Calgary!! Christmas!!

Trip to Calgary

A couple weeks ago we flew to Calgary.  We had claimed Annabel on our U.S. taxes, but I guess they didn't believe she existed.  I tried to refer them to this blog as proof, but it didn't fly.  We weren't terribly excited about spending the money for travel there, but we still came out ahead with the amount the government wanted if Annabel was a fake.  Calgary is the closet U.S consulate in Western Canada, so we had to travel there to get her a social security number.  It is about a 6 hour drive, but quite unpredictable in the winter.  It would be similar to traveling from Wisconsin to Nebraska, but by taking the back roads.  It was Eric's birthday weekend, so we celebrated.

Eric sporting his Movember look

Enjoying some milk at a coffee shop

The chair was 49.99.  They wanted 169.99 for the baby.  We went with the baby.

   We ate at a little hamburger place that was featured on You Gotta Eat Here (Canada's version of Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives).  Eric would never pass up a burger for his birthday.

Christmas

Festival of Trees in Saskatoon.  Annabel was in awe of the little girl Irish Dancers.  One lady pointed up at Annabel and said "look, she is mesmerized!"

The Festival of Trees is at the Western Development museum that has a ton of neat displays.  She liked these horses until they neighed at her and she went a running!

 Eric's work Christmas Party

Our tiny little tree

We flew to Minneapolis on Saturday, very early morning (you should have seen all the kids running around the airport at 4am!) and made our way to Colfax.  We had a fun gathering with Eric's family in Ridgeland right away Saturday evening.  Annabel has been having a ball with grandparents, cousins, and aunts and uncles.  We enjoyed a big Packer win and have been filled with lots of good food, drinks, and treats.  We were snowed in today, but had a good relaxing day.  We have the rest of the week left before we head back as I have to work Christmas Eve and the 27th.  We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!!  

Fall, Haircut, and the start of Winter!

Fall

In Saskatoon, it's too cold for the types of trees that turn dark orange and red, so we only enjoy the deep yellow fall color.  

First hair cut

Since the moment Annabel was born, her hair has been a big topic of conversation with anyone we meet.  The first words from the nurses in the operating room were "lots of hair!"  I can't even count the times someone has asked, "where does her curls come from?" or "who has red hair in the family?" 

We have been hesitant to get her hair cut, but she got to sit in one of her favorite things, a car, and she sat there so well for the stylist.

She wasn't so sure at first

It was so long!

It looks so fresh and clean!

On Skype, later that day, we got a lot of compliments from the over 70 crowd on her outfit.

They had this ball pit as an after haircut reward.  Probably not so fresh and clean after spending time in there.

 Winter Fun

Happy Halloween!

This year I had predicted, with much help from last year, we would have hardly any trick-or-treaters on our busy street, so I only bought one small bag of candy.  Eric panicked on Thursday after work and stopped to buy three more bags (strictly KitKats and Peanut Butter Cups).  We actually were able to give a couple pieces away to a high school kid who was collecting for the food pantry, but that was it!  We stayed in and watched It's The Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, and Annabel seemed to like it.

Richard Simmons was our original plan for Annabel, as we thought she could pull off an afro quite well.  We even had a jersey tank top and shorts, but with pre-Halloween practice, she wouldn't keep a sweat band on her head more than a second.  Idea two was a lion, as she makes a great lion or tiger sound lately, but I wanted to make it and just didn't set aside the time to do it.  With no Halloween plans, the ambition was lessened.  Last minute we decided to attend the Western Development Museum's Boo-town Wednesday night, so Eric came up with this cute costume.  Annabel seemed to enjoy looking at all the costumes.  She said "rarrr" to a witch who had a black and orange boa, mistaking her for a tiger.  Same, same.  She went to Smurfs 2 at Movies for Mommies with daycare and our provider said she really seemed to enjoy watching it vs. falling asleep.  She also came home with some fun Halloween crafts.  Such a big girl now!

The museum is set-up as a old town.  Old buildings such as a school house, blacksmiths working, and a real train.

 She got so excited when she spotted this in the grocery store.  She pointed and then clapped before climbing in.

Fall Getaway

We know we have limited time before the snow and cold hits, so last weekend we took a getaway to Edmonton, Alberta.  Edmonton is about 6 hours Northwest of Saskatoon and about three times the population (Saskatoon around 300,00 and Edmonton around 900,00).  Six hours drive for a weekend away still seems a bit far for my mind, but if you recall, distance is relative. 

We had an excellent time in Edmonton.  We took Friday off, and headed out of town in the morning. After making it to Edmonton and checking into our hotel, we made our way to the Telus World of Science.  They had a toddler area that Annabel loved and Eric was able to get his geek on at some hands-on science puzzles and demonstration stations.

This was a great playground where she could just play on her own.

This airplane was so cool:

Our Big moment:

Annabel trying her darnedest to hand me this huge ball.  I laugh every time I see this video.

Saturday was our big trip to the zoo.  It helps that Eric and I share a love for zoos -- although he would never admit it.  The big attraction at the Edmonton Zoo is Lucy the Elephant and Annabel loves making the elephant sound Grandpa taught her, so we thought it would be fun to see a real elephant.  The zoo was actually not in the best shape for the size of the city, but it looks like they have some good renovations underway.  We walked around in the slightly chilly wind seeing a tiger, arctic animals, and llamas, sheep, owls, wallaby, and monkeys.  The elephant walks a lot during the day so she was never in her enclosure when we went by.  I guess she was 1000 lbs overweight so they are working hard on getting her proper exercise.  Right at the end of our touring, we thought we'd make another quick loop in hopes of seeing her.   As we rounded a corner....there she was!!  It was really a neat scene!  Grown men were running around the corner with big grins on their faces.  It was fun to see her out in the open.
 

I love how she's peeking around at that large animal.

A lady came up to Annabel and asked her what Annabel that was and she confidently raised her arm as she said "burr-ah."

Just hanging out watching an elephant.

Annabel feel asleep in her stroller while Eric and I enjoyed a brunch at a neat, hippie place called Sugar Bowl.  We both ordered a Southern meal with Eric having chicken and waffles and I had eggs Benedict on corn bread.  I've actually never had eggs Benedict (despite being friends with Meredith) and I loved it!  It might have helped that I had downed a pumpkin beer on an empty stomach right before so I thought it was the-best-meal-I-have-ever-had! This place had 5 pumpkin beers on tap!  I have asked for pumpkin beer at the liquor store in Saskatoon and they looked at me like I had two heads.  Here I thought Canada wasn't up to date on seasonal beers, but I guess it's just Saskatoon.

We also made our way to Ikea that afternoon and did the usual where we got in too deep, got really tired, and then still had our list of items to try and find in the warehouse area.  Needless to say, we were all three exhausted by the time we made it back to the hotel, but we got some great finds that are already making our place feel a bit more organized for toys and our never-ending paper mess.  Annabel also got a cool crawl tunnel and house...all that can be folded up and a cute stuffed pig.  And, the Ikea frozen yogurt cone never tasted so good!  Actually, it was my first time buying the frozen yogurt and I will make sure I do every time now.

We ran out of time to take advantage of the hotel pool and I had forgotten my swimsuit anyway.  It was fun to skip town for a couple days, while the roads were clear and Annabel was healthy.  This weekend, she is now starting a new runny nose and cough and the crisp wind has arrived!