My Little Witches

Ryan took Brayden on an overnight winter camp for the Young Men at church this weekend. He wanted to do something fun with them while still being 'safe' so a huge explosion was out of the running. He settled on the idea of something to do with dry ice and picked up a brick of it just before leaving.
Today when they got back they still had some of the dry ice left so he let the girls play with it. They each got a small chunk in a bowl of water and pretended to be witches stirring their cauldrons. At one point they asked themselves if they changed the colour of the water, would it change the colour of the steam coming out of the bowl. They got some food colouring and tested out their theory. I think they were a little disappointed to find that the steam was still white, even when the water was green. The disappointment didn't last long and they were back to their game of witches!

Pill Container Craft Attempt One

I can remember back in the day when I was in Brownies I had made these broaches out of crayon shavings and pill bottles. I recall them turning out so pretty and I'm not sure if it was because I was 8 or if they really did look amazing. I've wanted to make them with my girls for a while now but didn't really know where to go to find empty prescription pill bottles so it's just been this thought floating around in my brains.
This afternoon the girls and I went to Michaels to walk around and I found these clear plastic containers that are exactly what I've been looking for. I used my 40% off coupon and bought them. In hind sight I should have probably just gone next door to the dollar store and looked there but I'll do that next time!
Anyway, I bought these little containers and sharpened a bunch of crayons to little nubs and decided to test out some oven temperatures. I had googled the craft but came up short of a temperature so I started at 300*. It melted my little crayon shavings and the pill bottle but it took quite a while and I had to get a skewer and mush it up to cover the exposed crayon. I could remember when I had done them with my mom it seemed to warp and take on these funky shapes all on it's own. I thought this was because maybe the oven temperature wasn't high enough but after a second attempt with the girls at 400* it still didn't work out and I was out of containers. I think it's because the plastic was thicker then the prescription containers and so it didn't melt as quickly so I'll have to check out the dollar store and see what they have for options. In the meantime, the ones we made using a wooden skewer to play with the melted plastic looked pretty cool!

2 Kids Down, 1 To Go

I'm so proud of these two completed their Swim Kids Level 10! It's the highest level which means no more swimming lessons for these two. I am so excited for multiple reasons, all selfish. Firstly, we opted to put the two older kids together in private lessons giving them 2:1 time with an instructor. This cost us more then the normal lesson BUT it allowed them to work through as many badges as their skill allowed instead of just the one level they registered for. They both love swimming and I spoke to their previous instructor to figure out if it would be worth the extra money it would cost and decided that not only would it be worth the money but that it would cut down on my evenings spent poolside watching them. Therefore I'm excited I saved quite a bit of money long term and saved myself a lot of free nights! Plus it just confirmed to me that my kids are amazing little fish swimmers. Now I think I'll just have to wait 3 more years and do the same thing with Maddy, knocking off all the levels in one go.

Something New

Yesterday for date night Ryan wanted to try out this burger place he's heard about named Naina's Diner. He said that from the outside it looks like a dive but a few different people had told him it has the best burgers in Calgary so we took the trip into the city hoping it would be worth it. When we got there I was super nervous to go in for two reasons; 1) It's in a sketchy part of town and 2) It was dead, zero customers. Thankfully the guy working the till was great and explained how the menu worked and before we were finished ordering there was a line up behind us which put me at ease.
Apparently the thing to order is the stuffed burger. I got cheese, onion and bacon stuffed into my patty while Ryan went with macaroni & cheese and bacon. They were huge as you can see from the picture and I was stuffed beyond comfort afterwards. I did have to give my last 3 bites to Ryan, it was just too much meat for little me. The burgers were alright. I'm not sure if it was price we paid or the build up to them being the best in Calgary but for me it was ok lang (just alright). The service was great and the staff super friendly I think I just like my burger more saucy then huge.

This Girl

Just before Christmas Sydney got a whack load of teeth pulled and braces. She has such a tiny little mouth her teeth were struggling to fit in there so they have to do some rearranging and get things aligned and ready for the next batch of adult teeth so they can grow into the proper spots. She's been a trouper and the only complaint she's made was when the wire was too long and poking into the back of cheeks cutting them up. Once that was sorted out it's been smooth sailing and things have been moving pretty quickly for her. She's still just as pretty as ever with her adorable dimples.

Zoo Enrichment

The kids and I went to the Calgary Zoo today. We made it just in time for the penguin march where the Emperor Penguins have the choice to go outside their enclosure and waddle around before being led back into their space and fed. Today on the march 5 1/2 month old baby penguin Nero joined his parents on the march. He's a beast! They explained that in the wild the parents will feed the baby as much as they can to quickly build up a layer of fat to keep the baby warm. Apparently the huge size is normal for a baby and when it looses the fluffy feathers and gets his new waterproof coat he'll be able to swim without getting too cold and start loosing weight from the exercise.
The baby penguin was a hit for me but the rest of the animals we quickly stopped off were pretty active as well. I've only ever been to the zoo in the summer before and we'd try to schedule our trips around feeding times so we would see the animals in action instead of hot and lazy. Going on the cooler day we got to see the bigger furry animals up moving about, the camels humps jiggling with every step. We almost got pee'd on by the Rhino's laser beam urine stream and for the first time ever the snow leopards were up and about.
Not all the animals seemed to enjoy the cooler weather though. The poor Meerkats were huddled together in what seemed to be a desperate attempt to stay warm.

Our First Winter Hike

Being Canadian I almost feel like a traitor when I talk about how much I dislike winter, especially living in Alberta where we pretty much 9 months of it. The truth is the cold makes me cranky. I like making snowmen, I like tobogganing and ice skating and I enjoy how beautiful and clean it looks the morning after a snowfall. I just don't like any of those things in the cold. I can handle a nice -5*C. What I can't handle is the days of -20*C and colder and that's why I hibernate for those 9 months of winter.
A while back Ryan and I mentioned to some friends that we wanted to find hobbies that we could enjoy during the winter so that we didn't dread it so much. They mentioned one of their favourite winter hikes is kid friendly and includes sliding down frozen waterfalls and they offered to take us. That day finally came and off we went into Kananaskis.
Ryan and I had been looking forward to checking this place out that I sort of ignored the signs that Maddy might still be on the mend from the fever she'd been fighting. Nothing was going to stop me from spending our Family Day in the mountains proving to myself that winter is fun and so I had to coax Maddy step by step bribing her with gum and the promise that made someone feel better but only if they weren't crying. These are the things I do when I act out of desperation, hopefully I'm not the only mother out there bribing their children.
We hiked up a frozen river bed that was nestled in the mountains. It was slippery and the kids had a great time finding mini slides to pass the time while they waited for Maddy and I to catch up. The view was humbling. So beautiful with the ice, trees, mountain rock and fresh air. I just love the mountains.
At one point we reached the source of the river. It was these natural springs coming out of the side of the mountain which had frozen making these patches of ice walls. To the side there was one waterfall that smoothed out into a more gradual decent to the river bed making the perfect ice hill to slide down.

It was a great day. I enjoyed the fresh air, the company with good friends and experiencing something new together with the family. Maybe winter isn't always so bad, at least not when this is your view for the day.