Trip to Seattle

So, for my holidays at the beginning of August, Claire, Daniel, Tipper and I headed south to sunny Seattle. I can actually say that because, it was actually sunny!!! Gotta love the Northwest in August!! We had a great time and it only rained when we weren't ready to head outside, so, that wa perfect! We got to see Matthew and Claire is in love! No baby is as cute as Matthew. She can't wait to see him at Christmas!!!

Our Tour Guides! They never tired, but I am sure that they were ready for us to head home at the end of the week. It is always good to see family come, and go. Matthew is such an amazing baby, as long as he has food and his wipies he is good to go anywhere! We saw lots of Uncle Aaron too, but he didn't want to participate in any of our craziness and now that Matthew is here, there wasn't room in the car!

Our 1st touring day was spent at the Seattle Science Centre. I didn't have my camera with me, so, if you want to see pics of that you will have to visit http://www.greenbuckets.blogspot.com/. Steph has those pics posted on her blog. Oh, and you can check out super cute Matthew too!!! It was a good day and didn't tire anyone out too much.

There was also some shopping done by us while Steph was at work, a trip to Ivors to feed the seagulls and a midnight showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince at the Imax theatre. Matthew and Steph missed out on that, they just didn't have the stamina that day.

The big trip of the visit, planned waaaaay in advance was to Port Angeles, Forks and La Push. Now, if you are not familiar with the Twilight books by Stephanie Meyer, you will have no idea why this trip was such a big deal. Now, to get to these towns, you have to drive all the way south of Seattle and back up to get around the sound and it takes about 4 hours because the roads are super skinny and super windy. Takes some time!!! But the views are great and there are even giant cedars on the way. In the books, Port Angeles is the "big Center" the characters visit when they want to do some shopping or see a movie. Forks, WA is where they live and La Push is the adjoining Indian Reserve where the Werewolves reside. It was a great day and Claire and I, especially had a good time. I have to admit that I have not seen that many pre-teen girls in one place since the Hillary Duff concert a few years ago. They were everywhere on their own personal pilgrimages to visit the place where Edward and Bella fell in love!! Towns were very accommodating with self guided tours and lots of attractions to take in. You can read more about Port Angeles, WA here and Forks and La Push, WA here .

I have to admit that La Push was my favourite place to visit this trip. I love the ocean and make it a necessary detour whenever I am in Seattle. It just calms my soul and frankly, there was nothing I needed more in August. The kids and I picked rocks to make a door mat out of and hopefully we will get that done over the winter when the snow is blowing.

The following are pictures from Port Angeles

Bella Itallia (please note the name) where Bella and Edward have dinner

Book stores visited by Bella when she visits Port Angeles in the book

The following are pictures taken in Forks, WA the home town of Bella Swan and Edward Cullen

sign when you enter town

The Swan residence where Bella lives with her Father, the police Chief

This is supposed to be the Cullen residence. I was disappointed in this house. Not nearly as beautiful as it is described in the book. I understand that the book is fiction and that they did the best they could, but really, don't you think they should have built an exact replica, out in the woods like the one in the book?!?!?

High school that all the kids attend.

And last on the list of places for us to visit was the La Push Indian Reserve and the ocean. Can't wait to go back. The following are the pics taken on the beach.

Our attempt at a group photo. Note that Claire is absent. She is actually just down beside Matthew! Steph has the shot with Claire at www.greenbuckets.blogspot.com

Claire on a gian piece of driftwood

Claire and Daniel in the ocean. Please note that my crazy Canadian kids were the only ones in the water that day without wetsuits. This is August people!!

And last but not least, Steph and Matthew. This boy is definitely the new love of my sister's life. Just look at what he has done for her face. I miss you both everyday and Aaron too. Take care and we will see you soon!!

Street Performers Festival

At the beginning of July, the kids and I took in the Street Performer's Festival at Churchill Square in Downtown Edmonton. This is one of the largest street performer's festivals in the world and it was awesome. We can't wait to go again next year!

Claire and Daniel watching the crazy french clown

that mapped out a house with masking tape on the

concrete!

Claire playing "Race for a Dollar"

Daniel getting his face painted

Claire getting her face painted

Daniel's Dragon


Claire's completed Butterfly

Brother and Sister (actually standing close to each other)


In front of the fountain. Will have to come dressed to wade

next time.

FINALLY AN UPDATE!!!

I know, I know, I have been rediculously lax at updating this blog this summer. I do have a legitimate excuse though! It is all the fault of the men of Arashi Do. Daniel took him Black Belt test in June and did not receive his new Black Belt Gi until a week ago so, it is not my fault that I am completely anal and need to keep this blog in chronological order for posterity.

Anyway, here are the long awaited pics of Daniel with his newly acquired Black Belt. Daniel received his black belt with iron man distinction, which means that in the allotted time for sparring he earned more than 30 points as opposed to the necessary 20 to pass the test. This is very hard and Daniel was one of only 3 that received this distinction for the junior black belts. I am the proudest Mom in the world because of his accomplishments in martial arts.

Introducing SENSEI DANIEL!!!

This is the certificate that Daniel received the day of his test.

He also got 2 black belts, one with his name and Arashi Do

embroidered on it and his plain "everyday" belt that he

wears to class.

The back of Daniel Gi

The front of his Gi. This is a new design

so, the June 2009 graduating class

is the first to have this Gi

Daniel with his Certificate

Taylor Swift & Kenny Chesney Concert

On July 9th Claire & Curtis went to a concert called Commonwealth Country. There was many vocal artists. There was Jake Owen, JD Bigsby, Taylor Swift & Kenny Chesney. The concert lasted about six hours.

Edmonton Eskimos Pre-Season

In June Daniel and I took our friends, Dena and Hyrum to an Eskimos pre-season game.  We had a great time, but almost froze our butts off!  It is crazy how the wind whips around that stadium.

Pictures taken by Daniel

Mayor for a Day and the Onoway Heritage Days

Can't sleep....  thought I would update the blog since I have the whole month of June to upload and we are heading to Seattle in a week and Lord knows there will be pics to upload then and great, great stories to tell.

The 1st weekend in June marks the annual Heritage Days in our little town of Onoway.  The great thing about this year was that Daniel won an essay contest and became Mayor for the Day. Daniel got to spend the day with the current Mayor, George Jendyk, glad handing throughout the community.  He started out at the pancake breakfast 1st thing in the morning and then took part in the parade as one of the dignitaries.  Took a few spins on the three (yes, three) amusement rides and finished up the day listening to the old time fiddlers.  Started at 7:30 am and I picked him up at 3:00pm.  He was a little tired!!  Had a great time though and said the best part about being Mayor of Onoway was that you got a sticker for your car that allows you to park anywhere.  Now, the funny part about this is that Onoway is a very small town with no restricted parking.  Too Funny.  

While Daniel was doing the Mayor thing, Curtis, Claire and I took in the festivities.  Claire had a good time on the three rides.  Salt and Pepper shaker scared her a little bit, but Curtis thought it was great fun.

The theme this year was a salute to our military so

there were lots of old antique and current day

military vehicles in the parade.

Daniel in the parade!

Daniel and George at the end of their day.

Claire on the giant swing ride

Claire on the spinning ride.

Claire and Curtis on the Salt and Pepper Shakers.

Claire's June Recital

Look at me go! Two updates in less than two weeks! I should get a medal!! This is Claire singing in her final recital of the year. She is singing Part of your World from The Little Mermaid. I have to apologize for cutting off the end, ran out of memory in my camera. Anyway, enjoy!!