The Ultimate Adventure....Back to Work

Again, I haven't posted in ages.  There is a really good reason this time, though.  As of the beginning of August, Isla is in daycare and I'm back at work.

The transition into daycare went wonderfully. We chose to go with a daycare downtown, close to our work.  Dave took Isla for 3 days the first week (while I ran around like a mad woman getting things ready for her first birthday party) and she did fantastic.  She's a pretty easy going kid so she was happy to go off without fuss and play with the new toys.  I was suprisingly okay with the transition as well.  I told myself that she would have lots of structured activities (I'm terrible at thinking up new games to play) and new friends so this was a good thing for her and myself.

Going back to work wasn't even that bad either.  I won't lie, the first few evenings were really busy and I was very frustrated that it felt like all we did was get home, eat supper, and have a bath before Isla had to go to bed.  When I was lamenting to a friend about my lack of quality time with Isla, she suggested taking at least 15 minutes out of every evening to do something that didn't involve a task so that, no matter how busy things were, at least we had 15 minutes of quality time together each night.  That suggestion has helped me a lot and now we make sure to spend those 15 minutes playing with a new toy, practicing walking, reading books, snuggling, and it makes my time with Isla feel a little less rushed.  Work has been a nice challenge and I'm enjoying being back.  The adult coffee runs are something I missed over the last year.

Our main challenge the last few weeks has been with illness.  A week after her first daycare visit, Isla managed to catch a cold.  Dave then caught the same cold a few days later.  The first cold then led into a second cold for both of them (I have managed to stay healthy) and the second cold led to pink eye and an ear infection for Isla.  We think Isla had a reaction to the antibiotics for the ear infection (which meant spending an evening at the Children's Hospital) but fortunately she seemed to recover and hasn't had another reaction since.  Just when Isla finally seemed to be doing better and we thought we might be entering a healthy phase, Dave then developed bacterial laryingitis putting him on antibiotics and a nasty cough.  Isla also has a runny nose again so I'm hoping it isn't a sign of another cold. Sigh. I'm so done with illness.  I was ready for the odd cold here and there but this has been a seriously rough go at things. 

So, I think that this has been a successful adventure overall.  I'm happy to be back and happy that Isla is doing well in daycare.  Now we just have to work at getting everyone healthy and things will be right on track.

Location: Kids and Co. Daycare, Eau Claire
Cost: Waaay too much money, but that's what you pay when you have a kid in a good daycare downtown.
Gear: Diapers, wipes, hat, sunscreen, 2 changes of clothes, sippy cup, and a lovey to nap with.

Stampede....take two

I have a friend who had a baby a week after I did who I meet up with once a week.  Its been the perfect arrangement since we pushed ourselves to get out with newborns, worked through teething and sleep issues together, tried out new places with the kids, etc.  This week, we definitely pushed ourselves and decided to make our weekly outing a trip to the Stampede.

The day started beautifully with lots of sun.  We met early in the morning and even got some awesome reasonably priced parking close to the entrance.  Unfortunately, the reason why we got such amazing parking was that we got there at 9:30 and then found out as we got in line that the grounds don't open until 11:00 on days that aren't Family Day.  Whoops!  Anyway, after standing in line in the sun for a bit, we finally made it into the grounds and started the day.

We did a ton of things and my feet were aching by the end of the day.  We saw all the livestock and went to the animal discovery centre where the kids loved the baby chicks.  Afterwards we ate lunch and other tasty treats and the kids got their picture taken in Stampede gear for free.  Near the lunch area there was a kids play area with face painting, games, a clown show, and bouncy castles which was all free.  The kids were a bit young for those things but it was nice to see that there were things to do for small kids for future trips.  Since we were about an hour ahead of the crowd due to our early start, the place was nearly empty so we tried putting the kids in the bouncy castle.  They didn't bounce at all and just held on tight and looked around but I think from the huge smiles on their faces that they had a good time.

We didn't try any of the shows this year even though I'm a die hard Superdogs fan.  We would have had to leave the strollers in a parking area that didn't look all that secure and the crowds were insane to get in.  We weren't sure that the kids would sit through a show that long anyway so decided to save it for another time.

The only real hassles from the day were the heat, the crowds (it's been raining all week and this is the first nice day so people were out in full force), and the lack of changing areas for the babies.  I ended up changing Isla in the stroller because of the lines for the bathrooms.  We did end up finding some more change areas in the art display area later on in the day but by then we didn't need them.  In the end, we were tired and hot but the day was a success and I'm sure we'll be going back again next year.

Location: Calgary Stampede Grounds
Cost:  $14 admission (you can save $3 with 4 Dentyne Ice packages, which we did), kids under 7 are free
Gear for Isla: Stroller (we have our Bumbleride Indie which was awesome), Carrier (we have a BabyHawk) for naps, Hat, Sunscreen, Water in a sippy cup, stuff for lunch, a bottle of water for me, lots of Cheerios, a blanket to put over the stroller to block the sun a bit, and a camera to capture those first moments.

Pancakes and horses.....it must be Stampede

Every year in July, Calgary is overwhelmed with cowboys and cowgirls (some a little less authentic than others) for 10 days of rodeo, exibitions, rides, fireworks, and pancake breakfasts.  Most years I try to get out to at least some of the festivities even though I'm not a huge fan of crowds.  The breakfasts are the best place to go since you get free pancakes and sausage.

This year my in-laws were volunteering at a big breakfast in their neighborhood and they invited us to come down and check it out.  There were bands, pony rides for the kids, a lassoo station, a petting zoo, and (of course) the prerequisite pancakes and sausage.  Isla enjoyed her first taste of pancakes, which she loved and we all had a really fun morning.  She was a little young for all the kids activities but liked to look at the horses.  Maybe next year she'll be on there riding.

Location: Signal Hill pancake breakfast
Cost: Free other than a donation of your choice to the Calgary Food Bank
Gear for Isla: We didn't have any Stampede gear so I settled for a "country" looking dress.  Grandpa provided the Cowboy hat. 

The Cake Adventure....

....also known in our house as "what was I thinking?". 

I'm going to start off by saying that this adventure was a total failure and I will not be repeating it any time soon.

 It all started with the fact that I'm cheap like borscht (actually with the price of farmers market veggies lately, borscht isn't all that cheap anymore but whatever, you get the point).  I'm obsessed with getting deals and clipping coupons, to the point where I will lament for hours if I find something at a cheaper price than I bought it or I forgot to use my coupon.  I think it would drive any spouse up the bend but fortunately Dave is as cheap as I am so we both live happily in our frugal empire.

Since I'm so cheap (and partly due to sentimental reasons), I decided that I wanted to make Isla's birthday cake this year for her first birthday.  I figured I've watched enough cake shows on the Food Network that I could easily do something simple myself. We're planning on having a low key BBQ for our family and some close friends so I figured that even if I was a bit of an amateur in the cake decorating business (I'm a good baker but I never bother to decorate), they would be fairly forgiving of any small flaws.  The theme of the party is garden party so I looked on-line and found a lovely picture of a rectangle cake with flowers on it made out of candies.  It sounded perfect for me since I'm a total newbie to any kind of icing (we just don't eat icing in our house) and the less icing the better.

Dave, in his ultimate wisdom, convinced me to try baking and decorating a cake in advance to make sure that we wouldn't have any last minute disasters; so this past Friday, while Isla was asleep for her afternoon nap, I pulled out my new rectangle cake pan and set to work. 

I think we will be buying a cake for Isla's birthday.  :o)  The cake part turned out fine and both the icing and the cake taste delicious but that's all I can really say that's postive about my efforts.  Apparently icing a cake is much harder than I thought and my efforts look pathetic.  I then decided to get creative with my never used icing applicator (that I've had for at least 5 years) and do some decorating.  Despite my initial faith in my artistic abilities (my dad is a wonderful artist and I figured there had to be some genetic material passed on to me), I can't even write in a straight line. 

Fortunately for us, I made this attempt several weeks before the actual date of the party so I have plenty of time to order something from the professionals.  Dave and I also have a lovely huge cake to enjoy this weekend along with our farmer's market goodies so I'm not complaining about that either. Now, without any further introduction, here is a photo of my lovely effort:

Location: My kitchen
Cost: $5 for a new rectangular cake pan, $2 for food colouring, about $10 for all the ingredients for the cake and icing.
Gear for Isla: Forunately she was sleeping for this effort so she was spared my colourful language as I decorated the cake and I didn't need any gear for her.

Canada Day

Two years ago, Dave and I went on a tour of Eastern Canada.  We started in Quebec City for their 200 year celebration, then went to Montreal for the Jazz Festival, after that we took the train to Ottawa for Canada Day.  Later we flew to Halifax where we spent several days touring Nova Scotia and PEI by car.  It was an amazing trip.

Out of all the fun things we did, though, both Dave and I agreed that Ottawa was our favourite city. I had been there for Canada Day once before but Dave was a newbie to the city and we had a great time discovering (and rediscovering for me) all the city had to offer.  The Canada Day celebration was the icing on the cake.  We saw concerts, did tours of places, ate tons of delicious food, marveled at the hundreds of thousands of people that were out in the streets, and then finally capped off the day with a fantastic fireworks show. 

This year was a little less exotic but not any less fun.  We met up with friends that have a son the same age as Isla and headed to Prince's Island Park downtown.  There were a bunch of concerts, several kids activities (which our babies were a little young for but they should be able to do in future years), lots of multicultural demonstrations, and some tasty food.  We didn't go too crazy with trying to do everything but instead just enjoyed some time with the kids on the grass by one of the stages.  Afterward we walked around a bit and then played in the splash park in Eau Claire.  There were no fireworks for us this year since we figured that it would be too much for Isla.  Since I'm a huge fan of fireworks, I'm looking forward to the days when she thinks they're great too.

Location: Prince's Island Park, Calgary
Cost: The events were all free.
Gear for Isla: I didn't have a Canada t-shirt for Isla so we settled on her Montreal Canadiens shirt instead.  We also had a hat, sunscreen, stroller, lots of cheerios, and a camera.  The free paper Canada flags were also a huge hit as a chew toy.

Father's Day

Dave and I are pretty low key with most "holidays".  We go all out for Christmas and birthdays but for the rest of the occasions we keep it to a card, sometimes a small gift like a book, and doing something special to mark the occasion.  I appreciate that approach simply because I'm not spending the majority of my time thinking up gifts to buy for my family and it allows us to enjoy the day without all the pressure of making it this enormous occasion.

Father's Day wasn't any different in our house.  Dave got to sleep in while I took care of Isla.  After he got up, we enjoyed an awesome breakfast of bacon,  hashbrowns and cinnamon toast (Dave isn't a fan of eggs so they were conveniently left out for him :o)).  After breakfast, we went to our local Farmer's Market and picked up a turtle pie for dessert later that night and then went over to Bowness Park for a walk with the baby and the dog.

Bowness was insane and I really wouldn't recommend it if you have any plans more firm than "I hope we find a spot to park and, if we do, then lets go for a walk".  Fortunately for us, we were at the right place at the right time and managed to parking lot stalk someone to their spot so we did get our walk in.  The weather was perfect and we even went along a quiet little path that few people know about so it was super peaceful in that area. 

Overall it was the perfect way to spend the day with family and just enjoy each other.

Location: Bearspaw Farmer's Market and Bowness Park
Cost: $7 for the pie at the market
Gear for Isla: Sunscreen and a hat since it was a warm day.  We also had our Bumbleride Indie all terrain stroller with us which allowed us to go off the beaten path a bit.

Animal Crackers

I don’t think my maternity leave would be complete without taking Isla to the zoo. I’m sure at this point in the game, a trip to the zoo is more exciting for me than for the baby but it’s still something fun to do to get out of the house and meet up with other friends.


There are lots of inside displays as well as outside so the zoo is a year round activity now. The fees for entrance plus the cost of parking can get up there for each visit but with a year pass, it can be quite reasonable and it gives you a good excuse to go every week.

The cafeteria is nice and big and they have microwaves and change areas easily accessible so it’s easy to feed the baby. They also serve Starbucks coffee so I get to enjoy a latte while Isla has her lunch. As you walk around, there are tons of little learning sessions where a zoo expert talks about a specific animal. I’ve learned a ton of quirky things that I didn’t know before like the fact that Hippos can’t swim so they walk on the bottom of the river or lake.
Location: Calgary Zoo
Cost: It’s about $20 for an individual admission plus the $5 charge for parking. A year pass is $65.
Gear for Isla: Stroller, hat, sunscreen, and sunglasses (we have BabyBanz). I bring Isla’s food along with me so I don’t have to worry about buying something for her.

My first night alone with the baby....in the dark.

So last night was my first night alone with the baby since we've had her.  Dave had to go to Edmonton for the night for a work commitment and so I was left to fend for myself for the night. 

I wasn't really worried about it going in.  I take care of Isla all day while Dave is at work and we've both put the baby to bed on our own before while the other person was out for the evening so this wasn't really anything new to be on my own for the bedtime routine.  As mentioned in my previous post, I also had a crusty day but I was looking forward to getting Isla to bed and then relaxing with a book before going to sleep.

Well, it looks like my run of bad luck wasn't quite done for the day.  About 5 minutes after I put Isla down for the night the power went out.  I wasn't really that concerned since the phones still worked so I just figured I would change my plan and talk to Dave for a bit on the phone before heading to bed.  About 10 minutes after the power went, the phone lines went down as well, though.  I felt like I was in an episode of Criminal Minds or something.  Unfortunately for me, my cell battery was half dead and I get almost no reception in our house anyway so that ended my plan to talk on the phone.

In the end, the power was out almost 3 hours and so I started into the darkness for a while and then lit a couple of candles to read my book.  Of course, when the power did finally come back on around 11:00 all the lights that I forgot were on earlier came blazing back on and scared the dickens out of me. 

So my first night alone with the baby was a bit more of an adventure than I planned for.  Let's hope the next time goes more smoothly.

Location: My house
Cost: My Criminal Minds experience was absolutely free courtesy of the rain storm
Gear for Isla:  Well Isla was peacefully sleeping but I needed my cell phone, a flashlight, and some lit candles.  When the power first went out, I also appreciated that we still had one of those old school phones that don't need electricity to run so I could have my 10 minute chat with Dave.

One of those days...

Today was one of those days where I had the best intentions to have an awesome day and every single move I made something went wrong.  Sigh, I guess sometimes stepping out of the toy box isn't always a success.

Dave is in Edmonton for the night with work obligations tonight so I decided that I was going to use his downtown parking spot to make a trip to see some co-workers and friends for a coffee.  The morning was going well and all was good until I got an email from a co-worker of mine who had loaned me her mat clothes during my pregnancy.  At the time that she loaned me the clothes, I knew she was done having children and so I passed on the things I couldn't use to other pregnant friends.  Now my co-workers sister in law is pregnant so she wants the clothes back to loan out to her.  Normally not an issue except that out of the two garbage bags of clothes she gave me, I have maybe 10 items that I can find and everything else is long gone.  Anyway, what's done is done and the clothes are gone so I had to make the enbarassing phone call to explain what happened and apologize.  Gah, I hate when I miss the ball on things like that.

So, anyway, now my normally relaxed morning was sent into a tizzy looking for the few clothes that I had left (which I of course couldn't have possibly put in the same location or anything) and I ended up running behind schedule for getting to my work "meeting".  I did manage to get myself showered but totally forgot to put the towels beside the shower which forced me to leave a wet trail to be cleaned up later.  I also then ran out of the house without my cell phone or any bibs (which spells disaster for both myself and Isla, who is still the spit up queen and is also teething so the drool is on high gear).  Once I got to work, I then saw that someone had parked illegally in Dave's spot forcing me to park somewhere else further away and get into a huge discussion with building security about whether I was allowed to do that or not.  Did I mention it was also pouring rain so I'm now totally soaked and wondering why I took the time to shower in the first place since I'm clearly getting a second one?

In the end, though, we made it in to work (is this practice for what it will be like in 6 weeks when I'm back at work for good?) and Isla was on her best behaviour (thank goodness!) so I had a lovely visit with several co-workers and an enjoyable coffee with my friend.  I am also proud to say that as every issue came up, I handled it well and didn't freak out so I think I'm becoming more Mom-like every day in my coping skills. :o)

I think tonight I'll take it easy, put Isla to bed, and enjoy snuggling up in a blanket by the fire and watching some chick movie that Dave doesn't want to see.  Any more adventures can wait until tomorrow.

Location: Andrea's work, downtown Calgary
Cost: Nothing
Gear for Isla: Tons of Cheerios and Mum-Mums to keep her occupied, a stroller, and my rain cover for the stroller.

Farmers Market Fun and Becoming a Gourmet Chef

Calgary has several Farmers Markets and they all offer something different. Some of them run all year round and have little restaurants to enjoy a small meal. Some are impromptu side-of-the-highway sales that come only with the warmer weather. They’re all fun in their own way and this is one of our favourite activities as a family on weekends.


It all started with the Food Network. As a new mom spending hours on the couch feeding the baby, I got into watching Chef at Home with Michael Smith every morning. One thing led to another and soon recipes were printed off and, once I had a bit more time on my hands, new and wonderful meals were prepared. I found that Chef at Home was really good for using local ingredients that I could find in my local supermarket but, once I got a little more adventurous and tried out the works of some other chefs, the ingredients were often harder to find.

That then led to exploring the Farmers Markets. Every trip I find something new to try; spices, fruits, vegetables, bread, gelato, chai lattes, pies, meats, wines, and fun things for the baby. I find that I enjoy the markets on the side of the road more than the permanent ones. The prices are a bit better for the produce and there are less people. It is nice to be able to go to a farmers market year round, though, so the permanent markets are definitely nice in the winter.

Location: My favourite markets are the Calgary Farmer’s Market at Currie Barracks and the roadside market in Bearspaw.  I also really enjoy the Millarville Christmas Market. I haven't been there yet, but I'm interested in seeing the markets at Northland Mall and Sunnyside/Hillhurst to see if they have anything interesting.
Cost: Whatever you choose to spend on the goods. The Bearspaw market is fantastic for providing samples of things to try out.
Gear for Isla: Stroller and hat if we’re outside. Sometimes we use our carrier for the market at Currie Barracks because it tends to get busy.  If you decide to head to the Millarville Market, I would recommend a carrier there as well since the terrain is hard to push a stroller around.

Guess what I won?

My good friend Rieanne over at Lucy's Soup Can ( a food blog about finding shortcuts in cooking while still having things taste good), has given me a Versatile Blogger award.

The guidelines for accepting this award require the recipient to (1) thank the person who gave it to you; (2) tell 7 things about yourself; and (3) pass the award on to bloggers who you have recently discovered and think are fantastic.

Thank-you to Rieanne for giving my blog a shout out and getting me a little more exposure in the blog world.
Now. 7 things about myself.
1. I'm a chemical engineer by profession and my least favourite subject in school was chemistry.  I chose chemical engineering because I wanted to push myself and have a challenge.  In the end, I'm really good at what I do so I guess it worked out.
2. Even though I work as an engineer I definitely don't fit into the typical engineer mold.  My best subjects in university were languages and literature and I'm very into the arts.  I feel that those traits are actually the things that make me most successful in my career.

3. I used to be a professional singer (mostly opera and classical music) and still like to dabble in musical theatre on the side when I can find the time.
4. Despite over a decade of practicing yoga, I still look like I just started a week ago.  That's okay, though, I've learned to love my limitations.
5. I have a shellfish allergy that I didn't discover until I was in my early 20's because I lived in Saskatchewan (where we didn't have a lot of fresh seafood) and I was a picky eater. 
6. I have Lupus, which is a little known about autoimmune disease where your body attacks certain organs thinking that they're a disease.  For some people it can be quite severe but mine is well controlled with medication. I just found out that my favourite singer Rob Thomas wrote his latest single, Her Diamonds, about his wife's Lupus.  I love him all the more now.
7. My favourite food is perogies.  As a child I decided I was going to marry a giant perogy and take a bit out of it every day.  Fortunately my real husband can make killer perogies so I guess I'll keep him.

So here is a list of blogs that I follow regularily:
1. Lucy's Soup Can

2. The Domestic Project

3. Smitten Kitchen

4. Definitely Not Martha

5. The Pioneer Woman

6. Lucky By Design

7. Mon Petit Amour

8. Food and Whine

9. The Lovely Paper Blog

10. Santa's Gift Shoppe

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream

Since the weather is finally starting to look more like summer I figure it's time for a post about ice cream.  Actually, who are we kidding here?  I'm always thinking about ice cream.

A trip to Regina wouldn’t be complete without a visit to the Milky Way ice cream stand. They have the best ice cream in town and they’re only open during the summer months so you have to catch them while they’re open. Dave, Isla, my parents and I all headed over there on a Saturday afternoon to enjoy a little treat before heading to the pavilions at Mosaic. Isla tried her first taste of ice cream (she already has the perfect licking technique down pat) and loved it, of course.


After we finished our cones, we headed to Wascana Park (the largest inner city park in North America) for a walk around the lake. It was the perfect way to work off the ice cream and get a glimpse of this beautiful park. All the geese had their babies out on the shores so that made the trip extra cute.

Location: Milky Way and Wascana Park, Regina
Cost: About $3 for a medium soft ice cream cone
Gear for Isla: Umbrella stroller and a hat for the walk, napkins for the ice cream :o)

Around the World in 3 Days

I love Mosaic. In Regina, Mosaic is a 3 day festival where all the cultural groups in the city make up pavilions at various different locations to showcase their food, drink, entertainment, and culture. You get a “passport” with all the different pavilions listed and then you drive (or take the free bus) to each location and party it up.
This year was Isla’s first time at Mosaic and it went really well. I was worried that the music would be a little loud for her (and we did have a few tears) but overall she was very happy. We ended up getting to about 10 different pavilions over the 3 days which is a success even without having a baby to tow along. My favourite pavilions are the Austrian for the overall experience, the Scottish for the entertainment (Isla was a fantastic table drummer while the pipe bands were playing), and the Poltava Ukrainian for the dancing. We also went to the Laos pavilion this year which was a first for me and thoroughly enjoyed the food.

If you’re ever in Regina, I would definitely recommend checking out this family friendly festival. Every year just gets better.
Location: Various locations throughout Regina
Cost: $12 for an adult passport which gets you into all of the locations (kids under 5 are free). The food and drinks range from $1 to $10 at each location.
Gear for Isla: Umbrella stroller, carrier for the more crowded pavilions, Cheerios to keep her entertained.

Green thumb

My mother volunteers her time at the Regina Floral Conservatory since she loves plants and flowers. Her yard at my childhood home is fabulous with a million different plants, trees, bushes. I, on the other hand, have a brown thumb. Pretty much everything I plant looks crappy or dies within the month. This is the main reason why Dave and I have decided to get a landscaper in to fix up our yard. We’ve done a lot of work on it ourselves over the last few years but we’ve reached the limit of our abilities and it still looks like an amateur came in and planted some Charlie Brown trees so it’s time to bring in the professionals.

The week before we went to Regina, we met with various landscapers. It was interesting to see the different ideas that they presented. In the end, we picked the guy that we related to the best and who seemed to have the best knowledge about what will work in our yard. After we made our decision, we went out for a drive to take some photos of yards and plant life that we liked so that he could incorporate those ideas into his design.
The work will be done sometime in July here so we have to deal with our current landscaping for a few more weeks yet. I’m looking forward to seeing what can be done with it, though. Looking at some of the more mature areas in Calgary, it was fantastic to see the beautiful trees and yards. I’m hoping that one day my yard will look like that as well. In the meantime, to satisfy my need to see beautiful plants, Isla and I made a little trip over to the Regina Floral Conservatory to see my mom’s work. The plants were gorgeous.
Location: My yard and the Regina Floral Conservatory
Cost: You don’t want to know what we have to pay a landscaper to do the yard. :o)
Gear for Isla: Nothing at all other than a handful of Cheerios to help us get through the meetings with the landscaper uninterrupted.

Bermuda, Bahamas?

Nope, just Regina Beach but still Isla’s first trip to the beach all the same. During our week long vacation in Saskatchewan, we decided that a day trip to the beach for fish and chips at Butler’s and a walk in the sand was the perfect thing. In the end, the day was beautiful and sunny, the food was good, and we got some lovely photos of Isla’s first foot in the lake (it was a little chilly to do any swimming).
Since we didn’t really do much other than eat and go for a walk, I can’t really recommend what to bring for a true day at the beach. I can say that this was the point in the trip where there weren’t any change areas available and we really appreciated having our car change station set up. I would assume that most beach communities are similar in their lack of change facilities.
Location: Regina Beach, Saskatchewan
Cost: Lunch at Butler’s Fish and Chips and gas for the drive.
Gear for Isla: Sunhat, sunscreen (I use Ombrelle 60 for kids), a towel for those wet feet, stuff for a makeshift change station and a carrier (we have a BabyHawk carrier that we used).

An 8 hour trip in…..8 hours!

This past week we tried our first big road trip with the baby (and the dog of course) and drove to see my parents in Saskatchewan for the week. We’ve done smaller road trips to Edmonton and out to the mountains and they went fairly well (except for the point when Dave accidentally sneezed and woke up the baby, at which point we had to stop on the side of the road in a snowstorm to feed the baby which was promptly followed by a massive poop explosion) but this was going to be the first time we would be spending the whole day driving.


Based on stories from my other travelling mom friends, I was expecting the trip to be long and exhausting. In the end, it was fabulous. We stopped at our usual places along the route and just added in a feed and diaper change to our normal pit stop. In between breaks, Isla slept for most of the drive and babbled to her toy when she was awake. We had a small incident on the way out where a rock cracked the window of our brand new vehicle but we managed to get a quick repair in Medicine Hat and we were back on the road with barely any time lost.

Here are a few tips that I feel contributed to our smooth journey:

• Put the baby in old clothes that you don’t care if they get dirty (because they will!) and bring an extra change of clothes in an easily accessible bag. We didn’t have an issue except for when Isla pulled off her socks right at the beginning of the drive and then spit up on them leaving me with nothing to put on her feet. Of course the only thing I didn’t have in my diaper bag was extra socks so we had to unpack half the car to get at a new pair from her suitcase.

• Bring the stuff to make a makeshift diaper change station in your car. We only had to change her in the car once on the entire trip but it was worth it to have all our gear easily accessible. The baby change areas on the road aren’t great either so there were a few times where I regretted bringing her in with me and just wished that I had changed her in the car.

• I kept the back seat beside the carseat free just in case I needed to sit in the back with Isla. In the end, we didn’t need to use it but if you have a fussy baby that needs entertaining then this would probably be a good thing.

• If you have a 10 month old Cheerio hound like I do, then keep a huge supply of cheerios on hand to get through the fussy times.

• We had a pile of children’s music on our iPod just in case but in the end we just listened to our own music and that worked out just fine too.

• I’m not a fan of Fast Food but a lot of the places do have high chairs to feed the baby on the go. We also have a chair that screws onto the side of a table so that works fantastic for restaurants as well.

• Bring a carrier or a simple umbrella stroller for the breaks. It makes it easy to do things with the baby along and its simple to set up and go quickly.

Location: Highway #1 from Calgary to Regina
Cost: Gas for the car
Gear for Isla: A car seat (we have the Snugride 32 carseat which is awesome if you have a tall baby), toys, one of those mirrors that allow you to see the baby from the driver’s seat, extra clothes (and socks!), formula and lunch for the baby, gear for a change station in the car (mat, wipes, diapers, plastic bag), carrier (we have a BabyHawk carrier that is great since it fits both myself and Dave), and an umbrella stroller.

An Adventure for the Adults

Okay, this one you can't bring the kids to but I feel like it makes me a better mother so I thought I would write about it anyway.  I'm talking about the spa, and it isn't just any spa....it's the Willow Stream Spa at the Banff Springs Hotel.  Let's just stop for a minute here and dream a little bit......oh right, back to this post.

Several years ago Dave bought me a facial at the Banff Springs Spa as a Christmas gift.  He came along with me for the day and we both had an amazing time.  So amazing that we went back again a few months later and now going to the spa for the day is something that we try to do every six months or so to work out the daily stresses that life throws at us. 

It has to be this spa, though.  There's something about the castle like feel to the hotel (I have a secret dream of being a princess and owning the entire hotel and spending every day at the spa but so far my royal relatives haven't appeared to tell me that I'm a long lost heiress), the majestic feel to the mountains, the eucalyptus room that can instantly fix any cold, the music that is played under the water in the pool so you can swim and listen to it.....really I could go on and on.  Dave tells me that the men's side is pretty nice too with big screen televisions playing sports in their lounge.  There's nothing better than reading a good book beside the pool while drinking lemon cucumber water and staring out at the mountains every few minutes.  Sigh....did I mention that I want to live here?

Anyway, for the stressed out parent, I would totally recommend it as a quick getaway from the city. 

Location: Willow Stream Spa, Banff Springs Hotel, Banff, Alberta
Cost: It all depends on what you want to do there.  Remember that you might be able to get some of it covered through your benefits.
Gear for Isla: For us, all we needed were two fabulous babysitters for the day, aka Grandma and Grandpa.

Petit Poisson

Last fall, I would have said that the activity I am most looking forward to doing with Isla is swimming. Most of the programs require that the baby be at least 6 months old for lessons and the classes fill up quickly so, on the first day of registration in November, I diligently set my alarm and signed the family up for classes in February.

For Christmas, Isla got a few little swimsuits, some swim diapers and a plastic diaper cover (required by most of the pools around here) so we would be ready when the big day came. During bath time, we would encourage Isla to splash and get her face wet and she was loving it. By the time February rolled around, I was all ready to get in the pool and show the world what a great natural swimmer my kid was.

Uhhh, not so much. Actually, I think I could sum the whole experience up as a disaster (complete with a trip to Dairy Queen afterward for a sundae to soothe my nerves). We took our first classes through the City of Calgary and unfortunately, unbeknownst to me, the Parent and Tot class ranged in age from 6 months to 4 years and we were the only people there with a child under the age of 3. The change rooms were a disaster with nowhere to put the baby while I was getting dressed and nowhere to change her (thank goodness I brought Dave with me and could pass her out to him in the lobby to change). The pool we went to was also apparently the coldest pool in the city and within the first 5 minutes of our 30 minute class, Isla was blue and in tears. We pulled her out early and began the whole changing process again (only this time I was turning blue since I had to get her dressed and warm before I could deal with myself).

I cried the entire way to Dairy Queen and decided in the end that there was no way we could do this for another 8 classes. Fortunately, when I called and explained the situation to the City of Calgary people, they were very understanding and let us withdraw from the class without paying the withdrawal fine.

Needless to say I was more than a little gun shy about trying again and it took me several weeks of drilling my friends on what their tips and techniques were to work up the nerve to get back in the pool. I tried again on my own at a Wednesday morning Parent and Tot drop in swim at Cardel Place and it was like night and day to our first experience. The change rooms were lovely with playpens to put the baby and large benches to change her on. The pool was nice and warm and there were a lot of different areas to check out which kept me interested. Isla loved it and so did I.

Since then, we've gone swimming several times at Cardel Place and we've also gone to the Family Swim at the Big Hill Leisure Centre in Cochrane. The Cochrane pool isn't quite as fancy as the Cardel one, but they have nice family change rooms for us to use and quite a big toddler pool to play in. I also like that the Family Swim times are on evenings and weekends so Dave can come along as well.

A few tips and tricks from friends that I've gathered along the way:

• Bring two towels for the baby and one for yourself. Bring one of the baby's towels out to the pool with you so you can wrap them up as soon as they get out of the water and then you still have a dry one left over to get them dry. You can also use the first towel to lay on the bench and make it a bit softer for the baby.
• Bring simple clothes for the baby to change into (i.e. a sleeper or a onesie and sweatpants). Trying to wrangle a damp baby into jeans or a frilly dress is a pain.
• Use the playpens. They're the perfect place to safely put your baby while you get dressed and ready and you don't have to worry about them rolling off a bench or eating something off the disgusting floor.
• Don't forget to bring a fresh diaper to put on the baby after you're done (the swim one gets super waterlogged). I also like to bring a bottle of lotion for myself and Isla so that we don't get itchy from the clorine.
• Don't forget to bring a pair of flip flops to wear to the pool and around the change room. There are some pretty gross things on the floors at pools. Also make sure to shower and soap of your feet as well as your child's.
• I like to bring a cloth carrier into the change room (we have a BabyHawk). I find that it allows me to bring Isla with me when I'm doing things away from a bench or playpen (putting shoes on, going to the washroom, washing hands, etc). Because it folds up small, it's easy to store in the locker.
• I also bring my own lock for the locker since it saves me 50 cents per swim time.

Location: City of Calgary Shouldice Pool; Cardel Place; Cochrane Big Hill Leisure Centre
Cost: The City of Calgary classes were $34 for 8 classes (which we obviously didn't finish). At Cardel Place, the Parent and Tot swim on Wednesday mornings is $5 (the price is significantly more at other times). The Cochrane Pool charges $6 for our family on Friday and Saturday evenins.
Gear for Isla: Bathing suit (which is totally not necessary but I found some cute ones for $3 on the clearance rack at Wal-Mart this winter), Rubber Swim Pants (which I bought for $12) at Bo Bebe in Calgary, and Swim Diapers (I used Huggies Little Swimmers which are about $10 for a package of 10), 2 towels, lotion, and a fresh diaper to change into afterward.

It's Been A While...

...a long while. I know, I know. What can I say? Isla has grown up and with that growing comes a busy little girl. Consequently life has gotten busy and the last thing on my mind between teaching her how to eat Cheerios, throwing the ball for the dog, and trying to get the occasional work out in has been getting on the computer to post on my blog. On top of the usual craziness of a growing baby we've also had a string of illnesses over the last six weeks that have passed from Isla to myself to Dave and even the dog had a little stint. I'm trying to tell myself that it's been training for daycare in a few months but it's frustrating to deal with. Needless to say, our adventure seeking has been on hold for a bit.

That doesn't mean that I don't have a few things to write about that I've been storing up over the last few months and, now that we're all feeling better, I'm sure there will be more to come.

Contributing to Scientific Research

When I'm not spending my time taking care of a squealing, wiggling, bundle of energy, I have a career as a chemical engineer. Dave is similarily employed in the area of environmental science. Needless to say, we are a family that is very into science. So, a few months ago, when I was asked to sign Isla up to participate in some baby language studies at the University of Calgary, I immediately jumped at the chance.

Earlier this month, I got a call saying that Isla was the right age for a study taking place on Learning Speech Sound Combinations and was I interested in taking her. I, of course, said yes and this Monday (since it was Family Day and Dave didn't have to work), we headed off as a family to the University.

The study was really simple. Isla and I sat in a room in front of a Smartboard monitor and two speakers. Certain images appeared on the Smartboard to draw the baby's attention to the monitor and then sounds were played to see if the baby had a reaction to them. During this time, I got to listen to an excellent Disney song about Huns on earphones so that I wouldn't skew the results. After Isla's part in the study, I participated in a dialect study where I had to read several short books into a microphone.

All in all, it took about 20 minutes to complete the study and in the end we got a certificate recognizing Isla's contribution to research and a little t-shirt that said she was an Infant Speech Scientist. We are supposed to head back in a few months for the next stage of the study as well so that should be something fun to look forward to.


Location: University of Calgary
Cost: Free (they met us in the parking lot with a pass so we didn't even have to pay anything to park) and we got a free t-shirt out of it.
Gear for Isla: Nothing at all

Getting in touch with my Latin roots

Several years ago my husband Dave and I took a local Latin ballroom dancing class through Mount Royal College. Really all we learned was that our Scottish, English, and Austrian heritages have not given us the hips that we needed to make a career out of Latin dancing. Since we learned early on in the 10 week course that we were hopeless, we spent the remainder of our classes bumbling through the moves and adding our own special touches along the way (such as an enthusiastic high-five in the middle of a salsa :o))

At a baby fair last fall, I came across a booth that was advertising Salsa Baby classes. I was at a point where I wanted to get back into shape, but it needed to be something fun to keep me motivated. I decided a new, cuter (sorry Dave) partner might be just the trick for mastering a few of those Latin moves that failed me so many years ago and so I signed myself up for a course.

I'm not sure if I'm much better than I was previously (my hips are still more Celtic dancer than sexy mamacita) but I'm onto my third class already in as many months so I would definitely categorize this endeavour as a success. The other moms in the class are fabulous and we have a ton of fun trying to work out the moves. The dancing is easy to follow (for those of you who are thinking about trying it out and have no dance experience), Isla thinks being in the carrier is a blast, and my waistline has definitely seen some positive effects. I would definitely recommend it to other moms out there.

The only thing that you do need for the class is a carrier. Anything will do and we started off with a Baby Hawk carrier in our first class. I liked it when Isla was younger but the carrier doesn't allow the baby to face forward and I've noticed as she gets older, that is definitely what she would prefer. I've seen a few of the wrap style carriers in class and decided that's what I wanted as well but I wasn't impressed with the $100-200 price tags (especially since I already had a perfectly good carrier). Instead I went out and bought 6 yards of jersey fabric for $12 and sewed myself a wrap (I even had enough fabric for a sling carrier as well). I used 4 yards of fabric for the wrap, folded it in half lengthwise and then sewed the edges. You could easily get away with just cutting the fabric in half lengthwise but I wanted something a little thicker since Isla is a heavy baby. I used the Moby Wrap instructions to learn how to tie it.

Class: Salsa Babies www.babybusy.ca/
Location: VRRI, Calgary
Cost: The class varies in price depending on how long of a session you are taking but there are also promos that are offered for referring other moms or if you are a repeat customer. The instructor also offers discounts and deals for various baby oriented stores and organizations in Calgary while you are taking a class.
Gear that we used for Isla: Baby Hawk Carrier ($85), Homemade wrap ($12)

We start with a trip to the park...next the Olympics!

Okay, well maybe we didn't make it to the Olympics but we did have our own Olympic experience today.

The Olympic Torch is coming through Calgary and surrounding communities this week and, since I have never seen the torch, I thought it would be fun for us to go as a family. Unfortunately, I got my dates mixed up and so I ended up missing Calgary's evening show at Olympic Plaza. There were a few other events in town today and tomorrow but, since they're during the day, I would have had to take the baby alone to go see it (which I was willing to do but not particularily excited about since both events took place at 8:30 am).

As luck would have it, I was driving home from a class this afternoon and I heard on the radio that the nearby community of Airdrie was hosting the flame this evening. They had a little relay route around town and then some festivities at a local park. I called Dave at work and told him to try and get home as early as possible and we quickly fed ourselves and Isla and headed out the door.

We originally intended to go to the park to see all the festivities but we were cutting it close on time so we decided to just pick a spot on the relay route instead to see everything. I had a small , fairly unhelpful map that I found on the internet to guide us to the route location. Since my map didn't have any street names on it, I took a guess as to which intersection we should take to get off the highway. Well, it was a very lucky guess since we ended up in a traffic jam just in time to see the torch bearer run by.

It wasn't how I imagined it would be with us cheering the runner on from our comfy spot on the side of the road. It ended up being pretty perfect, though. Isla was nice and cosy in the back seat (although she did cry a little bit afterward from all the honking of car horns) and we had a fairly unobstructed view between the cars at the relay route so we managed to get a few pictures and a small video. Within a few minutes the traffic was moving again and we were on our way back home talking and laughing about how typically "us" our first Olympic experience as a family was.

Clearly this is a once in a lifetime event so I can't really recommend this as an activity for families to do but I guess it shows that it's worth it to pack everyone up in the car in order to gather a few priceless memories.

Location: Airdrie, just off of Highway #2
Cost: Free
Gear that we used for Isla: Graco Snugride 32 Carseat, our Pentax digital camera, and the video on my iPhone

Baby, it’s Cold Outside

So here we are, in the middle of January. Living in Calgary, we tend to get stretches of really cold weather and then warm Chinooks that come in to warm things up for a few days before plunging us back into the cold again. This week we’re fortunate to have one of those Chinooks come through and we’re experiencing lovely above zero weather. Since Dave and I were feeling a little pent up from being inside last week due to the cold temperatures, we decided that this weekend was the perfect time to get ourselves out to our favourite park for a nice walk. It also helps that Santa has brought Isla a new sled for Christmas this year and we’ve all been itching to try it out. So off we went to Bowness Park with Isla all bundled up in her snowsuit and our dog, Hudson, shaking with joy that she was allowed to come for the short car ride.

Bowness Park is actually the perfect location to start our project. It’s very family friendly with a wonderful ice skating rink set up on the lagoon (skates are available for rent if you don’t have any), a small café that sells the most delicious Mexican hot chocolate, and permanent bathroom facilities (which I’ve learned are a must with children along). Dave and I had our first date in this park several years ago and we love it for its combination of fun things to do and natural beauty. We often kayak on the lagoon and go for walks along the Bow River.

Our little trip on Saturday ended up being so enjoyable that we went back again on Sunday. The new sled for Isla was perfect for sliding her around on the paths and she even managed to have a little nap in there on Sunday so the ride must have been comfortable. We picked up some hot chocolate for the walk and off we went down the path along the creek (now a skating rink) through the large pines until we reached the Stoney Trail Bridge and then back again. Hudson met up with several other furry friends (note that this is an on-leash park so any pet owners do need to have a leash for their pet) and sniffed every nook and cranny along the way (some of them twice). Really it was a great way to get out and enjoy a local venue and work off a few of those post holiday (and post baby) pounds.

Location: Bowness Park
Cost: Free
Gear that we used for Isla: Snowsuit ($30 from Superstore), Toque ($5 from Superstore), Baby Sled (Santa brought us this one but you can also buy it for $8-12 from Wal-Mart or Zellers).

Stepping out of the Toy Box

Does the adventure end when you have children? Many people say that having a baby is an adventure in itself, but as the fog from our first 3 months of parenthood lifts, I find myself missing some of the old challenges in my life. I wonder whether life with children is so different or if that’s just something we tell ourselves so that we don’t have to make the effort to push our limits.

I have a daughter who was born in August named Isla. I know about being tired, busy, stressed….everything that is associated with being a new parent. My husband, Dave, asked me last November what I wanted for a Christmas gift and the only thing I could think of was a spa day so I think it’s pretty clear that the last thing that I want to do is add more craziness to our already crazy life. That said, we’ve decided as a family (well Isla’s opinion doesn’t quite count yet) to step out of the box and try some new (and old) adventures as parents. I’m sure we’ll have some failures along the way but I also think this little project will have some great successes as well.

Welcome to the Stepping Out of the Toy Box Project.