Home again guarding the fort

We returned home from our Canada trip. For all those of you who were very confused that I was posting when I was supposed to be on vacation, I was actually enjoying my time away from the computer and had scheduled posts in advance -- I never run out of things to blog about. I have heard from several sources that we shouldn't announce to our blogging audiences that we are going on vacation and then disappear for weeks on end. Since I am a pretty regular blogger, you would have noticed my absence I am sure. There might be a crazy person out there who would take advantage and come and break into my house or something. They would probably take my most prized possessions like my Vita Mix and the new box of size 4 Huggies from Costco. I know you would never break into my house. It is only the stalkers from Ohio and New Mexico who never comment that I am worried about. In any event, we were gone and now we are not and I am having really great fun catching up on email and comments. Thank you!

We were gone for 9 days and I have lots to share, but I will limit the info to 10 things:

1. We drove 3,011 miles and spent 56 hours in our very comfy and functional mini van going from our house to BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan via Washington and Idaho.

2. Amanda and her family were so fun to be with in Nipawin. The baby didn't present itself like I had hoped. Amanda was pretty uncomfortable. We look forward to their exciting news soon.

3. The weather was gorgeous for the entire trip (the only rain was on the way home). It was sunny and unseasonably warm. It was above freezing during the day -- I never had weather like this when I was going to college in Saskatchewan.

4. The Canadian Rockies were as beautiful as we remembered. I highly recommend the trip north if you have never been.

5. We attempted to climb Sulfur Mountain woefully unprepared. Jeff and I summated the mountain pretty easily when we hiked it 6 years ago in August, minus 2 children, ice and snow. I can now say that I don't need to summit the mountain in order to conquer it. Maybe a good lesson for life in general.

6. A few rural Canadian towns are famous for their "biggest" somethings. On the drive, we saw the biggest dinosaur, pinto bean, teepee, and truck. You don't have that kind of fun in an airplane.

7. Emma is a really good traveler and is always up for an adventure especially mountain climbing, swimming, seeing trains, and playing with Liam's toys.

8. Mandy teethed 2 top molars and 2 bottom front teeth on the trip. She did really well considering her pain. She's a real trooper.

9. I had a run in with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in Medicine Hat, Alberta, at 2:30am. I was speeding through on their deserted and well lit highway at 80 kilometers per hour (about 50mph) and missed the sign to slow my speed to 50 kph (about 35mph). The police guy, who looked eerily similar to Benton Frasier from Due South, was quite pleasant and apologized for pulling me over and disrupting my journey. He thankfully did not give me a ticket.

10. Our time together as a family was priceless and we had a really fun time. It is also very good to be home and out of the car.