Although getting there was not half the fun, I did get to spend a night at the Fairmont Airport hotel in Vancouver. It was a pretty swanky room for a short stay but it was certainly convenient after having my flights to Calgary messed up with fog. Although the time in Calgary was short, it was nice to see Elizabeth and crew. We had a lovely walk and made it home just before a storm blew in – and it blew and blew and blew but didn’t bring any rain or snow.

It was all about the hockey at the Thomases. I was able to watch a practice with Alex and part of a practice with Will; Alex’s team still use only half the ice but Will’s team uses the full ice and they can really slap the puck against the boards which makes for a noisy time. On the one day they had off from hockey the boys couldn’t be talked out of attending the Blades game; Dave was working the game but there was a public skate with the Blades team after so the boys got a chance to play on the big ice.

Kathryn and I had a chance to shop at Michael’s; we both picked up some yarns for some scrubbies and I also picked up a “cake” for a shawl. I didn’t need to bring any yarn home with me and I definitely didn’t need (or have room for) the five photo boxes or the plastic bin that I also picked up. Alex works as a Crossing Guard at the school this year so I went out to see him at work one day. It was cold with the wind but nothing like it will be just a bit later in the year. Will perfected a magic trick in his spare time and they painted the tree stumps in the front yard with glow-in-the-dark paint. I’m not sure what the City will think of that but it might be fun for Hallowe’en.

Deloise, Laurie and I watched Ken play a hockey game; he’s been playing for years but this was the first time I’d seen him play. Those old guys sure do skate well; Ken said the referee for the game was 82 and he refs twice a week and plays twice a week. We had lunch and a great visit after the game. After lunch Deloise and I hit a couple of quilt shops, as well as a grocery store for supplies for our week at Turtle Lake (more on that in the next post).