Life's Whirlwind Adventures

Pandas, Penguins and Dinosaurs The Pandas came to Calgary Zoo and I knew we had to go to see them.  I knew my kids would love seeing them and they would have so many questions about them so we made a day of it and took a trip down to Calgary.  I've had a zoo membership before as have Leigham and Chandler, Theo didn't have one per se but he was registered because the year he was born we went to the zoo a lot that summer and winter.  So I renewed our memberships and we spent the day at the zoo.  Pandas are my favourite type of bear, I just love them! I am sure they are just as dangerous as the bears in Canada but they look so much cuddlier and they seem to be more at my speed! Not always go go go, but take they time enjoy life and eat all the food!  Teddy was the only one who would pose with the Panda because my other two children are scared of mascots.  I don't get it, but there you go! This was a lot of walking for Teddy so we rented a wag...

I've lived in Alberta for 8 years, for 5 of those 8 years I've said I should go to Zoo lights, to see what this is all about. and for 4 of those years I have never gone.  And each year I kick myself for not going.  I love Christmas lights so I really want to see these light displays!! But this year we went!! I was so excited!!! It was a chilly day, but we went to The Fine Diner for lunch.  The food was great the atmosphere was upscale but the service was not the best, we got the feeling that they begrudgingly let us in with our kids.  I mean the waiter only gave my friend and I glasses of water the kids were not given glasses of water.  So if you don't have kids I'd say go, the food is worth it, if you do have kids maybe pick another location!! After lunch we headed to the zoo.  We arrived early so the kids could see some of the animals!! I think they enjoyed the crisp out door air, it was fun watching them move around the zoo and we were able t...

Calgary Zoo, twice in a week, my life is on an up swing.  I went the first time with the girls from work and it was fantastic, so I thought it would be a great trip to take with the boys.  Then I realized that I had been a neglectful mom and had never taken Lil Man to the zoo before, and I can't even understand how that happened. So Sunday after the family reunion we headed to the zoo with our cousins, Graham, Carla and their two girls!! There are so many sights to see at the Calgary Zoo, the newest exhibit is the Penguin exhibit.  Unfortunately, they closed down the Australia Exhibit (back in 2010) and that made me sad. I didn't exactly like the Australia exhibit, it was never my favorite but the kangaroos were neat and some of those night creatures were creepily intriguing.  Our first stop at the Zoo was the Penguins, it's right when you come in, so it makes it easy!! Those lil penguins are so darn cute.  The little tuxedo wearing acrobats! The rock ho...

The Schnell family is a very close family that enjoys holding family reunion events at least once a year if not twice a year, I am so blessed to have been brought into this family.  Just to be clear, this is my husbands maternal family and I really, and truly love them all. After all my gallivanting around the world, ok North and Central America, I came home in time to celebrate birthday's for two uncles.  So we had a mini family reunion the first weekend in May. And I got to drive my new car down too!!! For me family is so important, I love all my family and I cherish the time I get to spend with my family. It's not as frequent as I would like, but when we do it's always a good time.  So to all my family, new and old, blood and chosen, I am very grateful to have you in my life and I love you all!!!

For the 19th week of this photo challenge we had to find the drama.  I personally like to keep my life fairly drama free so I wasn't sure where I would find drama, at least, not what I would classify as drama. We had a family type reunion, and well family always brings about some drama so here are some pictures of our family trip to the Calgary zoo to see the penguins and other animals. this picture had the most drama because lil man's cousin wanted nothing to do with the picture taking

For years I have asked my good friends the Carlos' to come up to Canada to visit me.  For years I have gone down to California to visit them, they have always opened up their homes for me and been willing to drive me around the Bay Area, helping plan trips to Disneyland, going on shopping excursions and just treating me like family.  I desired nothing more than to be able to do the same for them.  And after 20 years I was finally able to play host to Alex, Monica, James and Oscar.  It was a very happy occasion for me, I love these people as if they were blood family.  They are definitely part of the family I choose. Of course knowing they were finally coming up I had some planning to do, where was I going to take them, what did I want them to see, how much driving were we going to be doing?  All very important questions you see because I wanted to make sure they had a great time.  So I asked what they wanted to see, and they mentioned Saskatoon and S...