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.