The boy turns 3 tomorrow…

… wow, where did the time go.

I have been neglecting this poor blog because I am telling my running story over at www.becauseallthecoolkidsaredoingit.blogspot.com and it is taking up all my blog motivation.

I last blogged our second last day in Stettler. (aside from wordless Wednesday and the police takedown)

We got moved over to the nicer campsite for the last night, and it made us mighty happy.

The trip home, if driven straight through, takes about 2 hours. We took 7.

We were on the road for 15 minutes and we stopped in Stettler to do some shopping, and have lunch. An hour later we were on the road again. 35km from Stettler is a very neat little town called Big Valley. It is the end of the line for the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions out of Stettler, and is historically a big deal for train history enthusiasts. It is a very nicely restored rail town, including the ruins of a very impressive roundhouse dating back to 1912. We spent some time walking around the town, but most things were closed as it was Monday. Not too much going on. 

We left there and headed south through the edge of the Rumsey Natural Area, on our way to a reconnaissance  mission to a campground at Toleman Bridge. Nice place. Lots of hiking and birding opportunities there. After a short stop, we carried on to the town of Trochu. Andrew was in desperate need of a playground and we could all use a break. We passed a school playground, but school was in session so we happenchanced on a spray park. Man that was fun. Andrew ran, and ran, and ran. He loved this place and it was just the ticket for everyone to cool off and burn off some steam.

We pretty much beelined it from there, as we were still an hour and a half from home and we had a dinner date at Nan and Poppops. Andrew did have a pretty wild freakout because we ran out of tissues to wipe his eyes when he cried. We gave him a napkin, but nope, it wasn’t good enough. Finally he cried himself to sleep.

On Canada Day we did a LOT of stuff. I ran a race in the morning. A 5k in 25:38 *woOT*. I got home and we took off on a great adventure.

First up was the Millerville Races! I taught my son all about how to lose money betting on the Horses.

He was sad his Horse lost.
Next it was a nice ride out into the country as Andrew took a well deserved nap. We were happy he slept as we were going to a baseball game that started at his bedtime and ended with a big fireworks show!

So we got home in good time for some relaxing, but we were all excited to get to the baseball game. We had amazing seats! 

Andrew got to run the bases afterwards! so.much.fun!

Andrew really REALLY enjoyed the fireworks!

Nan and Poppop took the trailer to Cypress Hills for the following weekend, and they seemed to really enjoy the trailer and they got caught up on some rest and relaxation.

We went to Calaway Park. Calaway is a small amusement park here in Calgary. The last time I went was 1986. Not too much had changed, but when you go with an almost 3 year old, it is an amazing fun time!

We also looked at a trailer at Field of Dreams RV… here is our trailer of the future… I love the layout. 

Andrew got a bike. He  hasn’t ridden it since. he will. someday.

The weekend after that, we headed out to Okotoks for a 10 day stint at the Lions Sheep River Campground. We love this place. They treat us really well. It is safe, most of the time.

It is a very relaxing place, and while we didn’t have terrific weather, we ended up enjoying our time out there immensely. I never used to like Okotoks, but the more time I spend there, the more I like the place.

While we were camping, we went to another ball game (the Team we watch is the Okotoks Dawgs). As we walked into the game, a guy came up to us and says “Hey, We do this thing called the McDonalds Kid of the game, and the kid we look for is normally wearing a blue bucket hat, sunglasses, a striped shirt and Denim shorts” I’m like, “Hey, that’s us! That’s Andrew!!!” cool, so we had to go to the Dawgs Dugout after the first half inning and we got up on top and were introduced as the Kid if the Game! Andrew got an autographed baseball(these are US college kids, so who knows if they’ll become famous), a t-shirt and a Happy Meal Gift cert. He loved it!, I loved it!

AND if that’s not enough, Andrew, Nan and Traci went to the Calgary Stampede Parade. 350,000 people line the streets for this, the official kickoff to Stampede!

Traci’s most awesome action photo ever. This is the Canadian Version of the Blue Angels, called the CAF Snowbirds. 

Good times.

My Favorite Andrewism

• Each morning he wakes up and says “Nice Day!” then says “Time to get up!”
• He says “Know what Daddy?” I say “What?” he says “ONIONS!” and laughs like a goon.
• Zizzo and DinkDink are our dogs. Their names are Rizzo and Kenickie
• He says anything followed by “Dat funny?”
• After he eats all of his treat/supper/drink, he says “Me don’t like that”
• If you look at him, and he is playing shy, he’ll say “Don’t see me!”
• lots of things are “pitty awesome!”
• “Don’t go to work Daddy”… breaks my heart. recently it’s been, “Stay home daddy”
• He’ll be talking in his sleep, and it’ll be all mumbo jumbo and then “Hanny manny!” will blurt out… it’s one of his favorite cartoons.
• “Wipe mine eyes” is his way of making up after a good cry.
• “Me run fast” and then he does.
• "Chocolate juice” is his favorite drink.
• When he is going to sleep, he gets into a face down position and requests “rub mine back”

Oh, he is completely potty trained now… *Woot*

It’s quite the ride, i’ll tell ya!