A little bit of Southern Alberta!

Early Saturday morning, we left our tiny apartment and headed out to Beaver Mines, Marc's favorite place to camp at. Once our tents were pitched, we ate breakfast and off we went exploring the nearby touristic places. Marc loves his Alberta and so do I. With all that is going on here in this beautiful province, I wanted to explore it, rediscover it, and learn even more about it than just the nasty political goings on happening right now.

We headed out to see the famous Burmis tree! Yes, we actually drove to see a tree. We are awesome that way. First of all, the drive to Beaver Mines was beautiful. The mountains, pine trees, zigzagging roads and occasional wildlife were all so refreshing to watch and so awe inspiring.

I loved reading about the Burmis tree and how it had, for centuries so they say, battled the challenging weather and winds of the area. Despite its effort, it finally succumbed to it all and with the help of iron rods, it once again stands tall for every highway 3 users to catch a glimpse of it while driving by or for "tourist" like us to actually take time to photograph it and read about it. It reminded me so much of how when we hold on to the iron road, we are made strong and can still stand tall despite the trials of our mortal lives.

After our short time looking at the tree, we headed out to Leitch collieries. Now, this was probably my favorite stop on our exploration. My mind went on an overdrive thinking about the people that lived and worked there. How and why the colliery came to be, and so on. We got to talk to a very knowledgeable guide who explained some of the stories, and stopped at every informative displays to learn some more about this place. As with the Burmis tree, the beautifully crafted stones structures remains were stabilized and walking trails established. I recommend visiting this place or at least read about it here . It is a great piece of history. One of the online site I read about the Leitch collieries described it as a 'glorious failure' understandably so when you read its history but nonetheless it was a great learning moment walking through it.

The Powerhouse!

 The Manager's house!

 Remains of the kilns and rail platform.

To end our Alberta exploration, we went to the Lundbreck falls. The boys were so excited about seeing them. Of course I snapped a couple of pictures but I have to say, it was so odd to find waterfalls in the middle of nowhere. They were no Niagara falls but they were still worth the drive. There's a beautiful bridge there that I just loved. We all went under it to look at the falls some more. I love bridges! I really do! After running around, and taking in one of nature's beauty, we got our lunches out and ate peacefully.

The crayon box that talked!

The crayon box that talked, written by Shane DeRolf, is one of little M's favorite book to read.

I love the cute story of the different colored crayons that didn't get along but who, at the end, discovered that use together to draw a picture, they each play a role that allows the picture to be complete.

My boys absolutely LOVE to draw! Every single days they are drawing something new or improved. Crayons, markers, pens and pencils are found all over our place. In our beds, under our chairs, in the creases of the couch, in the kitchen, the bathroom, the van, EVERYWHERE!

Little M has "mastered" drawing! He used to faithfully watch his brother draw and by doing so has learned how to better himself in the art of drawing circles, lines, clumsy rectangles, squares, etc. I love watching them using the crayons to draw their favorite superheros or animals, and so on. While the crayons help them complete the picture, and what they had in mind, the stories that they tell to describe their master pieces definitely brings the picture to life. They are so creative and their story telling abilities are amazing as well. From dragons who meet superheroes to captain Moroni who defends the good people, and of course Spiderman who saves our family from the monsters, the ever changing stories are quite amusing, sometimes hilarious and at times a bit scary. I love how passionate they are about it so everyday the crayons are left out for them to create, to experiment, to just play and enjoy, because tomorrow they may not want the box of crayons filled with pretty colors.

Pictures of them drawing on our camping trip, before we had supper.

Lethbridge Street Wheelers!

Today marked the first day of the street machine weekend in Lethbridge. Tonight, was the street wheeler event where old and new automobiles proudly parade on the streets of Lethbridge. This year it seemed like there were a lot more vehicles than the previous year.

Marc and I used to go from car shows to car shows before the boys were born, and tried to continue doing it after but life felt a tad busy once we became mama and papa. Last year, we found out they held a street machine week end, so we got excited about doing something we liked doing before. I wouldn't say we are car enthusiast but we can certainly appreciate the elegance, beauty, passion car owners put into their vehicles whether they drive it daily or get it out only on week ends or for special occasions.

The boys had a few favorites this year that they waved at. I like looking at the elegant, and classics cars from the early nineteen hundreds while Marc enjoys the classic muscles cars and the trucks.

After a few hours admiring the colorful cars, we walked back to the car, and headed home. We stopped for onion rings at D.Q in Coaldale first, and continued on.

It was a beautiful day! Not too hot, not too windy. A good day! The boys and I went out to play a bit in the morning, and found some more treasures, ran a few errands in the afternoon, then watched a movie while waiting for papa to come home. We had a delicious supper, then went to Lethbride for our evening outing. I like these kind of days. Not too busy, not too overwhelming, and with just enough things to do.

I forgot my camera to snap pictures of the beautiful cars but managed to take a couple pics with my phone while nobody was standing in front of me.

The boys!

My uncle used to have a mini cooper!

I love the old school ones!

One of my favorite cars, the beetle!

The old school ones are cuter.

Front seat row for this "photographer"!

 Beautiful mustang!

My grandpa had a red one we like riding in!

Good time with family!

Last Sunday, Marc's younger brother texted me to let me know that their sister was coming down to southern Alberta, with her husband and daughters on Wednesday. He wondered if we would be interested in getting together for supper, potluck style, so we could all visit, and catch up on what was new in each others lives. Of course, we had to do it! We honestly don't see each other enough as it is so there was no way we were missing this.

Wednesday came, we put some ribs in the oven at noon, on low, so it would cook slowly until we live at 5pm, to finish it off on the barbecue in Lethbridge. The boys kept asking when we were leaving for uncle J's place to play with the girls. So once papa got home, we packed the van and off we went. The boys were so happy! They fell asleep in the car and it was a welcome nap.

Four, out of the five siblings were reunited, each with their respective families, and it was a blast. We got to celebrate our brother in law's birthday with good food, the birthday song, and delicious cake. The kids were running around playing, and laughing, and screaming while the adults stayed upstairs, visiting, and laughing, and eating.

It truly was a great time and I wished they did it more often. I wondered if they knew how lucky they were to live close enough to each other that they could do things together, be part of each other's lives and have their nieces and nephews around. I wish I could do that with my siblings. As brothers and sisters, we are so close but with the distance between them and me, I don't get to physically be a part of their lives, and celebrations. It is one of the hardest thing for me to cope with here. I see their lives through pictures, messages, and phone calls but miss all the untold details, and anecdotes that makes me a stranger among my own family. I hate this part but I chose to follow my sweet husband so this is one of those sacrifices that I have to make.

I am hoping for more times like this so the boys could grow up around cousins just like I did, and not be strangers in their own families.

We had a blast! I have no pictures to add to this post but my sister in law took a few, and the sibling ones they did were hilarious.

A little corner of home!

Today, we headed out to the Windmill garden center in Medecine Hat. I have wanted to go there for a month now, to see the butterflies. Am I ever glad we did!

I wasn't sure what to expect when we stepped in the entrance of the garden center. You couldn't miss the place with its few windmills standing tall among the trees and power lines in one of the neighborhood of the city, some even towering the trees near by. We walked through the place filled with beautiful planters, fairy garden kits, garden benches, fountains and so on. We followed the painted flowery concrete "road" that led to the house of butterfly.

I couldn't believe the beauty that was concealed behind the plastic curtains you had to push through in order to get in the papillon's house. A tropical garden just like you would see in my home island! The garden itself was filled with a flora that was so familiar to me. It felt almost magical! It was like walking in a little corner of the home I've left so many years ago. It was like a dream but, I was wide awake and could feel the humidity that used to be my everyday. I was in love with the place and didn't want to leave. Everything was beautiful! Everything just belonged together! The main attractions, the butterflies, were flying around ignoring us and continuing on with their daily grind.

While they were without a doubt a sight to be seen, the vegetation and humidity stole the show for me. I knew most of them by names! I have planted a few of them in my teenage years to sell in the market. I have "hunted" down a few of the rare species with my parents, so that they could grow them in their big green house. I have grudgingly raked the leaves of some of them in my youth. They were everywhere in my parent's yard! I knew them! They weren't new to me! They were beautiful! I wanted it to be my garden! A "real" home away from home.

We walked around admiring every butterflies that gently flew by or rested on leaves. The boys were excited to see the koi fishes, turtles, birds, quails and caterpillar. They loved it! They were good at not touching anything, and not running. House rules! They didn't last in there as long as I did. It was too hot, too humid for them. They ventured out to the really really small petting zoo, and ate snacks while waiting for me to join them. I did eventually, for a minute or two, but back I went again. I stayed a bit, snapping photos here and there, smiling, and reminiscing every time a plant would remind me of an event, a memory from my past. I loved it there!

After a few hours, we went to the mall, ordered some food and sat at the table in the mall's food court. The magic was gone! Back to reality!

I like where our "adventures" lead us. We all had fun! The boys wanted to play with the turtles and go swim in the "lake" with them. They told us once we got home that today was a fun day, and I'm glad they felt that way.