Rides, Princesses and Ribs

Now how is that for a title, eh?! Quite the combination!

But I promised I would share what the rest of our Canada Day looked like. Well, after our 5 km run, we went home so that all of us the littles could take a nap. After our nap, my mom came by and headed out to the fair that was in town. And what fun we had there!! This was the first time for the kids. Well, we've been to a fair before, but this was the first time that it was actually enjoyed. Before, it was all too much for our darling sensitive-to-loud-sounds girl. This time, it took her a bit but once she got used to it, she was excited.

After walking through it, looking at the different rides and stuff, she found two rides she was comfortable with. A merry-go-round type with cars, and a train. We tried to convince her with this one, but it just was too scary for her because it went up and down :o)

But that's okay. She sure loved this one!!! And went on it twice!

Unfortunately for Lincoln, he was too small to go on this ride. Oh, how he would have loved it!

Good thing he could go on the train. He didn't quite know what to think of it, though.

Once the rides were done, we knew it would be safe for their stomachs to handle some cotton candy. Keziah knew what to do with it right away.

Lincoln on the other hand, had no clue what he was supposed to do with it. Nathan gave him a piece, which Lincoln promptly used to clean his nose and gave it back to Nathan!! Oh, we howled!!! It looked so funny! The poor guy thought it was a Kleenex :o)

But once we squished it up and shoved it into his mouth, he clued in very quickly as to where to put the next piece:

We left some room in our tummys for some yummy ribs and chicken:

There were times where Kez thought things were too loud, like when a band was playing and singing on stage:

As we were walking out, being done with the fair, Keziah saw something that made her run and stand by Oma. It was a person dressed up as a mouse. This poor girl.

 She absolutely detests anything dressed up in a costume. Thankfully she then saw something that nearly made her eyes fall out of her sockets. She saw a *princess*!!!! Do you know what that means to a little girl?! Keziah was in awe. Clearly she does not see the princess outfit as a costume, like the mouse. She was so thrilled!

Wow. What an end to an exciting day! Oh, wait!! That's not all! As if we hadn't enjoyed ourselves enough, my mom took us out to have an ice cream (it's a good thing we ran that 5 km earlier in the day!!).

And then, to top it all off, while eating her ice cream, her eyes lit up once more. What could it be?! Did the princess follow her to Dairy Queen? Nope. Not the princess this time. It was.........the minister!!! That's right, she couldn't believe she saw our minister at Dairy Queen. "You mean he doesn't live at church??!"

What an exciting day. Needless to say, we all slept very well that night!!

Hmmmmm....

Blogger is not allowing me to post pictures :o( I'll try again later. Can't do a blog post without pictures! Especially when it involves rides, cotton candy and a princess!!! Stay tuned!

Breathless

So this past Monday was our first summer statutory holiday. Aren't holidays great??! Time to sleep in, lounge around and enjoy the fact that there is no pressure to be anywhere. For work, that is.

Well, we don't do "sleeping in" here, so we thought "why not do a 5 km Canada Race down by the lake?". We weren't the only crazy ones with this idea. We were two out of 274 people that signed up for this race. We even convinced Nathan's cousin to join us!!

So, off we went, yanked the kids out of bed early and were down by the registration table for 8 am. We plunked the kids in the bike trailer/stroller and away we went. We had done it before, 3 years earlier. That means one kid lighter, as well as a smaller and lighter stroller.

But we did it! Pushing 60+ pounds, as well as the stroller, we completed it. My goal was to come in under 35 minutes. Secretly I was hoping for under 30 minutes, but I warned myself not to be too disappointed if that didn't happen.

I pushed the stroller the first half, and Nathan pushed it the second half. It worked well because you run 2.5 kilometers then turn around and come back. So Nathan was ahead of me. All I had to do was flip the stroller to face the other way and he took over.

Nathan completed the race in 28 minutes and 37 seconds. I completed it in 30:34. 34 seconds over my secret target time. Ho hum. I could blame the extra 34 seconds on the stroller, but I do believe that stroller kept me upright and going! Once it's rolling, I had to keep up with it or else it'd end in the lake!

A few days later we got everyone's results back. Just as I was pretty much reassured that my time of 30:34 wasn't too bad, I saw that a 79 year old man beat me. 79 years old, people!!!! That is 44 years my senior. There went my "Proud of you" balloon. Popped in an instant. Thankfully though, I kept looking down the list and immediately I felt better. You know why? Because I beat an 80 year old by 9 seconds. That's right!! Medal goes to me!!!

Nevertheless, even though I didn't quite make it under my secret time limit, I was glad for the challenge. Maybe next year?

And seeing as we were down by the lake, we though we'd check out the new pier. We felt we should be paying $100 for every step we took on that pier, knowing how much this pier has cost the city, and the drama that all went with it.

Before we left, we were given lots of free snacks and stuff. That sure kept Lincoln happy!

Well, all of this was done before 10:00 in the morning. That left the rest of the day for more fun! Keziah can't wait to tell you what she saw!!!

Maybe more time tomorrow to fill you in :o)

Canada Day!!!

Canada celebrated its 146th birthday on Monday. It's a good time to reflect on the country we live in, the blessings that come with it. It can be hard sometimes to think of the blessings, especially when you think of the leadership, or lack thereof. But then all you have to do is turn on the news to see how other countries are faring. That will make you thankful very quickly for the blessing of stability in our country, Canada.

While there are things that do not make me proud as a Canadian (eg. our country's stance on abortion), there are plenty of things that make me thankful for living in this country, calling it our home and native land. The one thing I am most thankful for is the fact that we are still allowed to worship God freely. While the government has tried to squash God out of the public systems etc., we are still free to worship our God through attending church on Sundays and sending our children to our own private schools. This is something we can so easily take for granted......until we hear of the persecution of our brothers and sisters in the Middle East or Asia. We have no idea what it is like to have that taken away from us. While it may seem unfair that we pay for public schooling through our taxes, as well as completely funding our own schools, that pales in comparison to what others go through, all to worship the one and only God. May God be with these people, who worship Him under these circumstances. And may God be with our country in the years to come, that we may continue to pray and worship Him in freedom.

From coast to coast to coast, our country is beautiful. Canada is diverse in its land and people. And I am proud to say I am Canadian.

Lastly, here are some fun facts about Canada, taken from different sources:

• our national icon is the beaver
• population: 32,057,701
• hockey and lacrosse are Canada's national sports
• canadians eat more mac'n'cheese than any other nation (blech!!!)
• our Trans-Canada Highway goes from Newfoundland to British Columbia, being 7821 km long (4860 miles)
• we say "sorry" for everything

Overall, we are very grateful we live in this country and pray that God will be with those governing it. May they remember Who is ultimately the Leader, that God's will be their focus, not their own.

I hope all my Canadian friends had a great holiday (we sure did.....blog post coming up). And seeing as I am posting this on tthe 4th of July, may all my American friends enjoy their country's holiday today!!

(*none of the pictures on here are my own, but taken from the internet).

June Learnings

Another month has passed us by. Do you realize that Christmas is 1/2 a year away??! I wouldn't normally pay attention to that, but when you have a little boy who was born around Christmas, then certain things stand out. Just when I get over the shock that Christmas is only 6 months away, I am down on the ground again in shock due to the fact that Lincoln is now 1.5 years old. I will never learn to be able to handle how quick my kids are growing.

Keziah learned how fun it was to run through a sprinkler!

Keziah is learning how to colour quite nicely.

Daddy learned that he has some competition. Lincoln did not like it that daddy was holding mommy's hand.

I learned that my son is fiercely jealous over his mother.

Oma learned that there are more ways than one to make Sunday soup:

Keziah learned than some people are never too old to play with her:

Someone learned how to pout this month:

Lincoln learned what "baking" is all about:

I learned that if I allow my daughter to play "doctor", letting her put stickers on my "owies", that means I need to check for these stickers before I leave the house hours later. Oops :o)

On Father's Day, Daddy learned that his daughter loves him "Thiiiiiiissss much!"

Lincoln is learning to make funny faces. Thanks, Opa!

Lincoln is also learning to use the BBQ.

Keziah and Lincoln learned how to ride the same bike together, all on their own!

Lincoln learned that camping is a whole lot of fun and relaxation!!

Keziah learned how to eat a camping treat: eat all around the edges as well as the bottom. And that leaves the best part for last: the top filled with caramel and chocolate!!

And we all learned that one can never have too many s'mores!! :o)