Back to School Shopping

With school starting on Tuesday, this past weekend we spent the weekend doing back to school shopping.  Ours was a little different, we went back to school shopping for Moms.  That is a thing, isn't it?

This weekend was our annual girls weekend!  The weekend was chosen on our girls trip last year so needless to say we've been counting down the days to this trip for a long time.

Usually we go to Edmonton and spend the entire weekend in the mall, but this weekend we decided to spend the day shopping in Calgary and head to Banff for a little R&R.

The first leg of our weekend started off at Nordstrom on Thursday night.  Our original plan was to only go to Chinook on Thursday but 2 hours was just not enough, so we headed back on Friday morning.

Saturday we were at Chinook when the mall opened at 930 and stayed until after 1pm.  We ate lunch and then headed to Cross Iron Mills mall to finish off the day.  We left there after 5.  We are that hardcore.

While that may sound like a terrible day to some, we are all in our element at the mall.  We take breaks, drink lots of coffee, and shop together for the most part which is why it takes so long!

I am happy to report back that I was the low spender of the weekend.  But you can't tell by the amount of purchases we lugged into the hotel on Friday night.  It was quite a spectacle and we needed 2 carts and then some to get up to our room.

On to the second leg in Banff....

five on friday

{one} My best gals friends have arrived and we are spending the day shopping, eating, and drinking. Yeah for the first time in ages that someone hasn't been pregnant or missing because they have a newborn!  Then we are off to the mountains for the weekend. I look forward to this annual trip every year to celebrate our friendship of 20 years, and in Deena's case 30 years!

{two} Remember on Wednesday how I was talking about how well camps were going?  I spoke to soon.  That very morning after I left for work, Grady decided he didn't want to go.  James spoke with him according to James there was lots of kicking and screaming.  In the end Grady did decide to go because James said if he didn't he would have to stay home and not play with friends.  We don't know why he didn't' want to go and didn't' breathe a word of it when I drilled him the night before on how camp went.  Kids are funny that way.

{three} I've started getting the emails for hockey.  To say that I feeling a little overwhelmed would be an understatement.... what have I gotten myself into?  Grady starts his first evaluation on Sept 1 and will have up to 7 skates depending on how well we do.  Cooper has both evaluations on the weekend we are away and will have to be lugged around by Grandma.  The whole process seems so intense for such little kids but I guess if it ensures they play on the right team it is worth it. I hope.  I did volunteer to manage Cooper's team but will take on a smaller role on Grady's team, I'm thinking treasurer.

{four} Next week we are back to school. When the summer starts out I wonder how the kids are going to fill their days at home and wonder if they will be bored.  Now looking back I'm not sure why I worry.  With camps and daily play dates I had nothing to worry about. The kids in our neighborhood are taking a field trip downtown on Monday. Grady has been talking about it non stop.

{five}  I had my second fitness evaluation yesterday and the results were mediocre.  I put on 0.5 pounds total and 1 pound of muscle.  So does that mean I lost 0.5 pounds of fat? I did go down 0.5% in body fat %.   He did take our measurements and per our trainer I lost 3 inches in the waist and 2 in the hips.  I think he measured wrong last time.  I actually wish we didn't do results updates.  I really enjoy the workouts and then seeing little progress makes me frustrated.  Especially since my exercise buddy lost 5 pounds.  Like I said, I don't dwell on the results as long as I feel stronger and keep enjoying the workouts.

Have a good weekend!

More Summer Camps

It is the last week before school around my neck of the woods and we are going out with a bang.  We registered the kids for camps at Winsport (The Olympic park) and in theory all should have been well... until we started to plan out the day.

We registered Grady in a hockey camp.  Yes, he likes it but, in all honesty I wanted to get him out on the ice before evaluations start next week, otherwise we would be going to the rink all weekend to remember how to skate.  After close to six months off ice you have to refresh your skills a bit!

Cooper is in an adventure camp where they do mini golfing, biking, trampolining and other outdoor activities.
I was super pumped to get them in the same week at the same place, until I started reading through the material last week.  Cooper gets dropped of in a big festival tent and Grady gets dropped off at the rink that you have to drive to.  To top it off, Grady has to be at the rink, fully dressed in his gear, by 8:30am.  The kids slept until 8:30 some days last week.

So on my day off, I got up before 7 to get all the bags packed, get the kids up and fed, and all in the van by 7:45am.  I keep reminding myself it is good practice for when the kids start school next week.

We literally arrived at the rink with G in tow with 5 minutes to spare and we still had to put half his equipment on.  To say it was rushed would be a bit of an understatement!  Nana came with us to learn the ropes as she was taking the boys for the rest of the week.  We stayed and watched a few minutes to make sure his new skates were working for him.  While we watched I took this terrible pic.

Last weekend we spent a good portion of Saturday morning going through the hockey equipment and deciding what needed to be bought this year.  Skates was a give in and he ended up with a new helmet, stick, elbow pads, and shin pads.  So just about everything.  The kid is growing like a weed and went up 3 skate sizes and 6" in shin pads.  How did he even get his feet in the skates last March?

I picked up one happy kid. I only wish he was a little more tired.  Why don't my kids ever get tired?

Coopers camp is half day and I got lucky when I picked him up on Monday to see him crossing the road with his instructors on his orange bike.  He saw me right away and gave me a big wave.

He was all smiles after camp and went the next day no problem.

It has been a very smokey week here with the smoke from the Washington fires coming north.  There is actually a quality air advisory in the city and the camp has said they will credit accounts if kids don't attend tomorrow.  The smoke is pretty crazy - I don't think I've ever seen anything like it.  Seems that the fires are running rampid this year, let's pray for some rain for our friends down south.

Sisterhood of the Blog

Last week, Deena nominated me to complete the Sisterhood of the Blog award questionnaire and I figured, what the heck, let's do it!

1.  How did you decide on your blog name?
I started my blog 8 years ago to document my pregnancy and the blog title included my last name in it.  I didn't really know how long I would blog for and I never imagined that I'd be blogging 8 years later.  When I conitnured to blog after Grady was born I changed the name to Rsquared + G.  I am an accountant and I liked having the 'formula' in it.  The RSquared comes from James and I's last name and my maiden name starting with the letter R.  When Cooper was born the blog changed one last time to Rsquared + G + C.  Trust me, it stops there....

2.  How has blogging enhanced your life?
Honestly, sometimes I feels like a chore.  I am blogging for 60 year old Christy.  I really want to look back and remember all the small things about the boys.  I print my yearly blog book and so far they take up a good chunkof my shelf.  When they come in, I do a quick flip through but I cant wait to read them in 20 years when my kids start having kids!

3.  What tip would you offer new bloggers?
Blog for you.  IF you are doing it for someone else you'll never keep it up.  If others read it, great, if not, it doesn't matter.

4.  What's your favourite guilty pleasure show?
I have so many!  I love Big Brother, the Bachelor series, Dancing with the Stars, Biggest Loser....  I'm a reality TV junkie.

5.  What are you reading now? 
I am reading my third Elin Hilderbrand book this summer.  The Rumor.  Too early to know if I like it yet.

6.  What are three things you can't live without?
1.  Wine
2.  Tv
3. Exercise.

Excluding the obvious family and friends answer.

7.  What season do you think is easiest to dress for? Also what is your favourite season?  
Easiest to dress for... Summer.  So easy to pop into shorts and a tank and throw on a necklace.  Favorite season... Fall!  I love all the layers, boots, scarfs, cardis, jackets etc etc.

8.  What would you love to get paid to do now?
I always wanted to be something to do with fitness or nutrition.  Funny story, when I was choosing a career it was between business and nutrition.  I chose business because you didn't have to take any sciences and because my friend Gina was doing business.  That's how a 20 year old makes a career move.  In all honestly thought, I've never looked back.  But my passion is not accounting, it is health, so it would be great to make money doing that.

9.  What's your favourite place to visit?  
My favorite place to visit is SK since it is filled with friends and family.

My fave vacation locale is anywhere with a beach, but Maui tops the list.

10.  Have you ever done anything that's taken you out of your comfort zone?  If so, what?
I am sure I have,but nothing is coming to mind.  Maybe volunteering to be Cooper's team manager.  Starting my exercise program years ago.  Also, some of the topics I've blogged on I've cringed as i pushed publish.  I am a people pleaser by nature and I don't like posting about potentially controversial subjects.  The one about breastfeeding comes to mind but I am sure there are others.

Thanks for the nomination Deena - that was fun!

Inspired

This week was both easy and hard for me.  Easy because I knew exactly what I wanted to write about and hard because we are having the busyest week after vacation that I had to find time to sit down and write it.

My biggest source of inspiration comes from my mom.  Always has, and probably always will.  

My mom inspires me to be healthy.

 I've talked about this before but if it wasn't for my mom and her support, I never would have found it in me to get fit and lose weight in my last year of high school.  My mom wasn't pushy, she didn't even suggest that I needed to lose weight.  She showed me how to be fit.  For as long as I can remember she has always been active.  From teaching aerobics when was younger to doing crossfit now - always moving.  

If I asked her to go for a walk, she never refused.  When I finally made the decision for myself to be fit, she bought all the supplies I needed to start, no questions asked.

Even now, I turn to her for advice on health and diet.  Most recently she introduced me to my shake which I now have every morning for breakfast.  She has inspired me to watch my sugar levels and eat more protein.  I love that we have this shared love for health and exercise, I obviously get it from her.

My mom inspires me to be a better parent.

I grew up in a single parent household and I am amazed by all she was able to do with us, especially now that I am a parent myself.  When I was young, I remember countless trips to the pool, the rink, the lake, sleepovers, play dates, bike rides and the list goes on.  As my kids get older and are starting up in these same activities I'm in awe of how my Mom did it all.

There are so many times I get frustrated with the kids and James and I tag team while the other parent cools down.  She didn't have that.  James and I often divide and conquer to get the kids to their activities while she did it all.  She was super mom as far as I am concerned.  Did I realize that at the time? Of course not, what kid appreciates what their parents do for them? Ha!  As I look back I appreciate it more than she will ever know.

Tonight I will have a glass of wine and toast my Mom and all that she inspires me to be (as if I wouldn't have had a glass of wine anyway!)

Shoes to Shiraz | Two Teens and Their Mama | The Blondissima 

R Squared  | Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy 

  Daily Style Finds | Quilty Joy Joy

Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After | Foxy's Domestic Side
Puppies & Pretties | Making the Most of Everyday
Mishaps & Mayhem of Solitary Life | A Lovely Little Wardrobe

An InLinkz Link-up

Kelowna 2015: What we did

I feel like I've been blogging the same trip every year so let's just highlight the new things we did.

This year on the way instead of going to enchanted forest (which is great for little kids) we tired the Sky Trek Adventure Park and it was great for our kids as they grow older.

There is something for every age (including adults!) but only one option for kids under 5 so that is what we did.  The kids jungle gym was great and kept the kids busy and active until we dragged them out.  The highlight for both was the zip line.

You better bet that next summer when Cooper is 5 all for of us are going to do one of the courses.  It looks like lots of fun, and only a little scary!

After the Sky Trek, we felt like stopping for a treat.  Each and every year we drive our west James talks about stopping for homemade ice cream at D Dutchmen which is actually an operating dairy farm.

There was a line of about 20 people outside the door, long, but bearable, or so we thought.  When we got to the door and could finally see in, the line curved and filled the whole place.  The wait for out cones was probably about 40 min in total.  My ice cream was tasty, the kids were OK, and James didn't care for his at all.  He was so disappointed and declared we will never stop there again.  I'm sure now every year when we drive by he will remind us how much of a disappointment that place was.  Ha!

The home we stayed in had a PlayStation and this was very exciting for our kids.  We don't have video games at home and are holding out as long as we can.  Truthfully, the kids haven't asked for one yet so it hasn't been hard to avoid!  They played NHL 2008.  I had to text my brother and remind him about when we played video games non stop.

Yes, Cooper is playing naked.  Too busy to get dressed maybe? In all honesty, Cooper hated wearing his wet, or even damp swimsuit, so he often spent a portion of the day naked until he put a different dry swimsuit on to go in the pool for the umteenth time!

Another cool thing Grady and James did this year is the wibit.  It is like a water jungle gym.  We saw it last year but Grady was a wee bit nervous. This year he didn't hesitate.  We were prepared to pay the $25 per person cost but were pleasantly surprised that James got to go for free as a supervisor. Score!  So they went again the next day to.

You can see the wibit behind them

Both James and Grady agreed that the slide was their favorite part.

While we waited for the big boys to finish up, Cooper and I went to the spray park and Cooper ran wild!  What a difference a year can make in terms of comfort with water.  More on that to come.

We also had visitors this year.  My friend Jenn and her family happened to overlap with us for a few days and they came to visit us a few times and use the pool  What do you do to get a group shot - you grab the selfie stick!

We also went to visit them at their hotel with a water slide.  It is one where the water slide comes out from the side of the hotel.  The kids have noticed it every time we drive by and we never thought they'd actually get to go on it!  Grady said he'd like to stay there next year....

This photo of James will have to do!

This year when we headed to Vernon to meet up with one of James' family friends, he suggested we take the boat and tube out.  I was hesitant that kids would not go on, but this tube was not the kind i remember.

This thing was like a couch!  At one point James had 4 kids on there and one was less than 2 years old!  IT was a great start to being behind a boat as you don't even get wet and there is no chance of falling off.  I even took at turn and it was fun to be back behind a boat for the first time in 15 years!  Both James and Grady agreed this was their favorite part of the trip.  

Like usual, we headed to the water slides in Vernon.  The kids ditched the baby slides this year and went on the adult ones.  Cooper even went on the smaller ones on his own.  The water slides get more and more fun each year as the kids get a bit more daring.  Although the lines were something else by about noon.

Cooper was obviously played out and wanted to rest on the bench.  He was super grouchy.

By far, the thing we did most was swim.  The first day, the kids were in the pool at 730 am and in and out again about 10 times through the day.  I would read my book and watch, take pictures, and go in with them twice a day.  Grady kept track and made sure I kept my promise.

Grady is 100% water wing free and swimming on his own.  We worked a bit on treading water, but overall he is very independent and comfortable in the water.  After years of fighting with him and trying to get him to put his face in, he's come a long long way.

This year, it is Cooper who improved leaps and bounds.  In July when we were swimming at my Dad's, on the last day he started putting his head in more and jumping off the ladder and putting his head in the water.  I wasn't sure how much he would improve after a week of having full time use of the pool, the answer is a lot.

Cooper started the week with water wings swimming the whole pool and jumping off the ledge.

By the end of the week the kid could swim.  Like swim the length of the pool.  Just. Like. That.

It started the day we went to swim at Jenn's pool with the water slide.  Grady ran up and slid down countless times and Cooper couldn't touch in the pool so we just practiced him swimming to me.  It started where he would kind of just jump to me, then we started inching further and further apart.  That game him the confidence that he could do it and he never wore the water wings again.  He would stay in the shallow end of our pool where he could touch and swim from side to side with some stops in between to do some jumping.

Grady jumped.

Cooper jumped.

Even I jumped.  

Needless to say we spent many hours in the pool.  That is why I preferred a house over the condo.  WE would lug our stuff out once a day and it was there for our use all day then clean it up once at night.  It made it so easy to go in the pool for a quick dip without lugging all our pool toys and towels back and forth.  I thought I would be lonely without visiting with other people around the pool but I had my book and that was better than talking to strangers!

I think it is safe to say that we all had a good week and look forward to our return to the okanagon.  Until next summer.....

Kelowna 2015: Where we stayed

Note:  I wrote a whole post about where we stayed and lost it.  I think this is the first post that I've written and lost.  Pretty good odds really, but still frustrating.  So here I go again at re-wrting the post that I just wrote 15 minutes ago.  Arghhhh.

For the 4th year in a row we headed to Kelowna for our summer vacation.  It was hot hot HOT.  We usually go in July but because of Blaire's wedding (and it turned out my job) we switched to August this year.  The weather was better and because of that we found it quite busy as well.

In the past we've stayed at a resort type place and loved it.  This year we rented the walkout basement of an executive home in West Kelowna.  I first found this rental in Nov of 2013 but they were fully booked for the following summer so we rented this unit last summer to make sure we got a spot.  It was well worth the wait.

James and I are very much view people and this place didn't disappoint.

The unique thing about our rental is that the owners lived right above us.  I wasn't sure how this was going to work or if I was going to like it, but it worked out fine.  They came around every few days to fill and clean the pool and check the levels.  They were early risers so I am pretty sure our kids didn't bother them when they went swimming at 7:30am on the first day.  For real.

I didn't take a picture looking at the house, I guess the view was just so much better facing away from the house.  This was taken form the basketball court, yes, the yard had a basketball court.

The pool is off to the the left and there was a big grassy space right next to the basketball court.  The kids kept asking why the yard was so big.  It really was huge.  From 'my chair' I could lose the kids in the yard given it was on a slope.

This is the view looking over the grassy space towards the fire pit right at the tip of the yard.

Of course we had to have a fire since there was a pit and sticks, wood, and paper all at our disposal.  When the ashes started to fly James said he was a little worried about it.  AS soon as he said it we both looked at each other and asked 'is there a fire ban?'.  We doused that fire with pool water immediately.  I'm still not 100% sure there was a ban but given the fire situation in BC right now the odds are good.  They should have put a sign on the fire wood for us poor Albertans who forgot!

In the back corner of the yard there was a peach tree which they told us to help ourselves to, and we did.  I had one on my salad every day.  On the last day as I was looking up at the tree I saw a big black  something (that I assume was a rodent) run in front of my feet.  I screamed and ran away from the tree. No peach for me that day.

The house right right next door to the Quails Gate Vineyard.  The kids are standing right outside our gate.

What is sad is that we didn't even grab a bottle of wine from there.  Or anywhere for that matter.  Most people would think we would come home with lots of wine but trust me, kids and wineries don't mix well.  We talked about bring the kids there for lunch one day and just never made it.  Next year I guess....

Speaking of next year, if you know me, you know I like to plan and book early.  So as we were leaving I tried to book for next summer given we loved the place so much. I was put on a wait list.  They have lots of returning families next year, yadda yadda yadda, and we won't find out until September if we got a week for next summer in August.

I was disappointed but I'm optimistic we'll get something.  I hope.

When I started this post I really didn't realize how much I had to say about the house, but it really was a great place for us and we hope to stay there again.  Even if it means we book 2 years in advance!

Quoting Grady

We were away last week on vacation in Kelowna. On the first day, Grady climbed up in the floatie, relaxed for a minute, let out a sigh and said "this is the way to live".



I tell you what buddy, I agree 100%.



And so do Cooper and your Dad.



The only difference is I prefer to lounge with a book.



Even at 7 years old he knows the way to live.  I love it!

On vacation, I read a total of 3 books.  3 books! When I packed them I didn't fully expect to read them all and I did. Now that is a sign of a good vacation.

I read my first Elin Hilderbrand book, A Beautiful Day, followed up by Liane Moriarty's first book, Three Wishes.  It was OK, but if you haven't read it, don't bother, read her more recent books, I think she may have gotten better over time.  Then I followed up with my second Elin Book, The Matchmaker.  I loved this book as well. Elin may become one of my go to authors.  Her novels are perfect for vacation, light but still with great characters and plot with twists and turns.  I've already got 2 more of her books ready for pick up at the library this week.  I am so proud of how many books I've read this summer.  So unusual!

Choices

I thought it was time to give a bit of an update on how my workouts with the trainer are going.  First, I'll come right out and say I have no regrets - I love my workout routines with my co-worker twice a week and he kicks our butts.  I am always sore the next day.  Always.

What I like about it is that he pushes me outside of my comfort zone.  The first session we started in the weight section of the gym. I told him this is the area of the gym that I never go.  The cardio equipment, yes, the weights, never.  They scare me.  I don't know what to do or how much to lift and there are always mostly men back there.  I'll stick to the treadmill thank you very much.  This is the biggest reason that I signed on for the training sessions.  That, and to look better in a bathing suit.

A few weeks back we had our one month progress check.  Essentially on the first day he did our body fat, weight, and muscle mass, then we stood on it again to see our results.  They weren't good. I lost 0.5 pounds and gained no muscle.  Nothing, nada.  I was so disappointed.

I've been going to the gym 5 times a week and eating pretty healthy and I was baffled on why my results didn't reflect all my hard work.  My gym buddy had similar results, so at least we could be disappointed together.

The trainer asked us about our diet.  He said given our attendance at the gym we should have better results.  I told him that over the weekend I had pizza, burgers, and sausage. He did not like that.  He said those were all very bad choices.  In moderation, I told him I thought it was fine.  I had no bun with my sausage (just lots and lots of mustard), half a bun with my hamburger, and only 2 slices of pizza.  He said if we wanted to see results we would have to make some dietary changes.  He suggested My Fitness Pal app which I had used before but my gym buddy hadn't.  For the record, he also recommended angel food cake for my birthday cake.... not gonna happen!

I made a few changes based on the trends I was seeing on the nutrition app.  I wasn't eating enough protein.  I changed from cereal for breakfast to a smoothie with protein powder, thus reducing my sugar and increasing my protein.  Score.  I added a protein bar as my post gym snack. Score. The biggest change for me was switching from fruit and yogurt to veggies and hummus for my night time snack.  I seriously rolled my eyes at him when he suggested it but you know what, I really like hummus.  Score.

I chose to make the changes noted above but there are some things I chose to ignore.

I love pizza.  I don't plan to give up my pizza that we consume once a week. Love love LOVE.

Lattes.  I drink office coffee all week to splurge on my Spanish Latte every Friday from Cafe Artigiano across the street.  Can I get a hell yeah for a latte with condensed milk?

Wine. Never giving it up.  Never.

I choose to live a healthy lifestyle in moderation.  I have never been one for diets, but choose to focus more on lifestyle changes.  If it isn't something I can give up long term, I choose not to.  Life is to short not to enjoy it's little pleasures like pizza and wine to celebrate Friday night or BBQ'ed burgers on a sunny night with a beer and clam.

It all comes down to the choices we make and if by choosing to treat myself here and there  I will never look perfect in a bathing suit, so be it.  Will it make me love my workout sessions less, heck no.  I may choose to work extra hard just to enjoy that extra slice of pizza and my glass of wine!

Reading

I am a self proclaimed TV gal.  This summer I am watching quality shows like Big Brother and Bachelor in paradise.  For some reason, the odd book or two has been creeping in this summer.  Normally I only read on vacation, but as the kids are getting older, I am finding more and more opportunities to read while the kids are at the park or play nicely in the basement.  Hallelujah!

It hasn't gone unnoticed by my oldest son.  He asks to read with me.  So we each lay beside each other, him with his book and me with mine, and silently read.  With the odd question to ask what a word says.

The trick to this is finding a book that is easy enough to read that he isn't asking every second word what it says and something that he is interested.  He wants to read chapter books so badly, but he isn't quite there.  I was gifted a Pokemon Jr. book from a friend at work and it is a chapter book and he loves pokemon, so the perfect mix.

I quickly headed online to buy some more for him and they don't sell them anymore.  Well, they do on ebay for $50 a book!  Oy!  I found a pack of 10 on kijiji for $25, but they were sold.  So I will keep looking as I have no issue spending money on books for my son.  I love to see him reading and enjoying it!

While we are talking about reading, I just read this book by Elin Hilderbrand.

This is a new author to me but I have heard she is a good one.  I would compare her to a Sophie Kinsella or Jennifer Weiner.  It is a light read but very interesting.  This book is about a wedding weekend with a messy blended family on one side and a bride with a wedding note book from her mom that passed away 7 years ago.  I read it quickly and enjoyed it.  I will read another of her books for sure!

How does your Garden Grow?

Quite honestly, mine doesn't grow at all.  Today my blogging buddies are talking gardens and I'm not ashamed to say that gardening just isn't my thing.  I do not have a single living plant in my house or one that get taken care of in my yard.

We moved into our home 12 years ago and I inherited a home from a gardener.  It isn't hard to tell that a lot of time and money went into giving the yard the potential to beautiful, which I'm sure the original owner maximized.

When we first moved in, I swear we tried.  I had one of Marla's friend walk around the yard with us and try to identify what the plants were and how to care for them.  James even planted a garden the first year which failed miserably.

I bought hanging plants of flowers and pots for the each side of the garage.  I would forget to water them often and they never looked that great.  I just gave up.

For years I have wanted to put rock or mulch down and James has hesitated saying we should try again.  Sorry honey, it just isn't my thing.

While I had every intention of taking some pictures of the yard.  I didn't. We had some pretty bad hail storm this week which prevented going outside to take the photos and today as the weather finally starts to turn, it is covered with branches and leaves and not looking that pretty anyway.

I look forward to seeing what the other ladies are planting as nothing is growing over here.

Shoes to Shiraz | Two Teens and their Mama | The Blondissima 

R Squared  | Confessions of a Frumpy Mommy 

  Daily Style Finds | Quilty Joy Joy

 She Thought She Could | Once Upon a Time & Happily Ever After 

An InLinkz Link-up

Our new addition - Bikes!

After a very successful week of bike camp for the kids, James and I decided to get new bikes!

Here is mine, isn't she a beauty???  She doesn't have a name yet, but soon enough she will...

I always knew we would get bikes eventually.  My thought was that the kids weren't fast enough to merit us getting bikes as we could keep up by foot.  Then Grady got fast, really fast, and we realized that when Cooper got on 2 wheels we would pull the trigger.  Well, Cooper is on 2 wheels now and it was time to get us some bikes!

The last bike I had I was in university and living in Calgary for the summer.  I had locked it to the side of my building and one day I just noticed it was gone.  I don't know when it got stolen since I never rode it but it was gone and I never replaced it.  That was my last bike.

Here I am as we left the house on our inaugural family bike ride.  To say I was thrilled was an understatement.

The problem with our area is that it is very very hilly.  Like, full of hills.  Is hilly a word?

They just built a great flat path relatively close to our house but it has 2 steep hills to get there, one up and one down.  The kids were troopers.  Once we got on the path we could have gone forever.  We ended up at a park that we have only driven to in the past.  I couldn't believe it!

It was such a great afternoon!  In total we biked 5 km.  In the end, it was a bit long for cooper, but he did it with a smile on his face.

I can't wait for all our future family rides!

Pedal Heads Bike Camp

After a summer of very little biking, we weren't entirely sure how the kids were going to like going to bike camp for 2.5 hours every day for a week.  All our fretting was for nothing - the kids loved it!  That may even be an understatement.

Let's start with Cooper.

Cooper started his week with his training wheels and didn't really like biking at all.  He loved his strider balance bike in years past and boy could he go on it, but he was just simply to big for it this year.  The balance bike 'fairy' came, aka kijiji, so the only choice left for Cooper to ride was his orange pedal bike.

It was slow go.  He really struggled with  pedaling.  While he was able to balance, he just couldn't get enough speed going to actually balance.  We tried different bikes and different sizes but nothing seemed to work.

Way back in February we registered Cooper in Pedal heads because they are known for getting kids of their training wheels.  It worked like a charm for Grady, and in the end, it worked for Cooper to!


2wheels from Christy R on Vimeo.


After 3 weeks of not biking at all, the day before camp we biked a lot.  Cooper was still adamant that he didn't want to take his training wheels off.  We all know that kids listen much better other adults.

I picked him up that first day and the trainers were gone!  Cooper was not happy about it.  The teacher said he did great, Cooper said he fell 5 times and wanted his trainers back....

He persevered and by the end of day 4 - he had it.  The video above was taken Thursday night when he was so excited to show us his progress.  We were so proud of him!  And I was also thrilled I wasn't the one to convince him to take those trainers off!

Grady also had a blast at his camp.  When I asked him back in Feb if he wanted to do bike camp he said no and that he already knew how to ride a bike.  I registered him anyway.  There was a half day option for his age group which is very unusual so I did it anyway.

The weekend before the camp we realized Grady needed a new bike.  He looked like a giant on the same bike he had been riding for 3 years.  Oops.  Lucky guy got a big upgrade to hand brakes, gears and little suspension.  To say he was thrilled would be an understatement.

He wouldn't even stop for me get a picture.

2wheels from Christy R on Vimeo.

When we arrived the first day the instructor asked a lot of questions about stopping, starting, braking, than he asked about biking with one hand.  I didn't know the answer so I turn to the young G and ask him, he grouchily says not.  I ask him to try riding and touching his head and he refused.  They needed to be able to hand signal to be in level 4.  Crap.

I may have told him a story about my Dad riding a bike with no hands and him falling and braking his arm.  Maybe that wasn't such a good story to tell him as he was afraid to even take one hand off the bike.

The instructor said that if he couldn't do it he had to go down a letter.  I told him I didn't care what level he was in and wished him luck. ha!

I came back and all of his group passed to road test which means they were cleared to leave the site the next day.  Yipee!

Grady's group biked 8-10 km a day.  Each day he would tell us how far they biked and what adventure they did.  He absolutely loved it.  After him making such a big deal about going to bike camp, he had a blast!  There is no doubt in my mind that they will do the camp again next year.

After a week of the kids loving riding their bikes we made an executive decision in our household.

To be continued.....

July in Numbers

Today I am linking in up Dee to talk about the month of July in numbers.

I've watched approximately twelve episodes of Big Brother.  I started watching BB the summer Grady was born and have been watching ever since.  This week is soooo good and I can't wait to see if the showmance of the summer is broken up. I'm not really sure who I am rooting for yet but I know that I like James, Johnny Mac is someone I would not want as my dentist, Audrey (the transgender) is beautiful and I would never have known she started as an Adam, Shelli is a cougar, and Ausitn is so naive if he thinks Liz likes him.  Who are you rootin' for?

I wasted nine hours of my life watching The Bachelorette.  Well not wasted... but it was a big time investment.

While the season was quite exciting, I was really disappointed in the finale.  I am not a Shawn fan.  He is so creepy and seems like such a stalker.  I didn't like  Nick the first time he was on the show but they really edited him well this time and I felt bad for him.  This show is my guilty pleasure and I am pretty sure I will never give it up.

We attended four spin classes.  This is the spin room at the sweat lab.  It is empty here but at least 90% full each class.  On Saturday morning it was so hot in there that my glasses fogged up and I had to take them off during cool down.  I love me some spin.

Twenty seven drinks consumed.  While that is an estimate, it probably isn't that far off.  There were 2 big occasions this month - my sisters wedding and my birthday!  Both were celebrated very hard and rightfully so!

I slept with this little dude five nights.  When James is away, Grady is always there to keep his side of the bed warm.  That kid can sleep!  He sleeps through my alarm, my shower, and my noisy getting ready process.  I love this little tradition since I don't know how long it is going to last.

Three new bikes purchased.

Three books read.  This is a recent record for me.  I haven't read this many books since before I had kids.  I'd like to say that it was by choice, but mostly it is because James is a TV hog lately!  My favorite was this book.

I don't want to give too much away, but I highly recommend it.  But not the movie, it sucked.

Can you believe it is August?!?!?!  I am looking forward to a vacation, a girls trip, and many more sunny days!