Happy Accidental Detours on the Highway

DAY 5 on the Road to Nova Scotia

Saskatoon, SK to Winnipeg MB (should have been 786.4 km)
PLUS a small accidental but happy detour: 851.8 km

2932.8 km in total from Yellowknife

We left Saskatoon pretty late (about noon) because the kids were all playing together so nicely at Chris and Shawna's, but we knew that we still had several thousand kilometres ahead of us.  We punched our destination in the GPS and took off.

The Reason I Was in Orlando

While Nicole and I did manage to squeeze in a totally awesome whirlwind two-day cousin retreat in sunny Orlando in January, the reason I was in Orlando was for a fantastic education technology conference for teachers, which started up the day Nicole left.

It was a really awesome tech conference!

The pictures from the conference are mostly of slides from presentations I attended, so I'll show you pictures "around" the conference.

Bus Tour of Yellowknife

On the last weekend in September, in between Eli's two back-to-back work trips, we took the girls and Papa on a bus tour around Yellowknife with another family we've met two ways...

The two men of the families work together, and their son, Mr. A, and our Miss A were in the same preschool together last year, and now I teach Mr. A!

The girls were PUMPED about the bus tour.

As children of a teacher, the girls don't get to take a bus to school, and so, of course, they covet the school bus.

This bus tour was on a school bus, which was perfectly fine with them!

Mr. A and Miss A loved giggling and playing together and bouncing from seat to seat whenever they had a chance.

Best Water Fight Ever

My cousin, Monique, sent the girls beach towels and water squirters for their birthdays.

After the girls' double birthday par-tay, they wanted to play with them.

Having never used water squirters before, Eli and I did the mature thing and filled the squirters up, showed the girls how to "pump" them to create air pressure, and proceeded to have an elaborate water fight, dodging around the cars and running all over the neighbourhood yelling, chasing, wrestling, and drenching each other BEFORE we let the girls have a turn.

Ah, the high road.

Needless to say, it didn't take the girls' neighbourhood pals long to run into their house, hollering to Jaime for their own squirters, so Eli helped all the kids fill up their little water tanks. 

And, then, declared a water battle against the kids. 

United against Eli, and under the Midnight Sun, the four kids were PUMPED! 

*You can't tell from the sun, but it's about 7 pm in this picture.

They plotted, and tried to ambush Eli. 

However, Eli was equipped with a hose and was happy to drench the kids as they squealed and ran around. 

Here, the kids are trying a direct attack. 

But, Eli turns and sneaks behind the car. 

And totally nails Mr. W! 

Oh, the joy to the kids' faces was only out-shone by Eli's look of satisfaction in drenching the kids, and he hid behind his boat. 

"Aaah!!" 

"This is the BEST WATER FIGHT EVER!" 

Seriously, who is the bigger kid? 

Miss G took some time to channel her artistic inspiration. 

Cute little water hearts everywhere! 

My doodler. 

I would say that the girls are LOVING the summer weather and endless sun after our long and relentless winter. 

Wouldn't you?

Double Birthday Party

Birthday Season means that it is time for a double birthday party!

We invited a few friends over to help us celebrate. 

I set up some outside crafts (like this rock painting station), to keep the kids busy. 

It was really nice to have Gramma and Grampum come to the party, too.

Grampum was a trooper filling up water balloons for the kids. 

We dined on hot dogs and Eli's gourmet hamburgers. 

The kids also had some wooden animals to paint. 

Jaime found a "wink" from Sweet Claire, so we knew she was enjoying the party, too. 

It was nice to have the activities set up, and to let the kids move to whatever activity they wanted to play at, with no time pressure. 

On the lawn, I had silly fun foam feet to decorate. 

They are door hangers, and I put out a bunch of summer-themed fun foam stickers. 

And, of course, the bikes and scooters quickly filled up the court. 

Before we knew it, it was cupcake time! 

There was some concern about the warm breeze blowing the candles out, but we managed. 

Make a wish!! 

Birthday hugs! 

Senior Five-Year-Old, Miss G, and Rookie Five-Year-Old, Miss A 

Chocolate!  Always a hit. 

Also a hit?  Water balloon toss! 

I set up targets, so the kids wouldn't soak each other. 

It was super nice to have a beautiful sun sun sunny day to celebrate the girls. 

In the kids' goodie bags were bubbles and notebooks, which Miss G promptly filled with her beautiful drawings, all about her birthday party.

Doggone It!

Here are four doggy tails... I mean TALES from this past week.

Doggone It #1

Last week, my girls and I walked over to say "happy trails" to a good friend I've made since we moved here, Heather. 

Heather and I happened to meet on the plane when I was returning from Nana's celebration of life. 

Heather was moving here from Nova Scotia, sight unseen, with her dog and two cats and all the clothes she could pack. 

Brave girl.  I can relate.

We, memorably, got delayed in Calgary, and Heather and I sat next to one another on the flight from Edmonton to Yellowknife. 

Heather's dog, Boulder, LOVES the girls because they will play catch with him continuously, and they have piggy tails, which he thinks are pretty fun.

He doesn't have enough fur for piggy tails, so he has piggy tail envy.

"What are you laughing at, Kid?  I'll lick your earmuffs!!" 

Last week, Heather and Geoff moved into their new home in Hay River.

Congratulations, home owners! 

The girls entertained Boulder outside while the movers loaded up the rest of their stuff.

It's a real bummer to lose a good friend so soon, but Hay River is only a five and a half hour drive south of Yellowknife (which is a heck of a lot closer than most of my friends). I think it is the perfect distance for a weekend road trip, wouldn't you say? 

Doggone It #2

Last night, I took Miss G out on a date.

Little Miss A stayed home with Daddy for movie night because...

... this is how she looks during a self-initiated afternoon nap. 

Fever and stomach bug. 

She's getting much better though!

Kid Doggie joined Miss G and I at NACC, the Northern Arts and Cultural Centre, to see a Ukranian dance performance featuring kids and adults.

Miss G says is was better than "The Nutcracker," which is saying something, considering how much she loves Clara!

Doggone It #3

This morning, Barry came over to visit with his beautiful daughter and his little dog, Von Bon. 

Von Bon is very debonair, and knows lots of tricks, much to the girls' delight! 

"Do you like my snow booties??" 

"How about my yellow parka?" 

The girlies LOVE Von Bon, almost as much as they love Barry.

Barry has three skidoos.

Very important.

I caught Eli playing on Barry's skidoo in the garage this morning... 

He says he was just "testing something," but he was in his pajamas and sitting on the seat making vrrrrrroom noises.

Okay, I made up the part about the skidoo noises, but the rest is true.

Eli's heated garage is preferred place to work on skidoos... 

It's Yellowknife, and it's cold here... 

Barry and Eli bond over many things, like skidoos and fishing and shooting...

That makes them "cool" to the girls.

Doggone It #4

Miss A is so much better, today, than earlier this week!!

So, we bundled up in the sled behind Eli's snowmobile to take in a Northern event.

Check out our snazzy matching snowmobile helmets.

We took the girls to Frame Lake to see Day 2 of the Diavik 150 Canadian Championship Dog Derby, as part of the Longjohn Jamboree this weekend. 

You can see the museum, the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre in the background (the arced building). 

The girls went dog sledding earlier this month, and they were excited to see a race on the frozen lake! 

It was not freezing (about -10 without a wind chill), so we were pretty comfy. 

We timed it so we got there exactly 11 minutes before the race began to see the exciting start.

They're off!

Each dog team starts in its own lane, then all the lanes merge into one. 

We positioned ourselves right at the final merge position. 

The girls were cheering on all the dogs.

Check out the lead dog on the lead team!

He reminds me of...

Monique's dog Asha. 

How about here?

Do you see the resemblance? 

Here? 

What do you think Asha would think of dog sledding? 

I bet she'd be pretty excited to see the teams running by!! 

Okay, Asha... now you're just showing off...

And that green grass is such a tease.

The mushers were very friendly and waved to the kids and adults cheering on the race along the course. 

It was a pretty spectacular event to see. 

And, the beginning was over in a flash. 

See how Eli strategically incorporated his snowmobile in the background?

He just ordered those blue skis with the red detailing.

He just gets cooler every year.

So, those are my doggy days of March for you.