I hope everyone has been having a wonderful summer so far! Emma has had a great summer taking in some of what Calgary and area has to offer. On July 7th she had her first trip to Calaway Park. She and I went with Kristie and her 4 kids. Kristie had a $7 admission coupon for me to use, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to see how many rides Emma could go on. And, thanks to her Dora sandals, she was tall enough to go on 4 rides. She had such a good time! Her favourite ride was the Tot Yahts - little boats that go around and around in about 2 feet of water. Each boat seats 4 youngsters, so she was able to ride with Keegan, Amber and Kaylie. And each seat has a little steering wheel in front of it - she was so excited to steer, she kept bouncing up and down in her seat. For a while, there weren't too many people in line for that ride so the kids just kept riding it over and over again. The other rides she enjoyed were the Egg Ride, The Carousel, and a newer ride - I think it was called the Sky Rider. I was able to ride with Emma on these other rides, so I got my fill of excitement too. I gotta say, I'm not sure if it's because I'm getting older or because I've been pregnant, but I don't have much of a desire to ride the "big kid" rides anymore - especially the ones that spin. Just thinking about it is enough to make me a little nauseous, and that is a feeling I do not crave. One of the highlights of our trip was that we got to watch Keegan and Amber in a stage performance with the Calaway Park Performers. They were approached before the show and were asked if they would like to participate. Keegan was Anakin Skywalker and Amber was Princess Jasmine, and they both did a fantastic job! Unfortunately, we weren't able to capture it on film because Kristie had forgotten her camera at home and my camera had ran out of battery power thanks to all the pictures and videos I had taken of Emma on the rides! Typical first-time mom, I guess!
Other things Emma and I have enjoyed this summer are the Panorama Hills splash park, Lake Chapparel, and the zoo. Emma loves the water and really enjoys playing in the sand, too, even though she sometimes tries to taste the sand. And she loves to see the animals at the zoo, but the last time we went (just last Thursday) she got a little spooked. The male lion was pacing along the edge of his cage, just a few feet from us, and he kept growling. I think Emma was surprised at how loud it was, and she started to cry a bit and clung to me pretty tight. Then after that, every time we got close to any other animal, especially the big ones like the black bear and the gorillas, she was extra cautious, but she still wanted to look at them. Unfortunately, Mike hasn't been able to enjoy these things with us because we always get invited during the week, when he is busy at work, but we are planning on going to the zoo again with Heather, Tyler, and Lucy and that trip will definitely be on the weekend. I can't even explain how much fun it is being able to stay at home with Emma. She is so much fun - she makes me laugh every day, with her "magic tricks" and her goofy faces she's always making. She is so curious about everything, I'm so lucky that I've been able to take her out to see all these things we've done this summer. I feel so blessed that we are in the position to have only one income that we can live on, so I can stay at home. And Mike is such a hard worker and a fantastic dad - he loves coming home and being able to spend time playing with Emma. Anyways, I hope to keep everyone posted more often as to what we've been up to so my entries don't take all day to read!
