Weekend Away

We are headed away this weekend to Emerald Lake. This is our favorite New Year's Eve location. We've only experienced the lake during the winter and we've always enjoyed the activities - snowshoeing, skating, x-country skiing. It's a beautiful, relaxing getaway.

When we were there in January, we woke up early on New Years Day to get in a full day of snowboarding @ Lake Louise - expecting a huge breakfast would be ready, as per their advertised times. Sadly, it wasn't and we settled for their continental b-fast. When we checked out, they asked us about our stay & we mentioned our disappointment. As a result, they gave us a free night stay w/breakfast....so we are using it this weekend - yeah!

Here's our view of the lake when we last saw it...Brrr.

And here's what the website promises us in the Spring/Summer.

We'll be sure to let you know when we get back!

Oh! - final renovations (countertops & back splash) to be completed this weekend while we are away. When we return Sunday night...it should be done! Hopefully all very blog-worthy - so you can get the update.

Enjoy the weekend.

At the Lake

It was a beautiful weekend in Calgary - warm and sunny. And between packing, school work and mountain biking (Scott), we found time for a couple of walks. One of them was in our new community around the lake.

There's lots of shelters you can reserve for your large group BBQs. Or there are a bunch of tables and stand alone BBQ pits that are available first-come-first-serve. The water looked cold (it is still May in Calgary, remember) but really young kids and some teens braved the water for 30 second bursts!

The Lake is fed by two (2) waterfalls and they flow throughout the park in the streams into the lake. They have done a really nice job with the community. The lake amenities are sure not to disappoint!

People were out enjoying all that the lake has to offer -- kids were building sand castles, people were out in the paddle boats, others were getting ready for the fishing derby. The tennis courts, basketballs courts were busy too. The sand volleyball court was empty tho....wanna play?!

Hope you had a good weekend - two more weeks before we move into our new house! Renovations are supposed to be complete this coming weekend!!

Katie Boyd, P.Eng

OK - it's not the 'official' stamp (since we don't live in California and she's not a civil engineer, etc.), but I wanted to find a photo to celebrate Katie's accomplishment! And since my Google images search only came up with this stamp and a bunch of photos of tons of nerds - I made the executive decision to use the stamp. But I digress...

Yeah!! - Katie received the official notification that her exam mark, experience and references have all afforded her the title of Professional Engineer (P.Eng). it's a great accomplishment and we're very proud of her. xo

We are now accepting plans, papers, etc. that you need stamped -- she's going on Mat leave, so we have to supplement the income somehow, right?!? -- hahahaha!

Our First Glimpse!

We got our first glimpse at the baby today. The baby was very active for the first part of the ultrasound - lots of waving at us! And then came the big yawns and stretches and the baby nestled in a corner of Katie's tummy and didn't want to be bothered anymore!

Some great video of it all - and we have some photos to share. Baby is healthy and growing at the normal rates, good vitals and development. Very very exciting. Truly amazing.

Kicking...

Katie has been able to feel the baby kicking for a couple of weeks now, but this afternoon she was on the couch reading and the baby was kicking like crazy. So Katie called me over since it felt different than before. Sure enough I got to feel the baby!!

Katie says I must soothe it, because after a few minutes it stopped. And when I went back to homework, it started again. Somehow this will come back to me when the baby crying in the middle of the night and my soothing touch will be Katie's response for me to get out of bed!

But for now it's all good because it was the most amazing thing!!!

Baby Beats...

Yesterday we had a baby doctor appointment and we got to hear the heart beat - amazing! Once again the doctor teased us with the old wives' tale of increased heart rate means baby girl.

Ultrasound is booked in the coming weeks and that will be our first glimpse at our little girl or guy. Can't wait!! Mom and baby are both doing well - gaining the right amount of weight and mom is feeling really good. Katie is 18 weeks today.

Katie is also feeling little kicks throughout the day - mostly while sitting at her desk. A couple of more weeks and maybe dad will get a chance to feel the Kung Foo going on inside too.

Busy weekend with homework, dinner with friends, brunch with Uncle/Aunt from Winnipeg and all the stuff in between. Hope you have a great one!