Tea for two........... please!

We are 'desperately' in need of some Decaf Yorkshire tea bags from the old country. Can you help? We can exchange for maple syrup if required :)

I've invented a new word....

Poopcon (pronounced Poopçon like soupçon).  It basically means a hint of poo, either a whiff or minor evidence on nappy or clothing which makes you change the baby for no real reason.

What a Difference Four Days Make .....

When we went away Dan was refusing virtually every morsel of food and now we`re back he`s sticking virtually every thing we put in front of him into the gaping maw.  Admittedly he`s not actually swallowing much but the interest is definitely there.

He gained this amazing talent on our trip and he has since tasted many things from squid to cheerios.  Thanks to that Bishop woman for the cheerios tip, he may not actually eat many but it takes him ages to pick them up and try them all :)

Other changes include:
  Tantrums if left in the car seat for very long.
  Making silly lalalala noises and knowing he`s being silly
  Understanding mirrors

One other thing to note, I wondered in the past why parents only really talked about their children and very little else.  I now know why, everything you do is around them and therefore that`s all you do, obvious really but at least it answers the question.

Golden Days

We have just returned from our short trip to Golden in BC and a pretty good time was had by all.  We learned from Drumheller that Dan will not put up with long car rides without crying and complaining a lot. Therefore we broke up our journey and stopped in a place called Cochrane on the way there and back, this was a good idea.  Dan was fine for most of the time until the last leg which was Cochrane to home when he cried for at least 2 hours solid.  I was driving but Jacqui had to try and sooth him and put him to sleep so she got the worst of it by a long way.  However eventually he went to sleep and we had a quiet last hour or so.

But less about travel and more about the trip itself.  Golden is a little town in BC created by the railroad and is something of a truckstop in the middle of the Rockies.  It has a quaint little downtown area and a ski-resort called the Kicking Horse Resort, this is where we were staying.  The hotel was called the Copper Horse and we decided to stay there after getting a good offer online.  The offer included a trip up the gondola and the grizzly bear sanctuary  Hotel was nice, staff friendly and accommodations good.  We were staying two nights in Golden so our day of investigation was the one in between.  We went up the Gondola first after finding the sanctuary closed, the bear `Boo`has escaped a couple of times recently and I believe they are strengthening his enclosure fences at the moment..  The gondola ride is a long one and although it was raining the views were cool and it was`n`t too cold at the top.  With Dan in tow we did not stay long, just some sightseeing and a cup of tea then back down.  Lucky we did, a couple who went up the same time as us stayed a bit longer then got stranded up there for 4 hours by the weather!

Afternoon was spent wandering around Golden and taking in a few of the sights, there are actually only a few to take in.......  But we had fun and took a couple of pics, some here and some in a future post.

As well as getting lucky up the mountain we also got lucky on the journey back, all the rain in the area caused a mudslide to close the road back to Cochrane through the mountains the day after we left.  The journey back was fairly uneventful but we enjoyed the trip overall and I think Dan did too.

What a difference a day makes

The last couple of days we've travelled around 600 km or 400 miles and the two chunks have been very different.

The first day young Dan seemed to be teething badly which meant that out of the 4 or 5 hours on the road he was crying or complaining for at least three of them. I know if wasn't his fault but it wasn't fun either ;p

Today we started at roughly the same time and although he wasn't too happy to start with Jacqui got him to sleep and he was down for a good hour and a half. Time enough for us to get to Lake Louise where we stopped at the historic railway station for some good food in fascinating surroundings. We would really recommend the restaurant. Dan stayed awake after dinner and for the whole journey to Golden. And he was in a good mood the whole way helped by careful toy selection on my part.

As I speak he is drifting off to sleep with Jacqui and peace reigns while the rain falls.

You get loads for $7 nowadays

Our neighbours across the road had a garage sale this morning and apart from it being a right sod getting out of our driveway it was a good thing.  I dropped in about 9am and then went back with Jacqui and Dan at 10ish.  They are an elderly couple and they were hosting the sale with three of their daughters.  Luckily this meant a bunch of childrens stuff.  So we spent $6:75 and came back with this:-

Plus a couple of dvds of course.  Now I have lots of things to wash so signing off.

Beware fingers and nipples alike.

Yes you read that correctly, today Jacqui noticed that there is a small sharp protrusion that has just broken through Dan's lower gums.  And there was a mixture of celebration and fear.  No pictures yet as although you can feel it with your finger it's not properly above the gum flesh.

Still interesting times and it may accelerate the move to bottles and eventually weaning:)

And a good day was had by all

Today has been a good day for us in the Miller household.  Dan had a good nights rest and woke up in good spirits.  We then spent a few hours tidying up the house for our upcoming visitors.  Our friends Jenn and Rick came over with their baby Carter who's one whole week older than Dan and we went out for a nice and relaxed lunch at East Side Marios, nice and family friendly. 

We then dropped in on Mission Games and I got some new dice and the Bishops got another game.  We came home then and socialised a bit with Carter showing Dan how crawling is done while Dan continued showing Carter how shouting is done :)  Nap time was approaching so they headed off and we chilled for a couple of hours.

Then early evening we took young spod over to his babysitter and Canadian godmother Jenny where he spent a couple of hours while we went out and had tapas and wine.  On collecting him we discovered that he had not cried once and while he was pleased to see us he was not unhappy to be left with Jenny.  Hooray, many hoorays, especially as she has offered to take him once a week!

And lastly tonight he went to bed relatively easily and we are now looking forward to a little holiday we have planned.  Good times.

Sending the wife out to work

Had a bit of practice sending Jacqui out to get 'er done today while I was left alone with young Dan.

Admittedly she was only gone for an hour but good practice nonetheless. She noticed that the excessive rain was not traveling down the gutters and pipes as designed and a blockage was identified. So today she was forced out the bedroom window with a bucket and rubber gloves. And a job was well done albeit quite nervously. Looks like more extreme measures will be necessary if I want to get my hands on the lovely insurance money.

Safety First

I have successfully installed two safety latches for the ground floor bathroom cabinets. Along with the stair gates at the bottom of both sets of stairs we have begun the journey towards frustrating our offspring in his attempts to explore and learn.

Next steps involve nailing him to the floor and actively discouraging any form of movement.

Too much rain, really now you can stop...

Now this has been a wet summer here in St. Albert.  Very, very wet, and the mosquitoes love it, and I must say I hate them with a vengeance.  I have read about another high power repellent called Doktor Doom, now of course I would have to purchase it anyway with a name like that, but it also has some good reviews from various sources. 

Now I just need to find it somewhere near here.  The website has identified a number of places but the first couple have turned out to be lying absolutely and unequivocally.  But my quest will be successful, either that or I'll order it online :)

And of course Doom to all mossies.

Connecting Blog to Facebook via Twitter

The normal connection to FB from this blog is not very reliable so I'm trying to connect via twitter, let's see if it works.

Drumheller part two, in which our heroes conquer the Dinosaur trail and survive the downpour

Previously in Drumheller.....
We rejoin our journey on the South Dino trail which winds up into the mountains surrounding Drumheller.  The first place of note was Orkney point which looks across a cool valley to Horsethief canyon.

After Orkney point you make your way down to a mini ferry to cross the river pictured above.

On crossing the river the trail becomes the Northern Dino trail and curves gently back down to DH.  We stopped there for a cool drink in the Italian cafe and then began the journey home.  Unfortunately when we reached southern Edmonton it absolutely chucked it down and the van being quite old, we discovered some leaks around the windscreen.  Nothing of major concern but it did make things a bit more stressful as Jacqui was having trouble seeing through the downpour.  However an hour later we sailed into port in St. Albert and breathed sighs of relief.

We will go back to the badlands, but better prepared and preferably wearing full hazmat suits.

Drumheller, land of the dinosaurs

Last week we made the trip down south to the Canadian badlands, the uncrowned capital of which being Drumheller.  We took the big baby van and a tent and drove the 300 odd kms to our hot and muggy destination. 

The first night as I was putting up the tent it became clear that:
1: There were a plethora of Mosquitoes in the area, big ones.
2: Our mosquito repellent didn't.
3: They really like me.

So after the tent was erected I reviewed my battle damage and it was pretty nasty.  These flying buggers also stopped us eating outside, going for walks and generally enjoying our first night in the wilds.  However thanks to Jacqui's resolve we did stay the night and looked forward to exploring the following day.  The next morning came and neither of us had a good nights sleep so we decided to look around during the day then drive back that night, one day early but we had reached our limits for this trip.

We showered and wandered into town for a perfectly good breakfast.  First thing after brekkie we made the obligatory visit to the dinosaur.  You can make out Jacqui and Dan if you zoom in on the mouth.

 then headed a bit more south to see the suspension bridge and then the hoodoos.

We took some more pictures of the rest of the trip but they're not too interesting so I'll just write it up.  We made the trip to see Wayne, this is a three mile trip along a windy road on which you cross eleven bridges, quite interesting.  Then along the Southern Dinosaur trail and I'll continue this in the next post.

Getting your moneys worth

Recently we had a tree removed from right next to our house, quite a big tree and very entertaining the whole process was, here are some pics and a video of said entertainment.

Before:

During:

After:

Genuine Lumberjack :)

Fair warning for those of you expecting babies.....

Now I now that the vast majority of our posts regarding parenthood have been positive, this one will show you the other side, the dark side if you will.  It all started last night when I escaped for my weekly nerd night and Jacqui was left alone with the munchkin.  All good soo far, you just wait.  I returned about 10:30 to a slightly emotional wife who had just been through a self-proclaimed night from hell.  And I now pass on this warning to you all.

It all started, and really finished at bath time which is around 7:30.  Mr Daniel was transported to his bath and a normal bath seemed to be in order with much splashing and himself trying and normally succeeding to drink all the water in said bath.  Jacqui then went to remove him from the bath ....

*****WARNING This next bit will be particularily nasty for prospective fathers, do not continue if you have issues with bodily funtions*****

You have been warned!

.... and discovered a small amount of doody (nicest word I can think of), on second viewing a much larger collection was discovered floating around the bath.  Stout wife that she is the creator was removed from the bath  wrapped in a towel.  Unfortunately this did not stop production and a nappy was obtained post-haste, then another, and another and then a fourth.  Yes this was a four nappy monstrosity.  And then she still had to empty the bath, refill it with clean water and wash the munchkin once more as he had mysteriously got dirty in some manner. 

So there is the warning and ignore it at your peril, doody at bathtime can happen and probably will.  Just hope you don't have to go through the night of Two Baths and Four Nappies.

P.S. FYI Mr Munchkin had not 'been' for three days prior to the explosion, this much raw production was not just a days worth.