If you have stopped reading by now...I dont blame you....I have literally 100's of pics...and you know what thats like.....

The picture with the swimming pool is at Scotts Aunt and Uncles in Keremeos...they were our last gracious hosts...put on a good home cooked spread and even had their son show up to greet us!! Thanks a bunch!!

They have a beautiful home nestled in the trees/hills/vineyards...

This was the last night of our stay...and we were headed back west the next morning. The plan was to get in as much driving as DH could handle....and if the kids were fighting...we were stopping.

Well...we made it all the way to K-town. Yep. 14 hours in a vehicle and the kids were CRAZY GOOD. We thought the plan would be to stop in Calgary...but the radio said the Stampede parade was the next morning and away we went...we wanted no part of that...crowds and people are not our bag, baby.

Instead, we got to visit the relatives. Super good to see everybody.....miss ya...have a good time at the reunion.

To finish up the adventure day....was mini golf....I used the time to sunbathe, the boys bonded over a little competition.

Loser had to do dishes. Unfortunately it was our family that ended up losing (wont tell you who....) But the meals that our friends made were incredible...so the dishes didnt seem so bad.

They were INCREDIBLE hosts - unfortunately I didnt get a picture of them together, so we have a picture of their dogs...Oscar and Chloe (whom the kids fell in LOVE with...)

The picture of the kids swimming (sorta) was right at a small quiet beach in front of their home.....breath taking.

Also where they had Guiness book of world record attempts at frisbee throws....

adventures in penticton...

The next two things were rock climbing and something called Monkey ? (already forgot). Us old kids, did not participate and the second activity got the kids thoroughly tired out...*(our goal!!)

They were attached to a harness, then were supposed to bounce up and down to attempt flips. We had one that could do back flips no problem (C) and another that could do front flips (R)...but they couldnt figure out both....although one tried until he was ready to explode...

more more more...

I better get the rest on today, as I already forgot more than what we did on our trip....so here are some more pics.

Now, we have arrived at our destination and since we were at an old friends place (by old...i mean old....haha!!) The kids had an "adventure day"...first on the agenda in Penticton was go karts - which we all did and was surprisingly fun, then bumper boats.

The young kids were more excited about getting all the adults wet, and were winning until the old kids figured out how to maneuver the big water guns....

I swear the two older kids had just as much fun

more zipline pics

DH took all the zipline pics, just to prove that I did it...unfortunately didnt get any of him ...next time!!

There was rock climbing, crawling through basket netting, walking across tight rope, and obstacle course like things through the trees.

Highly recommend.....thanks Wndy for the idea

Day 3?? who the hell knows..???

This day I swore a lot. nope. A LOT. Had to apologize to some German tourists, my children and the people that worked here. Also, screamed like Jane (or Tarzan...or both).

We went to the Adventure park just outside of Revelstoke.....and I loved it!! So did the kids and DH (check out the beanie!!)

We ziplined, climbed, roped, and had a great great great time...

Day 3

Day three..who knows...good thing I have a camera with me as I cant remember S#!t....we drove to Golden on the 2nd night, woke up and thought now what? As we didnt have a plan, make reservations or really have any clue.

So...we were in the mountains, so up we went. Kicking Horse lodge was next on the agenda. We got to meet Boo a young Bear that is in a refuge. His mother was shot illegally on the side of the road, and now he is living on the side of the mountain, being monitored closely. We were told that he may be hard to see, but as it turned out he was right there by the fence and we had an incredible view, and learned a lot about bears.

We took the chair lift up to see him, then a Gondola ride to the top.

For the boys it was pretty neat, but in particular the mountain bikers going down from the top of the mountain was the bomb. Both of them said thats what they wanted to do next year.

I know this year I was a joiner...but seriously...from the top of this mountain?? Gonna have to work on the courage...

2nd of 2nd day

The next part of our adventure was to take place in Banff...we saw a bit of wildlife and a LOT of people...no...a S#!t load of people (bike race and car show and who knows what else...so we found a park to play ball in ....and off to the next adventure)

Stopped at quite a few places along the way, and even though its dry there as well, Retzky managed to find mud...and fall in it....so he had to wash off in the icy cool waters from the mountain.

Did not have to lose my temper at all on this trip...and for those of you who know me, that was quite a feat...the boys did awesome!!

DAY 2

Day 2 - Calaway Park. Learned from last year, brought a lunch and drinks along, and were first in the line up to get in. Good thing too, as it was a beautiful day.

C-man and DH love the rides and did them all (i think) Retzky didnt go on all of them and we had a good chuckle as he was more like his mother...but I DID GO ON THE ROLLER COASTER THIS YEAR....and I didnt throw up...had to hold on to DH's hand going down the stairs...but didnt throw up.

(That was the theme this year...I participated in everything!! Not just a bystander, and even if I wanted to hurl...still did it!!)

It was also great that C-man was tall enough for all the rides.

The funniest part of that day was the log ride (first pic)....check out the expressions!!!

Too much!!

We're home from holidays...

We're back from our 3 province extravaganza...and I have to say it was our best vacay evvvverrrr...!!

I'll try not to bore you to tears...but here goes...

Day 1....off to Calgary to visit cousins...on our way there we saw the best ever rainbow in my entire life. It was full and very vivid. Unfortunately my camera (and possibly the photographer) doesnt take the greatest pics...but here it is.

Got a short visit in with some relatives (without getting lost) ...THANK YOU FOR YOUR GENEROSITY...and to her youngest...you are your own woman!! Dont worry if you have some resemblance of others..you are you!!

boohoo

Hey..big news here in NB...Bif Naked is coming to the casino...!!! Tomorrow night!!

That stinks...I would like to see her perform...especially here in me home town...

But...we are off on holidays...and nothings gonna stop us!!

We're hitting AB and BC...so look out!!

almost forgot!!

How could I forget this??

Retzkys ball team went UNDEFEATED at their little home town tourney this past weekend!!

From what I hear he played well, and even had a chance to pitch....

YEAH!!!

some little stories from the tourney

We had another mom staying with us in Winnipeg. It went surprisingly well, until the morning came. C-man pulled me aside and said..."Mom, I cant get naked with another woman in the room"...which if you know him is pretty hilarious, since he likes to get naked as often as possible. So, off we went to the bathroom together and I had to double lock the door to make sure she wasnt looking....hilarious!!

One of the hockey stories that was being told was from one of the dads who ran the gate for us. He was telling the kids..."you gotta beat the other team to the puck, get in the corners and go after it...thats the key ...go get that puck". One of the kids was looking up in the room and not finding something...he says to the dad...what key? wheres the key? ...I guess the coaches had a pretty good laugh over that one...

Went to Subway for lunch one day with a few of the other families (right in the downtown core). Was watching a very old feller sitting in his car right out front for a very long time....then along comes a working girl (or so it seemed) and had a nice long visit with the creepy old dude. I said to the mom sitting with me (who happens to be a police officer)...I think we're watching a show here (meanwhile the boys were sitting at the table that looked directly at this)...so now we are all watching as the young girl leaves the car with what looked like a pipe in her hand...and back down the alley she goes. Only to come back a little while later ...really messed up. Nice to try to explain that one to 7 year olds...yuck...

One dad from our team (and one from the other SaskCan team staying in our dressing room) got Conned. (yes...with a Capital C). "you look like a nice man" came a womans voice. As she started crying "I just got beat up and kicked out of the house by my husband and I'm trying to get my way back to Yorkton....could you please help me out with $20".....and being the nice young prairie lads...they did. Only to get harrassed by the rest of the team later in the evening.

One of our moms made a huge splash!! She is a wonderful, energetic, bubbly mom and gave us the laugh of the weekend. The kids were all in the pool, when things started to get carried away (especially when they had a large excercise ball in the pool...and safety became an issue). She gave a whistle and told them that the ball had to go....so away she goes to get it, trips over the lip on the side of the pool...and in she goes...right to the bottom of the pool...fully dressed.....and all of us watching!!

Another hockey story that the coaches were telling, was of our first tourney in Edmonton. The head coach gets up with his motivational speech. Now I'm imagining it went something like..."Ok boys, this is our first big game...make it a good one..."....and right in the middle of the speech...one of the boys says very loudly "MY DAD BOUGHT A BIG SCREEN TV TODAY"....now we have to remember these kids are only 7....hee hee....Start speech over.

On the way home, in the sweltering heat...the air conditioning broke down. We had little boys with no shirts, and some with no pants.....and maybe a few of the moms...??? hey...what goes on the bus, stays on the bus....no x rated stuff here!!

All in all...it was a fantabulous trip. With x-rated stories, great laughs, some childish humor, and oh yeah a little bit of hockey thrown in ....

the first road trip

C-man and I left early thursday morning (thanks to Uncle G and the girls!!) for our first road trip...with hopefully lots more to come.

We left with a cooler full of food, and may be a few bevvies for me, and not a lot else. The weather was perfect...the kids were really well behaved and the adults got to partake in some good old fashioned visiting and card playing.

C-man did surprisingly well. Everyone was surprised at the amount of food he ate, and our cooler that was supposed to last us all weekend long was almost finished on the first day. He was something like a caged animal, walking up and down the aisles whenever he wasnt eating.

I think he ate...7 cheese sticks, 8 pepperoni sticks, 1/2 a very large bag of peanuts, couple of bananas, two pbj sandwiches, three juice boxes, two large water bottles, snap peas, carrot sticks, 4 yogurts, licorice, large vico and I'm sure we're missing something....it was really a show...

We watched some cool videos....and I got to drink some new drinks courtesy of my friend at the LBS...very good choices....

Made it to the Peg in great time with only two little stops...one in the Blizzard capital of canada (sorry I couldnt stay to visit) and the other in Brandon...

Our hotel was right downtown (ewww...not a pleasant experience down there) at the Fairmont. Beautiful old hotel...not so good air conditioning...but great service and a great view of the river. Unfortunately being that DH couldnt make it, I didnt get a lot of touristy stuff in...or shopping.

Our games were pretty early friday (7:45...or 6:45 SK time ouch!!!) so off to an early bed.

The first game we lost. Pretty bad. The score should not have been that one sided. We dominated play the 1st period, and most of the second. Then it was down hill from there. C-man played the best I've seen him play that game and was pretty impressed.

The second game we also lost (which put us out of the A....not good) as we really should have been able to beat this team. C didnt play as well this game...and we went back to the hotel a little down.

Saturday was a different day....we had a great fan come...Thanks Glenn for coming and cheering us on....I feel badly as I am not a good visitor when hockey games are on...especially when I have to remember to do things as well....but thanks for coming...we really appreciated it!!

We won both our games saturday - the second of which was the semi final which put us in the B final game on sunday.

Sundays game was at a private school...with a pretty cool granary entrance...had to take a picture (since I forgot to take my camera out most of the time).

We won the game on sunday to take home the B side final....pretty good way to end the season with a final win.

it takes a village

Big THANK YOU's out to a great bunch of friends and family!!

Thanks to GnD for chauffering me and my truck to and fro....yeah!!

Thanks to Ma for coming to take care of Retzky while DH was away working (and for doing laundry and cooking and and and)...

Thanks to JnK for watching Retzky sunday out at the lake in 30 degree weather...and for babysitting my hubby saturday night!!

Thanks to all of you who bought 50/50 tickets, popcorn and advertising....

It was a short spring season ....and I couldnt have done this past weekend...or any other...without your help!!!

we're back...

Hey there!! Well, our last hockey tourney is officially over and we won the B side!! Nice to finish off with a win.

I will talk more about that later...now heading off to work.

We had a/c troubles on the bus ride home, so at one point the thermastat read 39 degrees in the bus on the way home (gross!). Then we got home. No a/c here either....little warmish.

Went to work monday morning- and guess what....no a/c there either!! Thirty two degrees with no breeze is a little much to work in.

Today...I am going to work in a wife beater and flip flops....then for sure the air will be on...

ttyl

probably just for the grandparents...

Here is the link to the tourney in Winnipeg.

http://www.northamericanhockeyclassic.com/

Click on schedules/scores/stats, then on the far left hand side (AAA super Elite division) click on 2001 Male.

They should be updating scores as we go along....wish us luck!!

last weekend of practise

We had our two last practises on sunday in Stoon. They went really well and I am sad that the end is near.

I have met some great kids...great parents...and the time has flown by. (even though the managing thing was a bit stressful...seem to have it under control now...knock knock knock)

In between practise times, I did a wee bit of shopping (Costco..needed meat...boring...i know)...then we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma Golfers for supper.

Retzky was bored after the first ice time...so he headed over to the grandparents for the second time. Soon, he was bored there too...so Grandpa took him golfing. They did the executive 9 where Grandpa gave him some pointers. (he doesnt like to listen to DH and he really shouldnt listen to me!!) But they seemed to come home pretty excited about the whole thing. Retzky was pretty pumped...so thank you !!

C-man wasnt feeling the greatest (again)...running a bit of a fever...so we headed home early. He seemed to be better the next day (maybe a bit of a cold or ear infection?) Went to school...but today we are home on the couch...hoping to mend whatever it is before we leave for the Peg.

We leave thursday morning...play 2 games friday, 2 saturday and just one on sunday (the gold medal game?) Keep your fingers crossed that we end the season with a bang.

Also...we still have popcorn for sale....really good microwave popcorn...let me know if you want some (or 6)!!

introducing...

Lite Bright and Skunky

new nephew

We have our first nephew!!

The boys have their first "official" boy cousin. (first cousin). They couldnt be happier.

Congrats to my beautiful nieces (who I hear have been great helpers!!) and to my sister and brudda...