Boys Trip San Fransico

It is Rylan's turn for his father son trip and this year he chose to go to San Francisco!!  Here he is pulling his luggage up the very big hill to their hotel.

First of many selfies for them.

That is Alcatraz in the background.

Rylan got to see his first ever peaceful protest of GMO's.  LOL

Enjoying some time on the piers.

They went to the aquarium.

And Rylan really enjoyed that.

Here they are at Pier 39

Their view of the bay.

Watching the sea lions.

Waiting in line for the cable car!!  Crazy long!

Finally getting on.

All aboard!!

They only did this ride a couple of times because of the long line ups.

I love this picture.  Yes they were holding on tight.

Having so much fun.

At the top of Lombard Street.

They rented bikes for the day and did a lot of sight seeing on them.

Going on the Navy ship.

Inside the navy ship with all their vehicles.

Alcatraz in the background.

This looks like a very yummy and filling lunch.

Rylan waiting for the ferry over to Alcatraz.

Finally on their way.  This is the main reason why he wanted to go to San. Fran.

Here he is at the front of the main building

Going inside.

Doing the self guided tour and stepping into one of the cells.

Happy to be there as a tourist only.

Not so happy about being in the cell.

He really enjoyed the tour and had all kinds of info to share with us.

A walk through China town.

Jamie even got a new hat.

Rylan really wanted to bring this home but it was too heavy.  That is one very large gummy bear.

Right up Rylan's alley, they visited the museum and had a great time and it was very hands on.

It doesn't get any better than a wacky mirror.  LOL

They had so much fun and saw so much stuff with this "Gocar"  It has two wheels at the front and one at the back and doesn't go very fast.

But it is a great way to get around and see a lot more of San Francisco.

The beautiful ocean behind in the background.

Taking the go car down Lumbard Street.

They reached the bottom.

Fisherman's Wharf

And finally renting bikes to ride to and across the Golden Gate bridge.

They are getting closer to their destination.

A view from under the bridge.

They didn't have the best of weather but they sure had a good time.

Rylan is such a little trouper and loves to have these special times with his dad.

Jamie enjoying the view.

Of course it wouldn't be an adventure without something happening and this time it was a mysterious rash that appeared all over Rylan's body.  Poor guy was not feeling very well.

Thankfully it happened right at the end of their trip and he could just relax in bed before they left.

Welcome to Banff

The wonderful thing about not having little ones any more, is that I feel like we are able to just get up and go a lot more easily now.  This weekend we decided to go to Banff and do some hiking.  It was a great weekend for it.  We even saw a bear.

We spent one colder afternoon at the Banff Hot springs.  It was so much fun.  I wish that Tammy and I had rented one of the old fashion bathing suits but we didn't.  Maybe next time.

We did this amazing hike to Johnson Canyon and it was so beautiful  I love this picture with Darien.   We are truly in our happy place in the mountains.

We went with Tammy and Jim and it is always a great time with them.

This is the view by the waterfalls at Johnson Canyon

This is an awesome part of the trail, where you are walking on a boardwalk that has been attached to the side of the mountain and it is above the river.  It was so much fun.

Darien took a picture of his little brother too.

We stopped at Lake Louise which we haven't been too in a very long time.

We had lunch on a hill over looking the lake and it was beautiful.

I am really proud of these next few pictures.  These are some that Darien took while we were hiking and I think they are amazing.

The colors and water look so beautiful.

I love how he took the piture of the moss.

This was our bear we saw.  Thankfully he was on the other side of a fence and river.

The boys called this the floating rock.  It had been thrown on and then the ice melted so it looked like it was just floating there.

This is the Lake Louise Hotel in the background.

A great weekend with our best friends and my very special best friend.

The Hotel that we stayed at had this really cute train that you could ride on.  The little boys and big boys had a great time.

Enjoying Spring Evenings

There is something so wonderful about finally being able to be outside again after a long winter.  As soon as we can we are out there in the fresh air loving it.  Here the boys are enjoying an evening of reading before bed.  Rylan looks a little bit like Harry Potter with his glasses and striped rugby socks.

We even turned on the fire to warm the air a little bit so we could enjoy it just a little bit longer.

Darien and his friend MC taking some dirt bikes for a boot on her acerage.

Then doing some studying on the trampoline

MC sent me these pictures to prove that he was doing what he said he was  LOL

Happy Mothers Day

This is the one day that I truly get to celebrate being a mom.  There are days when I wonder what it would be like to be a working women and how different my life would be.  There are day when I look at these boys and wonder if I am doing enough to teach them, love them and help them to grow into wonderful young men.  But then I look at them and think I wouldn't trade this for the world and I feel so incredibly blessed to have them call me mom.  To go through the ups and downs with them.  To face each challenge with them as a learning experience for myself.  Maybe by the time they are all grown I will have gotten it down pact, but I highly doubt that.  LOL  They are my pride and joy and thank my Heavenly Father for letting me be their mom.  

Duathlon

This was a very exciting weekend.  It was the first event that I have done in a long time and it was a duathlon.  This is when you run, bike, run.  It was great to do it with my friend Lara.  We went out to Drayton Valley for this event and stay the night before.

It was a little harder than I thought it would be.  The run was 4km, 20km bike and then 4 km run again.  The run at the end was so pretty hard.  lol  So glad we did this.

Brotherly Love

I am sure you think our life is all perfect and our children are perfect but don't be fooled.  LOL  We have normal kids that fight and bicker.  I like to think that we are pretty lucky in that it isn't all the time but there are those times when I wonder if we will all survive.  LOL  So I thought I would share with you some of the great memories of being a mother to all boys.  Here we have Keagan, he is usually pretty level and doesn't get too upset about things but there was this time when he and Darien had a whopper of a fight and the end result was Darien with some scratches and Keagan with a pretty swollen nose.

I can laugh at these pictures now but at the time, if I hadn't kept my cool heads would have rolled.  LOL

Looking good Keagan.

Here we have Rylan.  This was not in the same time frame more so just the same kind of story this is why they are posted together.  Rylan and Keagan had a little bit of an argument.  This time Keagan ended up with the scratches and Rylan ended up with a fat lip.

Please now that we don't except this type of behavior and that there was punishment for those involved.  I am so thankful that this isn't an everyday occurrence and that for the most part our boys get along and love one another.

Some lessons are learned the hard way.  :(