Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Halloween
Sunday, October 28, 2007
Pilot Mound and Swan Lake

Today we went for a drive down to the South West of Winnipeg. Pilot Mound and Swan Lake are where my mom's grandparents were from, so we went to check the place out. Sundays are VERY quiet in small towns around here, so there wasn't a lot to see, but it was a beautiful, sunny day and the scenery was nice. Just to the West of Morden the prairie started to be less flat - it's called the Pembina Valley and it's beautiful even without any leaves on the trees. Sarah desperately needed sleep because we went out to dinner last night and she stayed up way past her bedtime so she got plenty of that today.
We went to see the mound at Pilot Mound (originally left from the glacier that went through here, and then a First Nations sacred site and burial ground) and then we went on to Swan Lake for a bit of a walk around town.



A few Sarah pictures
She has developed quite an impish sense of humour (where on earth did she get that from? It must have skipped a generation.) Sarah also had her first babysitter experience on Thursday night. Dale was working late and I had to get to work, so I called on the Lindenwoods Babysitting Coop, which I recently joined. What a brilliant idea! We babysit each other's kids for points - no money changes hands. Sarah's first babysitter's name is Christine. Sarah woke up while I was at work, and instead of screaming bloody murder because she didn't know who Christine was, she let her walk her back to sleep. It took about a half hour, but it wasn't tramatic. Either she wasn't fully wake or she isn't as picky about who looks after her as I expected. Either way, it was a great experience. Christine is coming back this Thursday because Dale has a mess dinner to attend.
Before and After
While my (Anne's) parents were here visiting, my Dad (Bill), who doesn't like to sit around, got to work. First, he and Dale built the fence on one side of the yard and the gates at the side of the house, then he worked on the backyard (with Dale helping when he could). We built some raised beds and Bill moved 6 yards of dirt from the front to the raised beds in the back of the house in one day. Next, we bought a little shed, and some pavers and set them up. So, all that's left is to do all the planting in the spring, which is the fun part!
Monday, October 22, 2007
A quiet week after all the visitors
Friday, October 19, 2007
Sarah's first birthday
She unwrapped gifts to start and did a great job of pulling the tissue paper out of bags. Aunty Kelly and Uncle Simon gave her a 50 dollar bill...which she didn't want to give up. Bummpa Arndt gave her a John Deere wagon which she thought was a lot of fun! Grammy and Grandaddy Gardam gave her things gradually over a few weeks - a sleeper (handmade), a whale, a duck that quacks... Mom and Dad went looking for a toboggan but it was too early in the season, even in Winnipeg, so she was given Mega Bloks, a zoo tractor with a trailer full of animals that it pulls behind, and an outfit.

When it came time to blow out the candle on her carrot cake with cream cheese icing cupcake, Daddy first put on a cat in the hat hat...not Sarah's idea of a good time. It may have had something to do with the fact that Daddy snapped the elastic a bit. Oops.
After she recovered from that, Sarah really enjoyed looking at the lit candle and the singing. She didn't realise that she was supposed to eat the cupcake and the little bits that Mommy gave her she wasn't so sure about... Eventually when we all left her alone, she played around with it, got her fingers into it, a bit of icing on her lip and eventually the whole thing ended up on the floor. Fair enough. And that was the end of Sarah's party.


Sunday, October 14, 2007
Thanksgiving

Fort Whyte


Friday, October 5, 2007
Camping in Riding Mountain National Park 29 September

On Sunday after a cold morning cooking pancakes, we packed up and drove home. Along the way we stopped and had a wander through Margaret Laurence's house in Neepawa. Sarah had her lunch in her portable high chair on the table outside the house and didn't think anything of it. This is a kid who is used to travelling!

Wetaskiwin Visit 22 September

