Canada | Life Elevated Mom

Playing catch-up

October 16, 2014 By Amber

Hadley is finally on the mend following her enterovirus-turned-pneumonia. When I say she was sick, I mean it–she barely got out of bed or ate for days on end.

I can’t complain, though. Until recently she has been blessed with great health, with the exception of a bout of RSV when she was a baby. My heart truly goes out to kids with serious, non-curable illnesses.

We met with her teacher this week and her two-week absence is more serious than I thought:

SHE MISSED THE ENTIRETY OF THEIR UNIT ON CANADA.

Filed Under: Canada, Hadley, Humor

Okanagan Lake: A season to soar

August 8, 2014 By Amber

‘Twas an awesome week-long family reunion at Okanagan Lake in British Columbia where we:

Learned to wakeboard

Walked on water

Birthday partied

What else was there left to do? Turns out, plenty! When we weren’t boating, swimming and kayaking, we:

Caught plenty ‘o fish off the docks.

Played a lot of Rook, Scum and inhaled Jane’s delicious cooking (we’re not talking sub-par food, either. We’re talking a menu that included grilled tenderloin, Eggs Benedict, pina colada chicken burgers and smoked pork tacos).

And the woman even hand-delivered Screamers in her “spare” time when she wasn’t busy cooking and teaching everyone to wakeboard and surf.

We also:

Had campfires on the beach,

Spent hours building sand castles…

Mothering from my hammock

Or rather, sand toilets which are so much more practical.

We brought our volleyball net. My brothers and I were all MVPs of our high school teams and what started as our Return to Glory Tournament…
…ended with the one-bounce rule.

There was plenty of time for just hanging and chilling out.

Superhero cousins

Is it just me or does The Pumpkin Man glow orange?

We visited charming Davison Orchard Country Village where the six cousins posed for cheesy family tree photos.

Touched the sky.Toured the beautiful orchards on a “Johnny Popper Apple Train,” sitting in authentic apple bins as we were pulled by an antique John Deere Tractor.

And we bought jams, syrups, fudge, cobbler, fruit and lots of pies from the Country Market.

Aunt Sue and her pies

We had plenty of cousin time and on the last day, I asked cousin Connor (the blonde in the middle) if he had a good vacation.

“I’m glad I don’t have sisters” was his only reply.

Of course, a family reunion isn’t complete without family photos. Do you know those people who color coordinate and micro-manage every last detail of their perfect pictures? We are not those people. We were unshowered. Unmatching. Unclothed.

Grandkids

The menfolk

The “winners” of the unshowered club

And I wouldn’t have them any other way.Thanks to my awesome family for letting us soar with them this summer.

Filed Under: Canada, Family, Family travel, Humor, travel

Birthday boy (and cakes) at the lake

August 6, 2014 By Amber

Bode and birthdays go together like cake and ice cream. Since we started spending July in Canada a few years ago, the kid has scored on multiple “pretend” parties leading up to his big day.

1) His party with Denver friends (this year it was with Rolling Video Games Denver).
2) He’d have a family dinner with Jamie because Jamie was rarely with us up north.
3) He’d have his real birthday in Canada.
4) This would be followed by another fete with Jamie’s siblings when he returned.

For his eighth birthday, he only got three birthday parties but made up for it with five cakes. Impressive, non?

We were vacationing at Okanagan Lake in British Columbia for his birthday. Early that morning, I bought 100 Timbits from Tim Hortons, his favorite food on earth.

Not familiar with Timbits? Think the most delectable variety of doughnut holes on earth. And sorry Dunkin’ Doughnuts–your sub-par Munchkins don’t even come close.

The boy had a fabulous day boating and playing with his cousins on the dock and our beach.

But his real win on his birthday was in cakes. I had casually mentioned I planned to get him an ice cream cake for his birthday. I called in the order but unbeknownst to me, my generous Aunt Sue and mom went to Dairy Queen and bought two birthday cakes. I figured I couldn’t cancel the order after they’d already made it so we ended up eating three birthday cakes that week.

No one complained, especially not Bode.

We topped off the day with movie night on a friend’s beach. Hadley’s birthday at The Broadmoor was pretty tough to beat.

But this came pretty darn close. Happy birthday, Bode man!

Filed Under: birthday, Bode, Canada

Vernon, British Columbia: A week walking on water

August 5, 2014 By Amber

My entire family hasn’t been together since our glorious trip to the Outer Banks four years ago (how could you forget our poetic and HILARIOUS crabbing by moonlight adventures)?

My brother Pat and his family are big boaters, have top-of-the-line everything and are so generous with their time and expertise with our family of newbies. The kids and I joined them in their lake house in Vernon, British Columbia for the second year in a row. New this year were Jamie, my brother Jade and his boys. It was surely a week to remember.

Though I’m just trying to forgot those 100+-degree temperatures. Remember how I like to spend July in Canada to cool down?

Regardless, if you’re going to have searing heat, 135-km-long Okanagan Lake is a good place to be and what a fun week we had full of crazy adventures.

Of course, there was the boating where the kids tubed, kneeboarded and my sister-in-law Jane taught them to wakeboard while she tutored Jamie and me in surfing. We spent oodles of time on the boat cheering everyone on as we marveled at my family of experts…

Wakeboarding Hadley

Pat clearing the wake

My bro Jade and his boys

Perfect views, perfect day while getting her wakeboard on

Meet the parents

Sisters

The pumpkin man and me

Boat babe

Nerves before wakeboarding

With my technicolor nieces

I love boating over to the West Side where the water is calmer and the views prettier. We jumped overboard and splashed, played, dunked each other off the tube and competed. Least memorable was Jade’s “crack dive” (just say ‘no’ to crack; I’ll leave that up to your imagination).

Even more disconcerting was Jamie’s initiation into the family dive-off. I had high hopes for him. He’s the strongest swimmer in our family and I just knew he could dethrone Pat and my niece Ashton for being able to dive the longest and furthest.

Oh, how quickly my hopes came crashing down.

I’m not sure what happened. We counted down and everyone did their sleek missile dives into the lake. Everyone except my dear husband who unceremoniously plopped into the lake. Sadly, my brother Pat was once again crowned king of the dive-off.

Jamie represented himself in his defense case. “I was pushed!” he accused and I believed him. Until I reviewed the photographic evidence. He is on the left in front of cousin Connor and there was no physical contact in the previous photos.

There was only a man who apparently slipped and entered the water looking like a prissy school girl skipping to school.

Better luck next year, Honey, and remember: say “no” to crack.

Stay tuned next time for more Vernon adventures!

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family travel, Hadley, Humor, Jamie

A day to remember at Okanagan Lake

August 4, 2014 By Amber

We’re coming off a week-long boating vacation with my family in Vernon, B.C. I’ll have many more details to come but it was on our second day I was so darn proud of my kiddos. They’ve never tried wakeboarding and have had a strange/unhealthy fear of it, which is surprising given how many adventures they’ve been on and what stellar alpine skiers they are.

But all the grandkids were given the same edict: you need to try at least three times. If you don’t want to do it after that, fine. But you need to at least try.

My sister-in-law Jane is the perfect teacher. Not only is she patient but she gets down in the water with them and walks them through every step.

Eleven-year-old Connor was first. An excellent athletic and superb hockey player (his team is nationally-ranked), it was no surprise to anyone when he popped up and boarded around the lake.

Next came darling 6-year-old Naomi who got up..and then down a few times, an awesome effort given how little her legs are.

My brother Jade’s son Jaxson had us laughing the most. Extremely cautious, he kept babbling to Jane over and over again “do you know how dangerous this is?”

Cousin Jaxson, the epitome of cool

Yep, how can you tell and Bode are related?

With each passing kid, we could see Hadley increasingly freaking out on the dock. “Get her on the board now,” Jamie called out. When she gets worked up about something, it takes her a long time to talk her down.

She dragged herself over to cousin Emily who set her up on the wakeboard and over to Jane. After a few minutes of instruction, she yelled “hit it.” At first, Hadley’s expression was panic but within a couple of seconds, she popped up and was cruising around the lake. She was the only one who was surprised–I absolutely knew she could do it. By her second run, she was already carving back and forth and begged to go again after all the kids had their turn.

Wakeboarding Hadley

Bode was next. He was surprisingly nonchalant on the dock and started to look worried when he went in the water with Aunt Jane. His first attempt was a flop (literally) and that was when he got scared, realizing it was tougher than he had thought to get up. Then he had another failed attempt. By now, he was scared. Tears started flowing down his cheeks as Jane soothingly talked him through his final attempt. “This is it,” I thought. “He’s so freaked out there is no way he’ll be able to do it.”

But gosh darn if he didn’t muster every ounce of determination that he had in that little body. As the boat started to drag him, he leaned forward and fought, fought, fought his way up, almost falling several times but eventually regaining his balance and was standing. He proceeded to wakeboard for several miles until my brother called out to him that it was OK to let go of the rope.

Bode fighting to get up

I’m telling you I’ve never been more proud of him. I want him to always remember this day. How he tried something hard, something he never thought that he could do. How he worked through his tears, conquered his fears and literally floated on water.

That day was one to remember.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Family travel, Hadley

Calgary: My Home and Native Land

August 1, 2014 By Amber

Bode and I have just returned from a 3,000-mile roadtrip that covered two countries and 8 states–and that’s not including the 4-day jaunt I did out to California for BlogHer while the kids stayed behind with Grandma in Salt Lake City.

Can you say whirlwind?

What made this trip particularly taxing was Jamie usually drives at least one leg of it with me but he flew in and out of Vernon, B.C. to save time so that meant I spent 50+ hours driving with the kids.

Hadley is staying in Utah for another week with Grandma and they’ll all be driving out here next week for Bode’s baptism and then school starts the following week.

Can you say whirlwind? (Sensing a theme here?)

We had a great time in my hometown Calgary and I only wish we could have stayed longer. For six blissful days, we played in the mud pits, played and biked in Fish Creek Provincial Park, terrorized the neighborhood on the golf carts and raided the Bulk Barn’s 4,000 bulk products. My mom was generous and let the kids have at it and she paid for a lot of food.

Me: “I can’t believe we spent almost $100 in candy!”

Cousin Connor: “Is that so wrong?”

For my mom’s birthday, she requested we go to Peter’s Drive-in, an iconic eatery infamous for their shakes.

Hadley, Bode, Jaxson, Connor and Grandma

One of the reasons we go to Calgary in early-July is so we can hit the Calgary Stampede. This ten-day event bills itself as “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” and features one of the world’s largest rodeos, a parade, midway, stage shows, concerts, agricultural competitions, chuckwagon racing and First Nations exhibitions.

The entire city comes to life. Everyone dresses western, parties and there are literally hundreds of free stampede pancake breakfasts setup in parking lots all over the city (SCORE!) For the third year in a row, my friend Stacey and I volunteered serving dinner at the Stampede Roundup.

My sister-in-law Jane’s family was visiting from Washington so we had to hit the midway and finally quit 11 hours later.
Stampede is alllll about the food. While we opted out of the popular scorpion pizza (ewww!) we ate a lot of tasty fare.
How do you say red velvet mini doughnuts covered in cream cheese in Calgarian? You say OHHHHH YEAH.

I wish we could have stayed in Calgary for a month but our next stop was Vernon, British Columbia. Located in the heart of the Okanagan Valley, this bread basket of Western Canada has hundreds of orchards, fruit stands and glorious lakes. I drove it for the first time in years last summer and I had not realized we needed to go through infamous Banff National Park to get there. This year, I resolved to make at least one detour to glacially-fed Moraine Lake nestled in the Valley of Ten Peaks.

Since we had a long drive, my only intention was to hop out, take a few pictures with the kids and be on our way.

Like that is going to happen in one of the most beautiful places on earth.

“We have to hike up the Rock Pile,” Hadley insisted, pointing to the popular interpretive trail leading up, up, up.

And how those views were worth it.

My new favorite picture

An hour later, we dragged ourselves away, vowing to spend some quality time in this stupendous place next summer.

Gotta tell you, sometimes I miss the Motherland so much it hurts.

Filed Under: Canada, Family travel, Humor, travel

Fish Creek Provincial Park: A river-playing, mud-flinging, biking wonderland

July 22, 2014 By Amber

When your childhood backyard is one of the largest urban parks in North America, there are endless adventures for discovering. I practically grew up in Fish Creek Provincial Park. If we weren’t biking, we were hiking, picnicking, bonfiring, and swimming in Sikome Lake.

The morning after I arrived in Calgary, Dad and I hit the trail for a resplendent ride through the park.

It truly is one of my happy places and who can blame me with views like this?

On another realllllly hot day, we took the PT Cruiser convertible out for a spin and hit one of Calgary’s hundreds of free Stampede pancake breakfasts.

Still trying to teach Dad how to do selfies. In his defense, he was kinda driving.

The kids then jumped right into Fish Creek fully clothed.

If you’re judging me for that, you’ll be exceedingly dismayed over our next display at the mud pits at Fish Creek.

We discovered them a few years ago. A few people splashing in the river would disappear for a while and then come back caked in mud. We decided to investigate and after a short, steep hike we discovered these pits tucked away covertly in the cliffs hugging the creek. Now, it is an annual tradition! We introduced my brother Jade’s family and my sister-in-law Jane’s little sister Diane’s family from Washington.

They were just as disgusted (and disgusting) as we were.

Quite predictably, most of the boys loved playing in the mud but these beauties, Hadley and Isabelle, took it one step further. Long after the boys had jumped in the river to clean off, these young ladies were milking it in. Or rather, mudding it.

Yes, that is a mud crown Queen Hadley made for herself.

I’m going to frame this picture and give it to her future husband.

Fortunately, our swimming hole in Fish Creek provided for a lovely respite as the kids jumped off the huge boulders, played in the sand and caught minnows.

Who’s in for Mud Pits 2015 next year?!

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Family, Hadley

When Murphy’s Law rules your life

July 12, 2014 By Amber

I come to Canada every summer to avoid Denver’s miserably hot July. We’re Vernon, B.C.-bound tomorrow for the week.

The irony of the forecast is not lost on me.

Filed Under: Canada

It’s Canada Day (and that other American holiday)

July 9, 2014 By Amber

I’ve long whined that no one ever comes to visit me in Colorado. I mean, how could they not? Colorado is gloriously gorgeous and one of the top tourist destinations in the United States. I now realize that it’s because I never actually invite anyone and having an “open invitation” isn’t enough.

Case in point: I invited my childhood bestie Stacey to come visit and she came. Imagine that! Not only did she fly down to visit me but she somehow agreed to accompany the kids and me on our two-day drive back to Calgary at the end of the week. Now, that is friendship.

And being the swell friend that she is, she brought the kids Canada T-shirts and I’m sure she bought out the Motherland’s maple leaf paraphernalia so we could celebrate Canada Day!

We kicked off the holiday by a glorious hike around Evergreen Lake and, of course, I converted yet another person to Country Road Cafe.

Evergreen Lake

One of the reasons why I love our summer hiking group is because it’s not just about the hiking, it’s about falling in love with the outdoors and truly exploring. It took us nearly 2 hours to hike the 1.3-mile loop around the lake because of stops like this by Evergreen Dam.

A visit to Colorado isn’t complete without stopping by Red Rocks, one of the most famous concert venues in the world.

I won’t mention how Hadley kicked my butt on a race up the stairs. Am I really getting that old or maybe she’s just getting that fast.

That night, there were revelries. Maple leaves. Red and white. Yummy food. Canadian geography puzzles. And a whole lotta fun.

I forgave Hadley for kicking my butt when she not only painted her face red-and-white but insisted on doing mine as well.

Fat Kitty was not impressed with the celebration.

Fat Dude wouldn’t even hold the hockey stick I tried to put in his paw.

It is just me or has Jamie never looked hotter?

A few days later, we threw yet another party with friends but this time with red, white, blue and pies….

Not to mention star-styled hair.

And since the fireworks are shot above our neighborhood, we had to throw another party.

Sadly, this is the only picture I got of the whole evening. No disrespect to the Americans but after a cram-packed week and throwing two fetes, I was all partied out.

There’s a first time for everything.

Filed Under: Bode, Canada, Colorado, Hadley, hiking, Humor

The magic forgetful fairy in Waterton Lakes National Park

February 27, 2014 By Amber

I think I’ve mentioned the amount of stress I’ve been under lately, which has been waking me up at 4:15 a.m. Since I’m not coherent at that hour, I’ve been doing non-essential things like airing out my blog’s draft folder. Here’s a funny post I wrote a few summers ago but never published it.

(For background, you will need to first reread this post whereupon Bode, after a day of camping with The Boys, declared he liked musicals better than camping.)

Setting: Several months later, camping in Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada a.k.a. my favorite place on earth in July 2011. We cruised the bike paths adjacent to Waterton Lake on Surrey bikes, hiked Bear’s Hump with awe-inspiring views that peered into the United States , played in in the water at glorious Red Rock Canyon, snuggled up to the ranger’s campfire chats in the evenings and camped a stone’s throw away from Cameron Falls.

I’m aching to go back.