My husband and I floated down the bow river for a couple hours today. We started at Bowness Park and got out at Eau Claire. It was so nice to just float and enjoy the scenery of the Bow. It brought back a childhood memory of going down the Shuswap River with my family as a child.
When we go to pick up the kids in a couple of weeks we'll probably take a trip down the Shuswap River from below the Eddies/Chucks up at Kingfisher to Enderby. This is a full day trip and I haven't done it since I was a kid. I still remember how much fun we had as a family that day. We only did it once the rest of my childhood summers were at Mabel Lake.
The Shuswap River from Mabel Lake to Enderby is beautiful and full of wildlife. It is a part of the Okanagan that is green, quiet and rural. To go down the Shuswap river at that area you have to go in down of the eddies and chucks because they are class 5 rapids where people have died. The rest of the trip is tamer with mild rapids and then slow moving waters. The river is warm and on a hot day you can jump in and ride the river in a personal floatation device.
The Bow river is not as pretty and does not offer the variety of water speeds that the Shuswap does but when your in Calgary it is something to do in a dingy. The kids will love it and it will be a cheap family activity.
A Couple Hours on the Bow River
Left the Kids Behind in Vancouver - Break from the Kids is Great but I Miss Them.
We left the kids with my mother in law in Vancouver for a week. She commented that the kids are so close that they needed to stay together. She is so right, they protect each other and more importantly they entertain each other. While we were there my son taught my daughter how to play 'What Time is it Mr. Wolf.' He loves to teach her how to do stuff, it's so cute and makes my life so much easier.
My husband and I have taken full advantage of the time we have together. Going to dinner, watching movies and going out on dates. Since we don't have family in Calgary and don't have a babysitter we don't go out much so this time together is extra special.
Date nights are important because a family needs parents that are close and happy to be close and happy. When you don't have much money though what can you do? I'm always a fan of bike rides and walks. However there are other free events going on in Calgary that are fun, for example, Shakespeare in the Park at Prince's Island Park. Lots of things going on downtown Calgary and Stampede always has something going on for both adults and families. I am looking forward to spending time with my husband enjoying Calgary until the kids come home.
After spending a week in Vancouver at Nanna's house they are off to Grammo's house in the Okanagan for 3 weeks. They will live at the Cabin swimming and boating, they'll have a great time. I grew up at the Lake and I know they'll make some wonderful memories there with Grammo and Grandpa. I miss them but it is very important that they create strong bonds with their grandparents and they live 6-12 hours away from Calgary.
Since they go there together and spend time away from us together they develop a closer bond. They gain independence and confidence by going to their grandparents without us and have been doing so for a long time. As a stay at home mom I get lots of time with them, the grandparents don't get enough time so these visits are important to the whole family.
Impromptu Family Vacation to Vancouver - Bowen Island
On Friday my husband decided that we needed to go to the ocean for the weekend. It was a wonderful family trip, especially the day we spent on Bowen Island. We wanted to take the kids on a ferry ride but to go to Vancouver Island or the Gulf Islands was too expensive. The trip to Bowen Island cost the family $50 total and we spent a great day exploring and splashing around in the Pacific Ocean.
We spent time at Kitsalano Beach and Boundary Bay Beach both nice but the time on Bowen Island was best. Kitsalano was busy with lots of different type of people and the water was full of all sorts of boats. Right near Stanley Island parking is really hard to find and although the city was nice to look at the scenery couldn't compare to Bowen Island.
Boundary Bay is more of a family beach then Kitsalano and has a little playground. Bowen Island is intimate and quaint whereas Boundary Bay is large and open. Kitsalano is filled with the image concious, young Paris Hilton Wannabees and homosexuals whereas Boundary Bay is filled with families.
If you are going to go to Bowen Island take your car it only costs $26 and parking will cost you $50. You also need the car once there to go to the beaches and visit the artisan retail spots. If you are going to walk or bike instead be prepared for long hills and lots of curves.
For other wonderful ideas about how to spend time in Vancouver as a family check out this great website.
It's Driving Me NUTS - The One thing I'd Change with My House Layout
When we built our cookie cutter home in 2000 I requested the bathroom and laundry rooms to be moved to make the kitchen bigger. What I didn't think of and so wish I had was the location of the stairs. Our stairs are right at the front door and there are always shoes and bags at the bottom. It drives me nuts! The next house we buy will NOT have the stairs located at the front door, what a dumb place to put them.
What do you hate about your home's layout? What could the designer have done better?
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Jello Birthday Cake -- The Best Gluten Free Birthday Cake!
I used to serve the traditional birthday cake at kids birthday parties and end up throwing out lots of half eaten pieces. At my daughter's 3rd birthday and my son's 6th birthday party I learned a valuable lesson about birthday cake -- if its made out of ice cream or jello there will be no birthday cake left on the plate.
A jello birthday cake is really easy to make and very good.
1 - large Jello pkg. any flavor
2 - pkg KNOX unflavored Gelatin
Make Jello as directed and add the 2 KNOX unflavored Gelatin pkg. dissolve in hot water with the Jello and then add the cold water.
Fill cake pan with the liquid and set in the fridge until hard.
Run hot water into sink (with stopper) and dip the cake pan in for a few seconds. Turn upside down onto a plate and put into the fridge until time to serve. Just before its time to serve decorate with icing.
Cut with a knife -- Can be eaten with fingers or fork.
Serve with a DQ ice cream birthday cake.
Groovy Birthday Party Theme Invitations
Purse Birthday Party Invitations
My Dora the Explorer is Growing Up -- Selling her Dora the Explorer Toys.
I am sad, my little girl doesn't like Dora the Explorer anymore -- she's too big now. She was smitten with Dora the Explorer at the age of 2 and couldn't get enough of her until now -- she's 6. Her 3rd, 4th, and 5th birthday's had a Dora the Explorer theme and all the toys she received during that time were Dora toys.
Since we are trying to down size I need to sell off stuff, toys being the number one item on the list. I just finished packing up all her Dora the Explorer Toys and I've had to say good bye to my Dora.
She has dark hair and we cut it short like Dora the Explorer's hair. Everyone, even strangers kept calling her Dora because she reminded them of her. Being the little shopper that she is she wanted everything Dora the Explorer. Whenever we were in a store she could find the Dora the Explorer brand no matter how far away in the store. Even if she didn't have her glasses on, if there was a Dora the Explorer item in the store she'd see it, even if it was across the store.
She wanted everything Dora, then we she met Dora the Explorer at Universal Studio's Florida. She followed Dora around for a long time, we took lots of pictures of our Dora the Explorer with the real Dora the Explorer. On her 5th birthday, after we had arrived home, Dora the Explorer called her to say "Happy Birthday" and every little girl was impressed. We booked the call through www.nickjr.com and it cost only a few dollars. The company that handled these calls was uvox. You can send emails from Dora the Explorer to the birthday child via nickjr.com, but the phone call option seems to have disappeared. If they did cancel it it is too bad because it was worth it to see her eyes open wide and her jaw drop as she heard Dora saying "Happy Birthday."
Now she loves Hannah Montana and I'm pricing all her Dora the Explorer toys for sale. Time is flying by and she is getting bigger so fast. I love her so much and I try to remember when she's bugging me for this thing or that thing -- soon she won't need me at all. She's getting to be a little tween dancing and singing to Hannah Montana's CDs and the Dora the Explorer posters are replaced with Hannah Montana's face. I'll always miss my Dora but I'm also looking forward to getting to know my little Hannah.
Today's Family Time Was Fun!
Today we went bowling, something I haven't done in a long time. Bowling is a great family activity and the best part, it's affordable. It cost $20.00 for the 4 of us to bowl one game and it took us an hour.
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It was my son and I vrs. my husband and my daughter. I got 3 strikes so we won!!!
Bowling might sound like a boring blue collar thing to do, but it is lots of fun. The most important part about any family activity is that you do something on a regular basis. The more different activities you have at your disposal the more fun it will be for every member of the family to participate.
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