A glympse of the Rockies!

We are home from our trip and all I can say is this is one beautiful country!!!! The trip out to Sparwood was 3 hours from Calgary and what a gorgeous drive. Jared was fine. We left home just after 6pm (with it getting dark here so late rushing wasn’t necessary:o) after bath and dinner for him and he fell asleep shortly after we left. He slept for around 2 hours and then woke up wanting to play. I think the fact that is was broad daylight was very confusing for him lol!!! So he played and chatted all the way to Sparwood. When we got there he was a bit hyper and I thought he’d never go down, but luckily he did, quite easily.

On Thursday morning Hannes had a meeting starting at 7am so Jared and I took our time and got dressed and had breakfast at the hotel and then went for a drive. We drove to a little town called Fernie which is about 35km’s from Sparwood. It was a really nice drive and incredibly scenic!!! The mountains really are breathtaking. It was amazing to me how thick the snow must be on top of those mountains because it was very hot and hasn’t snowed there in a while. I battled to get some nice pics unfortunately. There really is so much to see there. There is a mining town called Frank Slide which is buried in rocks after the mountain side collapsed. The history there should be fascinating!! There are also loads of old buildings along the way which will make really nice backdrops for some photos. We have decided to go back again for a weekend sometime when Hannes has a Friday off again.

Jared and I had a playdate at home this morning (Friday) which was really nice. The little girl who visited is a month older than Jared and they were really cute together. They chased each other around the lounge each taking turns to “run” away giggling all the while. It was precious.

I have posted a couple of pics of the view. The truck in the photo is the largest truck in the world. You can see how big those wheels are by looking at where we stand in relation to the top. It really is HUGE!!! The photo of Jared is of him using the TV remote as a telephone in the hotel room. His latest is to answer anything that looks remotely like a telephone with a very distinct Hayo!! He really loves the idea of the phone at the moment. That's all for now. Till tomorrow xxx

Before I get to the news of the day, the bright sunshine photos I have posted were taken this evening at 8pm. (This is the road in front of our house and on the side – we are a corner house) In fact, this is what it looks like every night here until after 10:30pm. That has taken quite some getting used to. Surprisingly Jared seems to not have noticed thank goodness!!!

We had a playdate at Ty and Alyssa today. Alyssa is 2 next month and she and Jared had a ball. He has been such a boy today though standing on tables and standing in my cupboards. I can just see I am going to have my hands full with this little monkey all over and into everything. He has discovered that the central heating grids can lift up, so I am having to be super vigilant since I think they are rather nice holes to drop things into and Heaven only knows where the stuff ends up if he does that lol!!!

Hannes has to go away tomorrow night as he has an early morning meeting on Thursday in Sparwood so we have decided that Jared and I will go with. Apparently it is a really beautiful part of the world and there is lots for Jared and I to go and see, so I promise to take lots of pics. It is right in the Rockies so I am sure there will be loads to photograph!

I'm off to bed now with my book. I don't even need to put on a bedside lamp to read :o) xxx

The start of a new week!!

We had an uneventful day today. Jared and I played at home mostly and then popped out to one of the indoor play areas here. I have found the first thing here that isn’t bigger and better than in South Africa!!! Boy is there a business opportunity there!!! Jimmy Jungles in SA makes this place look really amateur. Firstly it is really small in comparison and secondly all the kiddies play in the same area. One of the things that I really liked about Jimmy’s was that you had the 0-3yrs in a separate area from the bigger kids so there was less likely to be pushing and hurting etc. Ah, also there is no supervision at all here!! Nothing! Not even a floor manager! The closest supervision is the person who is manning the coffee bar out front. That said though, I am not sure that would be a huge draw card here since people here are very used to supervising their own children 24/7 with little or no help lol!!! Anyway, I doubt I will be venturing into the arena of indoor play areas as a business, but if any of you are looking to start a business in Canada, I recon this is a good one to look at :o) My pic for the day is of Jared passed out in the back of the car after a long day of fun. He had a ball and couldn’t keep his eyes open for the trip home!!

The City of Calgary

I have loads of photos today. It has been very difficult to pick a few!! We spent some time this afternoon walking downtown. It was a really lovely afternoon out. Town is clean and beautiful. There are flower baskets hanging everywhere you look and there is no litter. (It is even illegal to spit on the ground here!!! Blegh!!) And it feels safe. There are little parks everywhere which are also beautifully kept. We were hoping to have sushi for late lunch early supper but the restaurant was closed. We arrived in town a bit later than we’d planned. So when we got home we stopped at the Co-op and got take-away sushi instead!! The municipal offices in town are huge and what gorgeous building!! Downtown here really is an outing. We will definitely be doing it again (a bit earlier next time :o) Here are a few pics including one of our take-out!!

Update on Jared: He is really growing by the second and just getting cuter too!! He is walking everywhere and walking is definitely his choice of getting from A to B. He really understands so much now and it is getting easier and easier for him to show us what he wants. He points at stuff and tries to pull his own shirt over his head. When you undress him and tell him armies up he lifts his little arms so you can get his shirt off. He helps get dressed by putting his arms into the sleeves or by lifting his feet to go in his pants. He puts his little bum in the air when you change his nappy so that you can put cream on. The only thing that is not so much fun at the moment is that he thinks it is helpful to help you rub the bum cream in!!! The cream generally ends up everywhere!!! He is eating like a champion and there is nothing he doesn’t eat. He loves feeding himself and is getting quite good at directing the spoon into his mouth (and sometimes mine!!) He loves bouncing on the bed and being thrown in the air on the duvet!!(I know, we’ll not be loving that in a few years I am sure!!) He copies (or at least tries to) everything that you do. If you pull a funny face he tries to copy it. He really is such a joy and still such a happy little baby. Oh, and he doesn’t stop talking!! He babbles from morning till night. He has loads to say :o) Till tomorrow xxx

A good old fashioned braai!!

Today we had a braai at a South African couple with a bunch of other South Africans and a few Canadians. It was really great. Hannes and I found some mieliemeal so you can imagine everyone’s excitement at being presented with a bowl of pap!! The South Africans thought they’d died and gone to Heaven and the Canadians thought it tasted like mashed potatoes bwahahaha!! Jared was great and loved all the people and completely entertained us all. He was in bed and asleep at his normal time but only slept for an hour and half and then decided to rather come down and play. It is so hard to keep track of time here since it gets dark so late and as a result we ate very late. (it is still broad daylight here at 10pm) Anyway, as soon as we had eaten we excused ourselves to come home. Charmaine packed our dessert in a take-away which was really sweet. We were home just after 10pm and Jared thankfully went straight to sleep. Here are a few pics of the day. Enjoy and till tomorrow xxx

Jared and I had a quiet day at home today so there isn't anything exciting to report. We are looking forward to the weekend and I am sure there will be loads of news to post after that :o) We are still having stunning weather. Todays pics are of the street running next to the house. (We are on a corner). I thought I'd post these 2 of the neighbourhood tonight. I took them from our deck out the back. Everything is so green and so clean and people really take pride in their gardens. There is always someone working outside on the gardens here.

We had a quiet day yesterday. Hannes was still away and comes home tonight YIPPEEE!!! Jared and I wondered around a shopping centre just down the road from home and we went and registered for Kindermusic which starts up again in September. I am very excited and after meeting the teacher yesterday even more so, she is lovely!!!

Here is my pic for the day (ok 2 pics for the day!!) of Jared on the Jungle Gym outside in our garden. The pic of him at the top of the slide looks a bit like he is saying "no ways am I going down there!!" LOL!! He actually loves the slide!!

Day 2 which is really day 3 and day 3 which is today lol!!

So clearly I need to set myself a reminder to do this everyday until it becomes a habit. So I will post yesterday's pic (which I did take yesterday btw!!) today and then today's pic today too and we will all be square :o) Yesterday's pic is the same view as the day before just on a nice sunny day.

Today Jared and I went to lunch with a bunch of South African ladies. There were 7 and all have been here for various times, 11 years, 5 years, 9 years, 5 months etc. It was really nice to meet them and they are all really nice. They all spoke very positively about life in Canada which was great to hear especially from people who have been here for some time. Jared had a fine time in the sandpit. I took off his clothes and we put him in there with a bucket of water and he played for ages. When we left to come home he was asleep almost instantly. The house we went to was way out though, in an area that I have never been to before and I got very lost coming home lol!!! I drove and drove and drove some more and thought i'd never get back. Eventually I had Hannes on the phone trying to tell me where to go, but eventually we made it home and all was well. Hannes said the positive is that I have seen a part that I hadn't seen before which was all good and well except I'll never find it again I am sure!! So we had a great day today and will (weather permitting) be braaing with one of the couples I met today over the weekend. So, here is my pic for today. It is of Jared playing in the sandpit. He really did have a ball.

My first day blogging!!

I decided to give this blogging thing a go and since both my boys are upstairs sleeping I thought today should be the day lol!!

We woke up to a cold and wet day today which was a shame really since we were hoping to have a picnic somewhere for Fathers Day so we have decided to go and have some sushi somewhere a bit later instead!! This pic was taken from our front door step at 11am today. Rainy days and Sundays!!!