Organized Chaos

So we officially finished our summer vacation today. School starts tomorrow as well as the craziness that comes with it. We were able to have one last getaway to Whitefish which I was very excited for. We literally had to wait till the last week of holidays before we took our big trip. We did spend our summer keeping busy and the tans that my kids have speak for themselves. But onto the trip.

We ended up staying for 6 days so that my hubby could fit in a CE course in Atlanta, before starting back to work. Our first day we spent doing the boring stuff as Pat would say, but I like the shopping. I did offer to go by myself, but that didn't fly either. So we got as much of it taken care of so we could start enjoying the fun. Our first day of fun included a trek up to the top of Big Mountain Ski resort. We were staying in a condo on the way up to the mountain so it wasn't too far to go. I am really amazed at all they had to offer for summer. I am used to ski hills being a destination in the winter not the summer. We started off at the Alpine slide, which I of course opted out of. I figured that going into labor wasn't the best plan, so Pat took turns taking each of the kids down the run.









Even Emmy had to have her turn. She is the biggest daredevil I have ever seen. Absolutely no fear at all. Next was a ride up the Gondola's to the summit to check out the view.










The kids of course thought that this was pretty boring. I guess they aren't quite big enough to enjoy the beauty of the mountains. Pat was drooling over the downhill mountain bikers. He would have jumped aboard in a second if he had a bike. Maybe next year hunny! They also have a zip line and a walk in the tree tops which sounded like fun, but we will have to wait till the kids get a little bit bigger. We BBQ'd some steak and lobster that night which was delicious!! But the condo smelled like seafood for a couple of days after. Completely worth it in my opinion! And we hit the new swimming pool. Super fun and all of the kids loved it. Hadley turned 7 on the trip. I still cannot believe that my little baby is 7. We spent her birthday doing a ton of fun stuff. First off was a visit to the Black Bear Adventure. A little pricey but it was kind of neat. There were 4 bears and they were pretty close to the vehicle, one even followed us up the road.



After a quick lunch we headed back for some more fun. Again Pat had to take turns with the kids riding go karts and bumper boats.



Her dad steered her under the jet of water, and she got soaked. What a nice present!!




Except for the mini golf Emmy and I had to sit out for most of the activities.



But the older 2 had a blast. We finished the day with a little more shopping and then headed back to the condo for cake and presents. Well cupcakes! I went with the easiest thing considering I was not at home and not really wanting to make a huge mess. But Hadley was happy with what she had and did get some fun things.



It was a long day and the kids crashed in bed around 10pm. So much for trying to keep to a schedule to get back to school. We also had a friendly squirrel that visited the deck nightly, we had quite the time leaving out some nuts and then watching him scurry back and forth collecting all of the goodies. He was pretty brave too. Getting within a couple of feet from the kids.


The next day we spent at City Beach. Pat had rented a Jet Ski for the day and took turns taking all of the kids out for a spin around the lake.





We also were joined by my awesome friend Noelle and her kids. They were on their way home and stopped by to play for the day and have somewhere to sleep. We all had fun playing in the sand and the water, eating pizza, and being goofy. Besides I don't get to see her that often and we have been friends since we were 11, so having the extra visit was nice. We said goodbye to them the next day after again some more shopping and lunch at 5 Guys Burgers and Fries. Super yummy burgers and hot dogs and fresh cut fries. We ate there a couple of times because it was so good. I would recommend it to anyone headed that way!


To finish off the trip we took the kids bowling. Hadley has been before but the other 2 had not. I shared my turns with Emmy which she loved! Check out the scores. I actually got beat by Rawley in the first game but made up for it in the second!


His face really sums up how much fun he was having!







We had a great time and it is nice having a place to stay when we go. Thanks to Grandpa and Grandma! (Who we also got to talk to while we were there!) We headed home bright and early the next morning. Made it in good time, and have had a couple of days to unwind and work on going to bed early! We will have to see how long it takes to get used to getting up before the sun! Hopefully not to long considering there is only 4 weeks to go till this baby arrives!

So we finally took a day trip to visit the Royal Tyrrell Museum in Drumheller on the weekend. We had planned to camp the night before but because we were unsure of the weather we decided just to drive up the morning of. Not too bad of a drive and we made it in good time but that I blame on my husbands driving. It has been many years since my last visit and they had recently undergone some major renovations so we decided it was time. Of course this trip was mainly for Rawley considering he loves his dinosaurs. We met up with my brother and sister in law and their family and headed in.

This is the first display that you see. Complete with sound effects. Rawley's face was priceless the first time he heard the dinosaurs roar. I only wish I had a picture of that!



Emmy of course was terrified in the beginning. Every time she got close to anything she would get upset.

Just look at the expression on her face!


By the end she had gotten used to the idea, but then again the exhibits had also changed. They no longer looked like the real thing just a skeleton, and apparently that didn't bother her.





They all measured themselves against this.





The older kids signed up to make a plaster cast of a fossil and learned quite a bit about them.
Hadley's was a turtle.


Rawley's was a fish skeleton.


We also found this wall where they all struck a nice pose Austin Power's style in my opinion!


Can you make them all out?

We climbed about a million steps to the look out outside of the museum. Probably not the best decision on my part but we made it! Here is a picture with some of Horseshoe canyon in the background. I know the belly is huge, seriously I only have 7 more weeks but still!


Our final stop in Drumheller was to the Suspension Bridge.



Apparently it is something else to do and since it took only a few minutes it was cool to see. Emmy missed out this time considering after our full day at the museum she crashed almost as soon as she got into the car. It ended up being a fun day and we still got home in time for baths before bed.

So it has been a long time coming but we finally had a reunion for Pat's side of the family! We started out swimming and then headed over to the elementary school for lunch and the rest of the festivities. It was nice to see everyone, but mostly for Pat considering his family is huge and I was just a little lost! Thank goodness for name tags! We were also told to wear a certain color in order to distinguish who we belonged to. There are 10 kids in Pat's dad's family so it was nice to see who belonged to who based on what color they had on. It was quite surprising to see that we were one of the smallest groups considering Pat's immediate family has the most children.

There was a football and softball game for the older kids and adults, and they had a candy table and fish pond for the kids as well as a craft table, fingernail painting and a blow up bouncing castle thanks to Tracy.

They fed us lunch and dinner we had a couple of musical numbers and watched a slide show of all the pictures that were submitted from the families.

It was also nice to see Pat's grandma there! They got a picture with her and all of her children that made it. We were all able to get a family picture with her, as well as a group picture that included all of her descendants.

Great Grandma S and 8 of her 10 children.




As you can tell it was a hot day! Here we all are red faced and sweaty!

The kids kept themselves entertained for the entire day!

Emmy found the rocks at the playground to be very exciting!

And tried her hand with the hula hoop!

Rawley really enjoyed the stickers from the fish pond as you can see!


We missed everyone that couldn't make it! All in all a great day and I have to say thank you to everyone that was involved in the organizing. I am sure it took a lot of work!!