visiting the north

There is a lot of love when we go north...for the cat! Seriously, my girls talk as much about the kitty Leia as much as they do their Gramma, Grandpa, Auntie and Kingston.  Auntie Jenn and Max are the two other top priorities when we go north, lots of love when we go up there :)

 Everyone is a fan of Uncle Mikey and his big TV.

 Everyone LOVES my Dad's massive pancakes! The girls asked him almost as soon as we got in the door if he would make them and our five day stay gave him a few days to make us our favourite breakfast.

 We snapped a few pics after church on Sunday. My mom would often get us to pose on the front steps in our church dresses! Even thought the sun was in our eyes these pictures still seem special to me.

 Fun, fun, fun in Kingston's pool in the summer sun!

LOVE all of the cousin time!

These two shared some sweet moments. I love my cousins and I love watching this next generation build their friendship - LOVE

This little guy, love his face! It was awesome so get to spend time with him.  We hung out with Jenn and made some yummy food for her freezer. The girls had a lovely time playing with Mr. Max, he is such a smiley, happy baby.

Park playing with Kingman. This is tradition whenever we go north in the winter, hit up Thickwood Heights School Park. Amelia and Auntie Leslie were just darlings, swinging together. This was the Hinko kids elementary school and of course the park is updated, way different but so fun to be there.

Cousins Camp

We started a new tradition, cousins camp!  Leslie planned a craft (from Mr. Maker) and I planned a t-shirt activity.  I want the littles in our family to have a time each summer devoted to them and have some special things planned for just the cousins to do.

Super fun in the tub playing with Kingston's googles! I think we may need purchase a few of our own :P

 

So even though not all of the little people are into this group selfie I LOVE it!  We spent a day out at Gregoire Lake.  Going to the lake holds a ton of summer childhood memories for me.  Growing up we would often pack up the minivan with a picnic lunch and towels, stop so my mom could pick up a second hand novel from the Salvation Army and head out to the lake for the day.  Such great memories.  When we pulled into the parking lot I was blown away with how mature the trees had gotten and as dorky as it is, I had a moment of nostalgia...park of my childhood.  The beach was in pretty good shape, lots of weeds but meah the kids didn't care.  They ran between the water, the sand and the park. A perfect way to spend a beautiful summer day!

~ Mrs. P

zoo camp

Zoo Camp was crazy awesome!!!!

The girls were able to attend a half day camp at the Edmonton Valley Zoo this past week.  I honestly went back and forth about sending Stella because she is my baby and still little but both of the girls just love animals so I knew she would be sad if Amelia was able to attend and she didn't. A phone call got special permission for them to be in the same class.  Voila we set aside a week this summer for them to have 'close encounters' with critters!!!  It was such fun to pick them up and hear the excitement as they spilled out the stories of the animals they were able to touch and see. There were stories and crafts, the week ended with a puppet show...it was adorable as it sounds!!!!!

I just love these animal loving ladies of mine.  We are super lucky to live so close to such an amazing facility and I am grateful the girls had the opportunity to attend something like this.  Also super fun was to wear animal outfits everyday :P I am a nerd and I know it!!!!!!

~ Momma P

Skeleton Lake

Grandpa Ed has been excited to show us the progress at the Skeleton Lake cabin so we made a stop on our way from Zoo Camp to Fort McMurray. We had a fun evening and a yummy BBQ.  I love watching the ladies being all free.   I guess I can admit that I am kind of an uptight momma and playing in the dirt, putting sticks in the fire....ummm not normally how I roll.  Perhaps it is why the girls love camping so much ha!  It is good for me and them I guess.  The cabin was looking great and it is always fun when the ladies get to spend time with family.

~ Mrs. P

a rockin date

Not much gets better then having a date night with your love watching a band you both love!  We couldn't remember if it was the 3rd or 4th time we have seen the Foo Fighters but they NEVER disappoint.  For Mikel's first concert we actually took him to see the Foo.  This time however was a different experience because Dave Grohl had broken his leg so was playing from a crazy throne his crew built for the tour.   It was also a memorable concert because they pulled a fan on stage to sing the Rush song 'Tom Sawyer' and it BLEW EVERYONE'S MIND!!!!!!

Love hanging with my love watching a band we love.

Our date night ended with one if the most cliche date endings.....watching the stars! There was actually a meteor shower that the radio said would be best after midnight. It was perfect really, we sent the sitter home and then I grabbed. BlNket so we could curl up on the back deck. We were able to see a few before exhaustion got the best of us and our post concert high started to fade.  It was pretty romantic and a beautiful way to end our night. So glad to be Mrs. P and have him as my Mr.

~ Mr. & Mrs. P

cheesy but true

It is so cheesy but I LOVE BEING TOGETHER with our little crew!!!

Graham took the Friday off before the long weekend so we had a four day run of family togetherness.  It was pretty freakin awesome!!  I continue to have reminders of how precious this time is with my little ladies and have gratitude for the good things I have, even try to have gratitude for the hard things in life because they are refining.

~ Mrs. P

Camping in Jasper

A weekend in the mountains is always good for the soul.  To be surrounded by beauty from ground to sky just does something....the beauty is stunning!!! 

Jenn and Rob suggested we camp in the overflow parking of a campground minutes from Jasper and the views were stunning. We had a blast with baby Max and although poor Stella had the flu, the weekend rocked otherwise.  There were bubbles, beans, some great walks around our campsite and a lovely dinner in Jasper.  Such a great time!

 Baby boy Max is crazy adorable and my little fam jam, they are the best!

Also super awesome about the weekend......I got a selfie stick!!! I am a tad excited about it. So many times I have thought to myself, 'dang I could really use a SS here' ;)  I am using my point and shoot less and less so it is a fun little investment.

 

~ Mrs. P