The GranFam Grand Adventure 2013: Canada Part 1: Grandma's House

We finally made it to Grandma's House in Canada!  

Daddy however, needed to get back to so he took Grandma's car and headed home while the rest of us stayed to play for a month. 

Yes you read that right, a full month in Canada.  

Daddy had to leave on our Anniversary so here's a throw back picture to celebrate 12 years of marriage to my sweetheart and best friend.

One of our favorite things in Grandma's house is the wicker chair swing in Mommy's room.

We also love the daily visits from this little buck.  

We often see deer just liked to hang out in the field around the house.

Introducing the girls to Grandpa's new horses Chance and Justice.

The Girls show us that they have no fear of the horses.  They loved the any chance they could get to feed, brush or go for a ride on the horses.

YeeHaw!

New puppies were also a big hit with the kids.

Addi in bed with all the dolls tucked in.

Waiting to go for a ride with Grandpa on the quad, all four kids love taking turns riding up front, it may have been because Grandpa lets them "drive".

Playing on the farm also means getting dirty on the farm.  It looks like these two found some mud, lost their shoes and ruined their socks.

Austin will not take naps in his crib.  He is one year old and he has never taken a nap in his crib.  He will happily go to sleep and nap if someone is holding him, or if he is in a moving car (but it has to be in motion), or he will eventually fall asleep on the floor at my feet if I wont pick him up but it usually only last for a bout 15 minutes.  He is the sweetest little guy but this is his flaw.  We have tried many different things but this little guy just does not like his crib.

Hmm, maybe he's not the only one.

Lexi decided that she would rather climb into Grandma and Grandpa's bed than come find Mommy in the mornings.

Even Austin couldn't get enough of the horses and would reach for them.

Austin and cousin Josh.  

Teaching these two boys how to go up and down stairs on their own.

Ausi became a mater of the stairs at Grandma's house.

Visiting Grandma Grandma!  

Grandma Grandma suffers from really bad dementia and rarely holds logical conversations anymore but she does like to watch the kids when we come to visit.  

On this particular visit, right when we were getting ready to leave, Addi was giving her a hug and she looked at Addi and said "I'm your great, great, great, great Grandmother."  It was not quite accurate but it was awesome at the same time. 

Austin wants to be just as big as the girls.  He wants to be doing everything they are doing.  He's also all boy!  He loves playing with cars, tools and balls.  He is a fun little guy. 

Lexi was always helpful in drowning, er I mean watering Grandma's flowers.

Oh and Mommy had another one of those birthday things.

Ausi had his first ice cream cone, loved it, and ate the whole thing.

The Claresholm Aquatic Center.  

Mommy worked here for three years as a lifeguard and a swim instructor when she was in high school.  So many memories and experiences were made here, it's always nostalgic coming here now and it was so much fun bring the kids here for swimming lessons.

It was so much fun to see that some traditions are still carried on as the instructor took the classes for a canoe ride on the last day of class (just like Mommy use to with her classes).  Lexi in the middle waves like mad to make sure Mommy see's her in the canoe!

Typical introvert Lei sit's in the very front of the canoe away from the other kids and holds her ore upright and does not help paddle! Too cute because it is so Leighton!

Watch out for this duo team of butterfly catchers!  Armed with an old peanut butter jar they would spend hours catching and releasing butterflies in the yard.

Addi's turn to drivewith Grandpa.

Tuckered out from all the fun, Austin fell asleep when going for a ride.

Giddy up!  Addi helps give her little bro a ride in the horsey wagon.

A crop duster gave us quite the show as he rounded the house over and over again while he worked in a near by field.  The kids loved watching and chasing this yellow plane as he came and went circling  the house for about two hours!

The Best Neighbor Ever!  

Bill has been our neighbor and friend since before Mommy was born.  

He is one in a million and easy to see why.  

We took the kids out to his farm because we were looking for a cat to adopt and he said that we could take one of his cats.  So when we got to his place he stopped working so he could take the kids out to his field and meet a calf that had lost it's mother and needed to be bottle feed.  The girls were so excited to help him feed the calf.

Then he took them out to the chicken coop to see chickens and collect eggs, which he then insisted that we take home with us.

We also went to his garden where the girls picked peas, beans and corn.

  Leighton however just wanted a dandelion she found.

We then picked up the cat that we could adopt and take home.  

Thank you Bill for taking the time to show my kids around and do things with them!  They loved it! Oh and for our new cat.

The Cat.  

My kids have been begging for a pet (and because we have not caved in yet, they keep taking turns being a pet and the other one will boss the pet around).  So this was our compromise.  We would get them a cat, but the cat has to stay at Grandma's house, but they can call Grandpa and check on the cat as often as they would like too, and when we are staying at Grandma's house then they can take care of the cat.  It seemed to be the perfect win-win.

Addi named our cat 'Julie" after the swimming instructor the girls had.  Julie the cat is pretty friendly and seems to like her new surroundings.  The first day the girls would follow Julie allover the yard.  The girls came running into the house calling for me to 'come quick'.  As I followed the girls out toward the workshop they told me that Julie was under Grandpa's truck and that she had caught a mouse.  Lexi told me that Julie keep moving the mouse and showed me how Julie tossed the mouse back and forth between her front paw, then Addi told me how Julie was eating the mouse and that it make crunching noises. 

EWW GROSS!  (one of the many reasons why we don't have pets)

So happy the girls got a pet and that I don't have to clean up after it!!