We headed up to Canada on Dec 26th to celebrate Connie and Dennis' 50th wedding anniversary. It was so awesome to be able to participate in honoring their marriage - what an inspiration to us!
It was the first time that Addison had flown, so we all wondered how the long day's journey would go. She was excited about the trip, and all of the kids were anxious to get to Canada to see their cousins and the snow! When the flight took off though, Addison was a bit nervous and said "get down!" - uhh....that's not going to happen girly! But, she became distracted and soon settled in for the flight.
We had a layover in Minneapolis that originally was only going to be 45 minutes, so Amy was nervous about making our next flight if our first leg happened to be late....but the winds were with us and we ended up being early - so much so that we had time enough to grab a decent lunch before the second flight. On the way from one plane to the other, Addison decided she'd had enough walking......good thing this wasn't the Atlanta or Chicago airport, she would have been trampled if she'd tried this trick there!
When we arrived, we headed out to Amy's aunt and uncle (Elaine and Murray) in Alberta for a few days to be able to see them, their daughter Kim and her sons Nikolas and Lucas, and Amy's grandma. The kids all hit it off immensely and had great fun running around together. Addison really took to Nik, and he was very much a big brother to her while we were there!
It was such a treat to be able to visit with the family and catch up as it has been since Zachary was about 18 months that we were out to the farm. Karis and Uncle Murray are two peas in a pod with a farmer's heart, so they headed off together for much of our time there.
Not to be left behind, the rest of us tagged along on Sabbath to see the bison that they raise - so fun to be able to see them up close and personal (from the truck of course!) They were quite "frisky" play fighting and running around so that was kind of neat.
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| The Z family on the way to the bison adventure |
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| Now that's a big boy.... |
The kids were in heaven when they discovered that there was a snowmobile on the premises and they could be drug around on a sled behind it. What fun! Kaleb ended up being in the front of the sled many times though and didn't have his neck gator quite up far enough, so on the second day his poor little check started to turn a little white, so fearing frostbite we had him stay in the rest of the day to be sure that he was okay - which he was - no peeling at all!
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| Zach and Nik |
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| Thumbs up from Lucas and Kaleb |
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| Is she not just the cutest ball of fluff you've ever seen!? She loved the snow! |
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| And they're off! |
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| Even Addi got a turn! |
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| What fun - thanks Uncle Murray! |
Amy's Grandma/Baba (Ukrainian for Grandma) came to the house on Sabbath, so we really enjoyed being able to see her. She is celebrating her 92nd (hopefully our memory is right on this one) birthday. What a blessing to see her!
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| Amy, Grandma, and Kim |
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| The boys enjoying watching some hockey with Uncle Murray |
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| While Aunt Elaine engrossed them in a bedtime story |
On Monday morning, Kim and her kids headed back to BC and we loaded up to head to Karis' place. It was a 5 hour drive, but the kids were happily entertained watching the original version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory while Addison napped, so it worked out well! They were super excited to see their cousins Emily, Connor and Kaylie, and of course Gram-Z, Papa-Z, Aunt Lorie and Uncle Kent! The weather was super cold up in Canada - with some days in the -30 Celsius range - in fact the morning that we left it was -45 C at 5A in the morning! BRRR. One day was nice enough though that we went out to the sledding hill for some fun - what would a trip to Canada be without sledding!
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| Apparently this particular run exhausted Kaylie and Kaleb! |
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| We love the snow! |
Just a couple of videos to capture the kids fun
The one above is Addison's first run down the hill - holding her gloves in front of her face to keep the snow out of her eyes! :)
This is Zachary - the last bump looked like it jolted him pretty good as he flies off of his sled!
Kaleb's perfect run - smooth as silk!
We celebrated the anniversary on Wednesday, with a lovely cake and some games that Lorie put together. We walked down memory lane as they reminisced about their courtship and wedding.
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| All the grandkids except for Korey and Rachel's two kids - Gianna and Nik |
On New Year's Day, we headed in to do some candlestick bowling (why, oh why, do they not have it down here!? Only my northern friends can understand what I'm saying! (You know who you are!! :)), it is just perfect for the kids - it is something that they can do and have fun at an early age!
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| Aunt Lorie took her under her wing and helped her bowl... |
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| And then introduced her to Smarties....what every good Canadian should love! This girl is already a chocola-holic! |
This particular bowling alley also has an area of games etc, complete with bumper cars, bouncy hours, air hockey etc. So the fun continued after the bowling was finished!
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| Forget throwing the ball from the end of this thing....Addi will just crawl all the way up there! |
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| Snuggle-time with Papa-Z |
We played TONS of games while we were there, which was really fun to make those memories. Uno, the farming game, Guesstures, Scattegories, Life,Charades and more. The kids really got into it, so it was hopefully something that they will look back with fondness.
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| Playing crokino (spelling?) with Uncle Kent |
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| Such an attractive face Addi has....only a mother could love! :) |
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| Notice a trend here? |
We of course took the opportunity to get a group shot - but it should be noted that we're missing dear members of the Z-family - Korey, Rachel, Gianna and Nik - we missed you guys!
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| A grandkid picture (Partial!) |
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| Then the whole group shot. |
The trip back was exhausting - we had a 6:30A flight out of Saskatoon, which is 2 hours from the farm so we decided to stay in a hotel overnight near the airport. We got a suite as Karis' friends were coming to visit and we thought it would make sense to have a couch etc to visit while the kids went to bed. That meant that all 5 of us actually slept in the same room, which we learned a lesson for next time! Addison had gotten into a habit over the holidays of wanting to sleep with Mommy, so there was no way she was going to stay in her pack-and-play while Mommy was in the bed RIGHT THERE, so she ended up in bed with Amy. Amy slept with Kaleb, while Karis slept with Zachary. Addison rolled around on Amy all night while Kaleb would flop hither and thither on the bed. Amy spent the night avoiding multiple kids and dodging flying hands while trying to keep the two kids from actually waking each other up....all the way thinking "Why didn't I sleep with Zachary, look at Karis so peaceful over there!" When the alarm went off at 4:45A, she expressed that very notion to Karis who told her that he hadn't slept a wink either because Zachary was plastered all over him (to keep warm because he doesn't need covers Mom!!!) and kept elbowing him in the head! That's it, next time the Z-parents are going to sleep together and let the kids just kick and shove each other all night!! :)
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| Sheer exhaustion won out on the flight home and she slept all 3 hours on the 2nd flight - from take-off to landing! |
Crazy Addison story: We're now officially frightened of what the teenager years may be like with Addison ....her mind is definitely more devious than the boys! :) She is a chocolate lover as mentioned, so both stories revolve around this obsession.
The first incident occurred when we arrived at Karis' farm - Amy was unpacking and the boys had been given two pieces of chocolate. Amy put them on the dresser and noticed Addison looking at them...Addison then looked at Amy and said "Mommy, leave room." Wanting to see exactly what she'd do, Amy cooperated and walked out with Addison then informing her "Close the door." Hmm, so Amy closed the door to just a tiny crack open so that she could see - and Addison looked over and noticed this so she ran over and slammed the door shut! After about 10 seconds, Amy opened the door sure enough to find Addison doing her level best to get up to reach the chocolates on the counter! Smart girl to put all of those pieces together of what she'd need to do in order to get these treats! It makes a parent proud and horrified all at the same time!
The second incident came after Connie and Dennis' celebration. They had been given a Pot of Gold chocolates (for their golden anniversary). The open box was put on the stairs and we all went about our business. Well the next day someone asked where the chocolates were because they couldn't find them. Addison then about 30 minutes later appeared downstairs with chocolate ALL over her face, and the empty box of chocolates in her hand! Sheesh! Later on that morning, Kaleb and Kaylie came rushing downstairs from Zachary's bedroom where they held out a handful of chocolates, saying "Addison must have taken the box upstairs and hid in Zachary's bedroom because we found these chocolates in his bed under the covers!" Apparently she must have thought she was a squirrel and would hide some away for next time! Heaven help the Z-parents when she turns into a teenager!
