Our Travel Blog

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Driving Miss Donna - what does this mean? Whenever I want to go somewhere, if Don is home he will usually drive. He always says he is driving miss Donna! This blog is for our travels, usually with our truck and fifth wheel trailer, but sometimes in our other wheels. When we are not vacationing check in for updates, although less frequent, about our life at home and our wonderful family:)

Monday, July 1, 2013

Sweet Days of Summer

Could anything be better than sitting in +28 weather, at the trailer and writing a review of June? 
Since our last post things have been a busy kind of quiet.  The same weekend the Shikaoi delegation were in town, Emerson had her first dance recital.  I was so proud of her going on the big stage with a few of her group dancers!  There was not a smile that morning on anyone’s face bigger than Emerson’s. After the recital we gave her flowers.  Photos were not allowed during the performance and the picture I posted doesn’t show her awesome costume, as the dance school gave them all T-shirts as gifts, but her smile is the same!
em dance
We had a great time out at the trailer with the Cameron kids.  They came out for the day on a Thursday, as Emerson has completed pre-school for the season, and Blake doesn’t have Kindergarten on Thursdays, it was the perfect opportunity for a mid week visit.  We indulged in hot dogs, s’mores, and endless quad rides.   Reese determined she wasn’t quite ready to be a quad rider, but she enjoyed the rest of the day.  We also played bowling and bocce ball.
There were some intense games!
giant bowlingbocce ball at lake
don and kids on quad
My next week was filled with meetings, meetings, meetings.  I have recently assessed my volunteer commitments and they are declining rapidly.  There is a lot of pressure in today’s world if you are not traditionally employed in a job that you must have spare time to volunteer.  That might be the case if you were a stay at home senior, or maybe someone who had always wanted to volunteer but hadn’t made the time, but in my case I put volunteering as a high priority for my whole life and now am ready to take a break.  I no longer want my volunteer commitments to replace opportunities with family and friends.  So I am decreasing that load.  I have resigned from the Ringette association, the Friends of the Library, the Tri Community Adult Learning Assoc., and as of December 31 the Family and Community Support Services Board.  My goal is to only serve on the Co-op Board at this time.  Other reasons come into play and a strong one in favour of the Co-op is that it offers growth and learning opportunities as well.
Rant over and back to activities.  This week did include the opportunity to attend the annual Vitalize Conference, this year held in Edmonton.  Vitalize is a provincial conference for both volunteers and those that work in the voluntary sector, and I always find it a great opportunity to stay abreast of what is happening in that world, from my business perspective.  I spent 2 nights at the hotel, one with my great friends Diane and Yvonne, and another with Yvonne alone.  Fun, food and learning all wrapped up in one.
Don spent that week working in Peace River as part of his mentoring contract.  This mentoring was not something Don thought of as part of his consulting work, but he has enjoyed it for the most part, and made good friends in David and Anne.  If I can ever shake all my commitments I would like to spend some time there with him!
Next week – guess what?  The first half of the week was spent in meetings and volunteering at a golf tournament.  But the reward was that I went to Fort McMurray on Thursday for a long weekend.  Don, Cal and Jeremy were off on their quad and fishing adventure, and it was the perfect opportunity to visit Lindsay and Connor!  By all the stories it appears the guys had another great trip, although some unexpected closure of trails, etc. saw them with a last minute destination change.  Their plans had already been impacted by the flooding and a bridge collapse over the Firebag River. 
Anyway – Lindsay, Connor and I had a great time.  Connor loves daycare so much, and the interactions with the kids, that I wondered if he wasn’t a bit bored with Lindsay and I.  At one point he even brought his clothes and shoes over to us!  But Saturday was spent playing outside in his new sand and water table Lindsay bought, and a visit with Lauren and Mike.  Also on Friday evening Lindsay hosted a Steeped Tea party and we had a blast drinking tea, nibbling on appetizers and sharing stories about life in general in only a way women can do…Connor
For anyone who has not visited or lived in the north it is hard to describe how hot it is, but using your common sense you can understand that if the sun doesn’t go down then cooling off is hard to achieve!  So I was particularly glad Lindsay and Jeremy had their a/c in fine working order!
The last week of June was  a blast, as I spent a morning with Emerson and Reese while Tracy attended Blake’s year end activity day, had a long overdue dinner with Dana and Maria, and odd but exciting I received my orthotics!  Happy feet are important.
The saddest but proudest time is June might be Blake’s completion of Kindergarten!  Unbelievable that we now have a grandchild in grade school.  Actually unbelievable that we now have 4 grandchildren!  LOL
To end this fabulous month we spent the long weekend at the lake with 2 of our closest friends, the Scotts and the Marshalls!  They came to our lake development, and we spent many hours visiting, laughing and eating!  We also visited the St Albert and Alberta Beach markets, and every one of us found some special treasures.  The temperatures were some of the warmest we have enjoyed this year (in Alberta!)
Don has worked more days this month than anticipated, but continues to enjoy that.  We sent our company year end off in good time this year, as we are getting more of a system every year. 
It’s a great life, and we are both enjoying the balance and opportunities we have worked hard to achieve.  July will speed by as we look forward to all the little trips and visits already planned.
Happy Canada Day!
canada-day-flag

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