for an adventure. We left a while after the sun got up and headed for the Calgary Zoo, where Grandma Lorrie (Langemann) would be waiting to meet us. She was up helping her parents in Swift Current for a couple weeks, and couldn't make it all the way to our place, so we arranged to meet in somewhat of a central place and hang out for the day. 

Sadly, Josh had to work and couldn't come with us, but the excitement of the adventure kept the girls happy on the way there, and the exhaustion of the adventure worked it's medicine on the way home and they were soon sleeping, except Hope. :o) Hope stayed awake talking about the day till around 10:00 pm, and then finally joined Philip and Joy in slumberland. And thanks to cell phone plans, I had a nice visit with my Mum as we drove. We got home around 11:00pm, I unloaded the children, put the girls to bed, nursed the baby, and then Josh got home, having decided to work late that evening. :o) 

It worked out to about 7.5 hrs of driving, and 7.5 hrs of time together with Grandma! Worth it? OH YES! Would I do it again? You bet! 

We stopped in Red Deer on our way south in the morning, and I fed Philip his oatmeal in the van. Then it was time to find a restroom. Public restrooms are quite the adventure with two toddlers and a non-walking baby. Stroller to the rescue! :o)

There's beautiful Grandma! We each pushed a stroller, and the girls took turns walking, or I packed the third child in the Ergo some of the time.

Philip had his afternoon nap in the stroller while we walked.

Stopping to watch the bear.

Only half of the Zoo was open due to the major flooding that occurred there this summer, so there wasn't a lot of animals to see, but the Penguin Plunge was sure cool! You could literally walk up to this structure/pond and put your hand in the water or touch a penguin! Not that you would, because of protocol, but that's how close you got to them. It was set up in this little building with very cool air, making it feel something like home for the animals.

Having seen the Zoo, we took off for a Tim Horton's in Airdrie and the girls promptly fell asleep! :o)

Mom and I grabbed our Timmies and found a green space where the kids could play and we could visit.

Then it was off to Boston Pizza for supper together before it was time to say our goodbyes. The girls had quite the fun time "feeding Grandma." Slightly wild at moments, but fun.

And Philip ate like a true boy - stuffing his face with his little fist and eating up all the food I had brought for him.

Mom was kind enough to get the kids into their jammies while I went and got gas, and then we had to say goodbye.

She is such a precious lady, and I cannot say how blessed I am to have her in my life!

Friends in town, and Daddy away

The same day Chloe and Reid left from their visit with us, Josh took off on another business trip. That was Monday. Tuesday that week was super Tuesday at Save On Foods, so as is my norm, I loaded up the kiddos and went to the store. Little Philip fell asleep in the Ergo just as I was going to the checkout!

Hope and I had this idea to make an airplane out of a Kleenex box, so once we finally had a white-ish box that was empty, we made some wings from an egg carton, and there - she had a plane for her dolly. The girls know all about planes, because their Daddy flies on one all the time for work.

We went searching for some fun to occupy their minds while Daddy was away, and landed at the Loates' house!!! (It didn't exactly happen that way, it was pre-arranged.) So sweet to see their new house!

Philip made good use of Raphy's high chair and jolly bouncer.

A big box. Of Tupperware. 22 lbs of it, to be precise. They were having a rare sale on the modular mates I like to use in my cupboards, so I did a big order, some for me, some for Lorrie, some for Chloe. And I proceeded to try and fit it in the van with the three kids and a stroller and a trike already in there. I succeeded too, just not without some creative re-arranging. And the two guys in the pick up truck parked next to me at the PO just sat there and watched the whole time! Hah! Farm girl wins! :o)

Time for the farm girl to mow her lawn. How could I tell? The clover had overgrown the garden hose.

Some unique pole beans a neighbour lady gave us seeds for. I don't recall ever seeing a bean bloom yellow and white flowers on the same plant, but this one did. :o)

It was hot, but driving back from the store that afternoon, I saw the sundog around the the sun and knew the weather was about to change. (See the rainbow on the bottom left of the sun? We called them "sundogs" on the farm.)

Happy to have Daddy back on Saturday!

We took the kids for a walk to the park with a little picnic and caught up on each other's weeks.

A Costco run, and one of Philip's first times to sit in the kid seat on the front of the cart.

The girls spotted their Winnie the Pooh play set on the top shelf in their closet one day, and that captivated their attention for a wee bit outside.

Oops. Princess Hope got her first shiner, by attempting to roll down the ramp on the deck, but missed it and planted her face on the cement walk instead of the lawn.

Feels all important to have one of his sister's most coveted bath toys since they got out before him.

Eager helpers.

Another park outing, this time with friends. :o)

Joy being her charming self, and Jayln not minding one bit. (I think big brother Micah has her well trained.)

Micah and Philip, swinging away.

Trying something new in her hair - braids like Auntie Angie's.

Joy was all excited to help me unpack and pre-wash the free new set of Ziploc containers. :o)

Back at the Loates' for a baby shower on a very hot summer's night. Watermelon to the rescue. I don't normally let my kids be seen in public with just a diaper on, but it was soooo very hot that night, and he was just cranky from it, so it was a last attempt to console him in hopes of being able to stay and visit with the ladies a bit more. :o) And it worked. :o) And then I gave him a mini-bath in the kitchen sink before heading home. :o)