Baby Byrne's Blog: September 2017

We rented a paddleboat at Bowness Park and took a spin around the lagoon.

There were lots of geese and many goslings as well. They were adorable.

Some of the ducks were a little too friendly and came right up to the boat. All fingers remained intact though.

That weekend we headed to Big Hill Springs. We checked out the waterfalls.

It was perfect weather for a hike.

The kids wanted to climb across this log but their parents were not prepared for soaked kids.

We hit Heritage Park on Labour Day for one last time before school started. We rode on the carousel and other rides and checked out some more houses we hadn't been to in a while. We don't know why Cara was making this face, but she was having a good time, honest!

First day of school! Gwen was excited to start Grade 2!

Can you believe she's in Grade 2 already? She is in a split Grade 2 - Grade 3 class and has one of Cara's old teachers.

Cara was excited to head to her new school.

Grade 4 is going to be awesome!

One last picture before heading their separate ways. They both really miss seeing each other at school, but luckily they know where to find each other when the day is done.

Gwen waiting to go in on Day 1.

Cara was dropped off at the door and went in by herself. A big change from Grade 3, but she can do it!

That weekend we had our first Guides/Brownies event for the year, a bottle drive. The girls did great and managed to fill our car twice. They celebrated with some hotdogs at the bottle depot.

We checked out a new playground that was built to celebrate Canada 150. It was pretty cool and had a saucer the kids could hang on to better when flying high.

Our apple tree in the backyard produced a ton of apples so we had to make something good. Mary made some delicious apple jelly.

Gwen had to take a trip to urgent care because she wasn't feeling well. But by the time she got to see a doctor, she was feeling great. So nothing serious!

Our garden only produced one good zucchini...but it was a good one!

Cara's new school is big on school spirit and Cara is having a great time getting on board!

The next weekend, Cara had her first Guides sleepover. She practiced hard to get her official Guides bedroll just right.

She was very nervous for the campout and the sailing, but she did it and had a great time!

The kids sailed without a grownup in their boat (the instructors were in a speedboat nearby), and despite some minor bumps they made out well.

Cara even fell in the lake and learned a valuable lesson in reaching into a boat for your jacket before it's tied up! She got wet but no harm done! Here she is with her favourite boat, the Millenium Falcon.

Uncle James was in town for work so we helped him celebrate his big 40th birthday! The girls were happy to see their uncle!

Cara's Guide troop went to this cool new place called Granary Road just outside Calgary. They learned about bugs, agriculture and ecosystems. All reports are that it was awesome.

We hit Calaway Park to check out the Halloween festivities. Here they are posing for a skeltie with a new friend.

Gwen is getting pretty good at driving a bumper car.

They met this cool robot guy.

And posed for the traditional Halloweekends picture.

Chilling with another parkgoer who had been waiting in line for way too long.

Time is going by so fast, Gwen already has her Broom License.

Cara's allowed to take the broom but no drinking potions and flying.

Gwen's class went around the neighbourhood and marked the storm drains. It's a nice reminder that those drains are only for clean water.

Road working Gwen.

Gwen's school had their annual Terry Fox Run. Gwen did a 3k run/walk like a superstar.

We bit the bullet and got a new furnace. Ours was still functional but was not long for this world. So far we haven't had a really cold day to put it to the test, but it should be soon.

To celebrate 11 years of marriage, we headed back to Calaway Park (don't worry, Mom and Dad went out to celebrate just the two of them a few nights before). It was probably going to be our last time there, so we made it count.