A Safe Haven

This past weekend we had a fabulous family get together!  It was Otto's Grandma's 80th birthday and so I helped organize a mini family reunion so that we could all spend the weekend together!  It was fabulous!  The weather was gorgeous and the company was wonderful.
There was just one little glitch in the weekend.
It was called "A Safe Haven".
That was the name of the place that we stayed.  Don't get me wrong, the place was beautiful!  They own two vacation homes, a cabin and a Bed and Breakfast.  I found their website on the internet and contacted them for a quote.  It was a fabulous price and the pictures of the place looked amazing, so we decided that we would like to stay there!  They had just renovated their vacation homes and even though the outside wasn't much to look at, the inside of the homes were beautiful!  They looked amazing and we had a wonderful time at the vacation homes.
The owners of the establishment, however, were not very professional.  In fact, they treated us so poorly when we were there that I would completely discourage my friends from going there.  From the moment we got there, members of my family were treated very poorly.  One of the owners was very rude and abrupt with them.  I didn't arrive until later and found out that because of a miscommunication between the two owners, they had made incorrect assumptions and that was the source of the poor treatment.  Usually I can overlook a bit of poor customer service, but the way that we were treated was so unprofessional that it completely left a bad taste in my mouth and even though the vacation homes were beautiful, I would never recommend that people stay there because I wouldn't want them to be treated in the same manner that we were treated.  I won't go into detail, but I will have to say that if the owners learn a bit of a lesson on customer service then "A Safe Haven" would be a fabulous place to stay in the Crowsnest Pass, however, until then I would not return and stay at "A Safe Haven".
Just thought you might like to know!

What May or May NOT Happen When You Fly on an Airplane

I want to start off by saying that my trip to Jamaica was AMAZING!!!  I loved every minute of it from the 30 degree weather, to the waterpark, to the horseback riding on the beach and into the ocean with my girlies, to the hiking up Dunns River Falls and going Tubing down the river, to the family dinners and the playing on the beach.  It was the best vacation I could hope for.  I only wished that I could have gotten there a bit sooner.  But, alas, it was not meant to be. 
Because of my facebook statuses while I was going through the nightmare of trying to get to Jamaica, I have had a lot of requests to expand on my journey and give out more details.  Be careful what you wish for. . . you are in for quite a ride. . . as we were!!!

DECEMBER 26, 2009
- new security measures
- every passenger can only bring 1 carry-on piece of luggage
- each passenger (even Lee) is completely body searched and patted down by a guard
- each person's one carry-on is opened and completely searched
- takes 3 1/2 hours to board the plane
-arrive in Houston 20 minutes after connecting flight leaves
- miss connecting flight from Houston to Miami (where we are supposed to connect through a different airline to Jamaica)
- are told that my brother can get a flight out of there on Sunday, my parents on Monday morning and my family on Monday morning
- are told we can also try to go on stand-by
- decide to try stand-by
- arrange with other airline to rebook our connecting tickets to Jamaica in case we miss our flight
- stand-by flight comes and only 5 people can go
- my brother and his wife and baby and my sister and her husband and baby get on the flight
- Mom, Dad, Jenna, Kristin and my family are all stuck in Houston
- make arrangements to go on Sunday morning on Standby, my parents and sisters are on standby to go through Miami and my family is on Standby to go directly to Jamaica
- baggage is all sent to Miami
- get overnight kits from airport as we now have no luggage as our second carry-on bag which held all of our spare clothes in case anything like this happened is now in Miami
- stay at the beautiful Marriott hotel in Houston
- put kids to bed in underwear and wash all of their clothes in the sink so they will be clean for the next day

SUNDAY, DECEMBER 27
- wake up and realize that Lee is gone
- frantically search hotel room, hallways, pool area and etc looking for him
- call front desk to alert security
- informed that front desk has Lee and that he had wandered out at about 3:30 in the morning in just a diaper and a bottle
- Otto convinces police he is not negligent and we get Lee back
- Parents and sisters get on early standby flight (later we find out that we could have gotten on that one too)
- not enough room on our standby flight for us
- try two more standby flights before giving up and sending Otto and kids back to the hotel
- I get boarding passes for direct flight to Jamaica from Houston
- talk to other airline and find out that my ticket has been cancelled because I didn't make the original flight
- convince them to reinstate the ticket so that I can get home from Jamaica when my vacation is over
- get another overnight kit from the airline because bags are still in Miami and they won't send them back to Houston because I am leaving the next day
- get back to hotel and am told there is another situation involving Lee
- Dustin has completely locked Lee inside the room while Lee is napping and there is no way to get to him.
- Engineering department from the hotel come and take off one of the doors so we can get to Lee
- Lee sleeps through the whole thing
- take kids to the mall for something to do and buy them another set of clothing
- go to sleep, excited to finally be on our way

MONDAY, DECEMBER 28, 2009
- get up, feed kids, go to airport
- go through security
- check in at gate
- get called up and told there is a problem with the tickets
- find out that the second airline wouldn't release their portion of the ticket to the first airline and unless they do this, we can't board the plane
- wait anxiously while an angel named Nicole works her magic
- finds out that the other airline cancelled my ticket again even though I had already talked to them about it
- this causes major problems and the second airline won't release the ticket
- finally get the airline to release the ticket just as they close the door to the airplane
- we are denied access to the airplane even though they just barely closed the door and the jetway is still connected
- all 7 of us cry as we realize we will be in Houston another day
- try to cheer up all 5 of the kids while we make arrangements to stay in Houston for yet another day with the airline paying for our accomodations
- my angel Nicole takes me around the airport to make sure that everything is in order for the next day
- get stopped by at least 6 employees of the airline amazed that we are still stuck in the airport
- all arrangements are made to get on the plane the next morning
- talk to baggage department and they will not send baggage on to Jamaica ahead of us and they will not send the baggage directly to Jamaica at all
- arrange to have baggage sent back to Houston and then onto Jamaica on Wednesday
- pick up some more overnight kits
- take kids to see a movie to raise their spirits
- find a laundry facility in the hotel and am able to wash clothes while my family sits in their underwear in the hotel room
- talk to other employees of the airline while doing laundry and they are shocked that we weren't allowed to get on the plane.  They inform me that they reopen the doors all the time in situations like this.
- this makes me mad agan!
- have sleepless night

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 29
- get up, go to airport, go through security
- go to gate check-in extremely early to double and triple check that there are no problems with tickets
- everything is good
- we fly to Jamaica
- lots more boring things happen but we don't care. . . we are there
- no bags, so we make arrangements to have them sent to us when they arrive
- my family greets the bus as we pull into the resort
- I have never been so glad to see them
- have an amazing night and the kids are ecstatic to be there
- glad that my 4 days in the Houston airport are over


So now you know.  This was our airplane ride from H-E-double hockey sticks.  I was so relieved to see my family at the resort and I had such an amazing time in Jamaica once we got there.  My next post will have pictures.
Even though my family and I were going through this airplane nightmare, I know that God was watching us.  He seemed to send me some angels every time I felt completely overwhelmed.  I will forever be grateful for Nicole and all of the help that she gave me.
I didn't think that the incident at the airport affected me very much, but ever since I have gotten home, I have not been able to sleep because I have been having nightmares about it.  Hopefully the next time I travel I will have a better experience and that will calm me down a bit.
So there you have it.  Our adventure on the way to Jamaica.  I really hope that this doesn't happen to anyone else.

Flying Sucks. . .

. . . but hot, tropical vacations are amazing!!!  Note to self. . . . don't fly Contenantal and don't connect through Houston. . . . they are TERRIBLE there. . . . except for an angel name Nicole!
I hope you all have had a wonderful vacation!
I may post more about my vacation later. . . . I am just still too mad to write about the airplane trip down there. . . hopefully time will help!

Magical Magic Kingdom

The Magic Kingdom is the epitome of Disney. This is truly the most magical place on earth. I spent the entire day with literally thousands of children who were completely captured in the magic of Disney. It made me really miss my own children, alot. In fact, I could barely stand it. I am actually quite excited to go and see them on Monday.
For lunch, we dined with Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Eeyore and Piglet. Because my birthday is tomorrow, Winnie sang Happy Birthday to me and the characters all signed a birthday card for me to keep. It was so much fun dining with the characters from Winnie the Pooh. I am so glad that we did it!
Because I am such a planner, we didn't have to wait in any lines longer than 5 minutes for the rides. We did, however, promise our girlies that we would do our best to get signatures from all of their favorite princesses for them. So, because we love our girlies, we waited. . . and waited. . . and waited in line so that we could get their signatures! I think that it was worth it though because each of the princesses wrote a special note to each one of my girlies. I can't wait to see the looks on my girls' faces when they see what their favorite princesses wrote for them!
No one does parades like Disney! It was so fun to see the daytime parade and the spectro magic parade (at nighttime it was all covered in lights!!) and we ended the night with the most amazing fireworks show I have ever seen! Apparently the fireworks show at Disney's Hollywood Studios is the best one, but my favorite was definitely the one at Magic Kingdom. When I think of fireworks, I want them big, interesting (the more sparkles the better), and high in the sky!!!! Those are my favorites and so I just LOVED the fireworks at the Magic Kingdom.
Tomorrow is the big day. It's the day I have been dreading for the past 29 years. Tomorrow I turn the big 3-0. I am hoping that by spending my birthday at Epcot Center (my favorite Disney park) I will be fighting back the enemy that I like to call "old age" and prolong my youth for a bit longer! We shall see if it works. . . I will keep you posted!

Typhoon Lagoon

Today Otto and I joined up with my mom and two of my sisters and we all went to the Disney Waterpark, Typhoon Lagoon and then ended off the day at Epcot Center. Typhoon Lagoon was quite fun and it really made me miss outdoor waterparks. It is one of the things that I miss most about living in such a cold place and I always LOVE to visit a waterpark whenever I am on vacation! A vacation is just not complete unless you have spent an entire day going on waterslides, suntanning and floating down the lazy river!
And, of course, no one does a waterpark like Disney does! The Typhoon Lagoon has 13 waterslides, including 3 water rollercoasters! It has a wavepool that produces 6 foot waves so that you can actually go body surfing and I have never actually seen waves this big, and I have been to the ocean PLENTY of times! Typhoon Lagoon also has a special watertank that has tons of fishes in it, as well as sharks in it that you can go snorkeling in. Yep, that's right, you can swim with the sharks! Kristin, Otto and I did it and even though my heart was pounding the whole time as fish swam all around me, it was fun and it was something else that I was excited to tell my kids about.
Tonight we went to Epcot Center and it was amazing! Epcot is my FAVORITE part of Disney World and I am so glad that we got a small taste of it tonight and that we will be able to return on Sunday and spend the entire day (my birthday) there visiting Future World and seeing all of the countries in the World Showcase. YAY!!! I am sooooo excited!
Tomorrow, Otto and I are going to be dining with the characters from Winnie the Pooh for lunch. . . I can't wait!

My American Idol Experience

Have you ever been in a situation where you have said to yourself, "This is important and I need to write this down so that my children can know about this."? Well, today I had one of those days. You see, Otto and I visited Disney Hollywood Studios today, and while we were waiting at the turnstiles for the park to open, a bunch of people from the American Idol Experience came over and said that they were holding auditions for the American Idol Experience. Otto told me to audition and I didn't want to. He told me that I really should and I came up with a ton of excuses as to why I didn't want to, but then I finally just went and did it.
After my first audition, I got a call back to go to another audition. After that one, I got to sit in the red Coke Cola room and rehearse my song. I chose to sing "Colors of the Wind" because it was a Disney song and it reminded me of my girlies who were at home. Well, they they had me perform for the Executive Producer and then they played a video with Ryan Seacrest on it telling me that I had received a GOLDEN ticket to compete in one of the American Idol shows that was showing that day. My showtime was at 12:00 noon.
There were 2 other contestants that competed against me, and I thought that, for sure, one of them was going to win. I just thought that this was a cute little karaoke party and so I was just keeping things fun and having a blast. Then, right before we were about to sing, I heard the host say that it was a competition and the winner of the Finale Show (which was performed at 7 pm) would win a real golden ticket to audition for the REAL American Idol judges Randy, Paula and Simon. It kind of hit me then that this wasn't just a fun little thing, it was an actual competition.
It was really neat, because we had to arrive at the show an hour early where we got to practise our songs while listening to the ipods that also showed our lyrics. Then it was on to hair and makeup where I kind of felt as though they turned me into a Disney character with a TON of makeup and big big big hair! After that, I got to spend some time with a vocal coach who gave me some tips on how to better my performance, and then we got to go onto the stage for the first time where we got our pictures taken and we got to pracise singing our songs and learning where we had to stand and where we had to go.
After that, it was time for the show to start. After listening to the introduction music, running onstage to be introduced and doing a short interview with the host it was my turn to start the performances. I sang my song and then got judged by the three judges. It was fun, and I pretty much knew what they were going to say. It was great and I really had a blast.
After all three of us performed we got to dance while Jordan Sparks had a music video play and then it was time for the audience to vote. We all encouraged the audience to vote for us and then we got to hear the results. The host stalled and stalled and when he finally read the name of the winner, I couldn't believe that I had won!
I did NOT expect to win ANYTHING on American Idol, and I had actually WON!!!! I was so shocked and excited! I immediately found Otto and then we called my mom and Jenna and Kristin (my sisters). They are also in Orlando right now, but they were spending the day at a different park than Otto and I. I told them that I had won American Idol and that I was in the finale and I asked them if they wanted to come and sit in the VIP seats and watch me. OF COURSE THEY CAME!
When it was time for the finale we went through the same preshow things and then we performed again. This time there were 7 of us instead of only 3. I was a lot more nervous because before the show we were all talking and the producers told us that they get over 400 people a day auditioning to be on the American Idol shows and out of those 400, only 40 get to see the Executive Producers. Out of those 40, only 21 make it into the competition and then only 7 make it to the finale. So, that means that I was in the top 7 out of 400 people!!! PRESSURE!!!! After that sweet little tidbit of information, we all went around and said who we were, where we were from and what our musical background was. It turns out that only me and one other guy hadn't actually come to the park wanting to be in the show. Everyone else had rehearsed for months to get ready for the show and get their songs perfect so that they could compete. I had just stood in line and was clueless as to what was going on! I was actually competing with professional singers (and very talented ones, at that) and they were all there to get exposure. I was just there on vacation and so that I could tell my kids that I had tried. I never expected to make it to the finale, and I really didn't want to win because I would NEVER be able to sing in front of the REAL American Idol judges.
So, I didn't win the finale (whew), but I sure did have a lot of fun. It turns out that the other guy who also hadn't planned on auditioning for American Idol was the one who won and I was sooooo glad for him. This experience was soooo great for me because it taught me a few things. It taught me to put myself out there a little bit more because I just don't know what I can do. It taught me that to believe in my singing a little bit more because there were so many people who were so nice to me today and who complimented my singing. It taught me that people are genuinely nice. I had TONS of people stop me in the park today to congratulate me and tell me that they had voted for me. I even had a group of boys who wanted to pose with me and take pictures with me. I had some of the staff at Disney World sign a card for me to say "Good Luck" and I had others who would just come up and talk to me because they had seen me on the big tv's.
It was such a great experience, and I am so grateful that I have such a wonderful husband who pushed me to audition and then who patiently listened to me talk about my worries, fears and doubts all day long and obsess over it all day long. We did do a TON of other things at the Disney Hollywood Studios today, and we had a BLAST together! I am sooooo glad that Otto and I took this trip together and I can't wait until we get home so I can show the pictures and videos to my kids.

Outta this World

Today we spent the day at the Kennedy Space Center! (Finally!!) Otto really loved it and I was really glad that we went! It was really cool to see the progression of the rockets that they have used in order to accomplish all of the space missions. I felt very sad, and humbled when I thought about all of the men and women who had sacrificed their lives for space travel. It brought back memories of when I was in elementary school and I watched the launch of the Discovery Mission and it exploded. I still feel a sense of loss when I think about it.
I also felt a sense of pride when I got to walk by a model of the Canadian Space arm that is a smaller version of the one on the International space Station. It felt nice to know that my country had contributed to that space station in a huge way! Yay Canada!
While Otto and I were there, we kept on talking about our daughter Anne. She is very bright and is really into math and science, so we thought it would be cool if she could one day work for NASA and build robots or something like that. I just don't think I could sacrifice my daughter to being an astronaut with the risk of the rocket exploding. I would never get over that. However, having a daughter who builds robots would be sooooo cool! We figured that we would have to spend a lot of money on her education, so it's a good thing that she has an Education Saving's Plan that can help us with that. It would have been really fun to have Anne with us today, and I can't wait until we bring her here in a couple of years!
Tonight, we went and saw a fun, interactive, Pirate Dinner Theater. We had seats in the second row and we got to cheer for the Red Pirate. Our Pirate didn't win the competition for first mate and he didn't get the girl, but he was the strong one! And it was fun! Otto got to be in the show and we both had fun cheering for our pirate.
I would say that this was another successful day here in Orlando! Otto didn't get too hot because we spent most of the day inside, but tomorrow we start our 5 days at Disney World with the first day being at Hollywood Studios. SO MUCH FUN!!! I can't wait. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow night!
Until then. . .

Universal Studios

The reason I am such a planner is because I have no brain! When Otto and I woke up this morning and got everything ready to go to the Kennedy Space Center I took a quick look at our schedule that I had made before we left and I realized that we were actually supposed to go to Universal Studios today and the Kennedy Space Center tomorrow. So, we did a quick switch and we went over to Universal Studios and the Island of Adventure.
We did both parks in one day. . . . and. . . .IT WAS A BLAST!!! I am a bit of a roller coaster junkie (thanks to my mom) and I am so glad that I married someone who is also a roller coaster junkie because we went on some AMAZING roller coasters today! The Mummy was INCREDIBLE at Universal, and the Incredible Hulk and the Dueling Dragons were both AMAZING at Islands of Adventure! SO MUCH FUN!
Otto and I even got to meet Spiderman (who is Dustin's favorite superhero) and get some fun pics.
Last night we had dinner at Wolfgang Puck's restaurant, and today we had lunch at Emeril Lagasse's restaurant. I do have to say, there is a reason that they are famous chefs! It is because their recipes are goooooooooood!!!! I do have to say that I still think that my banana cream pie is better than Emeril's but I will have to try and come up with a caramel sauce like his. I mention these two restaurants because they were on my "bucket list" and I am so excited that I got these crossed off of my list!
We had fun and we really enjoyed spending the day together. I am so glad that Otto and I took this trip together so that we could just hang out with the two of us. It has been hard because we both really miss the kids, but we have been planning what we want to take them to see when we do bring them in a couple of years!
Oh, and did I mention that it was 84 degrees here today???? Sure beats the snow that I left behind at home!

We made it!

Yay!! My kids aren't orphans! I always get nervous when Otto and I fly on an airplane together without the kids because if anything were to ever go wrong then Otto and I would both be gone and our kids would be orphaned. I am always so relieved when we land because it means that my kids still have parents.
We are currently in Orlando! It was 24 degrees when we landed, and everything started so smoothly and efficiently. I am so glad that I inherited the planning gene from my mother because it sure saved us a lot of time today. We didn't have to wait in any lines at the airport, in customs, in the car rental or at Downtown Disney.
Otto and I spent the evening shopping, eating at a restaurant that I have always wanted to try, and just hanging out together! We have never had a vacation with just the two of us, and so we have been having some fun just being together.
Another thing that I learned from my mother is that when we are on trips, we have always written in our jounals every day. So, even though my posts have been scarce in the past, I have a feeling that for the next week, or so, there will be almost daily posts because I want to have a record of this trip. I want to remember the fun things that Otto and I are experiencing together and I want to hopefully remember how much fun we are having.
You don't have to read these posts, but I have given my children my blog address so that they can read my posts before bed and know what Otto and I are doing every day. I miss those kids so much already, but I am kind of glad that we didn't bring them this time, because Otto and I have already been figuring out ways that we could make it even more fun for the kids when we bring them here.
Tomorrow we are visiting the Kennedy Space Center and we have tickets to the Pirates Dinner Adventure. It should be fun! I sure can't wait!

Fun Family and Friends Weekend!

Who doesn't love a long weekend?? I mean seriously! I LOVE them! I always try to do something fun with the kiddies and this weekend and definitely been fun for the kiddies!
On Thursday (teacher's convention) we had one of Abby's best friends come over for the day. Then that night we had Abby's other best friend and her sister come over for a sleep-over. On Friday afternoon we packed up all of our stuff and went down to Cardston for the weekend to stay with Otto's brother's family so the kids could play with their cousins!. On Friday night we went and saw the town's production of Fiddler on the Roof. It was fun to see some people that we knew in the play and even more people that we knew in the audience!
On Saturday we took the kids sledding on the iciest hill I have ever been on, but they all had a blast. . . .okay, well maybe not all of them had a blast. . . Lee didn't like sitting in his car seat for an hour, but I was able to buy some time with all of the treats that I brought for him!
Saturday night we left the kids at Otto's brother's house and the adults all went out to dinner in Waterton. Normally we would have gone to the Kilmorey Lodge, but since it is no longer standing we mozied on over to the Waterton Lakes Lodge where the chef had moved to and we ate dinner there. It was a nice Valentine's dinner! I was also able to meet Chef James which was awesome because my dad is one of the owners of Kilmorey Lodge and he always talks about Chef James. He often asks me questions about food and when I give him the answers he tells me that that is what Chef James says. It was really great to talk to Chef James for a bit and to get to know him a bit better.
On Sunday we went to church with our cousins and it was really funny to look down the bench and have Jason (Otto's brother who is dark like me) and I on the ends, but then see 11 blond children that all look alike as well as Otto (who is very blond) and my sister-in-law (who is also very blond) sitting on that bench. If ever there was a family that looked alike it is our two families. I always find that to be interesting because Jason and I are both dark, but somehow we got all of these blond children. I have a feeling that in 10 years they won't all be blond any more. I wish I would have taken a picture. . . it really is quite the sight to behold!
After dinner at Jason's house we headed home. It was fun to spend so much time with our cousins, but Otto actually had to head into the office today to get some work done. That's okay because later on this afternoon, my cousin is bringing over her family to come play and have dinner! The kids are so excited and I think that it will be the perfect ending to a weekend full of fun, family and friends!

Adios Amigos

Spanish you ask? Why yes, indeed. It has been a language that I have been learning for 2 reasons. The first reason is because my husband speaks it all the time and he is teaching my children the language. They go to a Spanish school and they say TONS of things in Spanish when they get home. I seem to be the butt of all of their jokes because even though I can speak 2 languages, the second language is NOT Spanish! They think that it is HILARIOUS that I can't speak Spanish, but I just start talking to them in French and they stop laughing because they have no idea as to what I am saying. The second reason I have been learning Spanish is because for our ten year anniversary we have been planning on going to Chile. I never got a honeymoon and so I have been looking forward to this trip for 10 years.
Well, last night Otto and I sat down to talk about the future. We have been worried about the world economic crisis and we have lost some money in our investments that we currently have. Because of this we came to the consensus that maybe it would be more wise to not go to Chile for another couple of years and we will just take that money that we would have used and save it in case we need it.
Yes, we have decided to do the responsible thing. What a bummer hey? I mean who wouldn't rather go to Chile? I know I would! However, I guess that that's what happens when you become the parents of 5 beautiful children who are completely dependant on you. . . . and who knows. . . for our 20th anniversary I will only be 39 so I may finally be able to see my dream come true!

San Diego???

Well, isn't it amazing how quickly things can change? This year we had planned on staying home for the summer with the exception of a quick jaunt to the cabin. Then we got an email from my dad that changed everything. It was a quick email that was forwarded from my Great-Aunt Jolene (who is my Grandma Lee's sister) talking about a family reunion that she is planning on having in San Diego. Well, I just HAPPEN to love San Diego, so I asked Otto if we rearranged some of our funds did he think that we could swing it? He told me to work out all of the details and we would decide. Well, two days later and here we are, pretty much planning on going to San Diego in July. I am so excited. We are still waiting for one or two more conditions to be met before we can say for sure, but I am quite confident that everything will work itself out!
The reunion is Thurs, Fri and Sat, so we are planning on going down on the Sunday before that and staying until the end of the reunion. I am so excited to take my kiddies down there to go see Sea World, the San Diego Zoo, Tijuana Mexico, see Legoland spend a day at the beach, see my cousins (they had better come down!!!!), go to La Jolla, and the hotel that we are going to stay in is right in Old Town San Diego, which is one of my favorite spots in San Diego.
Lee will be 3 months old, so he will be perfect travelling age, and so the only child I am really worried about is Dustin. I think that this will be a great vacation for us to do with the kiddies because the girlies will get to spend some time in Mexico (which they love to do), we get to go see some fun places, the weather is generally quite nice there, the Canadian dollar is high, and we won't be going to places where we have to spend alot of time standing in line. We had talked about going up to Disneyland after the reunion instead of staying in San Diego the whole time, but I REALLY don't want to go to Disneyland in the middle of the summer with a brand new baby and 4 other young children. I do love Disneyland, but I do not forsee that being much fun. I think that San Diego will be a blast, and I can't wait to go!!!!

Fernie Family Fun

This past week we were able to go to Fernie with my family. It was fun being able to spend that time with the kiddies and with my siblings. On Friday, most of my siblings and parents went skiing. Otto and I took the kiddies to the Aquatic Center that is there in Fernie and we had a blast!! Abby jumped off of the diving board, Anne swam under water for the first time!! Caroline jumped off of the side of the pool with no lifejacket and Dustin. . . well. . . he was a bit of a mama's boy and just hung out with me in the nice warm kiddie pool. My sister, Amanda and my sister-in-law Suzanne just hung out all day at the Fernie and had a catch up session with each other.
We played alot of games with the family, and the kids did crafts! I was also surprised that my family didn't go skiing on Saturday, but hung out at the condo. It was great for the kids though, because everyone made snowmen with them. . . well one pregnant snowman and one snow turtle. The kiddies love that! Then Otto took the big kids swimming while I stayed behind so that Dustin could have a nap.
Later that afternoon, everyone except for my little family left and we stayed behind and watched football, played games, did crafts, and watched a movie. On Sunday we left Fernie behind and made the trek home. We stopped in at Blairmore where Otto's grandma Pierzchala lives and had lunch with her. It was fun except for the fact that Abby was sick, Caroline threw up, Dustin wouldn't sit still and Anne refused to eat her lunch and then complained about being hungry all the way home. . . ahhh the life with kids!
I was glad that we were able to go somewhere for our Christmas vacation because with all of the weddings that went on, we hadn't been able to spend much time as a family. I think that next year we will just go on vacation. . . it's way more fun than working!!