camping in Kananaskis

 

I must say that Mr. P is rad and often knows just what our family needs (I guess I will leave this in writing ha).   The girls and I had been up in Fort McMurray and I had been away with the Hinko girls and he had been gone for a fishing weekend. So honestly the last week of August I just sorta wanted to stay home BUT Mr. P really wanted to take our family out camping one last time before school started.    He knew our lives would be changing as we slipped into a fall schedule.  The family togetherness was wonderful and the star gazing just us, the Mr. And Mrs. After the littles were asleep will be cherished.

Miss Amelia biked all over the campground and Miss Stella enjoyed being pulled around in the wagon. The slow pace while camping rocks!!  I LOVE that we go walking and take it slow.  The park was popular and marsh mellows are always a hit :)  Love this crew I have been blessed with. Once I actually get out there I remember that camping is actually fun.  Not gonna lie my first reaction to camping still isn't a big wohoo, but when we get out there it is so fun.  I just need a paradigm shift. Anyway a ton of pictures and fun memories ahead...

 We really wanted to take the girls to the zoo and they LOVED it!  One great thing about our ladies getting older is that they are capable of longer days.  They are also able to tell us what things are of interest to them and goodness do they love animals so the zoo was such fun!

Oh the wonderful Butterfly Conservatory where we watched a butterfly actually emerge from it's chrysalis, pretty rad!!!! 

Of course we needed a little cool down break on such a warm day.

At the end of the day, before the zoo closed we decided to head back to the conservatory to spend a bit more time with the butterflies....our ladies LOVED it in there!  I think having the opportunity to watch the whole process in our living room this spring has made butterflies all the more beautiful and magical to them.  Walking into the conservatory you are hit with warmth and humidity, the perfect environment for butterflies.  The girls were enthralled. 

Graham snapped some close ups of a few beauties...

Also super cool was the penguin exhibit which we all enjoyed!  

There sure are some beautiful creatures on the earth.

 That night we had to pull out some animal bedtime books of course.  Can I also say that I LOVE being able to bath my little ladies in the trailer before tucking them into bed at night!  We also brought the bedtime sticker chart we had been working on to get into an earlier bedtime routine for school this fall.  I LOVE that the trailer can be like a mini home away from home.

Our days away together in Kananaskis flew by and it was back home to reality all too quick.  I had to say thanks to Graham for insisting we go because before leaving I will admit I had a bad attitude.  We had fun playing 'Hide n Seek', bike riding, squirrel watching and funny one liners like "good gravy" for memories.  Worth it, worth it, worth it!!!  I am a grateful wife and momma.

~ Mrs. P

birthday girl

Graham threw me a little family party for my 33rd birthday this year, it rocked!  Amelia wanted to paint my nails, making me feel so special.   Mr. P got party hats, pretty plates, cups and napkins - the guy knows me oh so well!!!! I appreciated it all.  Sadly, I was feeling pretty under the weather so I laid in bed all day, Graham maned the BBQ and we partied, ate cake and then I went back to laying down.  It was lovely to be surrounded by my family.

It is also our anniversary and we did have plans to attend the temple together but being a lame sickie meant we had to cancel :(

~ Mrs. P

12th Anniversary

I LOVE YOU MORE THEN EVER!!!!!!

Twelve things for twelve years;

1. Two little girls that we couldn't feel more blessed to have. Parenthood proving to be the greatest refining experience of our lives!!

2. A pre-kid travel card full of over 30 countries visited.

3. A post-kid travel card filled with Disney, camping and a few really great 'family' get-a-ways.

4. Four homes each holding different memories for different stages of our lives.

5. Two dogs we loved dearly that filled a special spot in our hearts as we awaited children.

6. A bunny that brings smiles and responsibility to our little girlies.

7. Great jobs that brought/bring great personal satisfaction and growth, many tremendous opportunities. Exercises in choice.

8. Infertility - part of our experience that we would not change.

9. An extended family that supports and encourages, often an example to us.

10. Good friends, both old and new who help us grow and are great examples.

11. Always working on US; refining our relationship, Jenny reading and making Graham listen, talking stuff out, dating, hitting up the temple, setting goals, planning our parenting, showing tolerance and understanding, always giving LOVE

12. The Gospel of Jesus Christ, for through our twelve years prayer and the things we try to do guide our life.

 

I didn't have set order as I started this list but looking at it I dig that our beloved daughters begin our list and the Gospel of Jesus Christ wrap it up.  The two things we are most grateful for in our life - I know I can write that about US without even asking Graham.  

 

We are blessed. Life is good. Certainly not without challenge but oh so good.

~ Mrs. P

family pictures

We had some family pictures earlier in the summer and although I will put them in our 2014 Family Albums I wanted to put them on our blog to because I just love them so much.  I love that pictures sometimes capture funny little things that we don't want to forget and there are a few special little things that my friend Shellie of This n That Photography captured. She photographed our new babies. I LOVE these three Polischuks so darn much!!!!!!!!

 Our girls do squeeze hugs just like this photo shows. They give real tight, cheek to cheek, squish you hard hugs.  In the fall their lives will change as Amelia goes off to school for the morning.  Stella already has said she will miss her Amelia and is sad if big sister goes off to do something without her.  Gosh how blessed they are to have one another!  Bring on the squeeze hugs.

Our Stella has a smile that lights up a room!  She has gorgeous blue eyes that I adore, they getcha.   I LOVE her scrunch nose, squint eye smile here, wrapped in her daddy's arms - LOVE them both.  Also can I just note that her little kid space tooth smile just makes me want to go snuggle her right now!!! She is truly no longer a baby but a big girl with a strength that I admire (most of the time).   She is both fierce, yet tender and I am so grateful that she is the littlest girl in our family!

 Oh our Amelia, this beauty can melt my heart with her kindness and sincerity.  I love her look in this photo, it is very her.  She has always had a stoic look, a thinker (or we joke the Polischuk business look).  Her lovely brown eyes are truly windows to her sweet soul.  She has a thoughtfulness about her that I admire.  She is wonderful and we are so lucky to have her as the oldest girl in our family.

Could two sisters be any cuter? I think not.

 

Happy are we!

~ Mrs. P

Toronto for Cali & Tyran

My old friend Tyran married the darling Cali just outside of Toronto on the August long weekend.  It has been a whirlwind since then and sadly summer is almost over!  I have a ton of things I want to record and capture so that I remember the fun of the later part of our summer, so here goes the highlights from a wonderful 5 days away, just Mr. P and I :)

We have flown through T.O. many times but I haven't spent any substantial time there so I was game for anything.  Graham has been with buddies a few times so was the driver.  We took the red eye out on Wednesday night meeting up with Jeff and Amy on Thursday morning....a quick sleep and then we went exploring.  The boys did the Hockey Hall of Fame, us ladies went shopping. We visited Kensingston Market which was fun with eclectic shops and scrumptious little hole in the wall places to snag snacks and lunch.  For dinner we walked down by the CN Tower and ate at Wayne Gretzky's Restaurant. We found an Irish Pub so Jeff could have his favourite beer and we had dessert and hot chocolate. It was so so so so nice to get to hang out with Jeff and Amy, they are dear old friends and having unlimited time to visit and laugh was good for the soul.  

 above: loving the churros

below: a thumbs down to a protest poster about the oil sands

 

TYRAN & CALI

I was super excited for Tyran and Cali!

  Firstly, that Tyran was actually settling down and getting married. Second, I was going to get to see most of our old guy friends from my high school/college days.  Also, Cali has impeccable taste and I was eager to see what she would do and she DID NOT disappoint. It was stunning, every detail beautiful and thoughtful.  It was just gorgeous! She was gorgeous!!!!!

One of the best wedding DJs, so we danced our faces off and then refueled with their midnight snack of poutine - yes poutine! Such a good time.

Beautiful right?  Oh these dudes below, we have really become adults together.  We have watched one another tackle those last few years of high school, I walked with Gary at his grad. We have seen one another take on adventures, Chris joined the Navy. We have seen talents grow and watched relationships start and sometimes end. We have encouraged one another through post secondary, career choices and continue to support as we see one another find love and grow families.  Both Mr. P and I have been blessed with good friends and long lasting friendships. We talk about how we wish that for our little ladies. I am sad that we didn't take a picture the night before the wedding as we were all gathered in the hotel pub looking at old scrapbooks Amy had made years ago.  She had a collection of photos from our parties, camping, road trips and college adventures. I may have given a lot hugs and laughed until tears came!

Also kind of special is a continuation of a little tradition that our friends have at weddings.  We re-write a song or rap.  I have known for months that I wanted us to change the words to the song 'Get By With A Little Help From My Friends' by the Beatles.  As we drove out to Brantford Amy and I brainstormed  and re-wrote the words.  We had a list of things we wanted to include and it came together pretty awesome if we do say so ourselves.  One of the greatest light bulb thoughts came from Jeff who suggested we use the phrase "we get by with a little help from Ty-ran".  We ended up using this at the end of the song and had the other guests join us so we were all singing it to them....it was pretty rad!!!!  We ended by saying in words that we knew Cali would now get by in life with a little help from Tyran!  It was sweet.

 Niagara Falls

 Niagara On The Lake was our final night, just a Graham and I date...and it rocked!!!! Mr. P nailed what I love.  A quaint town with fun little shops and antiques.  It was pretty fun!  We took a carriage ride to get the highlights and history.  As I write this I kinda wish we could go there again, ha. It was so quiet and chill and we got to just be together so much. Gosh it was nice!!

 Did I mention anything about the food? Oh it was a awesome, like the whole weekend!  We had a blast and left Toronto with full hearts and tummies.  It was a blast.

~ Mrs. P