vacation part 4

So we headed out to Fort Saskatchewan Where my cousin Lindsey and her husband tilton live and we stayed the night with them. We had a blast. It was fin to re-connect with Lindsey. It has been a few years since I had seen her little family and it has grown a bunch. Libby had fun playing with her oldest Brooklyn and following the boys around. After putting the kids in bed and then finishing Marshall’s class (online so he can take it anywhere). We ate lots of yummy treats and played a bunch of fun games. We stayed up late but really enjoyed ourselves. The next morning we ate breakfast and ho hummed around the house until the mall opened. It was nice to just sit and have fun with tilton and Lindsey.

We packed the car and headed to West Edmonton Mall. If you have never heard of this mall it has a theme park, water park, indoor lake, sea cavern, a sea lion exhibit, 2 mini gold courses, ice skating arena, bowling ally, bourbon street, Chinatown, eropa Blvd,Regular mall. It is large.

Are plan was to just go to the galexyland theme park. It ended up that Libby was free and 1 adult rider was free too. So Libby got to ride 8 different rides with an adult for free. We had a lot of fun. She rode the same ride 3 or 4 times and loved the little train ride. But had a lot of fun watching the big roller coasters she screamed with all the riders it was fun to watch.

We also took her to see the aquarium; she loved the penguins and the fishes. She saw sharks (which she is fascinated with currently). We watched some ice skaters and she loved to see how they can go in circles and wanted to sit and watch them for a while.

She only had like 3-4 melt downs in the few hours we were there. Her sleep was really off and she did not want to eat food. So a not so fun Libby went to play.

We went to lunch and she ended up only eating celery sticks for lunch.

After lunch and then the galaxy land we thought what the heck we will get ice cream (it was 25$) Libby got a milk shake and Marshall and I got flavored bowls. Not worth that much money next time we won’t get some inside the mall.

Libby didn’t touch hers and only wanted Marshalls I love the 2 fisting it into her mouth.

We left Edmonton and headed south. To the Okotoks to stay with Mitch and Marcie.

We stopped at some place in innisfail, at some family dinner. Ordered chicken and fries and still she wouldn’t eat.

So her intake for the day was: 2 pancakes, 2 chocolate chip cookies, 1 celery stick, 1 bowl of ice cream, ½ a piece of garlic bread, and a bite of chicken.

Still no naps and sleeping on average 5 hours a night. We were having a ton of fun. We got into the Okotoks at about 9 pm and Libby went right to sleep. We didn’t make it much later than 10 and slept really well. I am glad we were able to see Marcie and Mitch Libby loved the little girls at there house.

  

 

 

 

  

 

 

Things we learned :  Marshall And Brittany cant ride rides because we get so sick!!! so Disney land will be interesting.  Libby loves trains,planes and automobiles.  Sharing ice creams is not so fun especially if you got even get to try one.

Trip Tally: this includes the last post (to many pictures to make 1 post)



Fort Saskatchewan to West Edmonton mall 50 min
West Edmonton mall to Okotoks 3 hours 44 min
Total Hours 5 hours 20 min in the car not to mention eating time

Vacation part 3

So we left my grandmas house and headed to Fort Edmonton Park which is in the heart of Edmonton. I figured we would do all the stuff that visitors should do. Fort Edmonton park has different areas from different Eras We started by heading to the 1920’s midway (the carnival type rides) Libby rode the carousel and loved it. I am glad Marshall took the turn with her I got sick trying to get pictures.

We then took the train to the “fort” area of the park. And she walked around and saw all the different buildings in the fort (it was pretty boring).

So we headed to the 1885 street. We didn’t get very far and she saw the little pony ride. And she wanted to ride. So we got her tickets and she rode the pony. She looked so big. The last time we tried to ride them she got freaked out and this time she had a blast. We then took a ride in the stage coach (I got motion sickness) but she had a lot of fun riding.

We headed to the 1905 street where we had an old fashion picture taken. It was a joke to try and get her into the shop. But once there she was super excited to put on a Princess dress for the pictures but boy we had a good taking it off.

We didn’t carry cash around (I know so not like me) but none of the shops took visa it was either cash or MasterCard. And the one place that took visa (the photo shop) had a broken machine so I wasted a ton of time trying to find money to pay for the stupid picture. But we finally figured it out.

We tried to buy an ice-cream and drink but the only took cash so we had a not so happy child because we told her we were going to get a treat and had to walk out of 3 different shops because we had no cash.

We took the street car from the 1905 street to the 1920 street and then headed out of the park because it was closing. By the end of the day we had worn out our toddler and done more walking than I am used to and was ready to find a nice couch and just relax.

 

 

 

 

Trip tally:

Fort Edmonton Park to Fort Saskatchewan 50 min

Hooper Family Canada Vacation Part 2

Monday may 30th: We got up nice and early (thanks to the sun), and headed out on our long journey to Cherry Grove Alberta Canada

We took the less driven highway. There was literally nothing there. Not really any towns and if there was a town there was no place to stop and eat or go to the bathroom. It was a vast wilderness of nothing. We drove that for hours and hours and hours. Libby did not sleep at all that day.

Libby didn’t make a peep except when her movie was over. I do think that she watched Mary Poppins, two times that day.

This sign made us laugh.   Marshalls quote "they aren't sure what else is at this rest area, Hence the question mark"

We stopped at the only place to eat on highway 36 and used their restrooms. Libby went into the stall and saw the women’s feet in the stall next to us. She said “oh no mom, it’s a monster” I quickly tried to explain that they were just someone’s feet and shoes. So she finished using the potty and we were leaving the stall at the same time the women next to us was. Libby looked at her and then turned to me and said” it’ not a monster it’s Grandma”. The 40 year old women walked out very quickly. I hope she wasn’t upset but I couldn’t stop laughing.

We picked a nice unoccupied area to eat in the restaurant. She ran around and played. Still not eating more than a couple of bites of my garlic toast.

 These are pictures of the vast nothingness that we drove.  no trees, people, farms animals.  But lots of little pump jacks.

Then we got back in our bug stained car and drove.

I wish that we had taken a picture of the colony of bugs that we destroyed on our front bumper and windshield. I hope that it was helpful to all those living in the area, anything we can do to help decrease the mosquito population we were glad to do.

The closer we got to cherry grove the more excited I got. I felt like a little kid again and saw the tree line in my memory and just wanted to be there. When we came around the bend in cherry grove and turned down Grandmas Street….It was calming to finally be there.

The house sits at the base of a nice hill. It’s quiet and was surrounded at one time with just empty fields. Now houses are there. It’s still quiet. It was the calming I had been looking for. I remember growing up having cousins all there to greet you. The smell of bread or hot buns baking. It was always a pleasant place to be. I knew going, that it would be lacking these things. But to my surprise I was greeted by all of them. Tiffany was there visiting grandma. She was the first face I saw, next was grandma and then the smell of hot baked bread. AHHHHHHHHH I love memories.

Time seems to change the things we remember. People grow up, get older and so do homes. Everything has to change life continues. Grandmas’ never changing home has had a nice well deserved “facelift” new floors, new walls, new paint, new appliances, and new closets. But the same love and feeling of home is still there.

We ate dinner with tiffany and grandma, Ron and Diane. We saw Tim and carol. It was nice to just have time to chat with everyone. We put Libby to bed at 8:00pm because I knew she needed it. The Sun up at grandmas didn’t set until 11pm and was up at 4am so 8 were pretty light. She cried a bit and I went in to talk to her. She said “mommy turn off the lights I can’t sleep”

The next day we got up and fixed breakfast and headed on a walk to the nearby park.

After park time we took Libby into town to see the boats. The 15 min drive made for a nice 10 min nap for Libby. The lake we saw is called “Cold Lake” it is aptly named Ron says because about the first 3-4 feet are ok in temp. But anything below that 4 feet mark gets to be pretty cold. We ate lunch at a pizza place and then did some grocery shopping. We made it home for Libby’s First Nap of the trip. She slept well from 1:10-4:45 when I woke her up. This gave grandma and I time to sit and relax together.

Rosa Lavern Stonehockers is an amazing women born 91 years ago (I think) she walk over 600 miles with a wagon as a child to where she lives now. She bore and raised 9 children. She was a hard working woman. She amazes me evey time I hear stories about her life. But like time has a habit of doing she is growing old and tired. She has been ill the past few weeks. She is a fighting woman. And has come a great way since she first became ill. Her communication is not well and she had a difficult time remember things and speaking. She gets frustrated and unhappy that she can’t speak. But she is still there and still fighting. I know that each day is a bit better.

So the time that I got to spend with her meant the world to me. When Libby woke up we sat next to grandma and read her a book colored her pictures and little just played next to her. I don’t know when the next time will be that I get to see my grandma. But the time I got to spend with her was well worth the hours or driving, screaming child, sleepless nights. I love you Grandma and Pray each day that your voice comes back.

Libby Picked dandelions for Grandma and Aunt Diane. It was fun to see her just roam in the yard like I did years ago. She would come in the house and say “where’s everybody” the best part was that we were all sitting right in front of her.

That night we put her to bed but didn’t realize that she didn’t go to sleep. She found a pen and paper on the desk and drew all over it she colored it completely and when there was nowhere else to draw she made dots all over her knees (she was in footie PJ, so they were nice and blue). She then colored her a mustache and drew on her blow up bed. When we got her up the next morning she said “look I made a mustache”.  The pen and paper were neatly placed where she had found them.

We tried to give her a shower for the first time. I think it must have sounded like WW3 by the screams coming from the bathroom.

We got up early the next morning to make the trip to Edmonton by lunch time. We got to say our “goodbyes” and “Love you’s”. That was the hardest part of my trip. I don’t know when I will see my grandma again. Having to say goodbye was heart wrenching. I cried all the way to Bonneville.

Trip Tally

Lethbridge to cherry grove- 8:00am- 4:45pm 8.75 hours

Cherry grove to Esso (Marshall only) 2 hour trip

Cherry grove to cold Lake- 15 min to the dock

Cherry grove to Edmonton- 9-12:45 - 3.75

12.75 hours ---marshall had 2 extra hours making his total 14.5 hours