Clapping and Crawling and Climbing, Oh My!

Although we were convinced that Megan would skip the crawling stage entirely, she has decided she would like some independence and started crawling - it's a kind of modified quasi moto crawl (on one knee and one foot), but she motors about without too much trouble. And since she has already mastered the art of pulling herself up to standing and walking along furniture she is remarkably mobile. Bring on the baby gates!

She has a fascination with the washroom - banging on the toilet seat and the side of the tub. Megan has discovered the toilet paper roll and thinks it's pretty cool to unravel it, but fortunately she hasn't discovered the toilet bowl...yet!

Grandma also taught Megan to clap the other day...now when I go in her room to get her up in the morning I go in to a round of applause - very cute! This new skill is also especially helpful when she's getting a bit cranky in the car - a quick round of "If You're Happy and You Know It" and she is back to smiling. This will come in handy when we drive to Kelowna in the coming weeks - although we might be sick of they song by the time we reach Canmore!

We have a few BBQ's planned for the long weekend, but for the most part we are just hanging out as a family...what do you have planned for the long weekend? Whatever it is we hope you have fun!

The Weekend to End Women's Cancers

Last weekend I walked 60km with my Dad and Aunt in support of ending Women's' Cancers. We walked 35km on Saturday and 25km on Sunday...for those of you familiar with the Calgary area, that is like walking from Priddis to the Calgary Airport! The event was fantastic and we were lucky enough to get weather to match.

Thank you to everyone who donated to the cause...there were 1114 walkers and together we managed to raise $2.7 million! One of my mom's friends (she was the captain of our team and the crew chief for lunch everyday) is a direct recipient of the money in the form of a cancer fighting drug that would not be available to her if this money could not be raised - so once again, a BIG thank you to everyone who was generous enough to donate on my behalf.

It was a true family event! My mom volunteered and was there to serve us lunch both days...and Scott and Megan came to cheer us on on Sunday.

Needless to say, walking 60km in one weekend can be pretty hard on your feet. My Aunt only had a couple of small blisters and some hot spots, but still had feet that resembled a mummy. And that was nothing compared to the look of some feet! I was surprised some of them could even stand let alone walk!

Calaway Park!

We went to Calaway Park on Monday - a great place for kids of all ages! We had a fun day exploring the park and the boys and Megan loved all the activities.

Wesley & Heather get ready for some water bumper boats!

The Nanaimo Boyds get into the AeroMax for 'take-off'

The bi-plane was the first ride of the day and they pretended they were spitfire pilots!

Grant was selected from the crowd to come on stage and help the performers. This was classic because our dad is famous for always being selected at these type of events - way too funny!

Megan got on a few rides with mom & dad too - cloud ride with dad and horse ride carousel with mom!

Megan gets to check out the park from a couple of different vantage points - and loves them both! She really wanted to crawl under one of the trees...mom thinks she's going to be a surveillance spy with those skills : )

Classic Megan - standing on the bench talking away to herself and then looks up to realize she is the star of mommy & daddy's show!

And of course, every star needs to kick back and relax...she does it well.

Swim Time!

We have Grant (Scott's Brother), Heather and their boys visiting us for the week! Today started with a trip to the Police Station. The boys got to see prisoner holding cells, report room and of course a police car. They loved the lights and got to play with them and the sirens!

We then went to the wave pool and the boys got to show off their swimming skills for Megan. Colin and Wesley both went down water slides, dunked their heads in the water and floated on their backs when the waves started - very impressive!

Megan, of course, not wanting to be outdone by the boys showed how she can dunk under water too - no screaming or fussing. She was very content watching them splash around and had a smile the whole time.

Daddy & Megan - Mommy & Megan


Wesley underwater holding his breath!

Colin swinging from the rope dropping into the deep end!

Wesley enjoying the water slide.

The Nanaimo Boyds then continued their Calgary adventure as the Calgary Boyds took Megan home for a nap. They went to the Calgary Tower and toured the downtown before coming back for 'homemade pizza night' We played in the backyard and Grandma and Grandpa Lee came over to see everyone and play with Megan before bed.

Tomorrow, Katie is doing the Weekend to End Breast Cancer - so she'll be walking 60kms in the next two days. The rest of us have a trip to the Zoo planned and maybe cool off at the lake, as it's gonna be hot finally! We hope to catch Katie at her lunch break and cheer her on!

Catch up soon.

See Horse Jump . . .

This weekend we took in "The National" at Spruce Meadows - we only planned on going one day, but Megan liked it so much, we went both days. Beside watching the amazing horses and their riders compete for $100,000's of prizes, they make the entire day 'kid friendly.'

They have carriage rides, pony rides, live Dixie bands (which Megan absolutely loved!), an "International Food Fair" (OK, mommy and daddy liked that part) and lots of places to sit and watch people....another of Megan's favorite activities!

The rides were free and took you around the area. The band played all kinds of tunes. Megan's favorite was the drum solos - that'a girl!


And of course there was the horse jumping. Being that we had a buggy with a kid in it - they reserve front row seats in the bleachers for parents. And as you can tell from the photos...that meant we were up close for all the action! Our little girl just stared in amazement - with the occasional "oh..wow..oh!"

For any of you that know the movie, "Willy Wonka and The Chocolate Factory" - don't you think these kids look like the Umpa Loopas? Anyway - we did and took a photo! As we walked through the ticket gate (free because of their 35th Anniversary) we were given these cool foam horses. We also got one for cousin Sierra and she loves hers too!

Speaking of cousin Sierra - we had a huge gathering tonight at the Acreage in Priddis with Katie's Aunt Eve. The cousins loved showing off their new skills (Sierra is now walking all by herself!) and Megan was doing everything she could to keep up - pushing her stroller. Megan used the occasion to wear one of her summer dresses - thank you, Grandma!

And after getting dirty and running around all weekend, we ended the night with our bedtime routine....which now includes a quick toothbrush routine. Fortunately she loves the feel of the brush on her teeth and gums and "opens wide" when she sees it coming!

You are up-to-date. Hope you had a great weekend too - be sure to let us know what you've been doing this weekend.

Crawl...I don't think so!

Megan has a new toy! It has sped up her ability to get around and probably made sure she will never crawl. She LOVES the musical walker - complete with horn...beep beep...get out of my way! hahaha! She very much enjoys scooting around the house - finding a place to "dock" playing in that area for a little and then getting back on the move. She is so much fun to watch!

Let's go Streaking! She was playing in her pool and then decided she wanted to go for a walk. Unfortunately she flashed the neighbourhood in the process! We promise we will be more responsible, Officer!

Megan - 9 months, 18 pounds and 28 inches tall. Too many 'rolls' to count!

More Megan...With Teeth This Time!

We've been busy with a bunch of activities and family events! But here's some updates of our little girl from the past few days and week - hope you enjoy them!

"I have two teeth on the bottom...two more poking through up top!"

"I love to pick-up my own food...don't even think of trying to feed me anymore!"

"Daddy has been away lots...so when he got home, I was excited and played myself out...and fell asleep in his arms at bedtime."

"Look at me...but don't try and stop me from grabbing the blinds, Mom!"

"I want to see the camera, please!"

"Just plain cute!"

Grandpa

Grandpa Horrill passed away last week. Scott was in Vancouver this weekend for the funeral. Grandpa had been battling cancer for a few years and will be deeply missed. All the grand kids got up and shared a few memories during the funeral - it's what he wanted and it made Grandma happy too.

Katie and Megan went to see Grandpa in May and had a nice visit with him - shortly after he was hospitalized, so it was nice to see him in his place with his banjo.

Scott had a chance to catch-up with both brothers this weekend too - a quick visit, but good to see everyone!