Why I love Calgary! Zoo Edition

I know a lot of Calgarians have plenty to complain about when it comes to living in Calgary.  I have to admit that after a long cold winter I’m definitely one of those people looking on MLS searching for my new home somewhere HOT!  Truthfully, however, I love Calgary.  People I talk to seem to think that our summer got off to a slow start and we haven’t had any great weather. I don’t agree.  We just didn’t have a spring.  Blame the rotten spring everyone, leave summer alone!  She’s doing her best and July has been great (according to me)!  It’s true I have big hopes for August and September (don’t let me down girl), but so far if you look through my photo albums you’ll see lots of blue sky and greasy sunscreen faces. 

One of my favorite parts of living in Calgary, especially during the summer, is going to the Calgary Zoo.  What a treat!  I’m pretty sure that no matter what the temperature is in the rest of Calgary, it’s always hotter on St. Georges Island.  Maybe it’s because you are surrounded by animals from places like Africa and South America that it gives off the illusion of being warmer or maybe it’s pushing a 30lbs toddler in an equally as heavy stroller all throughout the zoo grounds.  Either way, I leave feeling sweaty.  :o)

I really feel fortunate to be able to show my son all different kinds of animals, fish, reptiles etc. without having to leave the city.  What a great way to educate (and entertain) him about animals and when he’s older about conservation. 

One of the best parts of going to the Calgary Zoo is every time you go you experience something new.  On a recent trip to the Zoo with my dad we went in to see the butterflies and it was fairly quiet in the butterfly garden (unlike other times I’ve gone) and butterflies were landing on everyone (my dad included).  I’m sure it happens all the time but I’d never seen so many butterflies on people before.  I loved being there and felt I could stay and watch the butterflies for hours.  

Have you ever seen a baby Giraffe run as fast as it can with no particular destination in mind?  It’s both amusing and amazing to see.  Jengo is almost 6 months old and when he was born he weighed 185lbs and was 6’6” tall!  He’s all legs and on previous visits I had only seen him sitting or standing.  Wow were we in for a treat this trip!  It was early in the day and Jengo must be at the same stage as Ryder because he just ran around non-stop to the amusement all of us fortunate spectators.  I lucked out and caught a few moments of it on video but so far downloading a video onto Blogger hasn't worked out for me. :(

Watching Jengo run around was also an enlightening moment for me.  As a child who grew up in Calgary I went to the Zoo regularly.  I remember the giraffes quite clearly.  They had a barren patch of land with a couple of leafless trees.  They always seemed so far away.  The Calgary Zoo has definitely come leaps and bounds since I was little and the giraffe area is one of my favorites but until Jengo started running around I honestly had no idea how large their area was.  I didn’t know they shared the field with the Zebras as well!  You can get quite close to them as well at certain points along the path.  Yes, definitely not the Calgary Zoo of years ago.

I could go on and on about my trips to the Zoo and could probably make it a regular blog entry about all the new things we’ve seen but seriously you don’t want to read that – you want to experience it for yourself!  Plan a trip to the Calgary Zoo with your family, get an annual pass and go all year round! 

:o)

Wait... I think I'm forgetting something...

Oh yeah, that's right - Blog!  We've been so busy playing at the splash parks and going to the zoo that I forgot to blog!  When you live in Calgary where your summers are short you really need to maximize the time you spend outside on hot summer days.  Also, staying inside for too many days with a 16 month old is just asking for trouble!  So we've been busy playing at parks, going to the lake for the first time, and playing in our own backyard.  We are getting closer to the end of July now but I'm hoping August proves to be just as nice as July.  We've still have lots of places in Calgary to explore this summer, and I look forward to blogging about them too!

Enjoying the Sunshine!

Another day at the park.  I can already tell we'll be spending many days at the park across the street from us this spring/summer.  Ryder loves the swings and the slides but when we can't make it to the park there's always furry friends in the backyard to play with...

Today Peyton and Dillon came over to visit.  All four dogs had so much fun and when it got too hot we brought out the pool!

I just love this weather.  I've been working out in the garden... hoping to have some flowers to show off pretty soon.  Stay tuned... :o)

Wonderful Weekend!

What a weekend!  Not only was it Easter this weekend but it was also my husband's birthday!  Ryder even made his daddy a birthday card!  Finger paints and a 1 year old... hmm I guess I didn't think this through.  Oh well, it turned out in the end and Ryder hardly ate any paint.  

Ryder showing off his work of art!

Friday night Ryder was lucky enough to have his grandparents babysit him so his mom and dad could go out and celebrate his dad's birthday with friends from out of town.  Apparently Ryder had the best time because the next morning he slept in so late that I had to wake him up so we wouldn't be late for Easter  breakfast at Auntie Arja's and Uncle Paul's.  

At Arja & Paul's dressed in his new Easter vest made by Grandma Tu!

On Sunday the fun just continued with a trip to the park to play on the swings and go down the slide!

You'll likely have to click on the pictures above to enlarge it so you can fully appreciate Ryder's first experience on a swing.  It might look like at first he wasn't enjoying himself but actually the tears were caused by his Daddy taking his sunglasses away from Ryder.  As you can see they were quickly returned and all was well. :)

The slide was by far his favourite!  Every picture I took he had such a big smile!

After lunch Ryder finally found the giant Easter egg the Easter bunny had hid for him!  In the end he only ate a small piece and saved the rest for another day.  The Easter bunny spoiled him this year!  Such a lucky guy.

Hope everyone had a great Easter!  We sure did!  

Good-bye Stroller Blues!

Ryder and I sure love our new (to us) stroller.  Check out these happy baby pics of Ryder in his Peg Perego GT3.  Previously, we had a Valco Baby and there were plenty of things to love about the Valco Baby, but unfortunately our son did not love it.  I only have a few pics of Ryder in the Valco and in those he is always sleeping...

...and you may have noticed the soother in both of those pics.  Problem was he could never get comfortable so he'd cry, I'd give him his soother and eventually he'd fall asleep.  He's a big boy but no matter how I adjusted the straps they always seemed tight on him and really restricted his movement.  The Peg Perego has a special freedom of movement harness that allows the child to move around more in his seat.  Also, the seat seems bigger.  I really love it and Ryder definitely approves!  It's a bit heavier than the Valco Baby and it doesn't fold up as small but it makes up for these shortcomings with easier opening/collapsing, the hand brake, and of course the happy baby factor!  I'm so happy I made the switch.  :o)





My little Sunshine...

 Such a handsome little man.  All dressed up to go to Grandma Tu and Grandpa Don's (Ryder's Great-Grandparents) house today for lunch.  We thought Grandpa Don would really love to see him in his flat cap, but little man's head is too big!  (That's OK because Grandma Tu is going to try and make it bigger by adding some elastic.)  When we got to their house Ryder was feeling pretty good and happily ate a Hob Nob cookie until there were only crumbs left behind.  :)

Grandpa Don told me that when he walks around the house with his walker he always passes the pictures* of Ryder and says, "What a beautiful child."  He said, "Too often we think these things but don't say them."  It definitely got me thinking about what I say and what I don't say.  Thank you for the lesson Grandpa. :)

Unfortunately, Ryder's mood went downhill soon after we arrived.  He had his vaccinations yesterday afternoon and was starting to feel the effects.  His temperature rose and he threw up all his milk.  Poor little dude.  We decided it was best to head back home so he could get some rest.  He's been sleeping now for 4 hours and is just starting to get restless.  I imagine he'll be up any minute and hopefully feeling better. 

*The pictures of Ryder that Grandpa Don was talking about were taken by Eden Lang.  She's an amazing photographer and I absolutely love her work. 



Happy Birthday Dar Williams!

"Time it was I had a dream 

You're the dream come true 

If I had the world to give
I'd give it all to you 



I'll take you to the mountains
I will take you to the sea 

I'll show you how this life became
A miracle to me 



You'll fly away 

But take my hand until that day 

So when they ask how far love goes 

When my job's done 

You'll be the one who knows

"

- The One Who Knows

Happy Birthday to Dar Williams!  My favorite singer/songwriter for over 15 years! 

(I love this song.  I sing it to Ryder all the time.) :o)

 Dar Williams and I at the Calgary Folk Festival!

Project: Simplify - Hot Spot #1

I finally finished my first “Hot Spot” for Project Simplify!  The first project was the clothes closet.  I thought, “This should be easy!”  First off, we live in an old house that has tiny closets so it shouldn’t take too long.  Secondly, didn’t I just clean my closet?  Isn’t it actually pretty tidy right now?  Lol!  Oh I was wrong, so wrong.  Yes, it is small; I’d definitely like something with a little walking room.  And it’s true that I did just clean out some maternity clothes that haven’t been worn in close to a year, but what was hiding behind those doors was truly a disaster.  If I wasn’t so proud of the outcome there would be no way I would show the “before” picture, but the “after” picture only looks good when you can see the disaster it was before.  Here it is…

I started by emptying the closet completely.  I didn’t even realize how much stuff was in there until I started taking it out.  Yes, that’s my wedding veil hanging there.  I don’t even know how it ended up in this closet or when.  It’s now gently folded away with my silk scarves and other things I’ll never wear but *sigh* can’t throw away.  Not to worry, though, I did donate, recycle or trash a ton of stuff.  I had a huge purse collection from my teens that I was finally able to let go of and clothes I never wear will now find new appreciative owners.  When I was done it still didn’t look quite right so I headed to Ikea for some new hangers.  It did the trick, and now I can proudly show off my “after” picture for all to see. :o)



First Haircut!

Today was the big day.  Ryder finally got his haircut.  I could write about how the whole experience went from start to finish but I think the pictures speak for themselves.  :o)

Oh my sweet boy!  He hated every second of it, but doesn't he look handsome?  xoxo

Quiet Days

Days like today I call “Quiet Days”.  As in, when someone asks what you did today, you reply, “we had a nice quiet day at home.”  Meaning you didn’t go anywhere and presumably things were quiet.  I call them quiet days when Mark is working and we don’t have anywhere to go.  It’s just me, Ryder and our four furry friends.  To clarify, it’s not that my husband is particularly noisy.  In fact he’s definitely the quiet one in the house.  It’s just that when he’s working a day shift (only happens twice out of every eight days) there’s no schedule to keep, and usually no errands to run.  The dogs take it pretty easy these days too.  It’s almost like they know I’ve got my hands full with the little one and a walk is out of the question.  There’s also a good possibility that the house won’t be as quiet as when Mark is home.  I often have music playing or the television on loud enough to hear it over the music coming from all of our son’s toys playing simultaneously.  I sing, we dance, we play and we giggle.  It can be loud… not quiet at all.  I love it!

I was looking forward to today since we haven’t had a “quiet day” for a few weeks.  With Mark on holidays and then sick, he’s been home a lot lately.  I’ve been so thankful for him being home.  It’s meant that a lot more stuff around the house gets done.  It’s been great, truly, it has.  But now it’s time to get back to our normal routine.  :o)

We had fun playing with my cameras today.  I’m glad I have two because as soon as I would pick one up Ryder wanted the other one.  It’s mostly the lens cap that he wants to eat, and today he tried feeding it to Luke.  Everyone was in good spirits and when nap time came, Ryder fell fast asleep; the dogs interpreted my stern voice as “she means business” and obeyed when I told them “It’s quiet time.”  And it was.  The house was quiet for the first time on our “Quiet Day”.  I got some work done and tidied up after our morning of fun.

 

These are the simple things in life I enjoy so much.  I love these days, not just the “quiet” ones, all of them.  While Mark and I got away this past weekend for a night I was surprised at how much I missed my son.  I missed feeding him, hearing his laugh and even just carrying him on my hip.  It was only one night but I grew a new appreciation for all that I have and all that I am grateful for.  Tonight* I am grateful for so much.  I have the most amazing family.  I love them all.

*I wrote this post last night and had trouble connecting to the Internet.  After an hour of trying I decided it wasn't worth the effort and went to bed :).  Woke up this morning and Internet was restored!

Project: Simplify — Simple Mom

You might have read in my first post that I'm a bit of a pack rat.  What I didn't say is how I'm working on changing that by clearing out the clutter and getting organized.  Before I had my son, my best friend lived with us and taught me how getting organized can not only save you money but prevent stress too.  She organized my spice cupboard (among other things) and now I can find the spices I need and everything doesn't come falling out onto the counter.  Thanks Candice!!  :o)

I've been trying to get motivated to get the rest of the house organized but most days it feels overwhelming and I don't know where to start.  That's where Project Simplify comes in.  I subscribe to Simple Mom and recently got an email about their 5 weeks plan to attack different hot spots in your home to declutter and organize.  What a great idea!  The project started a couple weeks ago so I've got some catching up to do but figure this is a great way to motivate myself to get cracking on my big goal... a organized house where everything has it's place.  I can almost imagine it.  :o)

I'll post before and after pictures of the completed "Hot Spot".  This should be fun!

Why Blog?

My initial thought is that I want my very own place to share memories.  I want to post pictures attached to cute stories.  Not only do I want to share but I want to keep.  First off, I’m kind of a pack rat.  Even when I was little I hated to throw things out because I didn’t want to hurt the feelings of the person who gave it to me.  I’m still that way except now that I am a mother I don’t want to throw away anything that my son has touched, chewed, drooled on or looked at.  I’m afraid to lose the memories.  I want to keep everything.  I have a drawer full of things that have no home.  My son’s first soother was pink.  It was a part of a shower gift from my dearest friend and it came in handy when my son was a week old and wouldn’t settle when we put him in his bassinet.  So out came the soother.  It came in a pack of two and one was pink and one was blue.  When we were out of the house the blue one came with us but at home we used the pink one.  One night my husband was taking pictures of our son in his bassinet happily sucking his pink soother.  I laughed and said don’t show that picture to anyone.  A boy can’t be seen with a pink soother!  We are new parents and our every move is highly scrutinized (at least that is how I feel at this point) and a pink doo-tee (as it came to be known) was surely a sign we had no idea what we were doing.  I laugh now because it seems so silly and that pink doo-tee is in the drawer with all the things I can’t throw away.

My second reason for wanting to start a blog is to relieve that pressure in my brain that is constantly thinking about things I want to blog about!  I can be doing the simplest thing and think of way if could be worked into a blog entry.  It’s like constantly thinking about what your Facebook status should be. ;)  I figure sitting down on the computer and typing out a blog will be a more resourceful use of my time then posting on Facebook.  I have issues with Facebook on a few levels but still find it essential in my daily life for communicating with friends and sharing photos (so I’m not knocking it).  One of my problems is that it is not a great place to record memories.  It’s great for pictures but when I post a story to my status it eventually moves down my wall and off the page and really never to be seen again.  I realize it’s still there but if in four years my son is off to school and I want to get nostalgic for the times when he was only a year old I won’t want to be looking through pages and pages of my Facebook wall.  And that’s fine.  I don’t believe Mark Zuckerberg created Facebook with the intention that it was going to be an online scrapbook.  It has its purpose and a blog has its own. 

And lastly, I love reading blogs.  I’ve found some really great ones that I read regularly.  Occasionally I’ll find a random blog and how fun it is to read about what someone else is doing a world away from me or perhaps even in my own city.  The nice thing about a blog is you read it because you want to.  :o)

I hope you enjoy.

~Melissa