News, news, and good news!

So October has come and went, and we are half way through November and it seems like school only just began.


Dom is now as comfortable on the bus as he is in his own house.  He's already discovered that boys who want to be your friend will sometimes make fun of you ("That's how I landed your mom Dom!") and Tracy helped to chaperon a field trip.  I've been busy at school and coaching volleyball (though we weren't too successful) and Liam... well, Liam learned to like swimming and hopefully this will rub off on skating.


Halloween was pretty great this year.  The weather was nice and the boys didn't want to go too far to get candy.  Our little hamburger was a hit at most of the houses we went to, and I got some very positive comments on our pumpkins.  The Saturday before, Tracy went to an "official" viewing of the Rocky Horror Picture Show, and I believe is only now getting over the shock that this culture is alive in Lethbridge.


Oh, and for those who didn't already know, baby #3 is on the way.  Here we go again!

End of the summer

So, once again the summer has come and gone.
It seems that this summer has been exceptionally short.  With the weather, time away from home, and lack of a regular routine, the summer of 2010 flew by.  With September also comes back to school, not just for me this year, but for Dom as well.  The first day had a bit of a rough drop-off for Tracy, but the bus ride home was "awesome" and Dom will no longer accept his Mom coming to pick him up.  Although he hasn't learned any french, he enjoys going and is learning lots of other stuff.  Me, well, new classes, new curriculum, lack of preps, and life is good.  Pics to the left.

Ol MacDonald's Farm

So a few weeks back we went for a camping trip with Amanda, Jeremy, and Madison.
They selected a nice little camp ground in the middle of us (2 hours for them, 4 hours for us!) and then picked a weekend when rain was assured!  Just kidding, it did rain, but only the day before we were going to leave and after we had had supper and packed up the cars (cause we saw the rain coming).  Some pics to the left of our trip.

Edmonton, Jasper, and the Columbia Icefields

So we are back in Lethbridge, for awhile, and enjoying sleeping in our own beds...  funny that nobody ever told us that when there is a bedroom and a pullout in a hotel room, the kids end up in the bed and the adults end up on the pullout... at least that's how we slept.
So we spent some time in Edmonton, visiting friends and family, including a chance to watch "Grown Ups" (not Sandler's best work, but much less vulgar then anything he's done) and then a special after movie surprise (eh, Amanda!).  A couple of days out in Jasper, including a few hikes (Liam spent most of the time on my shoulders, but Dom muscled through), a trip up the Tram, a boat ride, and a couple big freaking caribous.  My highlight was the drive down through the Columbia Icefields to Lake Louise; if you have never done this, put it on your list.  The day was rainy and cloudy, but it was still unbelievable and a bit shocking to see how much of the glaciers have already disappeared.
Some pics to the left, enjoy.

Saturdays for awhile!

So, you may note the loss of the rain theme in the blog, this doesn't mean that the rain has stopped, just that it is now manageable... or we are used to it and it seems manageable.  The mosquitoes that have come with the wet spring we can all do without though.
So, summer is officially here for me, and so the holidays begin.  Those of you who don't know, we have postponed our big holiday this summer (due to a funding issue), but Tracy had already booked her holidays and couldn't give them back.  So, it's a "staycation" for us this year (those who haven't seen the Alberta adds on TV, I apologize).  Kicking it all off, was a visit from Derek and Amanda and a trip to Waterton, where Dom hiked Bear's Hump all by himself, top-to-bottom.  Liam was good for a bit, but rode most of the trail on my shoulders.  Next we are off to Fairmont to visit Nick, Susan, and Isla.  Then to Drumheller, Edmonton, Jasper, and stops in between.  A good chance to catch up on all those sights we've been meaning to get to.

Wet Birthdays

Not really much to explain here.  In honour of the weather this spring/summer I've updated the look of the blog.  To let you know how much water we've received, I set up a rain barrel this past weekend and had to empty it the last night (due to over-flowage) and it is already full today!  This might not sound like a big deal, but I figure I took 128 liters out of it the other night!
Anyway, enough wet weather talk, thanks everyone for the birthday cards and well wishes (for me and Dom).  We both had wonderful days; mine involved ice cream and Dom's had ice cream, happy kids, screaming kids, laughing kids, kids out of control (I think you get the picture).  Great fun for everyone!

Free from Facebook

After a lot of thought I've decided to deactivate my Facebook account.  My final status post "De-activating my Facebook account.  Follow me on Twiter (@Jkwas) on Tumblr (jkwas.tumblr.com) or on the Kwas Blog (thekwas.blogspot.com).  Thanks for the memories."

Busy Sunday!

So aside from being Mother's Day (Happy Mother's day to all the special mothers out there!), Sunday was also the first triathlon of the season.  I led off the day with the Olympic distance (1500 meter swim, 40 km ride, and 10 km run) and Tracy followed up with the Super-Sprint (200 meter swim, 15 km ride, and 3 km run).  Overall, the race came and went, the weather co-operated (kind of), and we celebrated with Chinese take-out.  Tracy met her goal for the day, although, she wasn't 100% happy with how the race went down. I missed my goal for the day and blame it on my lack of cycling over the winter.  Unfortunately all the run training I was doing didn't get a chance to pay off as my legs were baked from the ride.  Oh well, it's a long season.

Mexico

Well, it's been a week since our trip to Los Cabos and Tracy is still working on the laundry, I'm still trying to get rid of this sinus cold, and the boys have yet to return to their normal schedule.  All that aside, we had a wonderful trip and were so happy to be apart of Aimee and Jarrett's special day.  Take a look at some of the pictures to the left.

Special congratulations from today goes out to Krista (who also motivated this post) for her 10 mile performance today.  Well done, the next 3 miles will be easy now!

Latest Snowshoeing Adventures

So, I got the project done (sort of) in time for a day of snowshoeing at Allison Creek (in the Crowsnest Pass). Overall, the results were 100 times better then the last snowshoeing trip with the kids.

First, the Chariot. After a 2 hour trip to Home Depot, and a (I can only assume) confusing phone call to my father. I came home with the pieces that I needed to turn our Chariot into a snowshoeing trailer. For those of you who have trailers that are new enough to buy the attachments from the company, do it! You don't save that much by doing it yourself.

Fast forward one week and to the parking lot at Allison Creek, surrounded by interested cross country skiers. Unfortunately, what worked good in the garage, faltered in the parking lot. Needless to say, an on-sight modification was in order (i.e. the ski pole jammed through the spokes to keep the front end of the Chariot off the ground). After that, we were off to the races...the very slow and sweaty races. The boys slept until it was time for hot chocolate, then, while Liam finished off the M&Ms in the sled, Dom ran beside Tracy back to the car. Overall, a great day! And don't worry, a plan has already been hatched to replace the ski pole... and the fitness level of the "horse". More pictures posted in the slide show on the right.

Pulling kids around in the snow

So, in the spirit of living a more active lifestyle, Tracy and I decided to buy the X-Country ski attachment for our Chariot kid carrier. We were pretty psyched up about it until I went into Bert and Mac's to buy one. Once again, evolution got the best of us as the trailers have changed since the one that we now own was originally purchased.
A little background here - I bought the Chariot from a lady that I work with strictly for pulling behind my bike (which it has worked wonderfully for) and lately started using it for running. Now, I'm pretty sure that she bought it from somebody else, and who knows before that.
Fast forward to Bert and Mac's, where I am standing with the trailer and Matt, trying to find the year that this thing was built (1997). I left the trailer with him to see if he could order the parts, but he didn't sound too positive. Following a lead from my baby sister I went home on turned on Google only to find out that the X-Country ski attachment isn't available for our year of trailer. But, I did find this interesting link, which I am planning on putting into action once I get the trailer back from Matt. Any help in modifying these plans will be considered, if you want to add your 2-bits.
By the way, for those of you still reading, thanks to everyone for a wonderful Christmas. The kids are just now accepting the fact that chocolate is not a necessity for every meal and that bedtime is not the time that you get thrown into a bedroom cause you are pitching too big of a fit.
Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, and looking forward to hearing every one's plans for 2010.