Calgary Activites

Our second day in Canada Jordan and I decided to visit the zoo! Now, I can't lie. It wasn't the San Diego zoo. However, it did have some unique things that made it worth the visit.

It had the basics such as tigers, lions & bears

Lily made a "Whar" sound while doing this when we were at the Tiger exhibit. Does she know that's the sound tiger's make? I doubt it, but it was cute!

We never saw an actual kangaroo at the zoo, but they had this fun statue. Well, we thought it was fun.

Unique exhibit #1 A Dinasaur park. There was a long pathway that showed a variety of large dinosaurs. Some even moved and made sounds. Downside, there were no REAL dinosaur bones. So, this would have been cool if we were 6 years old.

Unique aspect #2- Free roaming peacocks. They were everywhere. The peacocks didn't like Jordan because he's hotter than them, so they ran away everytime he came nearby.

Unique exhibit #3 and the one that made this zoo worth visiting.....Butterflies!!!!!!! I felt like I was at the Magical Creature Reserve, Fablehaven! There was a beautiful room the zoo patrients could step into with flowers, a pond and butterflies zooming about. It was just wonderful.

We were at the zoo longer than I expected we would be, so I didn't bring enough milk. I ended up buying milk from starbucks. It was the most expensive bottle of milk I hope to ever buy, $3.50!!!!!! At least Lily drank all of it.

Lily's schedule got completely thrown off, so here she is wide awake at 11 pm at night while we are exhausted.

The post-wedding day, we all went to a beautiful park on an Island in the midle of Calgary. BEAUTIFUL!

Of course the biggest hit with the kiddos was this darling playcenter

It has toys to entertain the kiddos......



........And the Kids-at-Heart


This little guy was haning out by the childrens center. I got this close to him and he didn't even care.

Afterwords, while Tess's girls took naps, Jordan and I had plans to go see Body Worlds, but it turned out we didn't have enough time before our plane left to see it. So then, we started walking around downtown and saw a Reggae festival going on. We thought it would be funny to go there, but it was $40/person. Our next option was the Calgary Tower

How Lily's Poo Saved us $50

Warning: This money saving method is NOT Recommended

We were a little late getting to the airport in Calgary to return home, so we felt rushed before I even noticed Lily had a poopy diaper just as we were arriving at the airport. There, as our luck permitted, was not a bathroom in the check-in area. Because we were feeling rushed I decided to just check our luggage in rather than leave to find a bathroom and come back.

While in line, I noticed her pants were wet. So I pulled out a clean pair of clothes just as we made it to the front of the long line to check in our luggage. Just as the lady was handing us our boarding passes, Jordan picked Lily up out of her stroller so that we could get the tags on the stroller and car seat. As the United lady came out from behind her desk to weigh the luggage, I noticed a big blob of poop on the floor just below Lily. It was as if she had pooped without having a diaper, onsie or pants on. Yet she did have all those on and still a baseball sized poop landed on the floor, decorated by undigested craisens. By the time I processed the fact that this really WAS happening, Jordan had STEPPED in it! He froze with a look of panic on his face. I hurried and cleaned up the poop on the floor while Jordan handed our credit card to the united worker to pay for the luggage ($25 per luggage). She, without even weighing the luggage, put the tags on them , handed back our credit card without running it, and told us, with a look of disgust, to just get out of there!

We did as we were told, with Jordan leaving a trail of poop behind him with every step.

We were lucky enough to have my mom sitting behind us on the flight to Canada and Lily had a blast playing peek-a-boo the entire time with her. On the flight home, as soon as we sat down in the plane, Lily remembered the game and started playing it, only to be surprised to find someone else besides her granny. The people sitting behind us were uncommonly friendly and patient wtih her, but, nothing beats the patience of a grandma.

Your chariot awaits, my lady

Waterton

30 minutes away from the Cardston temple was this beautiful little town called Waterton. It's the Canadian side of Glacier National Park in Montana.


There were several beautiful viewpoints. This is one where we were right at the Lake.

Even Jordan was amazed at how breathtaking it was.

Cali was content to stay away from the water

We had some fun skipping/throwing rocks! Even I was finally able to get a skip or two in!

Here is just one of the many viewpoints. Pictures don't do it justice

The little town was so adorable! THere were deer running around EVERYWHERE, along with cute little ice cream shops.

Just outside of the town was this ritzy hotel with another beautiful overlook. We had fun going inside and gawking at the lobby and the view.

Cali was born to be a runner. This is her "take-off" position. I bet her super-star track dad taught it to her.

Although it was beautiful at the spot, it was WINDY! So after a couple of fun hours we headed back to Calgary

Newest Additions to the Family

No. I am not pregnant. These additions came at a much more pleasant process. My mom got married!!!!! And so I now have 1) new step-Father 1) new sister and 2) brothers! All in one day. Can't get less painful that that! The only complication is that they live in Canada, but hopefully we can have some good bonding time over the years!

Here are some pictures from the event!

Here we are at the airport getting ready to go to CANADA!!!

Out come the Bride and Groom after the marriage ceremony!

Post Marriage Glow

These are some pictures I stole from my sisters blog. I liked caption of this one

The Secret Keeper

Pre-luncheon snack

Here we are at the wedding/birthday luncheon!

Birthday cake? Wedding cake? It was delicious either way!

The Sleep Diary

It seems that as soon as we get Lily in a great routine and falling asleep without much assistance from ourselves, something happens like we go on vacation or she gets sick. And then the cycle starts all over again. We stick to our bedtime routine, but at the beginning of each cycle is a struggle. She would just rather sleep in our arms!

"But I don't want...to....go....to...........b....e....d..............."

She usually falls asleep with my hand on her back (which also keeps her from getting up). But the girl has a radar. No matter how asleep I think she is, or how gently I take my hand off and tip toe out of the room, as soon as I hit the threshold of the door frame, she is standing up at the edge of the crib crying alligator tears! Sometimes replacing a pillow for my hand works for a couple of minutes :) This is at the beginning of the cycle, and lasts a couple of days.

I love to watch my Lily-kins sleep. Jordan thinks this is creepy, and maybe it is, but there is something so awe inspiring to watch this innocent being resting. She looks all the more pure. Sometimes it's not until I see her sleeping that I think, "how is she getting so big?" This brings about a desire to document every moment of her life so I can't forget a thing, and thus comes out the camera. I have no idea how often she changes positions because it changes every time I go into her room.

Here are some of my favorites!

I like the expression my Sis-in-law Joci used...Milk Drunk :)