Camping Trip!

August 22, 23, 24th, 2008
Bow Valley Campground

"I'M GOING CAMPING,"
Hayden would announce......every time he
entered the tent-trailer!

My filthy little boy......
and he was LOVING it!

Sometimes, it's hard to let go of
the comforts of home!

Our first weenie roast of the weekend.
Classic style.
No Chien Chaud in the forest!

Speaking of the comforts of home.....
Hayden can't live without
a little Dora each day!

Even Zeus immersed himself
in the camping experience!
He got to go swimming in the lake, chase squirrels
and use every corner of the forest as his
personal toilet.
He could hardly move by the last day
from all of his running around.

We enjoyed lots of great walks through the
forest trails along the river.
Hayden and I looked a bit dorky
in our matching Huskie sweatshirts.
Who cares, right?!
Camping does NOT equal fashion!!

The flowers Hayden hand picked
for Mommy.

Ralph HATES it when I try to get
a picture of the two of us.
That's why you'll hardly ever see any.
It's not for lack of trying.
This kodak moment was no exception!

I love how the sun is shining through
the trees onto Hayden's
happy little face!

My boys.
We had a great time, just the 3 of us!
We relaxed.
We read. We did crosswords.
We walked. A LOT.
Ralph taught me how to play crib.
No where we needed to be. Nothing we had to do.

Oma & Opa completely surprised us with a visit,
and spent the day with us on Sunday.
They even brought donuts from Timmies.....
a delight after "roughing" it!

We know you aren't supposed to feed the wildlife.
But, the squirrels were
totally addicted to the Dill Pickle Spitz!
They loved us.
And they were so cute and tame,
how could you resist!

Hayden's New Room!

August 19, 2008
Hayden's room is just about done!
I couldn't wait to show off how cute it looks.....

The inspiration all started with the
crazy little "Rube" character
that, I think, suits Hayden VERY well!

Kudos to Word To The Wall
(www.wordtothewall.com)
for doing an amazing job of the lettering!
There's no way I could have
done it on my own.

(All of you Dr.Seuss fans will recognize the quote!)

Mommy cleaned up for the photo shoot....
it rarely ever looks this way!

Aawwwww, the big boy bed!
Hayden does a great job of staying
in bed.....just not long enough!!
I was spoiled by our sleep-ins, and now we're
up by 7 AM.
But, he still has a 2 hour nap in the afternoon
and I'm not sure either one of us
is ready to give that up!

"POP-sicle!"

There is nothing better on a hot day
than a delicious
and VERY messy popsicle.
Especially if they are Grandma's
recipe for homemade fudgsicles!
I remember these tasty treats
from when I was a kid.
And now I know why they always tasted SO good.....
1/2 a pound of sugar!!

You gotta' LOVE technology!

August 8, 2008

12 weeks.
That's a long time to wait.
Especially when you have great news to share!

Now, the waiting is over.
You guessed it.....
We're pregnant with baby #2!!

Baby is 5cm long, (2cm of which is HEAD)
healthy, and happily bouncing about.
Whew.
NOW it feels real.

A little wave to say "hello!"

"No more pictures, please!"

"Aaahhhhh, back to sleep!"

Baby #2 is due on February 19, 2009.
Hayden will be 3 on April 20, 2009.
Wow.
I'm going to be a mother of 2!!

Saskatoon in the Summertime.....

We FINALLY managed to get to Saskatoon
when it wasn't covered in snow!
We had beautiful weather this past weekend,
and saw lots of great stuff about town.
One thing is for sure,
Grandma and Grandpa are going to need
a long nap to recover from this visit!!

We were BUSY!!

Day One: Dad and Ralph went golfing
so Mom, Hayden and I went for slurpees
and played at the park!
Grandma even went on the slide and the swings!
She played A LOT of soccer in the yard too!

Day Two: We ventured over to River Landing
(on another sunny Saskatoon day)
and spent some time at the cool new water park
they have built for kids.
It is a very pretty city in the Summertime.

Hayden got caught in only one
water hazard, (courtesy of Grandpa)
so he went topless while the sun dried him off.

Hayden has been OBSESSED with trains lately.
There was a really cool wooden train
to play in/on at the Saskatoon Berry Farm.
This was way more fun than picking berries
in 32 degree heat!!

Next stop, Kinsmen Park!
This is the train Hayden has been talking and dreaming
about since we decided to make the trip!
We had to go on it 3 times!!
He SOOOOO could have gone "one more time!"

That is pure JOY on Hayden's face.
Talk about being happy to live life
through a 2 year old....he was in his glory!

We also went on the ferris wheel and the merry-go-round.
But, the train was the favorite BY FAR!!
(Incidentally, Kelly and I rode these exact same rides
when we were growing up!)

The Gould women.

Auntie Kelly joined us on Friday night,
after she was done work,
and she spent the rest of the weekend with us!

Hayden was very brave and splashed around
the wading pool awhile.
He was SOAKED....and he didn't care!

Hayden went down the slide a few times
with Grandpa, in an attempt to dry him off.
This had the opposite effect on Grandpa's pants!!

Day Three: The Saskatoon Zoo.
When Dad mentioned going to the zoo, Hayden
started naming all of the exotic animals
from our Calgary zoo.
Dad just kept saying; "no, we don't have those."
We have gophers!! We have bears!! We have goats!!
We have the new baby Bengal tigers.....!!
And they were beautiful.
I was pretty impressed by how close we could get
to most of the animals.

Hayden even got to pet/feed some deer!

Hayden bonded with one of the baby tigers.
They were so CUTE, you wanted to have a snuggle
and take them home.
Until you look at the size of their "baby" paws.....

The biggest joke of the weekend were our
sleeping arrangements.
We took the Pack-and-Play
thinking we could use it once more.
"No dice, Mommy!"
Hayden slept in the Queen sized bed upstairs
all by himself.
Like a "fart in a mitt."
(Grandma's words, not mine)
Ralph and I slept on the pull-out in the basement.
The Double.

He will be reminded of this when he's older.