Trip to Canada Part 1

Be forewarned, there is a good possibility that part 2 may never come. But today was noteworthy so I might as well blog about the rest of the trip as well since I've got some time and there's no laundry to fold or dishes to put away.

We packed up the car and were ready to go at about 9:30am Saturday morning. Then Natalie finally showed up at 10:30 and we got on the road. The first leg of our trip was fairly uneventful. We got to Cranbrook, BC at about 3:30 in the afternoon and were greeted at Cedar Heights Bed and Breakfast by our hosts Bill and Eveline and their grand daughter. Our accommodations were superb!! We basically had the whole downstairs of this beautiful house to ourselves since there were no other guests staying there that night. We went out to "supper" at East Side Mario's in Cranbrook, which was just ok. Then we came back and put Seth to bed, who whined and moaned off and on while we watched "It's Complicated" in our own private guest lounge.

Sunday morning I woke up bright eyed at 6:45, so I tiptoed out of the room and went on a 4 mile run around the neighborhood. It was freezing cold but beautiful and I saw 5 deer along the way, one so close I could have reached out from the sidewalk and punched it right in the face if I'd been so inclined. I got back just in time for a quick shower before heading upstairs where Bill and Eveline served us a wonderful breakfast of fresh fruit, muffins, banana bread, ham and eggs. After breakfast we packed up the car and headed North to Calgary. Along the way we made a couple of stops. One was at Columbia Lake, which along with the Columbia wetlands is the source of the Columbia river. It was beautiful and we took a few pictures to remember. We drove through Fairmont and Radium Hotsprings, Kootenay and Banff National Parks. It was an awesome day for a drive and the scenery was gorgeous. We didn't see any wildlife except for a small group of bighorn sheep at one point. What we did see which was interesting and sad were acres and acres of naked tree trunks. I've been doing some research and I'm not 100% sure but I think it is because of some massive wildfires in 2003. Either that or pine beetles. We stopped in Banff and had lunch at the Banff Avenue Brewery. The food was just okay but I had a Stubble Jumper Saskatoon Berry beer which was pretty tasty. We didn't really hang out any longer in Banff although I could imagine one could spend a couple of days wandering around and doing some shopping. It was kind of like Leavenworth on steroids. We headed out and east toward Calgary which was our destination for the night. It was funny the marked difference in the terrain once we got out of the mountains. Alberta is really flat and boring for the most part.

We arrived around 5pm at our 2nd bed and breakfast, the Calgary City View. This place was really cool on the outside. It was up on a hill overlooking the city and the Stampede Park. It had been the cheapest place I could find and we found out there was a good reason. Inside it was not so nice. Once we got the hide-a-bed pulled out and Seth's bed set up we could hardly move inside our room. The whole house had a faint funky smell to it and there was nowhere for us to hang out except in our teeny tiny little room. When we got back from having dinner we started getting ready for bed and around 8:30pm the hostess came a knocking on our door to show us how to use the gas fireplace. When I opened the door two kids came walking right in with her and one of them hopped right onto Natalie's bed! WTH?? We finally got Seth to sleep around 10pm and both Eric and I tossed and turned all night, falling briefly to sleep once or twice only to have Seth let out a huge scream for no apparent reason and wake us both up. Even without the fireplace ever kicking on the room was stifling hot and I finally got up around 3am to open the only window which was in the bathroom. Then of course Seth woke up a couple hours later crying and freezing his little butt off. Needless to say we were up bright and early pacing around and seriously considering leaving without our free breakfast. But we didn't and it actually turned out to be pretty good. But I would definitely not ever stay there again.

Ok, so finally to the point. The puke-a-thon. We got to Edmonton to my auntie Bev's house yesterday and that was all fine and good. Finally got some sleep last night and today was going swimmingly until a little after Seth ate lunch. Eric took him out for a walk while I had to get on a conference call for work. About 10 minutes later Eric comes back and I gather that Seth had thrown up all over himself and the stroller. For the next 45 minutes or so I helplessly had one ear to the phone and the other ear listening to Seth sobbing in the bathroom while Eric tries to contain the vomit. When I finally hung up things seemed to be getting better and Eric handed me a pajama'd Seth who almost immediately starts gagging again and proceeds to empty the remaining contents of his tummy onto my arm. So we both got in the tub and got all fresh and clean and I put Seth down for a nap which he didn't object to at all. I thought we were in the clear when he woke up over an hour later but he was still dry heaving a little. He drank some water and ate about 4 of my aunt Bev's homemade orange muffins (they were mini muffins). Sure enough a few minutes later he was fussing again and up came the muffins. After that we kind of just sat in the rocking chair and snuggled for a bit, which we Never do. Finally Seth started wiggling to get down, ate a few crackers and drank some Pedialyte and that was the end of it. We needed to do some laundry anyway. Figures that he would get sick when we are 1,000 km from home.

Progress

Yesterday we went hiking! It was so much fun. We hiked exactly 1 mile up to the top of this mountain near Beacon Hill where we got married. Seth rode along in a pack on Eric's back about 2/3 of the way up, and I took him the rest of the way to the top which turned out to be the steepest part of the climb, or at least it seemed that way since I was carrying an extra 25 lbs! On the way down we practiced some talking with Seth, since he does pretty well when in a confined space. He said "Mama" and "Daddy" (Dad-un) on command several times, and then when we said "Auntie" he went "pfbbbbbt!" It was hilarious. When we came back down we went over to a little park and took Seth on the swings again, which he didn't like - again. But he did giggle a lot when we put him down the twirly slide over and over again until he was snap crackling and popping from all the static build up. It was a very fun little family outing, which I hope to get more in the habit of as the year goes on.








Oh, I almost forgot! So as of yesterday I am below my pre-pregnancy weight, yahoo! Not by much but it's taken some hard work so I am pretty proud. It's so motivating to finally see progress. I got up to 4.2 miles this morning on the track, in 50 minutes. Not too speedy but I plug along and at that rate I could finish Bloomsday in about 90 minutes which is what I'm shooting for. Only 3 more weeks!

Round and round

Ugh, I've been sick now for a few days with a sore throat and a little bit of a fever. I finally got a decent amount of sleep last night so when I woke up and saw the sun peeking through the curtains in my bedroom I suggested that we get out of the house and take Seth down to Riverfront park. So when he woke up from his morning nap we bundled up and headed out. We went to Red Robin for lunch first and then hit the carousel. Eric had taken Seth on the carousel a couple of weeks ago while I was at work so I was excited to see his reaction. Just like the first time, I guess he did not seem to know what to think. The entire time he just gripped onto the pole and kept this very serious look on his face. He didn't seem to be upset but he wasn't exactly jumping for joy either. I guess I can understand his concern, that carousel whips around at what feels like about 140 mph. After the carousel we wandered around the park to see the rest of the sights. Seth just wandered around aimlessly on the grass for a bit. He really seems to get interested in transitions -- like from the sidewalk to the grass, or from the grass to the sawdust. Especially if there is a step up or down involved. He will just go back and forth, staring at the ground the whole time. I guess he is practicing. At one point we walked by a guy who was playing his guitar and singing, and Seth was completely fascinated. He stood there just staring at him for the longest time, and eventually started inching closer and closer and I started getting nervous that he might climb right into his guitar case or try to steal his money. It was really cute and the guy got a big kick out of it.

Fast forward to church this evening. We had to cut Seth's nap a little short in order to get there in time. He actually did wake up on his own but I think if I had left him alone he would have gone back to sleep. Then I had to feed him some yogurt and crackers in the car on the way. Anyway, when we dropped him off at the nursery he totally started bawling! He has NEVER done that before, ever, and I was none too pleased about it. So I started crying too and made Eric stay with him until he calmed down, which he did in time for Eric to catch the beginning of the message. I guess there were a lot of crying kids in there tonight, and Eric said it must be a full moon. I looked it up on my phone and one site I found actually said it WAS a full moon. But it's really not, it's a new moon, which is the complete opposite.