Top Ten Tuesday - Best Parts of a Girls' Weekend Away

I got to go away on a bit of R&R this weekend.  I met 3 girlfriends of mine in Edmonton for a little shopping therapy.  Here's the top 10 best parts.....

1. Spending time with friends who live far away - Andrea and Diana moved to Fort McMurray last year.  We still stay in touch but we don't see each other nearly as much. It was great to get to hang out and just chat.
2. Spending time with friends without kids or husbands - We do see each other over the summer camping but somehow it just isn't the same when you have to cook dinner and chase after the kids!
3. Dinners out - No cooking!  Oh and dining at restaurants that don't have a kids menu.  Wooo Hooo!
4. Sleeping In - Okay....we messed this one up a bit because our room was plotting against us.  First we were right next to the breakfast room where the door slamming started up at 6am.  Then the last people in the room had left the alarm clock set for 6am.  Two pigeons outside our window and a heater stuck on "molten lava" were thrown in for good measure.  We finally gave up and changed rooms for the last night.  That night might have been the best sleep ever!
5. Shopping at the mall without screaming/whining/running/crying children - Need is say more?
6. Three days without Treehouse or YTV - not one minute of 4Square or Max & Ruby.
7. Shopping in boutique stores - Boutique shopping just does NOT happen with a toddler.  They are always trying to run out the door or chew on a hat that is $300.  
8. Sleeping in a bed all by yourself.  
9. Eating chips and/or a candy bar in the car and not having to share. with. anyone! - I had a Mars Caramel bar on the way to Edmonton and ketchup chips on the way home.  Yum!
10. Coming home & realizing that everyone is happy to see you.  Of course that wears off in about 5 minutes but oh well.

Linked up at Oh Amanda for Top Ten Tuesday

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Little Monkeys Jumping on the....Couch?

We were lucky to have our friends the N's visit us from Northern Alberta on Tuesday night.  Evan had a BLAST playing with Abby and Daniel.  I took a few other pictures but I think this video really sums up how the evening went.  They had so much fun!

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Wordless Wednesday - Fishing

Evan & Kate loved their first fishing trip with their Daddies.  Thankfully Jeff had the camera so he could capture these great shots.

This Wordless Wednesday post is linked up over at A Lot of Loves and 5 Minutes for Mom!

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We've Gained Weight & We Have Bugbites....Yep...We've Been CAMPING Again!!!

I had all of last week off so we met our friends the C's (Jeff (aka Coz), Andrea, Kate & Lauren) and the R's (Terry, Heather, Owen & Jake) at Long Lake Provincial park for a few days of camping.  It was glorious!  We stayed Sunday through Friday and only had one day of iffy weather and only one night (late) of rain.  In Alberta that is as good as it gets!

It was our first visit to Long Lake campground and we loved it.  Our campsites were treed and a short walk to the beach.  Oh, yeah, they had a great little sandy beach for the kids.  Evan LOVED it.  He would have stayed there all day if we let him.  They also had a little store with a concession (ice cream, anyone?) and a playground.  It was the perfect spot for a 3 year old.  Evan wanted to move there.  The whole drive home to Calgary he kept saying "Turn around!  Go back to camping! I don't want to go home!"

Here are a few (a lot) of my favorite pictures from the week.....

This post was Evan's favorite part of our campsite. He spent a lot of time perched on it or laying on it so he could "fly".

Our first day was a bit cold & rainy so Evan and Kate took some time off to watch a movie.

Coz made me a killer marshmallow for a S'More.  YUMMY!

Beach time!  Kate needed a quick warm up in the towel.  The lake water was a bit chilly!

Evan loved the beach....and raspberries which he's wearing on his nose.

The wagon got a workout heading back and forth to the beach.

ICE CREAM!!!!!

My son.....boy of many funny faces!

My favorite picture of Kate & Andrea

Sitting around a Ukranian campfire.  It was dubbed that because of the two HUGE logs we were given from our friend's dad who is....you guessed it....Ukranian!

Hanging out with the R's extended family.  Dewey really enjoyed jamming with an accordion though he doesn't know many polkas.

Party, party, party.....sleep!

More ice cream!  This is Owen (part of the R family)

This is Jake....Owen's brother.  They introduced Evan to his new obsession....Bakugon.

Me & Andrea....it was great to get to catch up.

Dewey made margaritas for everyone.  They are very, very yummy but may be responsible for my "fluffy" feelings since our return home.  

Isn't Lauren cute?

Kate & Evan loved playing together all week.  Evan was playing hard to get at this point but Kate gave him a hug anyway.

We ended up talking Andrea & Coz into staying an extra day to camp with us.  The week was just so much fun.  I can't wait until next year to go back again!!!!!

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Montreal Girls' Trip 2010 In Pictures

Escaping from everyday life is a good plan every once in a while.  I have a group of girl friends who try to go on a Girls' Trip every year or so.  So far we've gone to San Francisco, New York and this year....Montreal.  We're a pretty diverse group & I'm a bit off the odd ball.  They are all stay at home moms.  We like to choose a place with good food, great shopping and something to see.  Montreal was a great choice and we all really enjoyed it. 

The Notre Dame Basilica in Old Town Montreal

Inside the Basilica.  It is very beautiful.  Photos don't do it justice.

Old Town is very quaint with lots of little shops.

Me! Andrea took this picture & I really like it.

We visited St Viateur bagels.  The are sooooo good.  Did you know that they deliver ship to Canada & the US?  YUM!  I brought some home with me.  Here's a tip....don't get Everything bagels if you are traveling with them.  I felt like I was being chased by a garlic clove all day!

Diana, Justine, Kyla, Andrea, Norma & Me....Colleen was taking the picture.  We are at Ziggy's bar.  Some guys from our work raved about this place.  It is a great sports/guy's guy bar but not exactly the place that girls go for a night out on the town.  

The owner of the bar gave me a Calgary Flames hat when he figured out where we were from.

Me & Norma.  We were roomies on this trip.

The bagpiper at the Ogilvie department store.  It is a beautiful department store but VERY expensive.

No Girl's trip would be complete without a few cocktails.  

Andrea, Me & Diana - My besties.  I miss both of them so much since they've moved to Fort McMurray!

Schwartz's Deli......Montreal Smoked Meat mecca.  Definitely worth the 30 minute wait.

We're ready to eat!

Lunch!

Have you ever gone away on a Girls' Trip?  What are your favorite destinations?

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The Weekend in Pictures

One of my favorite bloggers, Cate over at Sweetnicks, often does a weekend pictures in review post.  It's so fun to see the great pictures.  She is better than me, though & she usually posts the pictures before the end of the weekend.  Oh well, guess that's something I can strive for.  *grin*

My old boss from when I worked at Emerson came to visit Calgary. We were lucky enough to have him over for dinner.  Evan thought Gary was awesome especially when he crawled in the playhouse with him.

This weekend was all about the potty training.  We had a few accidents but not too many.  I think we're well on our way.  I think he got tired of my incessant questions about whether he needed to pee.  He even danced around the kitchen at one point singing "There's no pee, there's no pee"

My baby the Joker.  Evan LOVES my raspberry jam!

Jenga blocks make awesome building blocks!

Daddy with his super cool hat.

TICKLE!

Evan's bum is a little too small for his undies.  He spent all day pulling up his pants.

I thought maybe a book would help with the potty training.  Evan really liked his Pirate Potty book.

No more pictures Mommy!

What were you up to this weekend?

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Visitors from the North!

Evan and I have been missing our friends that moved to Fort McMurray last summer.  The mommies, Andrea & Diana, were great friends of mine.  We were all pregnant at the same time & we spent tons of time together during our maternity leaves.  It was very hard for me when they moved (and still is).  Evan misses his friends Kate and Daniel, too & often talks about them.

This weekend we were lucky enough to get to spend some time with Andrea, Kate & Lauren.  It was great to catch up & for the kids to get to play.  I got my camera out but ended up talking too much so I never got any pictures of the kids together.  I guess that happens a lot with 2-3 year olds who are running amok at full speed.  Getting them both in the frame at one time is nearly impossible!  Thankfully the weather in Calgary has been nice so we got to play outside a bit.

Playing in the Playhouse

 Keeping house!

Evan's favorite plant....too bad it's dead as a doornail!

Lauren is a cutie!

Evan and Kate picked right up where they left off.  We have a photo screen saver that scrolls through all the pictures on our computer so Evan sees pictures of Kate all the time.  I think that helps him remember his friend in the North.   In case you think I'm just being whiney & they moved around the corner, I looked it up on Google Maps & it's 758 km to Fort Mac!  Yeesh!

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