Stampeding

The Calgary Stampede is on.  Bruce has had the most events, while the kids and I have only done a few things around town.  These first photos are from a Stampede party we were invited to.  Emily was very interested in getting her face painted.  I stood in line for over an hour, but the painters were very good, and she proudly wore her lovely butterfly for the rest of the day.

A happy looking party crowd.

Here is a bunch of cowboys, and one cowgirl.  The boys were loving their first corn dogs.

We were at a Stampede breakfast this morning.  A kind lady offered to take our photo, which is why I am actually in one. 

The petting zoo at the breakfast was very popular.  Here is Emily inspecting the sleeping lambies.
What's up Em?

They were all super gentle with the baby chicks.

Emily loved her pony ride so much,

that we had to line up and do it a second time!

Andrew didn't mind, as he loves it too.  Matthew was a bit big for the ponies, but acted as our official photographer.

Happy Canada Day 2009!

We were in Regina for Canada Day.  

 Here is a Lego Canada Flag I had taken a picture of at the Science Centre earlier. 

Everyone is decked out in their Canada shirts for the big day.  The boys are being silly, nothing new there.

Finally the boys are ready, but now Emily is sucking her thumb.  Again, nothing new there.

We went down to Wascana Park to take in the festivities and are in front of the Legislature.
The boys opted to give the hour long face painting line a miss and wanted to do the Legislature tour instead.  I guess they are really growing up.  

Bruce's birthday was on the 30th, but with them coming back from the lake that day, we had a cake on the 1st.  This would be a perfect shot if the boys were not hamming it up, but I guess this shows life as it really is!

Regina

We went to Regina for the last week of June to do some visiting and playing.  Matthew headed up North with the guys for a successful fishing trip.  I kept the camera to capture some adventures around town.

Fun at a local playground.

The Science Centre is super fun for the kids.  The wall to thank donors is made of gear magnets the kids can arrange.  We always spend a good chunk of time on this before even venturing to the displays.

Look at how fast those Lego cars can race.

Emily is making one with a lot of pink, go figure.

Wow that is a tall one for Andrew.

Racing the really big Duplo car.

We kept coming back to the amazing bubbles. 

What a physique!

Emily hard at work making our design.

The Big Bang, literally, outside at the Science Centre playground.

We tried out some of the spray parks around town.

It took Emily a while, but she got into the water play as well.

A goose family at Wascana.

Emily loved playing in the tall grass.

There are always a lot of treats, including fancy Jello.

Emily making some discoveries at the museum.

Wow was it really like this many years ago?

Inquisitive Andrew.

Another day, another splash park.

 A little wind won't get us down, but it appears we were the only ones, as no one else was in the water. Really coming from Calgary it still felt tropical to be able to wear shorts!

Soccer!

The kids all played soccer this year.  Matthew on the Thunder team and Andrew and Emily with the Orange Team doing more drills and fun games.  

Here is Emily dribbling.

She kicks, she scores.  Emily actually had a pretty amazing kick for a 2 year old.  It looks like we have two lefties, she and Andrew.

Andrew posing.

Snack time is always the most popular part for the younger guys. 

Here is Matthew warming up.

Matthew's turn to pose with the ball.

Andrew is going pretty fast.

Ice cream and a medal on the last day!

Emily has her first medal to start off her collection.

Greek Festival

One of our favorite festivals around town in the Greek Festival held every June.  We went for an afternoon of dancing, fun and good food.  The kids are not too adventurous, but did like the pita, roast potatoes and loukoumades (honey balls).  Bruce and I enjoyed our first Greek iced coffee, they were very tasty. 

Here is our Greek gal.

She may be a little close for the Olympic ring toss, but had a good success rate.

Bruce was sorry that he had challenged me to a beanbag toss.  I guess all those years of softball were not for nothing!

We spent a long time in the colorful ball pit.

Andrew loved the balls, but he and Matthew spent most of their time in the jumpers and an inflatable obstacle course that was too hard to get photos on.