The Great Return

After nearly a month and a half, I have returned once again to fill you all in on my life. Spending 26 days living in my camper with my 2 year old has left me playing catch-up at home. Arriving home, I discovered a weed-infested, overgrown garden, a mound of paperwork to catch up on, and lots of work that everyday life creates. It's taken me this long to feel like most of it's under control. And now to return to blogging...

The first part of our trip we drove down to Drumheller to camp with my sister and her "crew" (husband & 6 kids). Fun times. We did some of the tourist attractions... the little church, the hoodoos, go-karts and various other things.

After 2 days at Drumheller, Adam and I parted ways. He returned back home to work, and Emily and I continued on to Saskatchewan. We had the experience of dry camping hill-billy style in the Wal-mart parking lot in Medicine Hat. It wasn't actually a bad experience, although we could have done without the 60kmph winds that we had that night.

When we finally arrived at my sister's farm, the whirlwind seemed to begin. Emily, who had been an independent, playful girl in Drumheller, had suddenly turned into a whining, clingy, "need mom" spouting child. It made for some long days. Finally having the opportunity to play with all her cousins (9 of whom were at my sister's), she did nothing but cry every time I left her sight. **sigh**

The day after we arrived in Regina, my sister and her family arrived from Ecuador. All the kids lined up at the airport with signs welcoming them to Canada. Very cute.

We had lots of busy days filled with family gatherings. I sometimes think my days at home are busy with only one child, so you can likely imagine how busy a household can get with 4 adults and 10 kids living together. Busy. But I wouldn't trade my family for anyone's... most days! lol

Adam, who was just overcome with loneliness without us (and really, who can blame him?) decided to surprise us by making the 8 hour drive to see us one day. A lovely little surprise. A few short days later and he had to make the trip back home. :(

The day Adam left, my two eldest sisters and I took our brood camping for a week to Buffalo Pound, a provincial park in Saskatchewan. There we were met with large sites, a handful of trees, sunshine, and heat (temperatures routinely hit near 30+ degrees Celsius). Aside from an electrical issue on our little camping circuit (which resulted in no air conditioning, in stifling temperatures) for the first couple of days, all was well. We learned to handle the heat by taking it easy.

We spent our mornings at the beach, and our afternoons at the pool.

Emily took to the pool like... hmmm... well, let's just say she's not a natural water baby. For the first few days she wouldn't even stand in the water by herself. I had to hold her tightly in my arms. But by the last day she would stand in deeper water (up to her chest) and venture an arms length away. Definite progress. She liked to stick to the shallow end, but I forced her to venture with me into deeper waters. She has nothing but fond memories about that swimming pool, so we must have done something right. :)

I never would have thought that 26 days could have gone by so quickly. Or been as busy. But they were. It was a bit of a mixed blessing to return home. It was nice to be able to sleep in my own bed again, but returning to the reality of "life" and all the work that that entails was not as fun. I think we've finally gotten back into our rhythm though. It's taken some time, and I appreciate y'all hanging on until I got there. :)

Now I must get to bed. It's been a full day, topped off with a lovely dinner with friends. Tomorrow, I am taking our RV into the dealership for a little warranty work, so that we can trade it in on something bigger. Living in our camper for nearly a month has shown us one thing for sure... we need a bigger camper! Well, maybe not NEED. Who really needs a camper at all, after all? But we sure would like a little more space.

I'm sure I've forgotten to tell you about some lovely, fun-filled adventure I've had during the last month, but I suppose I can't share all my secrets with you. ;)

Until next time...

Buck Lake Blogger