Spring Tour 2011

Wednesday, April 20
I took the ferry from home to Comox, where my friend Peggy met me. We had a lovely visit over lunch and then she dropped me at the airport for my flight to Calgary. It was late when I arrived, but Elizabeth, Ray and Madison were there to meet me.

Thursday, April 21
Madison and Elizabeth had a little shopping to do so, after a brief play in the yard, Emma, Gavin and I hit the streets.  We were originally headed for the playground, but when we decided to take turns picking a direction to turn we ended up further afield. All of our walks tend to lead to this little pathway where the kids can run without having to worry about cars.

We did make it to the playground later in our travels.

By afternoon everyone was ready for their own space before starting on coloring the Easter eggs.

Friday, April 22
It was a lovely day, and we started the morning outside playing with bubbles. Madison’s bus passes a park on her way to school so we set out on foot to find it. It turned out to be one of those fitness parks, along with the playground, and we had fun on all the equipment. It was impossible not to get wet in all the puddles.

And Grandma got artistic

We found another park to stop at on the way home.

The kids entertained me with their limbo dance when we got home.

Playtime was over and we got to work on making hot cross buns. When they were baked Madison had the job of adding the icing.

Emma is enjoying a hot cross bun while Gavin keeps up with the news.

Ray lit a fire in the evening, and Ray doesn’t light small fires. There were marshmallows to roast too.

Saturday, April 23
Today was the day for Ray’s summer look.

Another day, another park. This time we made the trip around Ellerston Park. It was much muddier than I expected, both at the park and on the trail around the lake.

While Gavin rested, and Emma visited a friend, Madison and I made chocolate covered strawberries.

Sunday, April 24
The Easter Bunny appeared over night and left baskets in the house and eggs scattered all over the yard.

And then we were all off to the zoo.

We called this Ray’s bear because the display was sponsored by Lafarge.

Monday, April 25
We had a quiet day – snoozing and eating!

I think Gavin can soon open a spa – at least the Barbie dolls seemed to like the mud baths.

Tuesday, April 26
I left Calgary early and was in Saskatoon shortly after 10 AM. I was surprised to see a familiar face on the plane - Caye. It was a beautiful day and we played outside until lunch, and then again after lunch. Although the bikes are popular (and a little scary when the boys really get going) the bouncy castle is the biggest hit of all.

The boys both had a doctor’s appointment, but Kathryn and Dave dropped me off at Ken’s for a visit. I can’t believe he turns 65 this year – he must be my MUCH older brother. After dinner we were all set up for the game. There is a new scoreboard in the Thomases household, and Will and Alex showed me their pre-game rituals.

Wednesday, April 27
We headed out by bus for a visit to the zoo. We had a bit of a walk into the park but we were walking through school grounds so were away from traffic.

           
The boys were tuckered out after the walk into the park so we got the jungle wagon. Alex apparently had more energy than Will and before long Will was the only passenger.

  
There were lots of animals out and about, and some were scarier than others.

Dave picked us up and we headed home to play in the sunny afternoon.

Kathryn, Regan and I went to the movie in the evening. We had arranged beforehand that we would all pay for our own tickets. But when we got to the ticket kiosk we were all surprised to see that we had to pick our seats. So I bought the tickets so we would all be sitting together. When we got into the theatre there was no one else there and our seats were way off to the side so we just sat in the middle of our assigned row. Kathryn and Regan tried to convince me to move several times and as the theatre (and our row) began to fill up we decided to take our assigned seats. Good thing, because it wasn’t long until the spots we had originally chosen were filled. It was a huge screen in the theatre and I don’t think there would have been a bad seat in the house.

Thursday, April 28
Another bus trip, this time to Market Mall for a round of mini-golf. It took longer for the bus ride than it did for the round of golf, but it was fun all the same.

In the evening, we went to Dinner Rush with Deloise. Kathryn had never tried these pre-packaged meals (that you package yourself), and I wanted to take some to the lake for our quilting week. Once we got the hang of how the preparation works the two of us were almost able to keep up with Deloise! As soon as we were home I was off to watch hockey with Dave.

Friday, April 29
Although neither Kathryn or I really planned to watch the Royal Wedding she had taped the festivities. We started watching just after breakfast, and before we knew where the time had gone it was 11 AM. I had to get busy packing up my stuff for the weekend and the quilting sessions. Deloise picked me up shortly after lunch for the drive to the lake. We stopped for coffee with Laurie in North Battleford and stocked up on some groceries while we were passing through town.

Saturday, April 30
It was a day with lots of visiting and catching up. After one walk around the loop, Roberta said she was going back to the cabin to do her stretches (she was having back problems). After another loop around, Jackie and I found her asleep on her bed – I hope she did those stretches before she fell asleep.

   
Someone brought a puzzle so we got that out. I’m sure it was an accident (as opposed to too much drinking) but someone upset a beer on the puzzle and we had to move it outside to dry in the sunshine.

Much to my surprise my friend Joan, her daughter and grandchildren arrived just as we were having lunch. I lived with Joan and Jackie before I was married and the last time I saw Joan was many years ago in Yellowknife when she and Jackie visited.

While we waited for the puzzle to dry, someone got out the Mad Gab game. We started out in teams, but that soon disintegrated into whoever knew the saying just shouting it out.

Sunday, May 1
The morning didn’t start out so good - we had a plugged bathroom. There were some frantic calls - to Ron, to Marcel (a plumber), and a couple of strangers (who now know more about us than we would like because Stacia mistook one of their calls for her husband). Deloise and I were determined to get the snake working properly and we did manage to get things running again.

After breakfast a few of us gave a demonstration of the magic in Audrey’s bracelet. No one knows how it works, but we were using “miracle”, “amazing”, and “mind-boggling” to describe its affects. I think Audrey went home with orders for 20!

  
Once the company was gone we did a quick clean-up and then got down to some serious sewing and quilting. I made a table runner from Mum's old aprons - one for Stacia and one for Deloise. Stacia has Mum's sewing machine at the cabin so I took a picture.

Monday, May 2 to Thursday, May 5

We quilted from early morning 'till late at night - and I think we all could have stayed longer. We definitely had enough projects to work on. On second thought perhaps we couldn't have stayed longer as we ran out of wine!

My first fusible web piece

Table Runner for Kathryn

The first block of my hand applique quilt.

Quilting (free motion and working with stencils)

Friday, May 6
We stitched until noon and then started cleaning up. We had planned two hours for the clean-up but I think we were a little ahead of that because we had time for a late lunch before we left.

We arrived in Saskatoon in time for me to go along with everyone to watch Alex’s swimming lesson. They have a beautiful swimming complex (with two schools connected in).

Saturday, May 7
We were up bright and early Saturday morning as it was the day for the Montgomery Garage sale. I’m not familiar with this area of the City, but it is very close to Kathryn and Dave’s. We originally planned to walk with the boys, but Dave was able to drive up before he went to work. I’d estimate there is a six by six block radius where almost every house has a yard sale going on. There was a pancake breakfast at the Church (that we missed), and there are food vendors on almost every street. Since I was limited on space I couldn’t buy too much – a few toys for the boys, and Kathryn and I got some great deals on books. And surprise, surprise – I was able to get almost all of them packed and sent back to myself.

It took awhile, but Kathryn and Dave were able to figure out a way to meet up. While we waiting at the park for Dave to find us the boys had a play.

Sunday, May 8
It was a cool day, but we headed out to Pike Lake for a Mother’s Day picnic. Dave’s parents went along too. We did a quick tour around the park and then some of us stayed at the playground while a few others went and got the fire started.

It is a long time since I had a weiner roast.

Monday, May 9
I had the honor of walking Will to school - his holiday ended sooner than mine did. He is certainly a popular boy – from the time we walked in until I left there were kids from all over the room shouting for him to join them. I got my packing done and in the afternoon, Will, Kathryn and I went out to drop them at the post office. We stopped by the library and then were off to the grocery store.
Will had baseball in the evening. Dave is the coach and does an amazing job of making all the kids welcome and encouraged.

Tuesday, May 10
Up early – Dave dropped me at the airport just after 4:30 AM. Flight and ferry ride home went smoothly, and Pat met me at the ferry terminal so I didn’t have to walk up the hill. It is good to be home.