let the mess begin!!!

Sorry I haven't been up here much. We're having some technical difficulties with our laptops - only one power cord for two laptops, and one is required for Mike's job, so I get left without during the day. And I just don't have the energy left to blog at night. I'm on the main computer now, which in treacherous, with all the little fingers itching to press all the shiny keys. And I have no pictures on this computer right now. But Joan is off singing Frere Jacque to Tom, and Dave is playing, so I have a couple minutes.

BUT - we hit a milestone today, and I just had to share! Tom has been very fussy lately - unable to settle and has been sleeping poorly at night. I'll feed him and he's just never really satisfied. In desparation, I almost gave him a bottle of formula just to fill him up, but thought no - he's almost 6 months old. He might just be ready for food! It had been a few weeks since I tested his tongue reflex, so I decided to retest with a jar of carrots - the only baby food I had sitting around the house. (We generally make our own baby food, but usually keep a small stash of the commercial stuff, too - it travels better, because it's sealed, and is good when time is short and the baby needs to eat right away.)

I wish I had a video of his reaction! It was like he instictively knew it was for him. He immediately started squirming and grunting, and reaching for the jar. I opened it up and he started making these really wierd squealing noises, and when I put a spoonful within his reach, he grabbed it and rammed it fullspeed into his mouth, swallowed and opened up wide for more! He ate half the jar with great ferocity, but grimaced with every bite from the taste. All the while, Dave was trying to stop me, screaming "No Mom! No!!!" He's always so eager to share his food with siblings, including Tom, and has had it drilled in that the baby isn't allowed to eat. And of course, there I am feeding the baby- the ultimate no-no. But I'm really excited! That pesky reflex is long gone, and now we can start a whole new chapter - just in time for Thanksgiving! (An excellent arguement to add sweet potatoes to the menu, I think.) I'm going to the store to pick him up some cereal now. Maybe now I can spend my nights sleeping, instead of endlessly feeding a starving baby!

more tom pics

Tom was being cute again this morning. He's actually not looking at me - he was entranced by Joan's tiara (she's right beside me). I had to move it around to make it look like he was looking the right direction.

I was actually trying to get a picture of him doing this funny thing he does. If I'm behind him, because he can't pivot yet, but still wants to keep an eye on me - literally - he will arch his back and tilt his head all the way back, and just watch me upside-down. He does it all the time, but today, he started to to do it, but just rolled over instead. Probably more effective in the long run, but not as funny to watch.

Although it's Dave's birthday, his party isn't until tomorrow, to make sure Mike can make it. He's got assignments and mid-terms on the way, so was planning to spend most of tomorrow at school. But unlike work, he can quit studying anytime he wants. Last night, he made it home just in time to tuck everyone into bed. Tonight will probably be another late night.

some Tom pictures!

I took some new pictures today - I'd lost my camera charger, and my camera had been dead since halfway through our last trip to Dryden. I've scoured the whole house, and finally broke down and bought a new one. I found our nursing pillow/baby seat while cleaning the garage (we can fit cars in there now!) and thought Tom might enjoy it. He loves it! But he slithers out after a few minutes and tries to explore the floor instead.

Can't pull out a camera without attracting an audience! The rest of the boys decided to get in on the action. Joan is right beside me, too busy chowing on homemade mac and cheese to care this time. I'll try to get more pics up soon!

phew!

the first full week of school is done. Phew! We're all still getting into a new routine, and getting over the school year's first cold. It was pretty mild - we've had the kids on vitamins and early bedtimes, so no-one had it bad enough to miss school or work. They all passed it on to others instead. Mike especially - he had it the worst, and spent the week breathing and coughing on people's phones, keyboards and remotes. Nice. Joan just got a little bit of it, and her school has the same good hygeine policy Renfrew did - she takes off her coat, then makes a beeline for the bathroom to wash her hands, before she's allowed to do anything else. She's settled into school really well, and she's even picking up french! I took Dave to the library one day while they were in school, and we got a bunch of books, including counting books. She's been able to count to 10 for a while now, and and can read most of her numbers. As we were looking through, I would say the number, and she corrected me, with the number's french name! Pretty impressive with just two classes under her belt. I think now we're going to give her a shot in french immersion. Her teacher said that most studies show that kids with language delays actually benefit from learning a couple simultaneously. Not sure if that's true, but so far, so good. And she'll have John to help her out. He thinks it'd be cool for all the kids to do french immersion, then they could all talk together in french and we wouldn't understand them.

Dave is having a rough time with all this school. He comes with us to drop Joan off, of course, and runs off to the carpet to play with the other kids. Then, i have to drag him kicking nad screaming back to the car to go home for a boring old nap. He hates it. The teacher said he reminds her of another sibling from last year - while her sister was getting settled in each morning, she'd make a beeline for the painting station, whip off something as fast as she could with the few precious moments she had, and then mope out the door. But she got her turn - she's in the 3-year-old program this year, and I think we'll make sure we get Dave a spot in there for next year. Poor guy - he needs a little more fun in his life!

We had another epic shot day with the kids yesterday. I don't know if public health nurses get a per-head bonus, but there's a nurse here who actually requests my kids. We do them all at the same time, one after another. Mike structured his day so he could go with me. I got to do play-room duty, while he took each kid in turn for the shots, which I really appreciated. He'd drop one off in tears, and the others would bristle while Dad chose his next victim to enter the dreaded chamber of sharp pointy things. John and Joan are FINALLY caught up - fully immunized as far as Health Canada allows for free. Dave has his 18 month tetanus or something to go, then he's done until kindergarten. Thomas is on schedule, so he's back in another 2 months, like a normal kid. He got his specs done, too. He's still a little on the small side. He's only 14 pounds, and 24.5 inches long. He's the 10th percentile for both height and weight, and 50th for his head circumfrence. So he's little, but he's growing steadily, is within the normal range, is properly proportioned and is meeting all his milestones, so he still has a stamp of approval from the healthcare system. So far, anyway. he's doing quite a bit now, which is why they weren't concerned. On his tummy, he rests right up on his elbows most of the time, so he can look around, and can lift up on his hands for short periods. He can roll over both ways, and is trying so hard to sit up! he hasn't figured out the tripod thing just yet, but he does lots of crunches trying to sit up, so he should be strong enough soon. He's found his feet and is social and happy. He can creep a little, but it's hard for him. He's an effective non-verbal communicator and makes lots of interesting sounds. He can pick up toys and manipulate them. He's taken a very active interest in my food. He watches me eat intently, and grabs at things. But I tried feeding him a little, and that pesky tongue reflex is still there, so he's not there physically yet. They say to wait until 6 months, but John's doc said when that reflex is gone - the one where they just push everything straight back out with their toungue - that's when to start. 

Anyway, I've got a busy day. better go!

Joan's in school!

I'm so happy for Joan - I snagged her a spot in preschool! It's the one right in John's school, which is pretty convenient. I always thought it was a french school, but on the cover of John's newsletter, they placed an ad, saying they still had spots, and that it's english, but a gentle introduction to french immersion. So she'll learn a few french words of everyday things and learn a few french songs, but it's not like John, where the teacher just babbles on completely in french. How he understands it, I don't know. Her class is perfect - it's for 4-year olds only, and is focused on K readiness, so they have a more academic curriculum than daycare, and they're willing to overlook the lack of potty training. I just have to send her in pullups, and if she poops, I have to go change her. They admitted they hadn't had a special needs kid in a while, but were really open to figuring out ways of helping her keep up, and having her therapists come in and show them stuff. The age cut-off is Dec 31, so she'll be the youngest kid in the class. It'll make everything that much harder, but it will help her in the end, we think. We hope so, anyway. We figured we'd better get on this, because in BC, next year is her K year, and she needs help getting ready! Thankfully, BC is getting all day everyday K starting next year. She'd qualify for it anyway, with the diability status. But now we don't have to fight for it, or jump through any hoops - she'll just get it. And hopefully, this will give her a little leg up once she gets there. It's a big load off my concience! And I've already let her therapist know - she was so excited! In BC, preschools are required to work with the therapists, and they put together an IEP of sorts, so the teachers help support the therapy every class. I'm looking forward to next year - John and Joan will both be full day every day, and Dave will be old enough for half day preschool! It'll just be Tom and I. Though by then I'll probably have a fifth. So it'll be me, Tom and let's call him...Quincy...or maybe Quinton.

As soon as I had confirmed her a spot, I told Joan that she'd be going to school again. She was so excited! She zoomed off and asked John to get her pink backpack off the bookshelf. He did, and she put it on herself. Then she ran back to me, threw up her arms and pronounced "OK! I all ready a go!" She was pretty upset when I told her it wasn't until the next day. She refused to take her bag off until bedtime. And first thing the next day, it went right back on!

John's really excited that she's in the same school as him. He keeps asking if they can meet at recess to play. He was sad when I explained that the preschool has a separate playground, because the kids are so little. But he likes the idea of her being just down the hall from him, nonetheless.

John's enjoying school so far. His teacher is new to the school, and it's only her fourth year as a teacher, so she's fairly young. I was worried out her with John's tendency to walk all over soft teachers, but after John's description of his first day, I think she'll be alright. She laid down the law! It sounds like she spent most of the day drilling in the classroom rules, and the consequences for not following them. His old K teacher WAS moved up to grade 1 in the end, so I'm glad he got the new teacher. He likes it too - he says it's good to do different things and do things in different ways. She has her BSc, but her Bachelor of Ed is in art, drama and music, so she could be an interesting teacher. We'll see!

Mike started school yesterday, too. He found a couple courses that fit really well around his work schedule. He hasn't said much about it yet -  most of the conversation around the table revolved around the kids' days, so his day didn't get a chance to come up. But I'm sure he'll talk about it tonight - he has another class today. I think one is fluids, and the other is electricity and magnetism or something - both Physics.

Anyway, better go! I'm making cabbage rolls for dinner, and they're a little on the time-consuming side. 

a funny story...

I better tell you this one before I forget.

John had asked to make muffins yesterday. We had all the stuff, and they've been eating like horses lately, so I said sure. We made a double batch of everyone's favourite - pineapple carrot - then I decided to try something new - chocolate beet. It sounds incredibly gross, but it was actually really good, if you could get the vision of thick, blood-coloured goo out of your head while you ate it. Unfortunately, John couldn't, and he could only handle eating one. "They're so disgusting...but they're delicious!"

Anyway. One of the indredients was cocoa powder - something I don't bake with too much. John was intrigued, and wanted to know what it was.
Me - "It's cocoa. It's to make things taste like chocolate."
John - "I like chocolate. Can I try some?"
Me - "Well, it's a powder, so it's not really for eating. You just mix it with other stuff, to make other stuff more chocolatey."
John - " I like things that make things chocolatey. Can I try some?"
Me - "It really doesn't taste good. It just changes the taste of other things."
John - "I like things that change the taste of other things. Can I pleeeeeese try it?"
At this point I'm like, why am I fighting? So I handed him a spoon and let him have at it. He scooped up a huuuuge heaping spoonfull. He put it in his mouth.....and immediately gagged and ran screaming like a lunatic around the house with his mouth hanging open as he clawed at his toungue. That's about right, I thought. He eventually stumbled into the bathroom, and flushed his mouth out in the sink.

He emerged about 10 minutes later, and said, "Well, that's one lesson learned."


Another little gem from John - It was my birthday, and John was excited about the cake in the fridge. As he was playing with Joan, he said "Joan, would you like to come to Mom's birthday party? She's turning 88!"

back - kind of

we're having some mild camera and computer issues, so I haven't been online much since getting home. But I've managed to rig something up, so I'll post really quick before I get swarmed with kids - they'll probably wind up getting electrocuted if they horse around here.

We are back from an extended multi-part vacation to Dryden, and we're slowly but surely recuperating. There were lots of tears from John on the trip home, but once we got here, all was well - he said it felt nice to be in Kelowna again, and he seems to be looking forward to starting school next week. For Joan, the obvious highlight of her summer was pushing great grandma evans' wheelchair - she talks about it all the time! And for John, it seems to be a tie between the fall fair - of course - and making cookies with grandma and grandpa Phillips - he's been asking me to make sugar cookies almost every day since he got back. I've been careful not to let him know that I have the cookie cutters, or he'd never let it go! He's talked alot about taking great grandma down for tea, too, and meeting Adrienne Ashton's little guy - they played together at the park at the start of summer. They clearly both had an awesome summer - Joan says she loves everyone. And there seems to be some sort of space/alien game going on, with paper telescopes that she's been very excited about. Lots of good memories!

But sadly, now it's back home to boring old us, and our boring old life. Though we had a birthday party for me - that was very ummm...exciting. Just buying the cake was an event in itself. Mike was been working full tilt, to fill the financial hole left by the vacation, to it meant me grocery shopping with all four kids - always an exciting time. We had a bunch of stops to make, and I had to use a card from Mike, so we had to hunt him down in the field, do some banking, and make a few other stops, so by the time we got to the grocery store, they were all already done. John had been given instructions to pick out my cake by himself, so he wanted one of those little tiny kid carts to do it. I told him no, because I had visions of 1) all three of them fighting over one little tiny cart, or 2) a convoy of three tiny carts, smashing into the ankles of strangers. Neither was an appealing option, so I said no, and explained why. He insisted. I relented. Big mistake. The inevitable happened, with much screaming ind wailing and tugging and shoving in the middle of the bakery. So I took a deep breath and gave John an option - either the tiny cart goes back, or the cake does. He chose wisely - he chose to keep my cake. As he was returning the kiddie cart, an elderly lady came up and congratulated me on dealing with the situation so calmly, and how wonderful that some people are still choosing to have larger families. She had come from a family with four girls, and had lots of good memories of growing up with so many siblings. I didn't want to be such a spectacle that people noticed us, but I'm glad at least one person thought the whole freak-out had gone well, because at the time I sure didn't! Unfortunately, they were ultimately still spent, so it didn't get much better. They weren't being bad in particular - they were just being themselves. But they were all just being themselves all at the same time, which can be a little overwhelming in public. I was in the dairy isle when it started to get to me. John was jabbering way too fast about something he thought was super-duper uber exciting. Dave was popping up and down in the cart, Tom was hungry and had started to cry, and Joan was twirling in circles. I guess I looked a little weary at the moment, because a man came up behind me - he was maybe 70 or 75. "I had four this age once," he said. "I know." Then he nodded sagely, and wandered into frozen foods. I gotta say, that really made my day. It's amazing how sometimes so few words can convey so much.

My party was pretty funny. Both John and I had totally forgotten to buy candles, so all we had was cake. Mike had to work until after dark, but he still made dinner on the barbecue. And he didn't let a lack of candles spoil anything. He got out some skewers, and tried to light them on fire instead. But when they wouldn't stay lit, so he dipped them with 151 proof alcohol that he had gotten for some flaming dessert or other. It lit alright...then ran down the skewers...then spread all over the cake. That stuff is like lighting gasoline on fire, so by the time it got to the table, the whole top of my cake was up in flames! It was quite spectacular, and the kids thought it was hilarious. Everyone howled. It was the best candle yet. Too old to fit all the candles? Just light up the cake!

Anyway, better go. I hear Dave is poopy, Tom is hungry and John wants to make muffins. Never ending excitement!

couldn't resist...

These are Mike's ginormous electrical gloves. Dave thought they were the coolest things ever, and just had to give them a try. (Mike had to teach a seminar on electrical safety at work, so he had to hunt down all the electrical safety gear he's supposed to be using on the job (we found it all very safely tucked away in the garage.))

We're getting set to make the trip back to Dryden. We had originally planned to leave Saturday after work. We may delay that to Sunday, if Saturday is a busy day. He's even pondering leaving Monday, so he can help me finish some stuff around the house - there's a lot that requires two people, and he's been working pretty long hours this week. But we'll see - we'll let everyone know when we know more.

pictures for John...

These photos won't mean much to anyone but John, so please make sure he sees them! He had a bunch of toys that you put in water to watch them grow. When we left for vacation, they all came out of the water, so we could see what would happen to them. The little guy in the centre was a big dinosoar that hatched from an egg. It shrunk way down to the size of the Green Pig while we weren't looking! The troll thinks he's cool. They've all become good friends.

These were Fish Eggs (just pretend). They used to fill this whole bowl!

These were his marbles - they filled this entire tray when we left! Now they're right back to the little pellets they started as.



So much for thinking things would be easier with just two! We're on a two week "break" at home, before heading back to Dryden to retrieve the kids, and get them back to real life. We had lofty goals of gutting our garage, finishing the kids' toy room. All these big plans. We've gotten a lot of work done, but mostly, it's been a lot of one-on-one with Dave, who gets bluer by the day, without his siblings to play with.

We can't remember John being this out of sorts at this age, but I guess if all you know is noise, chaos, and lots of kids running around, solitude would be tough, whereas solitude is all John knew until Joan came along. But I still wasn't prepared for the level of attention a little guy can take - especially one used to non-stop stimulation! Everyday, he asks where John and Joan are. He calls thier names throughout the house. When I tell him they're with grandma, he starts wailing her name instead. Last night, he walked into the livingroom, stood in the middle of the floor, and just started sobbing. "are you hungry?" "NOOOOO!" "Are you tired?" "NOOOO!" Did you poop?" "NOOOOO!" "Are you lonely?" pause..."no," he sqeaked. "Do you want John and Joan back?" YYEEEEESSSSS!" Do you miss John and Joan?" "YEEEEEESSSS!" and at that point, he shuffled out of the room, head hung low, and flopped on Joan's bed.

Don't get me wrong - he has fun most of the time! He's discovered a love of trucks. He likes to line them all up, and drive them through the house in pairs. Without siblings around to interfere, he has quite a well-developed case of what I call Toddler OCD. I don't know if it has a real name, but with the older two, it was like a switch went off, at about 22 months, when they started stacking things, with a scary level of compulsion. Stacking, or lining up in neat little rows, taking meticulous care to get it all perfect. Dave's been doing that a lot. With John, coupled with the fact that he barely spoke, I thought it was Autism, until I was assured by a nurse that it was normal. Then Joan did it. I was a little worried when Dave didn't, but now I see that's just because he COULDN'T - his collection would be dimantled before it could reach Toddler OCD levels. And because he's quite articulate, it all makes more sense. He's just sorting. He'll build a stack of bears over there...trucks over here...dinky cars somewhere else, all arranged in neat little rows, lines or circles. Then he'll show them all to me and annouce what the collection is of, before dismantling them to start all over with a new set of sorting criteria.

Despite his being lonely, having him alone right now is a good thing. He's in a huge "what's this?" phase. He wants to know the name of EVERYTHING! It's a pretty time-consuming phase. Books aren't about stories anymore - he wants to know what every little thing in every picture is. He's picking it all up really fast! He's learning colours at the same time. He can say them all, but gets mixed up on which is which, though he's somewhat consistent with blue and yellow. He knows most of his barnyard animals just from reading a little book twice. His favourite is the cow, which he calls "moo". And there's a picture of a pig biting a sheep's ear. When he first saw it, he said "let go!" Now whenever se sees it, he says "Hey! Let go, Pig!"

Mike taught him the difference between cars and trucks, and with "Are you my mother" he learned boat and airplane, and it's all mixed to create a little monster! He loves to sit in front of the big window and name all the things that pass by. We can hear planes, and because we can see the lake, he can spot the boats, and of couse the cars and trucks driving down the road. I think he's even getting high and low..."boat down low" he says. At first I felt bad for him that we normally have so little time to devote to such a bright kid. But I know that's stupid - the reason he IS so bright is the fact that he has so many siblings to learn from!

I think the only time we feel really bad for him is when he's playing hide and seek. We couldn't tell what he was doing at first. But he'll burry his face in the couch, or put his face against a wall. Then he'll say "Two Four Six...here come!" and he'll run around the house like a loon. After a few seconds of zooming around, he'll stop at another wall, and start all over again. If he ever manages to find himself, I'll let you know.

Tom is doing well - he's basking in all this attention! He gets more cuddles, more playtime, more feeding time, more everything! We think he's looking bigger, but we'll know for sure the next time we can get him on a scale - doc appts and shots all around when the kids get home! Yay immunity! He's definitely a lot stronger. As the first baby I've had who will happily sleep on his back, (the others were carefully propped on their sides, or *gasp* allowed to sleep on their tummies, for the sake of sleep) we've had to work harder at tummy time for him. We mostly just do it on the bed, like we did for Joan - the therapists all told us it's the ideal place, because you can be at eye level, so it's more enjoyable for all, and they can just splay out on the bed when they need a little breather. It's paying off - he can roll from back to belly now, and he can wiggle himself right out of his seat. It's that miserable stage, when they're compelled to get freedom, so they wiggle out. But once they're on the floor, they still can't do anything but lay there. When he figures out the belly-to-back maneuvre, and how to sit, he'll be much happier, I think.

I tried to get all organized and get a back-to-school list for John, but apparently, we don't need to buy anything. They'll be giving him everything on his first day (Sept 7 - the countdown is on!) and then we just pay a fee. I tried to find the name of his teacher, so I could let him know, but we won't find out until the first day, when the lists are posted outside. I hope he gets a good one. As of yet, his old teacher hasn't been assigned to a class, and a different teacher was in the kindergarten spot. I hope she doesn't just follow him up - I know he liked her, but I had some issues with the way she did things. It would be nice to have someone different.

Anyway, better go. Mike's working latge, so I have extra cleaning time today. I should probably make use of it. Or maybe I'll just play a rousing game of "car or truck" at the window with Dave.

Day 7

The night in Saskatchewan was our last on the road - and by far our worst. The mosquitoes were nothing short of unreal. No matter how fast we moved, the van was filled with them. Compounding the problem was the fact that the passenger window was stuck open. To try to keep them out, we had blocked the window with cling wrap. But it wasn't enough. We settled down to sleep with the hum of mosquitoes all around us. And it was hot and stuffy to boot. So it was too hot to be under the blanket, but if we took it off, we got eaten alive. The humm alone was enough to keep us awake, let alone the stffiness, heat, and blood sucking bugs swarming around us. We were going so crazy, we took the van, sleeping kids and all, for a drive with all the windows and the back hatch open to blow them out. But we couldn't close it down fast enough, or seal the window completely enough, to get rid of enoughof them to sleep. We had two choices - lay awake and suffer, or just hit the road. We chose the latter, getting on the road at about 4:30 a.m., after a miserable, sleepless night.

We rode into our next destination - Flin Flon - at about 6 a.m. It's a mining town, with copper and zinc I believe, and it looks a lot like Sudbury, with slag fields and stunted trees for miles around.

This is Flinty, the town mascot. The town is named after Josiah Flintabbatey Flonatin, a character in The Sunless City.

Flinty, in his trout-shaped submarine, which he uses to escape a bottomless lake (which actually has a bottom of gold).

The tourist office has lots of cool stuff, and a little campground. The kids liked the train.

The kids trying to get the gear to turn.

We only stopped to gas upin Flin Flon, then we pressed on to The Pas. We'd post a picture of the Manitoba sign, but there wasn't one along this route - not many tourists, I guess. Mike didn't believe me that The Pas would be largely native. I won that bet, hands down.

One of Mike's many, many futile attempts to fix the broken window on the road. The bugs were so horrible, we had to let the kids out to give them hope of escaping the swarms. But he could only work for a few minutes at a time, before being overcome. So we'd all pile in for a quick escape. The kids wound up covered in bites from all this. It was horrific. 

John found a baby frog on one of our roadside stops in rural Manitoba. It was the tiniest frog we'd ever seen! The kids took turnsd holding it before we set it free in the grass.

We took a detour north to Grand Rapids to get gas - the reserve had a Shell station. I also needed diapers, so we had to find a grocery store. All we found was a windowless steel building, like something right out of Nunuvut. It was pretty neat inside - a bunch of locals gabbing away. Way overpriced food. I'm going to assume they go to The Pas for groceries, because if that was really the grocery store, that town eats very, very poorly. There was very little real food. All the meat was frozen. There was just a few apples, oranges and peppers for veggies. The milk was $6 per gallon! My diapers were double what I'd normally pay.

There were actually some cool things there. There was a park that had the first railway line in western Canada. It followed an old 5km portage. It was originally a cart, which would have been pulled along by a horse.

It was a pretty rough place, and I felt very out of place. But we found a park by the river, and let the kids run around for a bit.

Dave is trying to give Ruf Ruf a ride

 Tom, having a stretch in the grass

The hydro dam at Grand Rapids - the reason for the town's existance

Pelicand hang out at the dam, waiting to pick of the food rushing past.

After Grand Rapids, we headed back south, towards Selkirk.

Along the road, our van hit a milestone - 200,000 miles!

We went through Gimli, which has a beatiful beach. We had planned to take the kids swimming, but after the night we'd had, and knowing that we'd be getting in late even if we didn't stop, we decided to press on, to the dismay of all the kids. As it was, Mike and I had spent the day trading off behind the wheel, taking turns sleeping and driving. I wanted to get in as early as possible. So we grabbed some burgers by the beach for dinner, and pressed on to the border.

Ontario at last! After this, it got too dark too fast for pictures. But we joined the Winnipeg cottagers into Ontario. We'd never seen the road to Kenora so busy! But we rolled into town just shy of 11 p.m. or so.

It had been a fun, but greulling trip on the road. Our game of avoiding the Trans Canada took us through some pretty neat places. But everyone was very, very glad to finally stop moving!

Day 6

Ah, sweet sleep.

We woke up ready to take on Saskatchewan! We had a few things we wanted to see, but we were behind even our loosey goosey schedule, so we didn't have much time.

The kids were getting restless by Saskatoon - particularly Dave, who seemed to be getting road-weary. So we stopped at the big river-front park for a run-around break.

The boys, digging in the dirt. Saskatoon was as beautiful as ever - Paris of the Praries, I think they call it. I've only been there twice that I can remember, and I always think we should stop and stay a while. There's lots to do there. But we didn't have time to do anything but chill at the park.

Our first major stop was a national historic site at Batoche. It's the site of a battle between the Metis and the Canadian government, basicly over how the land should be subdivided - the settlers did strips, like in France, but McDonald, who wanted to survey for the railroad, wanted them to do blocks. The Metis dug in their heels. A battle ensued. Many died. The whole park was very pro-Metis. The woman running the admission building was Metis - and very obviously biased. But it was pretty interesting, and the kids enjoyed it.

Ask any of them their favourite part, and they'll say the golf cart! Because the park was so huge, they had golf carts you could sign out. Because we had so many little kids, and it was such a hot day, we snagged one. It was the only way to see the park - there's no way we could have seen the far reaches without it. (And it was super-fun!)

Joan, hanging out in the military tent with her flowers.

The kids explore a Metis rifle pit at Batoche.

Batoche was pretty neat, but they were closing up the park, so it was time to go. When Mike returned the golf cart keys, he got a nice surprise - when we arrived, there was an elderly couple visiting from Edmonton, whose battery had died. So while I was slathering everyone with sunscreen, he gave them a boost. As a thank-you for being a good samaritan, they gave him a Metis cookbook. It's a pretty cool book - it's almost all wild game recipes, so I'm not sure we'll ever do any recipe as its written, but he was really tickled to get it.

We had decided early on that we were definitely camping that night, so we set off. But on our path, we saw something I didn't even know existed - a ferry on the praries! 

This is the road leading to the ferry, which crosses the Saskatchewan River. It's just a platform, which runs on two cables, so it diesn't get swept away. The operator saw us coming, so he pulled the ferry over - it's that little platform you can see on the other side.

This is looking back over the river, while we're on the ferry.

After this, we headed way up north, and wound up camping by the side of the road just outside Flin Flon.

Day 5

We used Oyen as a recharge base. We did some laundry at the hotel - enough to have everyone back in clean clothes. While we did that, the kids gorged on the continental breakfast. We brought plate after plate of muffins, waffles and eggs up to them. After such a light dinner, they were starving. I think all told, we ate a dozen hard-boiled eggs alone. Then we headed into town to finish our laundry, and get John a haircut. This picture is of the kids playing "choo-choo" -Dave's favourite game. Although it looks like they're having fun, they were largely bored, and were at each other for hours, and they each spent most of the time in time-outs just to keep them apart.

 I took John for his haircut. This is his "before" - at least the closest he'd let me get to a before - or an after for that matter. As I said, it was a rough morning, with a bunch of bored, grumpy kids. He got his haircut in a girl's basement - the salon downtown was all booked up, so we looked online, made a few calls, and found a girl named Darcey, who had turned her basement into a studio. She was nice until I mentioned we were going home to Ontario. I had forgotten I was still in Alberta. To thaw her icy glare, I spent the next few minutes explaining how we're NOT southern Ontario, and we're actually closer to Calgary than Toronto. She warmed up a bit after that, but she never treated us the same again.

Oyen is pretty close to the border - another province down!

Straddling the border is a town called Alsask. It's an old army base, with a radar tower, shown here. It's a relic of the cold war - it formed an early warning system to search for Russian missiles headed for the US. The town that grew up around it nearly died when the bas was closed down. It went from 800 people to its current 150 or so. A lot of the buldings rotten away and were torn down. But instead of just letting it be, the town errected signs to commemmorate where each building once stood, and what business or family home was there. It was really eerie. There were ghosts of old city parks and playgrounds, and it once had a busy little downtown. Now there's just a few houses, and signs to mark the rest, with an abandoned base with barracks and offices nearby. 

Just inside Saskatchewan, we saw a point of interest, and decided to turn in. We found...a rock. According to the plaque, it's a buffalo rubbing stone - the buffalo would rub on this rock, to shed winter fur or just scratch an itch. They used it so heavily, a trench has been worn around it, and the rock has been polished to a smooth sheen. John was inspired to try it out, too.

After that, we were off to check out The Great Wall of Saskatchewan, just outside Smiley - a must-see for anyone following this route. It's a rock wall, built from stones pulled by a farmer from his field over the course of 30 years. Now, it's a half-mile long, ranging from 6-12 feet wide and tall. He's built a road along it, so people can see the whole thing. At the end, he built a little sod house that you can go inside, and he's filled it with antique stuff. He has a quest book you can sign, that's just a 3-hole school exercise book. People from all over the counrty had signed it.  It took us a while to find it. There wasn't much signage, but there was one sign directing us to the Johnson's farm, cafe and stone wall. So we headed up and found the Johnson's farm. We went on, but saw no wall. We wound up prowling all over their farm, looking for this thing. In the end, we went back to town and asked a local. She said it was on the left, "you can't miss it," she said. "And if you don't see it, well, there must be something wrong with you all." We went back, and there it was, plain as day - we hadn't gone far enough. It is a real site to see - it's really worth the trip off the beaten track to see it. This guy built this entire thing entirely by hand.

This is inside the soddie he built at the end of his road. The kids thought it was the coolest thing ever.

Exploring the antique kitchen stuff he'd moved in. He had an old ringer washer, too.

He put in an old water pump too. It was non-functioning, but the kids had fun trying to get water out. You can see the soddie in the back - he'd faced it with his stones.

A view of the Great Wall of Sasatchewan. No photo can do this thing justice. It really needs to be seen.

Dave decided to add a few rocks, by picking up pebbles from the road, and sticking them in the holes

Dave, perched on top

All of the kids by one part of the wall.

Sadly, we didn't make it far past Smiley. It was a small town called Rosetown. When Mike suggested earlier in the day that we stop there, I laughed at him. In the end, he quessed it right. There weren't many good camping spots, unless we wanted to squat in a flat field, so we actually ended up getting another hotel. Not as luxurious as the first, but it let us all get another good night's sleep, to hit the road early the next day.

Day 4

The morning of day 4 was rough. We'd been camping for a while, and were getting weary of all the work involved. So as I made breakfast, Mike wandered off with his cell phone. I fantasized that he was phoning to book us a hotel that night - and in reality, he was! He'd booked us into a hotel in Oyen, AB, which is right near the border of Sask. We needed to recharge, and have a good night's sleep, and make good time, and it was just the carrot we needed to cover Alberta in one day.

Our frst stop was Bar U Ranch, just south of Calgary. We lived there for more than two years,a nd never knew it was even there! It's a national historical site, of what was a HUGE ranch. It's bread and butter was cattle, but they became famous for breeding these ginormous french horses. The owner was never able to find a good horse, capable of the heavy work of an Alberta ranch, so when he found this breed, he decided to breed them for his neighbours. I forget the name, but they're called the gentle giants, because they're HUGE, but have really nice temperaments.

We totally lucked out on ths one - when we arrived, we were told the wagon was in use by a camp group. But as we were looking at one of the old horse barns, it pulled around the corner, and the group's leader invited us aboard, and we got their tour. The camp leader took this photo.

Part of the special tour was being able to see one of the horses bred there up close. It's hard to tell how big it is from this photo, because we're up really high. This horse wasn't born at the ranch - they bought it from a woman with five kids. On weekends, she would load all her kids on this horse, and set it loose on the farm. Now and then, a kid would fall off, and all they had to do was lead it to the nearest fence. This horse would just wait patiently while the kid climbed on the fence, and scrambled back on, whether it was on its rump, or over its nose and down its back.

Joan on one of the displays

Dave and Joan, checking out some horses in the coral. Dave loved this ranch! He's definitely our biggest animal lover, and ran around yelling "horsey! horsey! horsey!"

After the ranch, we burned through to Calgary. We entered the city through the south, so we took the kids to see thier old schools, and then to see our old house. it was kind of bittersweet - especially seeing Joan's school, which was our biggest reason for staying in Calgary.

We headed north to Vic's neighbourhood, and had a good visit. William is an alert, happy, not-so-little guy. We did tghe obligatory baby swap:

Vicki with Tom

Mike with William

After a short visit, we headed to Drumheller, to see the Tyrell Museum. I wanted to show John that museum the whole time we lived in Calgary, but we'd never gotten around to it.

People often ask us how we manage so many kids. We do stuff like this, which is unloading at Tyrell - we pick a spot, and make each kid sit still there until we're finished unpacking everyone. They're learning to listen - they don't run around as much as they used to.

Mike and John.

The kids are looking at a carp pond - the museum has a cool garden display, to show what the vegetation would have looked like.

Billy and Vicki - with little William

I probably should have taken this shot at Vicki's place. between too-dim museum lighting and too many distractions, it didn't work out terribly well. But it's the Walchuk kids, with all their Walchuk kids!

It was a cool museum, and John loved it, as we knew he would. I'm glad we were able to take them. They had a lab, that you could see behind glass, and the coolest water display - it was a plexiglass floor, so it felt like you were walking on water. It freaked the kids out. Joan actually fell, because she couldn't tell where the floor was. Dave was just completely freaked out, and got through it by shuffling his feet the whole way.

There were a lot of Japanese tourists. One group of very bubbly girls asked to get a picture of Tom. I'd be a little weirded out, but I'd been through that before - some Japanese tourist went home with pictures of a young John by the reflecting pool in Washington. Not sure what they do with babies in Japan. I know our Korean convenience store ownder in Hamilton said it was considered dangerous to take babies outside until they're about 6 months old - maybe they do the same.

After the museum, we parted ways with Vicki and Billy. We tried to continue up the road to Oyen, but were low on gas, and being evening in rural Alberta, we weren't sure what we'd find, if anything. We pulled over and asked a local farmer, who told us we'd have to turn back to Drumheller, so that's what we did. But it was a smaller town than we expected. The Shell was already closed, so we couldn't use our AirMiles gas certificates. They didn't even have a TD, where we could deposit a paycheque. So we scraped up enough pocket change to put some gas in at a PetroCanada, and raided the cooler for supper. As I recall, it was yogurt and peanut butter on celery, with oranges for dessert.

And that's about where the bugs began. It's been so wet on the praries, the whole place has exploded with mosquitoes. There were so many, it sounded like it was raining, even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Our windshield degraded into a big greasy streak, despite constant washing. It was so bad, we had to stop at a gas station along the way just to scrape them down. I got out to look, and the front of our white van was literally black. Ewww.

Despite all the setbacks, we got to Oyen, at about 11:30 p.m. It was just a Super 8, but after camping so many days, it felt like the most luxurious hotel in the world. We had a hot shower in our sparkling white tub, climbed into our clean, crisp white sheets, and Mike said "that was one of the best experiences of my life." I couldn't had agreed more.