The Queen's Day

I like celebrating the Queen's day.  It means a super long weekend with the fam.  In non-Burnham fashion, we actually made plans and followed through!  We went to Mitchener Park in LaCombe and had a hotdog roast and tossed a baseball around and ate some more and then had some ice cream and to make ourselves feel not-so-disgusting, we played some soccer.  It was so fun.  And then I couldn't walk the next day.  Worth it.  There are absolutely no pictures of me being awesome at soccer, but I feel like I captured all the OTHER cuteness and fun of the day.  And awkwardness.  As usual, way too many pics.

Probably The Best Mother's Day He's Done

Several years back, Joe and I were watching some old home videos at his Grandparents house of when he was around 8 or 9 years old.  There's a clip with him and his siblings all playing in the basement and he does a cartwheel and says proudly, "probably the best one I've ever done."  Well.  We laughed so hard at that and it has been a running joke among us whenever he thinks he's done something well.   Or whenever anyone thinks they've done something well.  Jackson is currently "one" of those people.  Well, now I can proudly say that I think this was the best Mother's Day he has ever prepared.  He spent all day---and I kid you not, ALL day--- Saturday preparing my gift.  Came to bed at 2am.  On Sunday morning I came upstairs to hugs and cards and flowers and inside the flowers was the remote to the TV.  Joe had prepared a slideshow of pictures with me and the children doing all of these fun activities throughout their lives with a message from the kids at the end of the video.  Totally something I would have done for him, so super points for paying attention!  I loved it and had a good tear-up.  Thank you Joe!  Totally made up for bombing Valentines Day.

Here are a few pictures of our day.  Steak and garlic mashed potatoes happened with a balsamic reduction (who makes that?  My husband) and other deliciousness thanks to Joe---my dream meal.  A few of us went on a walk to JJ Colette.  I cannot tell you how much I love nature walks in the Spring/Summer.  I think Rob and I are honestly the only ones who truly love a good walk.  So we were the only two with the three oldest kids.  But I really enjoyed it.  The kids found a caterpillar and Ellie didn't trip and cry.  Victory.  Honestly, it was a perfect day.  Thank you Joe for making that happen.  I have high expectations for next year, so start preparing now.

Sometimes being a Mom is hard work, but when your husband takes over for a day and does all the hard stuff, it's kind of amazing and you remember how fortunate you are.  It's funny how for Mother's Day all a Mom really wants is to not feel like a Mom.  But I think what I am realizing is that I DO actually really like being a Mom and I like my kids.  I even love them.  I just don't want to make dinner or do the dishes or laundry.  So I've figured out that what I really need is a maid/cook.  Perhaps I will suggest that for Joe for next Mother's Day.

p.s. I lied about getting those pics of the grandbabes up.  My photoshop is not set up yet.  Boo.

Fairmont

So.  I'm home now.  And by "home" I mean, living at my in-laws and feeling a little limbo-esque.  Living in their basement for who knows how long while Joe finds a job.  Feeling very grateful as my Mother in law folds my laundry before I get to it, cooks dinner most nights, and gets to the dishes before I get a chance.  Not sure how long that's going to last and I really try to keep up to her, but it's near impossible, so I am just going to try and be grateful and enjoy this time before real-life starts up again.  I try to do my part, but she's kind of a machine.

A few days after we got home from our sans-kids vacation and our major road trip, we packed up again to get right back on road.  This time with the kids.  Although, a five hour drive to Fairmont felt like nothing compared to what we just did.  Plus, it's kind of a gorgeous drive.  And we kind of missed our kids while we were gone so we didn't mind them joining us in the car.  Okay, we really missed them and we had an awesome week!  But it's funny how quickly they remind you that you want----nay, NEED vacations without them.  Again.  Stat.

This was the first year in a LONG time where we actually had some really decent weather, so we most certainly enjoyed it.  There was golfing, throwing rocks in the river with Grandpa, cousin time, an attempted photo-shoot of the baby girls (more photos to come), swimming at the Hot Springs (twice), playing at the park, an Easter egg hunt, hiking up to a waterfall, a pretty major hair cut, board games every night and LOTS of eating.  'Sif my all-inclusive wasn't enough.

Here are about a zillion pictures from our trip.  First off, Joe living his ultimate fantasy by playing golf with his boys.  I promise I was there too.  Just didn't shower or wear make-up pretty much all week.  A complete gem to be around.  This first pic is my favourite because Joe had just finished coaching Jackson with his stance and then when Noah came up to bat, Jackson took over as coach.  He even knew what he was talking about.  Well, more than me anyway!  
I love this view with the mountains in the background.  I think throwing rocks with the kids and Grandpa was one of the top fav moments this week.  It was so peaceful and Grandpa just has a soft way with the kids.  Jackson was being a bit of a grump before we left because he wanted to play Minecraft inside all day, so I made him come and get some fresh air.  Which made him even more grumpy.  Well, he ended up loving it particularly after a conversation with Grandpa about the different kinds of rocks, (he's all about "information" and "science" stuff, so this was a fun conversation to have).  Grandpa taught him to skip rocks and he now knows what a sedimentary rock is.  Zoe just wanted to walk right into the river.  And she did, quite a few times actually.  She was pretty soaked by the end of the morning.  Boots next time.  Charlie and Ellie became best friends, fought, and became best friends again all in one morning.  It was so fun to see them play and hold hands and just be girly-girls.  Noah and Sebastian?  Well, they were ghosts and did their own thing.  Not one action pic of either of them.  Not even surprised.

So, we attempted a photo shoot of the baby-girl-grands.  Attempted would be the key word here.  I will post more when I have a chance to photo edit.  But for now, here are a couple very "real" pictures of our experience.

HOT SPRINGS! We haven't done this for years! Mostly because it was always such a stressful time with little ones. And it's expensive. But it was worth it this time because the boys are strong swimmers and they were fearless off the diving board. It was so fun to watch them. I even tried to keep up with them and show them how "brave" their Mom could be by going off the 3 meter board. Well, I almost peed my pants. Heights are not really my thing! Jackson and Noah lived on that 3 meter board the whole day and Jax even did a flip his second time going off. Crazy boy. The husbands all had a good time on the boards too. And even Granny got into it.  SYNCHRO DIVE!

The difference between Zoe and Ellie after too much sugar.
Hiking is a lot more fun when everyone can walk on their own and they are not constantly trying to drown themselves in the river.  For reals though, it was a super fun morning.  We went up to the waterfall with Jeff and Kelsey Gibb and the kids all had a blast climbing things and throwing more rocks into the river.  Perfect morning.  Minus not bringing a stroller.

Here is Ellie's last official picture with her long, scraggly hair. Celeste is in hair school and brought her scissors, so I decided on a whim that it was time to chop it off. I was just done with brushing it every day and listening to the crying because of the millions of snags. I love it long, but I found that it only took a solid 30 minutes before she looked homeless again.  Either that or it was always braids.  Time for a change!

Ellie loves it because she looks like her cousin Charlie now. I love it too. No more tears. We all win.
I think Fairmont just gets more and more fun every year. I don't have pics of playing board games every night, but that was also a huge part of the fun we had together. We stayed up late pretty much every night laughing and eating and it was just the best. On our second last night together, we had a Family Home Evening with just the grown ups once the kids were all sleeping. We were all assigned a topic about facing different challenges in our lives and how we manage them. Taylor was even Skyped in so he could be a part of it. It was just a really nice, Spiritual conversation among all of us and every one had their own bits of wisdom. I think one thing I took away from it was something that Bobby said about communication. So often we listen to others only to interject our own thoughts and "wisdom" instead of listening to understand. He said most times people will put in their two bits before only 11 seconds after the person has started to explain how they are feeling. I think what that taught me was I need to shut my mouth a little more and just listen and try to understand people, rather than figure out how I am going to respond to them. Anywho. Very interesting. I think what I love about the Burnhams is that we can have these Spiritual moments, AND we can also laugh our brains out and be silly. It's a great mix.  Thank you Burnhams for yet another great year in Fairmont!