Time for take off...........

Today I went for my first, of what will be many, flights with Jason. For those who are reading this blog and do not know my brother is a pilot!!! Today I got to go up with him and experience flying in a teeny tiny plane. For a very brief moment I also got to fly the plane. I say brief because I felt that flying a plane should be left to those who know what the hell they are doing!!!!!!! And Mom & Dad, don't be too surprized one day when you get the call to turn on the B-B-Q and get the ketchup out to cook us up some steaks cuz your children have just flown in from Saskatoon!!!!! By the way you will also have to drive to the airport to pick us up because it's a long walk to the Valley.

So our flight path today was a tour around Saskatoon and Area. We headed out to Warman and flew right over Jason and Jenn's house and then out and about before flying over and around our house and Saskatoon. By the time we were done I had taken over 300 pictures!! I had a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again...wink wink!!

Pre flight check

So here we go!!!

Jason and Jenn can you find your house????? It's kind of like where's waldo!!

Mid flight...........

one of the rail yards in Saskatoon

Saskatchewan River

Downtown Saskatoon

Double click on the picture to enlarge it and see if you can find Jackson and Jayson standing on our deck. I gave them a call from the plane to let them know we were flying overhead.

Coming to the end of our flight....

coming in for a landing

taxiing to our final destination

Jason 'parking' the plane we just flew in!!

At the Zoo a couple of weeks ago...

Last Day at Pike Lake...for this Summer anyway...

Today we headed out to Pike Lake for what would probably be our last visit for the summer....it's just too dam 'frappin' cold!! Anywhoo, we had a great day even if the water was a little chilly and the wind actually created white caps on this very small lake. No matter...it was wonderful spending the day with Auntie Shelley, Jill, Auntie Jenn, Uncle Jason and Maddie.....eating goodies, digging our toes in the sand and making trenches with our Daddies.

FOR THOSE OF YOU HAVING A HARD TIME SEEING THE PICTURES DOUBLE CLICK ON THE COLLAGE AND IT WILL OPEN MUCH LARGER IN A NEW WINDOW.......THIS TIDBIT IS FOR YOU MOM..LOL

Night number 6............

All I have for you tonight is......

3 kids + 3 dogs + all by myself = THE PERFECT BIRTH CONTROL

night number 5...the story continues

Take a wild guess at what two 2 1/2yr olds and a 5 1/2 year old were talking about on the ride home tonight?? You are the wiener if you guessed STINKY FEET!! Yep, stinky feet. On the way home Mackenzie took her running shoes off. BIG mistake. Her feet smell so bad it stunk up the van. So much so that I had to put the window down. Maddie and Jackson started laughing at Mackenzie's stinky feet and then Jackson convinced Mackenzie it was a GOOD idea to smell her shoes. I kept hearing "yew yuk, that's gross" in the back from Mackenzie...and Maddie and Jackson kept giggling at Mackenzie who kept smelling her stinky shoes and yelling "yew, yuk". The next thing I know Maddie has her shoes off and they both are stinking up the van. Who knew that preschoolers could have such smelly feet...........ewwwwwe, yuk!!

Night Number 4.......

And it's 8pm and they are all in bed. Mind you they are not sleeping but at least they are in bed!!! And I am alone with 3 kids and three dogs with no help cuz my entire family has left me. All 3 of you owe me BIG TIME!!!!!!! lol

So we are driving home from school tonight and Maddie and Mackenzie are having a conversation about where they live and it goes something like this:

Maddie, "I live in Saskatoon".
Mackenzie, "no you don't Madeleine"!
Maddie, "No, no, I live in Warman not Saskatoon".
Mackenzie, " I live in the Mountains" (very loudly, surprise, surprise)
Maddie, "NO, NO, MACKENZIE HODGSON. YOU DON'T LIVE IN THE MOUNTAINS YOU LIVE IN SASKATOON"!!!
Mackenzie "I live in Saskatoon"?
Mommy, "Mackenzie, you live in Saskatoon and Saskatoon is on the Prairies".
Mackenzie, "No, Mommy I want to live in the Mountains"! and she starts to cry
Maddie, "My Friend Fernie lives in the mountains. Ya, my friend Fernie. Wanna visit Fernie"?
Mackenzie, "Fernie"?
Maddie, "Ya, you know Fernie, my friend Fernie. He lives in the Mountains. We go there, K"?

And the conversation continues about Fernie, cars and I want crackers cuz I'm hungry Mom!!


It surprises me just how much these two remember things especially at their young age---sometimes I forget they are only 2 1/2yrs old!!

and poor Jackson is so tired from his new Before and AfterSchool program he's just sitting back taking it all in.

Oh, and by the way Jason and Jenn......after we got off the phone I had to go upstairs and change Mackenzie because she had pooped and Maddie was sound asleep and as I write this it's 8:27pm!!!! Whoo Hoo!!!!!!

Night Number 3....bounce house and ice cream

Well our second night was not as eventful as the first...no one peed the bed!!! yipee!!! But whoever said having a nice warm bath helps put children to sleep is sooooooooooooo wrong. Maddie and Mackenzie were on fire after having a bath together.... next time they are so bathing alone.

Tonight we, as in the kids and I, headed out to Wilson's to jump in the bounce house and have ice cream. I figured after a long day at school (first day back after 3 weeks of holidays for Jackson and Mackenzei) and a lot of exercise at night would be a great combination to help get the kids to bed. As I write this blog though I can hear a lot of giggling going on upstairs...from my kids anyway...Maddie is pretty tired and fast asleep.

The end of our bounce house evening.

Funny Story.....

No pictures for this blog...just a funny story.

So this week Maddie and the dogs are staying with us while Jason and Jenn are on their 10yr anniversary getaway in (hopefully) sunny San Fransisco. It's Saturday night, Maddie's first night with us, and it's bedtime. Well, I thought I'd put Maddie in Mackenzie's room since Mackenzie doesn't sleep there anymore but nope. Mackenzie and Jackson both said they wanted Maddie to sleep with them and well, Jackson's room is where Maddie always sleeps when she comes for a sleep over. So I put the crib mattress on the floor for her and set her up in a comfy cozy blanket. We tell Jackson he needs to be a good big brother and show the girls how to go to sleep very fast and if they make any noise he's to tell them to go to sleep. So they are all in bed with books and it's quiet.....then we hear giggling and talking after about 20min. I go upstairs and the girls are having a gab fest and Jackson is sound asleep. I tell the girls to go to sleep or no bike ride in the morning and they quickly cover up. So then it's time for me to go to bed and like I always do I check in on the kids. I look in and they are all fast asleep except....I look at Maddie and I see her jammies on the floor beside her bed and a clean diaper. I think nothing of it, it's hot in the room and well she probably took them off because she's hot. So I go get ready for bed and something tells me I should check Maddie again but this time look under the blanket. So I lift the blanket and there lays a buknaked Maddie!!!!!! And oops....she's also had a pee :0( So I wake her up, clean her up and put her to bed in Mackenzie's room after all. Something tells me if I had done this in the first place I wouldn't be writing this blog.......cheers!!!! I think this will be a good story for her someday when she gets married!!!! That's if my brother lets her anywhere near boys!!! lol

Nana, Papa and Great Grandma Hodgson came for a visit....they managed to come on the best 'weather day'. We spent the whole time outside playing and having supper. Thanks for the visit and all the goodies!!!

Madge Lake Holiday

We were lucky enough to get some time up at the lake again this year...unfortunately without Auntie Shelley and Uncle Tim. The weather was not that great but we did manage to get out and bike ride every night (I found my new favorite area of the lake where I would like to have a cabin), do a little swimming, eatting Smors and my favorite--listening to the sound of the Loons early in the morning while lying in bed. Once again a monumental life changing experience happend for Jackson----he learnt to ride his bike without training wheels!!! Yah, Jackson. When Jackson was a baby, 8 months old, he learnt to crawl at the lake. There is just something magical about Madge Lake. Thanks so much to Auntie Jill and Uncle Bob for letting us use the cabin!!!!!!!

Imagin that....I was able to get a picture of the lake on the only day it didn't RAIN!!!! grrrrrr

I don't know who was more excited at this point---Jackson because he could ride his bike without trainning wheels and Daddy helping him OR Jayson that the ride was almost over!! Just keep breathig, just keep breathing, breathing breathing!!!!!

Apparently Mackenzie felt there was going to be a flood while watching the 'Mighty Machines' put a new top layer on the road....what a girl!

For those who follow and do not know this little man is the youngest of the Hodgson cousins....Baby Luke!!! Well, he's not really a baby anymore...he turned 1 July 4th. Yep, that not so little guy on the bike is only 1 year old. Brock, Pam and Luke stopped by for a visit while heading back home to Winnipeg. We all were so excited to see them and I couldn't wait to follow him everywhere with my camera he is just so darn cute!!!! I wouldn't mind following him around more often...wink, wink, hint, hint!

"Hey Dad!! Why did you stop....keep pushing me"!

"Okay Luke. Let me show you how to work the bell. It goes like this...".

What you don't see is Luke putting ALL THESE ROCKS in his mouth. And yes Jenn I was having a small heart attack!!

The grins on Jackson and Avery's face says it all. Unfortunately this was the only day, our first day, out on the water. But we were lucky enough to share it with Auntie Jana, Uncle Colin, Avery and Addison.