What do you know?

While I was waiting for a cute video to upload, I managed to resize all the pictures for day 2. So here they are, while I wait for it to finish publishing and become available by link.

Here's the cute video. Aubrey taught Katie a new trick.

July 31, 2007 - From Kananaskis Country to Waterton Lakes National Park

We had a pretty shady, quiet campsite, and 2 very tired girls, so we didn't get started until about 10am this day. No worries though, we only had about 4 hours of driving to get to our next campsite. We took the long route down a forestry trunk road (gravel highway) and saw some extra sights. And lost one of our chairs when a gust of wind off a log truck hit us. I'm sure it's beyond demolished by now, but if you find a black chair with the Alpac logo on it on the trunk road between Kananaskis and Coleman, let us know.

We drove through the bison paddock on the way into Waterton Lakes, as far as I can tell, they're a close to wild as anything else in the park, they just don't threaten cars/campers so much from their paddock. We had supper in Waterton Lakes, at a horribly overpriced restaurant and it was not good food. But oh well. We did take a little walk on the lake and spotted a mother deer with her fawn who came down not 15 feet away to have a little drink. Unfortunately, none of us had our cameras with us just then. Then we had another little bedtime hike and crashed down into our beds.

Pictures again!

Sleepy girl. Somebody forgot to close the valve on her sleeping pad, so she had pretty much no padding this night.

First thing in the morning. The wind at this little lake was very, very cold. We didn't stay long.

This is at a campsite on the trunk road. Aubrey & Andrew took a little walk while I stayed in the truck with a sleeping Katie.

Bison! This is the big bull, with a young bull to the left. Bison calves.

Aubrey in Red Rock Canyon. She actually waded through the water. It was cold!

All of us in the canyon.

Catching up

I fell a bit behind when we went on our holiday. One of the drawbacks, I guess, of not bringing computers with us. Perhaps the only drawback. I do have a pile of pictures now to sort into posts. We'll start with The first day, and I'll try to get to the rest quickly. Too tired tonight to do more than one day. Our friend Aubrey came up for a visit on the 26th, she came on our trip with us. It was great to have her here, we had a great time. Especially Katie, who has been dreaming of having her very own big kid.

July 30, 2007
Started out the day with Andrew's sister and her family. We went to the lake with them and Aubrey got to go tubing for the first time. She had a blast. We had forgotten Katie's lifejacket, but Annita still had their baby lifejacket, so Katie got to go on the boat with the Dads and the big kids. There was also some weenie roasting, and lots of playing in the sand. After we had had enough fun at the lake, Andrew, Katie, Aubrey & I packed ourselves back into the truck and headed down the road to Kananaskis Country. We drove around and saw some wildlife before deciding to stay the night there. We saw a mother moose and her calf, and 3 young deer. The moose calf was definitely the highlight.

Here come the pictures. Some of them anyway.

First up, playing in the sand! She wasn't nearly as concerned about this dirt touching her as she was the dirt later in the week.
Aubrey and Alicia on the inner tube. The guy standing up in the boat is Andrew, holding Katie.

Tired, grubby baby.

Mama Moose. There must've been about 8 vehicles stopped here to take pictures.
And the baby. He was a bit more hesitant about crossing the road.
Who needs bedtime stories when you can take a hike instead? And so funny when you get to ride on Daddy's back instead of Mommy.

The waterfall a short distance from our campsite.

All my close pictures of Aubrey from this day are very fuzzy because she was being a goofball.

Spray park!

Today we went to the spray park with some local moms. Katie had a blast. I thought the water was pretty cold, but she was right in the thick of it. She did go back to play in the grass after about 40 minutes, when she got too cold for sprinklers. When she warmed up again, she went back in the water. And my camera apparently takes really good crisp pictures (that have been sized down for the blog, lol) when you figure out all the options for manual mode. It's not just a point and shoot after all!

This one's pretty fun! Look at the water follow my fingers!

What's next?

This one looks like fun!

Ooooh! This one is COLD!

Super baby and the yucky grass.

Today Katie played dressup with her cousin.

I am SUPER BABY! Don't want to mess with me!

Then we took a long walk around the driveway and she was extra careful not to touch that icky grass.

And she's off

Our day

Today we went to the lake again with Scott, Mark & Kim. Great fun was had by all, especially Katie. She went in the inner tube (with a grownup) twice, once with Kim and once with me. She LOVED it. Unfortunately, there are no pictures. Because although I remembered to bring the camera this time, I left the memory card in the computer, and apparently I can't take pictures without it.

I do, however, have a photo of the aftermath. We were walking around the parking lot while the guys got the boat loaded back on the trailer and Katie tripped over a rock. So I give you, baby's first road rash.

Truth be told, this photo is from after we got home, and she's crying about something completely unrelated. She cried for about 10 seconds when it actually happened and then wanted back down to play again. Everyone thinks she is very brave for wanting to go on the inner tube and for recovering so quickly from her fall.

It's summertime!

And boy is it hot! So Katie had to spend some time in the pool she got for her birthday. She had a great time, and cried when it was time to get out.



Then we went inside and she had a (unopened) popsicle to chew on because her molars are really bugging her. Poor kid.

Where did my baby go?

And where did this toddler come from?

Katie no longer crawls. She has better things to do, apparently. She figured out how to stand up without holding onto anything a few days ago, and since she can carry more with her hands in the air, who needs crawling? Too cute to see those short little legs cruising around the house. Even cuter when she starts dancing to whatever music might be playing. Shaking her little bum around. Very, very cute. Time to start looking for the Salsa Tots schedule.

She's 1!

Some pictures and a brief update.
We now have a 1 year old. She walks, almost runs, and stands up all by herself. She weighs 19.5 pounds and is 29.5 inches tall.

Found my Grampa!

Pounded on my new drum.

I learned that if I make this face after I take a drink, everyone laughs.
Photo credit: Ken L.

A tunnel!
Photo credit: Ken L.

Playing with my new octopus on the way to the zoo.

When I was at the zoo, I petted a pony.
This one is way closer to my size than that one we have at home.
Photo credit: Ken L.

When we got home from the zoo, we found Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa at our house!
I was very excited to see them.
Photo credit: Ken L.

We had a big barbeque with lots of friends over, and we took this picture of 4 generations of our family.
Photo credit: Kim W.

A few days later, we went for a walk and Grammy tried on the wrap.
That made me laugh, it was fun.

Then Grammy's back got sore, so Mommy let me ride on her back for the rest of the walk. I guess Grammy's not used to carrying somebody.
Photo credit: Karen L.

We also got some other visitors for a little while. They're here to get more used to seeing people. The big one is Shalamar, she's Jack's mom, and the little guy is named Gilbert, he's Jack's half brother. They're doing great, and Charlie is loving the company.

Funny baby story

Katie's cousin Jalina comes over once in a while after school to play with Katie so I can get some work done. Usually renos. They always have a great time, and Katie wants nothing to do with me when Jalina's around. (Oddly reminiscent of a certain sister of mine when she was about the same age) Well, today must've been more fun than most, because after I put Katie to bed she was grinning and giggling in her sleep. So very cute.

Arts & Crafts

another sick day

First she snuggled with me for a bit, then she snuggled with Bear while I got some lunch.
Then she snuggled with me some more, except when I got up to take a picture.

She slept on my chest for about 6 hours today, poor little bug. She was feeling so much better this evening though, thank goodness. She even got down to play on the floor for a while.

Adventures

I just realized that I forgot to write about another of Katie's new adventures. Sunday before last, we all went out with Uncle Scott and Uncle Mark in Scott's boat. Katie got to use her new lifejacket, and she had a great time. She didn't test out the lifejacket, but she got wetter than I did! Andrew dipped her feet in when we were out on the lake, and I was helping her "jump" in when we were back at the dock. She had a blast going in over and over again, barely letting me have time to rest my arms from lifting her. She went in all the way up to her armpits! Sadly, no pictures, because I misplaced my camera for a few days there.

Sick baby.

The only good thing about a sick baby is she snuggles.

First she snuggled with me.


Then I went to the grocery store and came home to find this.

One year ago

Give or take.

Wowzers

Sometime between 2pm yesterday and 9pm today, Katie sprouted a new tooth. This one's not just barely cut either, it's quite a bit out already. Yeouch. Her molars are giving her a bit of trouble though, so I'm not sure she noticed it. Poor kid.

Someone should fire me.

We've been pretty busy the last few weeks, but I should've been able to get on here and post a couple pictures at least. Here's what we've done.

We got the garden in 2 weeks ago, but my pickling cucumbers died so I need to go buy a few started plants for that. The watermelons and 3 of my tomato plants didn't make it either, but we'll make do. We have potatoes, corn, beans, peas, summer squash, pumpkins, lemon cukes, beets, lettuce, radishes, cauliflower, sunflowes, herbs, strawberries, and lots and lots of tomatoes. Good thing we like tomatoes.

One of Andrew's cousins got married May 26, and Katie and I went and had a great time. Andrew couldn't make it because of work, unfortunately. I met a lot of relatives that I hadn't met before, and saw lots that I had. It was great.

Our siding got finished, our yard is mostly cleaned up, and we're just waiting on a garage door now.

Katie isn't walking yet, and now refuses to try taking steps either, she just goes limp when you try to get her to do so. So we have a few more days before she starts taking off on us, I guess. She has 4 teeth all the way in, one halfway, and one that keeps poking through and going back in. And it looks like the next one will be a molar. That's the giant bump I feel on her gums anyway. Still no words that we can understand, but she tells us big stories so we're anxiously waiting for clarity.

Bailey and Morgan are doing great, in perfect health and enjoying the summer weather. Charlie is doing better and healing well, but has a long road ahead of him. We had him back to the vet on Monday and it looks like we'll be into October before the skin completely closes over the wound. Big brat got out of the fence today and took himself for a walk in the neighbor's field. I happened to catch him dancing down the road when I was mowing the grass and ran back for a halter and then out to find him. He was rolling in the dirt, of course, because I had just brushed him this morning. Turned right around and came home with me though, thank goodness.

And now, pictures!

Katie's first car. She'll climb on and off this thing for hours, she also likes to walk along pushing it, it gives her just enough support to stay up.
Pictures from the wedding:

Katie & Grandpa Clayton

This one was too precious to pass up, Katie & Aunty Diane

Soaking up some sun.

Getting so big! She's more of a toddler and less of a baby every day.

And today, with her new favorite toy. She thinks the insides are quite good too.

Salsa class.

You've seen the maraca, you've seen a smiley baby in a t-shirt.
Now we have a picture of our class!