The last couple of days and the trip home

Hanging out at Nana's and taking a couple selfies.

 Nana booked a night in a hotel with a pool so we would not have to leave for Regina in the middle of the night.  The boys loved it.  Once I accompanied Matthew down the water slide, we couldn't keep him off of it.

 We were out of the hotel by 4am and off to the airport.  By the time we got to our gate in Calgary after long security lines in Regina, waiting for bags in Calgary, long lines at customs and more long lines through security again) the boys were exhausted and decided to just lay down on the floor.

(it seemed like constant liturgy of "stay close, don't drag that on the floor, keep up, stop touching your brother, don't put your mouth on that")

 I bought them a treat to give them the energy for the last leg.

  Unfortunately Alex thought he was going to get to eat the entire large bag of skittles and when I took it away from him he threw the biggest tantrum I have ever seen right in front of all the people getting on our flight to Seattle. :)

Luckily I knew it was just fatigue so I casually pushed him behind the fake potted plant next to the chair I was sitting in and let him vent.  Several minutes later he was ready for a hug and apologized for throwing candy at me.

 Moments after we were seated on our flight he fell asleep.

And now it was Matthew's turn.  Once we were seated he just started to cry very quietly because he was not sitting next to me.  He was in fact so close to me that I could reach out and rub his back while he cried because our plane was so small.  He cried for about 15 minutes then also fell asleep.

Another awesome trip in the bag.

  Thank you to everyone for coming to visit, for Papa and Carlam for picking us up at the airport, for Papa and Nana for taking us back to the airport and for Colleen, Claire and Daniel for lending a helping hand in so many innumerable ways.  Love you all and can't wait for our next adventure!

Christmas in Manitoba- skidoos, quads and a weiner roast

On our last day in Roblin (Jan 1st) we went out to Bill Cases for snowmobiling, quading and a weiner roast.   

Matthew loved it and would have driven that 'Power toboggan" until it was too dark to see. 

On one run on the quad he told me that he wanted to come out to the farm and stay to take care of all the animals.  Maybe next time.

Alex preferred this mode of transport

Christmas in Manitoba Day 3- In Between Party

On December 29th, we decided to host a party for all the relatives and friends who might want to visit with us while we were all in town.  Rather than trying to run around all over the country, we thought they could all come to us. We rented the Life and Arts Center (aka the old united church) and potlucked it.

An almost family photo as we wait for the guests to arrive.  

Matthew, Alexis, Kendra, Alex

The whole crowd

Later in the evening the kids set up a restaurant in the basement using the kitchen.

This is what they wrote down for Matt's order.  My bill came to $700 for a sandwich and a coffee so it was a short visit for me.

A couple games of crib with Uncle Lorne, Claire and Juanita.  It was a steep learning curve for me but all were very patient.

christmas crowns, a tradition

Christmas in Manitoba Snowshoeing

This was my favorite activity.  Going snowshoeing.

Getting them onto Matthew's feet. (which turned out to be something we did many many times)

He wore the ones my Dad made for me when I was a kid. Note the blue pom poms (Colleen's had green pom poms)

I wore the ones he purchased a billion years ago

and Dad wore the ones he made for himself.  I am immensely impressed with the fact that he made three pairs of snowshoes all by himself.  It is also cool that when he snowshoes, he wears moccasins.

The tracks we found showing where a bird landed on a rock, wake through the snow a bit then took off again.

Christmas in Manitoba Tobogganing

Next activity on the list was tobogganing.  Dad did a tour around town to find a good hill and came upon the hill/playground behind the old creamery.  I don't know why we never came here as a kid but it turned out to be a great hill.

Alex made a bee-line for the swings

Matthew was stoked to get sliding down that hill and it turned out that the old wooden toboggan was the best ride.

Me and boys getting ready to go down 

a push from Nana

And we are off!

Alex lost  his boots at the bottom.

Shortly into the fun, Alex decided to hang out in the warm (and potentially snack filled although it turned out to just be gum) truck with Nana.

More fun playing in the playground with Papa.

Christmas Morning

This is all quite self explanatory.