Done.

We are done!

Done School.

Done Soccer.

Done T-Ball.

Done Swimming Lessons.

Done Adult Slopitch Team.

Done work for Jared(for a week, anyways).

We are officially on vacation and loving it. We're in the States, with lots of family photo ops....

...and these cutie patooties!

Happy Beginning of Summer everyone!

Jimsmith Lake/Sam Steele Days

For Father's Day weekend, we went camping as a family to Jimsmith Lake, out by Cranbrook. We had never been there before, but it's definitely a new favorite! The campsite was awesome, very treed and private and the lake is really nice too. Whe we first got there, it rained for about an hour so we got out the ponchos and went for a walk.

The next morning we headed into Cranbrook for their annual Sam Steele Days celebration. We watched the parade, did some kids activities, go karts, and watched baseball and bocce tournaments.

The beach at Jimsmith Lake was really nice. It was really hot that day and we played in the water and sun tanned. Well, some of us sun tanned. Another sun burned. Not naming any names :)

Gone Fishin

I've said it before, but having a child in school has ruined my life! That may be a bit dramatic but I definitely felt a lack of freedom when he started Kindergarten. We've had to stay home all week long, and that proves to be hard for us Whiddens. So to my excitement the other day, Carter didn't have school so I took the kids out to Grave Lake again to catch some fish. We started out with the fishing rod and when that didn't work so well, we resorted to throwing pieces of bread in the water and using the net to catch all the little fish that came to eat the bread. We seriously caught about 50 little 3-inch fish doing that. It was so much fun and we had an awesome afternoon there together. It makes me excited for summer when we don't have to worry about school and we can go do that whenever we want!

We were keeping some fish in a bucket on the dock, and Hayley bent down really close to look at the fish. All of a sudden one of the fish jumped straight up out of the bucket and almost hit her face. It freaked her right out. We all laughed pretty hard, including her.

I snapped this cute picture of my kids sitting on the dock. And yes, I totally made them put their arms around each other but they did it willingly... and can't you see the love in their eyes? They are just the best little friends and I think they are so cute. Okay okay I'll stop gushing now, sorry I can't help it :)

Demolition Derby

This past weekend was Coal Miner Days in Sparwood so we headed over for the fireworks and the Demolition Derby. The Derby was so much fun, I have never been to one before and it was hilarious. The cars started out looking like this:

...and started smashing into each other to determine the winner, the last car still running.

The kids sure had fun!

Random Things That Made My Week Awesome

• Shorts and t-shirt weather.

• Hayley insisted on picking up Carter from school in a full-on giraffe costume. Oh to be 3 again, no inhibitions whatsoever.

• Today Carter went on a Field Trip for school, which means he's gone all day, instead of just the afternoon. It has been a great preparation for Grade 1 next year, and Hayley loves the special one-on-one time.


• Yard Work. This past weekend we stayed home (shocking!) and cleaned the garage, fixed a trailer, washed the vehicles, built a gate on our fence, raked and mowed the lawn, etc. It has been so nice catching up on all those little fix-its around the house.
  
• Soccer. And T-Ball. And Swimming Lessons. We have alot going on these days.

• Mini-Golfing and Bowling as a family.

• My kids are all of a sudden obsessed with "Harry Potter". They dress in housecoats and jump on the trampoline (holding chinese takeout chopsticks as wands) yelling "Expelliarmus!" and "Expecto Patronum!". Our poor poor neighbors.


• Playdates! I can't wait for more this summer.
  
• I hosted a baby shower for this sweet little bebe. Ah, she's just so cute I can hardly stand it!
  

• I painted my kitchen. These pictures are for my Mom. Remember it used to look like this. Now it looks like this... The only problem is it makes the ugly countertop more noticeable. That's the next reno project.

* And I totally started painting the day before the aforementioned baby shower. Not sure why I do things like that...decide to start an "afternoon project" that takes all day and night, haha.*

Sulphur Springs

It's been forever since I've updated. The past couple weekends have been spent camping in the new trailer and visiting family in Edmonton. The kids and I just went to Edmonton, Jared had to stay home and work :( We get to watch my sister Carly in her high school musical production and compete in the Provincial Music Festival, celebrate my Dad's 51st birthday, watch my Mom's labour of love: her Showbiz Kids final performance, and visit with friends and family.

This weekend, we took a family drive out in the bush and ended up at the Sulphur Springs. After the initial few minutes of plugging our noses and gagging over the rotten egg smell, we snapped a few shots. We've never seen it this green before, the pictures don't do it justice. It was the strangest shade of green ever.

LOVE the self timer on my camera, hello family pictures!

AND I was a guest blogger on my mom's blog. She re-capped a sweet little story on her blog about me and some Nike shoes. You can read it here. Some details were skewed. You can read my rebuttal here. Bottom line? Best Mom ever!