November Round Up

November is always challenging as the days are very short.  I miss the sun and the vitamin D it provides, but since I've had a couple of sad Novembers I try to do things to fun things in the month.  We are pretty well in a routine for November too.  Activites are all well established.  Karate and swimming nights are well known as our school days vs. weekends.  

Both boys are doing very well with the routine.  Sometimes there are disagreements about homework or swimming lessons, but in general they are both thriving in school and at home.  Lucas is doing well in leadership club and had to read a school announcment and was part of the Remembrance Day assemby too.  It's amazing how that kid has grown and become a leader in his school. 

We continue with the each person getting to pick their activity on the weekend.  So in November  we went to the Glenbow Muesum, which was Darryl and Nathan's first experience.  It is a really nice museum.  Lucas has been there for a couple time with school and I've been lucky to join them.  Lucas wanted to show Darryl and Nathan their large rock collection which we all enjoyed.   But the best part was the "80s in Calgary' section where they taught us how to break dance.  At first the boys were shy but once I got into it (even though I wasn't good) they started to participate more and loved it.

The next weekend was Nathan's turn to pick and surprisngly enough he choose bowling.  The same thing he chooses most weekends.  =)

Tammy and I also did our freezing cold run in the dark.  Good thing I am a seeker of adventure cause that certainly was!

But the highlight of the month for sure was visiting Edmonton and my good friend Jodie.    We headed up on a Friday and got to the legislature for the last tour.    It was great as all the school kids were gone so we got our own personal tour. We learned a lot about the history of Alberta and it's governenment.  It was very informative and Darryl, Lucas and I really enjoyed it.  Plus Nathan didn't show his boredom too badly.  (wink wink)

Afterwards we headed out to dinner and then to our hotel.  The hotel had a waterslide that the kids loved so they used up lots of energy on that.    On the Saturday, after waking up on very hard beds, we headed to the Science Center in Edmonton to the Harry Potter Exhibt.  It was very informative and Lucas and Darryl really enjoyed looking at all the costumes and props used in the movies.  The Edmonton Science center was really good too.    Very kid friendly.

After that we headed to my friend Jodies "farm" outside of Wetasakwin.  As usual it was great to see her and her husband Chris.  They got a new (and big) dog Scout, which the boys loved.  We had great food and wine, played Scattegories which Jodie kicked all of our butts at (unlike cards, that is not her forte).  The next day was snow rides with their ATV and getting the warm sun on our faces and beautiful fresh air.    It was great to chat with them and they were wonderful hosts. 

Sometimes I feel like our weekends are spent shopping, playdates, birthday parties, working, cooking, cleaning, video games and TV with not a lot of quality family time in their.  I also recognize that these are the "glory days" and in not too long the kids won't want to hang out with us, so it's important to capitilize on these times and that's what the weekend was.  Before it started I wasn't too sure about it, spending money to go to Edmonton, usually I would claim to save it for a bigger vacation.  But it was such a good time; informative for the kids, lots of good laughs and food and fun times.  Well worth it. 

Hope everyone had a great November and had happy moments in the lack of sun.

Jenn