Familly Vacation....sort of :)

I have been TERRIBLE at blogging lately.  But I will at least take a minute to write about our little getaway to Salt Lake.  Usually when we go to Salt Lake its with the sole purpose of visiting family.  This trip was a little different.  John was being sent to a conference on child abuse, so I decided that the kids and I would tag along.  I knew John would be in class all day...every day so I decided this would be a trip where we went to do things that we normally don't.  And the kids and I managed to have a lot fun!

The kids thought the greatest part of this vacation was that we got to stay in a hotel.  We never (okay, rarely) stay in hotels.  But because John was hard at work all day, our hotel, gas, and food were all free.  Best kind of vacation in my book! The first order of business when we arrived was to of course swim in the pool.  And sit in the sauna.  I'm still not sure why that is fun. 

Other than staying in a hotel with a pool the kids thought trax was pretty cool.  Even Emmie talked about riding the train for days.

We spent some time at temple square and the Children's Museum. 

I got to spend some time with a few of my roommates from college (Shauna, Liz, and Angelee) one morning.  We met up at a park and let the kids play while chatted.  My morning might have been a little nicer had Emmie opted to play rather than spend the entire time on my lap....but I'll take it.  I always like getting to see these girls!

Then we headed to the Discovery Center. It is completely different from the discovery center in Boise.  Once the kids got going they had a great time.  We spent hours there.

 John met up with us after his classes and we went to the Clark Planetarium right across the street.  We went to a night sky presentation in the dome theater.  It was actually really good and interesting.  Ainsley thought the presenter was hilarious and laughed profusely through most of the show....it was hilarious.

We also spent a day at John's parents house.  It was a relaxing day and I somehow didn't take a single picture.  The kids had fun playing with their cousins and we got to swim at Grandma and Grandpa's community pool.  Can't beat that.

Our last day in Salt Lake I decided that I wanted to take the kids to the Timpanogas Cave.  I knew I couldn't do it alone, so I dragged Syd and Cy along with me.  Boy was I glad they came!  Emmie was carried most of the time.  Ains was my straggler (whiny straggler I might add :)  and Owen needed constant supervision.  So between the 3 of us we had it covered.

It was fun and cool to see again, but I was definitely exhausted by the end.  We met up with Michael and Rachelle that night and stayed with Syd and Cy for our last night before heading home.  It was a full few days of a lot of fun.  We were all worn out on the way home.  So much so that we made the entire drive with Emmie sleeping for 3 hours and without a single stop.  No potty breaks for 5 hours!  Just lots of sleeping and electronics.  It was awesome!

Our little Canadian getaway!

Just a heads up...get ready for more pictures of John and I than you ever cared to see!

Last week John and I were able to go on a little get away (Because we both have mother's who were wonderful enough to watch our kids for us, John's mom even flew into Boise and stayed in our house for a few days!  We owe her big time!).  We headed north to Canada.  because that's what we like to do in late June.  Since we were there the last week of June last year we decided to make it a tradition!

We left early Wednesday morning and headed north for our 14 hour drive. With a van transporting only 2 adults, the drive was pretty mild.  I even made John take a seat out of the van where I laid a camping pad and slept.  It was awesome! 

By Wednesday evening we were in Canada.  And had made it through customs.  I even embarassed myself and jumped out of the car for this picture while waiting in a line of cars.  I'm sure the other passengers enjoyed the show. 

Our first destination was Banff, Alberta.  We got into town late in the evening.  Walked around town a bit.  Got some food.  And then crashed.  But we were up bright and early the next morning for our visit to Lake Louise.  It's this awesome teal blue lake nestled between MASSIVE glaciers.  It was really beautiful.  I was amazed at the diversity of the crowd that was there. 

It was at Lake Louise that we began hiking.  We hiked and hiked and hiked.

(John at Mirror Lake)

 My handsome husband in front of the chateau on Lake Louise.

Then we headed down the road to hike to some water falls.  It was pretty cool.  It was also at this point that we started to realize that our joints were a little sore.

 But getting to climb through a little passage through the mountain to get up close and personal with the waterfall was totally worth it. 

 Then we pondered the soreness of our joints some more.

After our hikes we headed back to Banff where we got some much needed food and walked around the town.  Banff was beautiful.  I wish we could have stayed there another day.

 But alas we headed off to Calgary....for the actual main event of our trip.  We don't just travel willy-nilly!  We were in Calgary for the Mormon History Association's annual history conference and award ceremony because John's book that was published last year, The Nauvoo High Council and City Minutes, won an award!  Awesome right?!  We made the trip so we could be there when he was awarded it.   I only got pictures of John going up to get his award.  Had I been thinking I woould have taken far more pictures, but I guess we were just focusing on talking and eating too much.

The rest of our time in Calgary was spent hanging with the locals. Although I have little pictoral proof because I completely forgot the camera one day.  Lame!  I have a friend that grew up a couple of hours away from Calgary so she totally told us where to get the best poutine.  Costco.  That's right, we took time to go to Costco in Calgary.  And you know what we learned?  I'm way more keen on Canadian cuisine than John.  I would have eaten Costco poutine every day.  I thought it was delicious.  I now feel jipped that I'm not offered gravy with fries at every restraunt I go to. 

We also visited "Super Store"  (Canada's Target/Walmart).  We enjoyed our time there but were surprised to learn that we had to buy our grocery bags.  We were even more surprised when I sent John out to get a cart that you had to pay $1 to use a cart.  Crazy!

We went to the Olympic Park, which was a bit of a let down if I'm being completely honest.  Went to China town (there is a surprisingly large Asian community in Calgary).  Went to Prince Island (a little island in the middle of the city with huge parks on it),  We also went to the mall.  John was great and tolerated shopping with me for hours.  Fun right!  We drove to a delicious bbq place where I had my first pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw....yum!  We also embraced the Canadians love of icecream.  Seriously, I've never seen more icecream places in my life.  Every corner I tell you!

I wish I would have taken more pictures (although I'm sure you are perfectly content with the number I took :).  But it was a fantastic little get away.  The drive was long, but it was worth it.  Northern Idaho and Canada are beautiful!  I'm hoping someday we'll be able to go again.....when the kids are older :)  Thanks for winning an award John so we could go!

Sibling love

Anyone that has spent more than 5 minutes with Owen knows he can be a bit of a handful.  Okay, more than a handful.  The kid is a real struggle at times.  I've yet to meet (and I've had other people agree with my findings) a more independent, headstrong child anywhere.  Ever.  Along with this he seems to lack empathy, compassion, and a sense of responsibility, especially for his actions.  For example, yesterday he hit me, but it was my fault because I wouldn't let him have a flavor pac.  After much conversation he still couldn't comprehend how this was his choice and not forced upon him by my actions.  Most of the time I worry and fret when I think of Owen and what lies ahead for him.  I fear that he might lead a hard life. 

And then I'll get a glimpse of the kind of person he can be.  Granted these glimpses are usually demonstrated when he is getting his way.  But they do occur. And they give me hope.  I love that even though they fight a lot, Emmie still has a love of her older brother.  He can drive her crazy, and make her laugh all at the same time.  She often spends her mornings with him (this may or may not have something to do with the fact that they are both early birds...).  When I catch little moments like these it warms my heart, and makes me think that things might actually turn out okay.

A recent purchase....

It all started over a year ago when Ainsley was with some of her cousins that had their very own I-touches.  She drooled over them and wanted one for her own.  This started a very long process for her.  Ainsley has been working and saving her money for over a year now.  At one point she asked if she worked hard and saved half of the money if we would give her the other half so she could buy one for herself.  Being the loving parents that we are, we kindly told her, "No Way!"  We did keep our eye out for deals for her though.  And after a year of saving every penny she earned, a deal came along and she handed over more than $70 for her I-touch.  That's a lot of money for an 8 year old!  Way to go Ains!  Now she can start saving for accessories :)

Sunday Walk

We recently went on a little family walk.  We had stake conference and so we were out of church at noon and needed something to do  Why we bother going to stake conference is still a mystery to me....but that's a whole other post).  It sounded lovely in my mind.  A nice walk down the Eagle bike/walking path.  So we called some friends and off we went. 

Emmie was lucky enough to have her first outdoor bathroom experience.  I had a debate in my head about whether to let her drip dry or wipe with a leaf.  If you were wondering I opted not to use a leaf because with my luck I would have chosen a poisonous one.

John and Ains worked on their photo skills.

It really was a nice little outing.

But also one of those outings where there is whining and crying and you realize that sometimes things are much nicer in your head than in actual practice. 

So, potty training.

While I hate and dread it, my kids are pretty rock star.  I've followed John's mother's method with all of my children. It might have an official name, but I call it "give your kids anything they want to drink and lots of rewards for a day" potty training.  We started Tuesday morning with Emmie pumped up on all sorts of juice, koolaid, and chocolate milk.  We got books and my itouch and got all cozy in the bathroom.  It was fun I tell you.  Actually it was not fun.  But all parents have to break down and potty train at some point right?  Emmie is amazing at holding mass quantities of pee in her little bladder, but eventually she went.  On the potty.  She was so excited and exclaimed, "It working!"  And it's adorable that she still says this every time she goes.  We had (and occasionally still have) accidents, but all in all she is a rock star at peeing on the toilet. 

Pooping on the toilet is a whole other battle.  She is TERRIFIED to poop on the toilet and begs to have a diaper put on her so she can go in her diaper.  So far I've had to clean up poop twice.  I don't like it.  I'm in need of advice.  Maybe this is TMI but she is a naturally constipated little girl (most likely due to her diet of dairy and candy).  I give her apple juice and miralax so it won't hurt her to go, but she's still terrified.  It's killing me.  Advice?

Alright...Enough potty talk......

I'm kicking myself now for not pulling out the camera this weekend.  Because after 3 days of Ainsley and Owen being stuck at home for fear of not being in the general proximity of a toilet at all times, I gave them a killer weekend. And I have no photographic proof of our awesomeness.

Friday we went

*to the library
*Krispy Kreme for free doughnut day (yay for free doughnuts!)
* played in the water all afternoon in the back yard
*found an awesome new park near our house that we can bike to
*went on 2 bike rides

and

wait

for

it

We had a full on camp out in the backyard.  Complete with dutch oven cooking, a tent, s'mores, and E.T.
I was lame and came inside at midnight when it started raining.  The rest of the family stuck out a huge rain and lightening storm.  None of them even realized they were in a storm.  And apparently now I owe them all a prize. 

Saturday I let them all swim all day at my parents.  Where Emmie pooped in her swimsuit.  Luckily she wasn't in the water.  And she peed on John's leg.  So much for her 24 hour accident free record.... (sorry, I said I would be done with potty talk...apparently I just can't get enough of it.  Why do mothers feel they can talk so freely about their children's poop like it's no big deal.  It's weird it tell you!).

Did I mention that John and I are awesome.  And tired.  Very tired.  As are the children.

Emmie and the Potty!

Along with all of the excitement of the end of the school year, Emmie made HUGE advancements in the area of potty training.  She actually sat on the toilet!!!!!  With only the ipod, juice, and M&M's bribing her.  She actually sat on the toilet for over an hour this morning.  Did nothing, although I know she had to go because the kid had had record amounts of liquids.  She was prompt to fill her diaper after we finally took her off the toilet though!  I think we're going to go into full force potty training next week.  Wish me luck, I'm going to need it.