Canmore Hike - Grassi Lakes

At 36 weeks, we made our last trip-before-baby, an overnight stay in Canmore with Tom's family. We arrived on a Friday night, ordered pizza and pasta takeout, and spent a little time in the pool. After Lacey went to bed, we played a board game, before we all hit the hay ourselves.

The next day, we drove out to the Grassi Lakes trailhead, and did half of the short hike. The round trip on Grassi Lakes trail is about 4km. We did about 1km up to a waterfall, and then turned around.

It never ceases to amaze me what an adventurer Lacey is. This is the second hike we've taken her on (her first was earlier this year in Palm Springs), and she insisted on walking about 80% of the trail herself. She occasionally wanted to be carried if the terrain got a little to rocky or tree-rooty, but otherwise, she wanted to march along by her own steam.

There were many people out on the trail enjoying the warm weather, and Lacey got plenty of kisses from passing dogs.

She cheerfully marched along with Auntie, Uncle, Grandma and Grandpa, quite pleased with herself.

She even seemed disappointed when we turned around to head back to the car.

But it was the right decision to head back. Hiking is hard work for a two year old! She was out like a light, two minutes after finishing her post-hike snack.

And I can assure you, she was NOT in a good mood when she woke up 40 minutes later... She could have used a good two hour nap after all her hiking! We got her to bed early that night. But we know she'll be game for more hiking in the future!

Satisfaction!

There is a certain sense of satisfaction every time you finish a project. I remember a time after Lacey was born, when it felt like there was never going to be time to work on, or finish a project, EVER AGAIN. Between the sleepless nights, endless laundry, bottle-washing and feeding, I went into survival-mode, and everything extra-curricular fell away.

But over the last two years, things have gotten easier. Our life has fallen into a rhythm or routine. And bit by bit, I've gotten some time back to myself.

With our new baby nearly on her way, I have been working diligently on some projects. The first, I asked my good friend Jeff, to design for me. It is an ocean themed alphabet, which can be seen in the image below.

Jeff drew this alphabet, and then digitally designed it for me-- and I ABSOLUTELY LOVE IT.  There are not enough words to describe how much I love it! I took the digital design, and converted it into a cross-stitch pattern. And then for the last 2.5 months, I have spent every free moment cross stitching each of the animals. It was probably hundreds of hours spent cross stitching! Before bed, during lunch hours, on planes, in the car... I took every opportunity I could get to cross stitch. And now, it's finally done!!!!!

I'm so pleased with the results. It will fit into the ocean theme of the new baby's room just perfectly!

And... Just a few weeks later, I finished off the second major project for the baby's room-- a painting!

I saw this painting on a website over a year ago, and took a screenshot of it. I thought, this would be perfect for a nursery! And so the screencap has sat on my phone, collecting figurative dust, until I was able to find the time to sit down and paint it out myself last week.

Again, I'm very happy with the results, and I'm glad I've been able to spend some time being creative before the baby arrives. I know we will spend a few months back in the void of sleepless nights, laundry, never-ending bottle washing and feeding soon enough. But at least this time I know there will be an eventual end to it. And I'll have more time for projects like this again!

32 Week Bump

32 weeks bump! I'm not sure how I got so far into the third trimester already. This 32 week bump is definitely bigger than my 2016 32 week bump! It feels like there can't possibly be more room in there for her to keep growing, and there's still two more months to go...

With Lacey's pregnancy, I was constantly achy at night, and I would toss and turn from one side to the other because my hips hurt. I haven't had the same aches this time around, but I have been snoring myself awake. I don't usually snore-- and I'm sure it'll stop once the baby arrives. Tom will gladly attest that it's an annoying side effect of pregnancy.

Then again, at this point, there aren't any glamorous side effects of pregnancy. Except maybe that my hair is a lot thicker because it has stopped falling out... But I'll be sporting bald spots again when it starts shedding post-partum... So it all evens out.

Zion National Park via Vegas (in a Day!)

At 29 weeks pregnant, Tom and I decided to have one last hoorah before the impending arrival of our second born. With Lacey safely ensconced at home with her grandparents, we boarded a plane  for a short, three night, two day trip to Las Vegas.

Zion National Park.

Obviously being super pregnant, this was not your typical Vegas trip. Tom and I rented a car for our first full day, and drove through three states to get to Zion National Park. The drive was only about 2.75 hours. We started in Nevada, skimmed through the corner of Arizona, and arrived at our final destination in Utah.

The United States has some really beautiful and unique national parks. It was 24 degrees, and alternately sunny and overcast-- a great temperature for some sightseeing and easy (EASY) hiking.

We arrived in the neighbouring town of Springdale, around 11:30am, where we ate a quick lunch, before walking a short distance to the pedestrian entrance of the park. Zion is not a particularly large park, and in the last few years, they have introduced an elaborate shuttle system that has eliminated driving within the greater park area.  I can understand why they did. The parking lots are not very big within the park, and if not for the shuttle system, we would have spent a good portion of the day stuck in traffic, circling for a parking spot. The shuttle system was well run and well executed, but we were facing some spring break crowds, and had to wait about 40-45 minutes in a never-ending line to get into the park.

We took the shuttle deep into the park, stop 7 of 9, the Weeping Rock. The Weeping Rock is an interface between two sandstone formations. They are underlain by a shale that prevents from water from absorbing into the ground. As a result, water seeps out of the rock face. It was a trickle of water during our visit, but during the winter, there can be a flood of water pouring down.  The Weeping Rock trail was very short (0.5 miles), and a little steep. It turned out to be a very short stop for us.

Next we jumped back onto the shuttle and headed to the turn around at stop 9 of 9, Temple of Sinawava. We didn't exit the shuttle at the end, just continued the ride so that we could take in the views from the bus.

On our way back we stopped at the Zion Lodge, stop 5 of 9, so we could follow the short, 1 mile trail, to the Lower Emerald Pool.

Emerald Pool (aka, mud puddle?)

Admittedly, we were a little underwhelmed by both the Lower and Middle Emerald Pool... Mainly because they were basically muddy muck pools at this time of year! Not exactly emerald, and not exactly photo-worthy! But it was some good exercise, and nice to stretch our legs on the trail.

We were able to scout a hiking trail for future visits to Zion, called Angel's Landing. At 5 miles round trip, and 1488 ft of elevation change, it was not within the realm of possibility for my seven month pregnant self. But the switchbacks and sweeping views were calling for a secondary visit.... Someday!

We headed back to our car, and started the long drive back to Vegas. It was a long day, but it was one that both Tom and I would repeat without any hesitation!

Two Years Old

What a difference a year makes. Last year as a one year old, Lacey had no idea what was going on at her birthday party-- other than that everyone she loved was in one room with her, and she got to open some boxes and bags that had fun toys in the them. She was barely able to verbalize what she wanted or if she was having a good time. And she was still a bit unsteady on her feet. Not to mention, she barely had any hair!

This year she knew there was going to be a party, she knew there would be a cake, she knew there would be presents for her, and she knew she got to wear her fancy "princess" dress.

Lacey had a wonderful second birthday. This year she picked the Peppa Pig cupcakes that I made for her party, and she had a blast playing with her older cousins.

Peppa Pig Cupcakes!

Happy Birthday to my big girl! Thanks to all the family who made it so special for her!

Cat Cake and Turning 7

I have a vivid memory of baby-sitting my niece when she was eight or nine months old back in 2011. For whatever reason (most likely separation anxiety), she could not handle being near Tom. The very sight of him caused her to burst into hysterical tears, so it was a very long afternoon. Tom played with our nephew in one room, and I hung out with our niece in another. If he stuck his head into the room to see how we were doing, she would immediately start to cry.

So when I see the exuberant 7-year old in front of me, it's hard to imagine that all this time has passed by so very quickly. 

This year my niece requested a cat cake for her birthday party, and I am VERY pleased with the final product. I dug the design up from a post from the lovely ladies at CocoCakeLand.

From what I can tell, it was well received at her party!

Only scraps left.

Happy Birthday, sweet niece!  

San Diego

San Diego is about a two hour drive away from Palm Springs. After spending four days in Palm Springs, we hopped in our rental car, and drove to the coast. 

San Diego was a big change in comparison to Palm Springs. It wasn't as warm, and we stayed in a hotel-- which felt very cramped after the luxurious stay in our sprawling Air BnB bungalow. One of the benefits of the hotel was a beautiful view at sunset.

There were plenty of places to see and explore, and we started with the San Diego Zoo!

The San Diego Zoo is HUGE. The infrastructure is way beyond any other zoo that I'd visited before. The enclosures were elaborate, and there is a gondola that takes you from one end of the park to the other. 

There were lots of animals that Lacey had seen before, but never so up close. She got a front row seat for a pair of male tigers, and a gorilla came right up to the window and sat beside her. 

She also got to see an elephant for the first time!

The following day we went to La Jolla Cove. It was a weekend, and the park was riddled with families like ourselves, walking around with small kids. There was a man in the park blow bubbles-- giant ones and little ones, with various equipment. And there were hordes of kids running around trying to chase the bubbles, and Lacey joined right in. She was full of glee running around after everyone!

There were also some very stinky sea lions at La Jolla Cove. Stinky and noisy.

We took advantage of our last morning in San Diego, and did a long beach walk. Lacey likes to poke at things in the sand, and watch sea gulls. And we found a big playpark for her to play in. Swings are always a hit!

After that, we loaded ourselves back into the car, and drove back to Palm Springs so we could catch our flight home. 

Overall, a great trip. And it really helped that it was freezing cold and snowing at home-- so it was the perfect time for a getaway!

This marks the last trip that Lacey can make as a "lap infant". Next time we travel, she'll be big enough to have her own seat!