Canada

This year we were not planning on going to Canada but a few months before school let out I told Greg that I had this feeling that I needed to go home and see my family-especially my dad who I had not seen in a year and who had not met Brailie yet. So we decided that we would go-only we decided to keep it a secret. I talked to my older brother Steve who lives in New York City and he was able to find a way to come secretively also. So basically our plan was to drive up to Saskatchewan and show up at my parents house around dinner and be like, "surprise." Some of the people we told here in Green River asked, "Well what will you do if your parents are gone?" I said, "Trust me people-my parents don't go anywhere. My dad is a farmer and in all of my life he has not gone anywhere but to town during the summer 'farming' months. They will be there." And yep they were. Everyone gathered around the table. We were ecstatic driving up. I thought someone would jump up to the door as we drove in the yard, (loss of hearing foiled that plan). We slammed the doors as we got out of the car...still no one came out to see who was there. So we just walked up to the door and walked in. I was expecting a bit of a stronger, more surprised reaction-I was sure one of my parents would cry. My mom was surprised and I think my dad's exact words were, "don't touch me, I am sick." (A great welcome for the family that has come 1300 miles). They were concerned there weren't enough burgers warm for supper. Oh well-if you know my family-they are always concerned that you are well fed. More excitement registered later. It took Allie a day or so to warm up and after that she was dragging Grammy all over the house and talking her ear off, and was out to the tractors with Grandpa Sam and looking for deer and riding the lawn mower. Brailie learned how to crawl while we were there so that made things more exciting for her (though she still wouldn't let anyone besides mom or dad hold her without shrieking). We got there on a Friday. On Monday I told my mom I wanted to take her to Saskatoon for a girls night out to shop and go for dinner (but really we needed to be in town to get Steve from the airport). We shopped and ate and luckily got more and more tired as evening went on so we also got slower and slower and therefore were finished with our stuff and ready to go home at the exact time his plane was landing (10:00pm). I started driving and my mom kept saying, "you need to get over in this lane so we can get on the highway, you need to get over, you need to get over, " and I said, "I am not going that way." Instead I drove us to the airport to pick up Steve. The next morning we stunned my dad when he came in the kitchen and made a comment about the time and Steven turned around and said, "I know I can't believe it either." Lastly we surprised them with family photos to be taken the next day. Heaven knows we needed an update as the last family picture we had taken was when I was in the 9th grade. So here are a few pictures from our trip. Unfortunately my camera died during the trip and so I lost all my pictures. I am getting some from my brother so I will be adding a little slide show to my sidebar with extra Canada pics for anyone interested.

Brailie crawling
Allie with Uncle Steve having an ice cream on the way home from the park on Canada Day (sorry Steve this blog is not necessarily to post your glamor shots)

Playing with Uncle Steve (pretty much he was a huge highlight of the trip-probably more exciting than any character you could see at Disney World-but much more underpaid I am afraid).

After a long day of playing

Playing at the lake for Canada Day. We thought it was going to be too cold so we didn't bring the swimsuits and the water turned out to be perfect. Allie had a blast in the lake. Wish she could have swam more-her diaper absorbed so much water poor thing could hardly walk.

A little beach babe we happen to be related to.

Brailie with Grammy (a rare photo when she let someone else hold her for a minute)

Driving Uncle Daniel's big tractor with Daddy. This was one of Allie's favorite things. She could have stayed in it all day. It has a passengers seat (a major improvement over sitting on the floor like we had to as kids).

Driving Grammy's lawn tractor. Allie loved this cause it was just her height to get on. She would pull the lever and say, "back it up, back it up."

Going to drive the big sprayer with Grandpa Sam.

I adore this picture because I love how Allie is looking at my dad.

Greg driving the big tractor. He makes a good farmer.

It was a good vacation. It was so good to be together as a family for 4 days. That happens maybe once a year for us and I am so glad we had the chance to get together. Thanks Greg for driving all the way there and back while I put on puppet shows and played waitress in the back seat. Thank you Steve for flying in and being entertaining and amazing and thank you mom and dad for letting us crash and eat all your food even though you weren't prepared. Thanks to Daniel and Jenny too for finding some time to hang out. Love you guys.