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Dinos and Hoodoos

Connie, Dougie No Comments

Now that it’s getting warmer and people are starting to come out of their houses, we decided that we need to start experiencing more of Alberta. Who knows how long we’ll end up being here and there is so much to see! So, we decided to make a day trip out to Drumheller – it’s about an hour and a half drive from Calgary.

For those not familiar with Drumheller, it’s most famous for its dinosaurs. We thought Dougie may enjoy it since he sort of likes dinosaurs. Well, I should more accurately say he used to “sort of like” dinosaurs, now, they are his favourite thing on earth!

This is the largest dinosaur on earth
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Sitting on the dino’s foot
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For $3, you could climb up into the mouth of the dinosaur. Of course, we had to do that.

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Dougie at this point was so enthralled with everything dinosaurs that it was hard to get him to look anywhere else.

They just have these things on every street corner.

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There is more to Drumheller than dinosaurs, it also has some of the most impressive Hoodoos in the world. Of course, we had to stop there.

Mum and Connie in front of one of the hoodoos.

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Daddy and Dougie with a different hoodoo

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Notice we didn’t totally escape the dinosaurs.

From the hoodoos, we went to an old suspension bridge that took us over to an old mining area. The bridge isn’t used for that anymore but it’s maintained by the province for tourist use. I was not a fan. We climbed a reasonably large hill there to get a better view of the area. We didn’t see the mine but it was a lovely little excursion.

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After a long day, we were all very ready to get home. We didn’t hit all the sites we were hoping to so we’ll have to go back. We decided to let Dougie drive home, he has to learn sometime.

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Another Year Older

Connie, Dougie 1 Comment

Scott is another year older. We had a wonderful day celebrating with him. He took the day off work and spent the day with the family.

My mother was in town this morning so we all had breakfast together and then stopped over to see my sister, Laurie, and her family. After a nice visit, we packed up the kids and headed to the mountains.

We managed to get there shortly after lunch and headed over to Lake Minnewanka for a family hike. Connie wasn’t quite up for hiking so I carried her but Dougie walked for most of the trek.

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Connie loved the entire trip. She was constantly looking around, watching the scenery and her brother.

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It was a fabulous day. I think it was over 70 degrees but there was still snow on the mountain and most of the lake was still quite frozen.

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Since it was Monday, there weren’t a lot of people on the trail but we did find one who tried to take a family picture for us.

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The kids both really enjoyed having a special day with their dad.

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Tomorrow we go back to normal, but were so happy to be able to share a very special day celebrating Scott.

Train of Thought

Dougie No Comments

Today, we took the kids to the model train show. It was a huge hit with Dougie – Connie was not as enthralled but she couldn’t see much from where she was.

Though I’m sure the model train enthusiast wish we were there for them, we were in fact there for one guy – Thomas.

We started off in the back of the show because that’s where the stroller entrance was. Almost right off the bat, Dougie got to try driving a model train.

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He didn’t totally “get” what he was doing or why. He mostly wanted to pick up the various cars, trains and other things on the table. After a short discussion about what we could and couldn’t touch, we made our way to the Lego table. It was amazing! Unfortunately, our pictures just did not turn out, so we continued on to the Lego/Thomas play area. Dougie got right into it.

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It took a bit of convincing but we did manage to get Dougie away from the trains and onto some of the other areas of the show. There were some very impressive displays! One really caught Dougie’s eye though.

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The guy running it was so friendly and good with the kids. He asked Dougie which character he’d like to see and then he loaded him up and put him on the track for him. Dougie could have stayed there all day.

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(Notice Dougie is holding his own Thomas)

All in all, a fabulous morning. Of course, Dougie is even more interested in Thomas now than he was previously.

Enforced Family Time

Connie, Dougie No Comments

Dougie thinks special time with his sister is important. He gets very into their time and has to make it just right.

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There, we can just hangout here, like this

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Sadly, this particular “family moment” was quickly ended by mum as I felt the pillow may smother Connie – but it was so nice that he wanted to share a special moment with her.

What’s so Funny?

Connie, Dougie No Comments

What can make Connie laugh like this?

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Her brother.

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He loves trying to make her laugh

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We even managed to get the act on video.

Instructions

Connie, Dougie No Comments

“Connie, I need you to stop sleeping and come play with me”

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The Holy Grail – Gluten Free Bread

Dougie 1 Comment

As those who have lived gluten free for any length of time understand, the holy grail really is bread. We’ve been lucky to find a palatable bread after only trying a few brands. Though the bread “works” it really has to be toasted and at almost $7 for a half loaf – well, we felt there had to be another option. So, we decided that we would trying baking our own bread. We found a fabulous recipe and gave it a whirl.

Testing the water temperature for the yeast
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Stirring the yeast so it can proof
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Prepare the dry ingredients
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Stir stir stir
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This is NOT what properly proofed yeast looks like (more on that later)
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Pushing Daddy Away, “Dougie’s turn!”
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Dough – we could have shaped this better
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The final product
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The first shot at the bread was a tad disappointing. It was VERY yeasty tasting.

We tried again, this time, we got the yeast proofing right.

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Still too yeasty.

We read online that sometimes the yeast isn’t given enough of a chance to rise so we thought we’d try to use the bread machine to make it (allowing it to do part of the stirring)… still too yeasty.

Anyone have a tip on what to try next? Everyone raves at how great the bread is but it just isn’t working for us.

Full Revolution

Connie, Dougie No Comments

Scott said, rolling over didn’t really count until you could do a full revolution.

Well, our Connie can roll.

Ready?
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Here we go!
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This is her new method for moving around the room. She starts on her playmat and, assuming she doesn’t get stuck on one of the posts, she just rolls from one side of the room to the other.

Even Dougie can’t stop her.
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Rock On!

Dougie No Comments

Not to worry, I am going to be able to retire well. Our Dougie is going to be a rock star.

Okay, he started a bit reluctantly
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But then he really got into it
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Look, a natural!
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Groovin’ out
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What do you think? I bet by the time this posts we’ll have record producers knocking on the door ready to sign him.

Happy Easter

Connie, Dougie No Comments

There is something special about celebrating Easter in Canada. It feels like more of a holiday since it is a long weekend.

Last year, we did a trail for Dougie. It didn’t go well. It was made of M&Ms and he just moved along the trail eating them rather than collecting them and putting them in his basket. So this year, we decided to go for a real hunt. It didn’t go any better – next year, all the chocolate will be wrapped.

Find the chocolate
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Eat the chocolate
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Find more unwrapped chocolate
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We finally convinced him to pick up some of the wrapped ones – of course, only while his mouth was full
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Oooh, a big one!
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After Daddy gathered up the remaining unwrapped ones – Dougie searched for the rest of the hidden ones
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“Help with the bunny, please? Out the bunny.”
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Though Connie was a bit young for an egg hunt, we opted for different sorts of fun. Daddy gave her a special horsey ride.

Giddy-up Connie
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Whoa! (Look at the disappointment on her face)
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Little Connie Love
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Hope everyone had a wonder Easter!

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