Saturday, June 30, 2012

100 miles of awesomeness!


On June 23rd, Lowell and I joined six friends for a 100-mile relay race from Cardston, Alberta through Waterton National Park and the Chief Mountain border crossing to East Glacier, USA. We went into it with excitement mixed with a healthy dose of fear and trepidation... and it was amazing. None of us felt adequately trained for it, but we pulled out the big guns and gave our fiercest competition a run for their money. We each ran three legs of approximately 7km with varying degrees of difficulty. Lowell, Mark & Adam stepped up and ran the MOST difficult legs which were about 7km straight uphill (it was exhausting just WATCHING them)! It was consistently foggy and/or rainy throughout most of the day, which- combined with the complete lack of wind- made for excellent running conditions. The scenery was beautiful, the runs were exhilarating, we were grateful for the port-o-potties at each of the 24 exchange areas (!!), but the best part? The company. What a fantastically hilarious group of people! Here's our little video montage of our epic 100 miles of awesomeness...


Sunday, June 24, 2012

Fun in the 'Wack (and a ridiculous amount of pictures)...


We recently made the trek to Chilliwack to visit the newest G baby (yay Ezekiel!), witness his baptism, and cash in on the party. Our time on the west coast went by UNBELIEVABLY fast. Between family coming and going, the baptism, celebrating my Mom's 60th birthday and Father's Day, party prep, the baptism party, walks, playgrounds, kayaks, visits, and NAPS, the time just flew by. The only thing that would have made our time even more delightful is if Carlynne and Dan were there (as they were the only ones missing).

Let's talk about the most entertaining part of the trip. Ty. Oh my goodness... SO CUTE. That kid just keeps getting more adorable, and now he's talking up and storm and narrating life. The use of an interpreter (i.e., Marc or Kylie) was frequently required initially, but we soon became fluent in the language of Ty. His current favourite word is 'nipple'. Yes- that kind of nipple. If you ask him what Fraser eats, he responds, "Baby Wayzuh eat Jee Jee nipple!" When I'm nursing Fraser, he points to the other side and exclaims , "Jee Jee other nipple!" Thank you for pointing that out, Ty. Oh, and he calls me 'Jee Jee' now. We've progressed from "Tsst Tsst"!

Ty also enjoyed smothering (and I DO mean smothering) Fraser with hugs and kisses. He did not, however, love when Fraser had his toys. He'd often swipe the baby toys from Fraser and  plop them on "baby Neke" (who was very grateful, I'm SURE). At one point when Fraser was in the jolly jumper, Ty collected ALL of his toys from the living room and lined them up for Fraser to see. Not to touch... but to see. Fraser got a real kick out of observing Ty, and often broke out in a huge grin (if not full-out laughter) when Ty would exhibit his crazy antics around Fraser.

You should also hear Ty imitate a rooster. Tante Yulie perhaps asked him what a rooster says a few too many times as it digressed from a very exuberant "COCKA NOOOOOOOOOO" with his head thrown back, to a less-than-thrilled 'cocka-no." Extremely entertaining at any rate.

Okay. Now to breeze through some pictures (and by some, I mean several). Ready for flight...


Outdoor fun...

















Ty was generous enough to help Niko (whom he calls "Coco") lick up spilled water. Hey... the kid's gotta build up his immune system somehow!



Nana, Papa, Shareen, Craig & Maggie arrived...

 


Fraser got to meet Uncle Craig for the first time!


Some indoor cuzzie fun...




Nana & Papa got Ty a shirt from Holland, and Ty excitedly announced, "Ty new nirt! Ty new nirt!" We felt that cymbals were a necessary addition to the outfit, so we played instruments, sang, and danced...


    Baby Zeke was baptized...
 
 
  
 And as all epic baptism parties do, it included a pig roast (put on by M&K's friend Chad)...



... and a bouncy castle. Obviously.


Zeke slept a lot.... cuz that's what babies do. But when he was awake, his eyes were WIDE!


The grandboys got matching PJs from Martin, Sonya, Janess & Mike. VERY cute!
 

I'd say Nana & Papa are pretty stinkin pleased with their grandbabies...


Lowell, Fraser and I got to stay longer than the rest of the fam, so we enjoyed some more outdoor fun...





(Fraser is wearing the newer, larger edition of his Auntie Shareen hat! Auntie Shareen takes hints well!)



Kylie's precautionary text to Marc when she was home with the babes and we were taking off on our kayaking adventure: "Don't go under the bridge! Danger danger!" We went under the bridge despite her amusing warning...

 Shortly after returning home, we participated in a 100-mile relay race (more on THAT to come SOON), and now we're gearing up to head to Ottawa... busy busy busy but fun fun FUN!