First Day of School, Sept. 1, 2011

First Day of School!  Last Thursday it was official, summer break is over, time to get back to work, people!  Didn't you get the memo about wearing plaid?  Sarah, Josh and Jeff obviously did. 

Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park - Road Trip!!

A couple of weekends ago we took a road trip with our three youngest children, Sarah, Jeffrey and Joshua.  You know you're an Albertan when you measure distance in hours, not kilometres.  As in, we drove eight hours from Beaumont, Alberta to Cypress Hills, Saskatchewan.  We hit Calgary and the gps said "turn right, drive 395 km to Maple Creek, Sask."  That's one right turn. 

The day after we arrived, we went on a hike in the park.  The Trans Canada Trail makes its way through the interprovincial park.  We took the Whispering Pines Trail.

The trail took us through the Lodge Pole Pine woodlands into some grassy fields.

We climbed a fairly steep hill to get to this point.  I think that Cypress Hills has the highest elevation east of the Rockies.

Here are Jeff, Sarah and Josh at the top of the hill.  Phew, time for a bottle of water and a granola bar!

Someone left behind a little visitor in the woods!  An Inukshuk.  Josh'll tell you all about them.

This log looks very scary, doesn't it?  Is it a wolf, or a wild pig, or a monster?

Josh and Jeff spent the trip trying to catch a fat squirrel.  This is as close as they got.  I wonder what they would have done if they'd caught one?

We rented some pedal boats and toured the lake, which was nice and clean and quiet.  Jeff and Josh made good time on the lake.

We had perfect weather all weekend, it was just beautiful.  What a pretty lake!

If you're looking for a great family campground, Cypress Hills Park is the place to go.  Lots of good campsites, a general store and icecream shop, a gas station and laundromat, boat rentals, horseback riding, ziplines, mini golf, and lots of great trails to hike. 

Come on in, the water's fine!  Actually it looks like it was a little chilly, hey?

"Wuv, twu wuv.  That dweam wifin a dweam..."  Kudos to Sarah for the great lighting!  And they walked off into the sunset hand in hand....

The three youngest Mac's sleeping the day away.

Our home away from home.  It was really cozy and fun.

Nothing like a cup of hot chocolate to get you going in the morning!

How much longer till we get home?  Only another eight hours, kids.

We played a variation of cows and cemetaries on the way home.  Cemetaries were few and far inbetween, so it was cows v. haybales.  It was a close match.  We also visited a gas station in almost every town between Maple Creek and Beaumont, thanks to a small boy and a very large bottle of blue gatorade.  The little fellows were good sports, and we made lots of happy memories on this trip.

Happy Birthday Sarah!

Happy Birthday Sarah Kelly MacIntyre!!  Finally Fourteen!  Dances!  Learner's Permits!

The budding artist received her hearts desire, a graphic tablet to practice her skills.

Mmmmmm.  Triple layer Black Midnight chocolate cake.  Skor ice cream.  Mmmmmm.

Josh insisted on party hats.  Sarah complied.  She's such a good sister.  Happy birthday Kiddo!

Capital Ex

Saturday we went to Capital Ex with Jeffrey, Joshua and Sarah.  It was the perfect day to go to the fair, beautiful, warm but not too warm, and barely a cloud in the sky.  Perfection!  Here's Joshua coming down the giant slide.

And here's Jeffrey whizzing through the air on the big swing thing.  (See what I mean about the weather?)

They each won a prize at those rigged fair games.  Miracles do happen.  Here's Sarah with her big prize, Domo.

There was a great exhibit on animation inside the Coliseum, put on by Looney Tunes, Disney and Dreamworks.  Here's Sarah, Jeffrey and Joshua in front of the Kung Fu Panda exhibit. 

All in all, it was a great day. ( At the very end of the day I got my treat, those little mini donuts.  Yum! )

Josh's 10th Birthday!

Happy Birthday Joshua!  Josh had a great tenth birthday, with nice presents from his family, and a big chocolate cake, and chinese food for supper!  Then we all went to see the last Harry Potter movie.  What a great day!

Jeffrey and Joshua Honours Night, June 28, 2011

                                                  Jeffrey receiving his award from Ms. Gudmundson.

                                                     The grade five honours students (Jeff is on the far right).

                                                  Joshua receiving his award from Mrs. Spreen.

                                                     The grade four honours students.

Sarah's Big Night

                                                                               
                                                    Sarah all dressed up for the grade 8 grad.
                                                                            

                                                        All the girls lined up!

                                                             Katie, Desiree and Sarah

 

                                                             Sarah and Kira

                                                    Sarah and Desiree

                                                           Sarah and Mr. Berg (he's crouching)

                                                           Sarah and Ms. Auch