First haircut

Wren is 21 months old, and this is her first official haircut. I had no clue if she would sit still for a trim, so Nana and I took her to Beaners where you can sit in a cool car and watch a movie- the royal treatment!

Wrennie surprised us and sat so well! Good thing, the hairdresser already had a bandaid over one finger from a haircut earlier that day.

Another boy who was older than Wren was terrified of his haircut, with the cutest worried face, while another needed his head held by his mom during his cut. Maybe when Wren is older she will actually notice the shiny shears and not let them come near her!

Afterwards she got to play in the ball pit! Hurray!

Have a lovely weekend!

Rubber Boots

In the Spring, I contemplated buying my first pair of rubber boots (as in my first pair as an adult...I definitely had them as a kid) when we were in New York. I saw so many girls wearing the Hunter Boots around in the rainy weather during our stay, and they all looked so cute.

When we got home, I figured I should just splurge and get a $30 pair from Zellers. Then I thought, "Nah, I will hardly wear them, it doesn't rain that much in Edmonton."

I woke up and looked out the window to the 60384th rainy summer day so far. 

Silly me.

Let's go have some fun!

When I don't blog for a while (at least with family pictures), that means I have to make up for it with a bigger post, right? 

Sure. I can do that.

We had big adventures today.

First, we went for a walk on River Valley Road and over the river on the foot bridge (Wrennie's favourite). Once we crossed, we walked over to Kinsmen Park. This was Wrennie's first time. 

She was excited when she saw the playground across the field.

"Come on guys!" Literally, she said that whole sentence.

A swing was in order. Plus other explorations that were really not all that exciting. Seriously, she just walked around and sort of climbed on a couple of things and tried to be friendly to a couple of kids who thought it was weird that she looked big enough to spout out full sentences but just grunted at them.

Then it was back across the bridge. 

Her favourite thing is when we say, "Wrennie, lets go fast, fast, fast!" and she says "Yeah! Va, va, va!!" and charges ahead, stumbles, and spends a good 10 running steps trying to catch her footing again.

She really likes the view on the east side of the river.

After lunch and naps for everyone, we headed back out to the Legislature grounds for some fountain time!

It was fun to try and splash dad...

Our kid was probably the only one not wearing a bathing suit. It's not like we didn't know where we were going...water, fountains...no bathing suit, very full disposable (non-swim) diaper. Oh well.

Wrennie once again encountered a similar problem to the one at the playground. She would get up on these stepping stones, and older kids jumping across them would want to get by her. They would ask her to move, and were confused that this big toddler kept saying "hi!!" to them instead of getting out of the way.

She didn't notice, she was too busy having a blast. Clearly.

Finally, we dried off and changed her clothes. We showed dad how to play a little game...

"Round and round the garden goes the teddy bear..."

"One step, two step...tickle you under there!!"

We explored the rest of the grounds...

And eventually headed home.

The entire car ride home, Wrennie looked out the window and had conversations to herself, ending just about every sentence with, "Yeah? Yeah." Hand gestures included. Who says toddlers can't imagine conversations with people in their life? I am sure she was imagining telling her grandparents, aunt, and uncles about her day :)

A few extra NYC photos

Sarah was sweet enough to send us a few of the shots Bryan took while we spent one of our days with them. I thought I would share...even though there literally are only a couple!

Brooklyn Bridge. Can you see us? More like, can you see the huge bun on my head? Sheesh. The humidity was so high that my hair stuck to my sticky face and I never had to use a drop of moisturizing lotion on my hands.

A really nice shot of the 4 of us. This was the only day I didn't look like a complete tourist (like I did for the rest of the trip) in my red MEC raincoat.

Bryan and Sarah with Manhattan behind them.

Kenton and I decided that we would definitley try New York again. And hopefully it wouldn't be raining for the majority of our time there and we could actually picnic in Central Park, and take nice evening strolls through beautiful neighborhoods, and venture into the Chelsea Market. And maybe I would even see Tina Fey! (I was going to say, "see Tina Fey in a taping of 30 Rock", but I doubt it will still be running by the time we made it back!)

Waiting for a train. Bryan caught me before my smile fully developed I believe. Anyway, it's cute. The subway was actually the bane of my existence. I was sick of them in Europe, and I was sick of them the first time I rode one in Brooklyn to Manhattan! You can actually see Sarah behind us, a bit in the distance. She was always figuring out what train we should all hop onto next, which route was fastest, etc. She was also always a good 10-15 steps ahead of us as well, she could really move through a crowd quickly! Apparently most New Yorkers just hate waiting for a train.

Just for fun, on A Cup of Jo, she had a photo once of Cafe Cluny. The coolest part of this photo for me is that the angle is taken so that you can see exactly where we sat! We were right in the corner at the booth/table by the window. Fun :)

Working moms

I have no new photos to show you of Wrennie. Sorry about that. But who really wants to see photos of a sweaty, cranky, sticky kid? She is not in cooperation mode in this heat for much but watching movies.

Anyway, I've been too busy reading this series on my favourite blog, A Cup of Jo, about working moms juggling it all!

While Joanna was away for a week vacation, each day she had a guest blogger post about their life as a mom still managing her career and raising children and maintaining a marriage.

I especially loved what one of the guest posts said about needing to uplift one another as moms, no matter what decision we make about how to best raise our kids:

"13. Have you talked to other women about how to juggle everything? Do you think people talk openly about it?
I am not sure other people are open about it. I struggle with this. My impression (which could be wrong) is that everyone is so invested in making their own right choice that it is easier to put down another woman's choices. Stay-at-home mamas say that it's awful that a mother is letting another woman 'raise' her child. Some working mothers feel superior because they have their own lives and income. The decisions we make are a culmination of our life experiences and I don't know about you, but I'm still learning how to live and doing the best I can along the way. When Elodie was born, I didn't have any other choice but to work. Many mothers have to work. We are all mamas with unique perspectives on parenting with so much to teach each other. We should spend our time uplifting each other and not trying to prove that 'our way' is the right way. I honestly don't know what way is right. I want to be inspired and I want so much to constantly improve. While we are learning, we are alive! (This is a bit of a rant!)
 Each post was a great read, and all had different things to say about balancing their lives and how they aren't perfect but they are trying to figure out what works best for them and their families. " (Taken from guest post: Elizabeth Antonia; blog- The Littlest)

Well said.

Today Joanna finished off the series by talking about her own experiences of becoming a new mom and going back to work as well. Definitely worth sitting down for a good read.

Check the posts out here!

Speaking of moms juggling it all...did I mention I landed a full time position at work? WOO HOO! I will be a proud member of the enrolment team (what's that you ask? um, short answer: i will be interviewing families and volunteers for programs, then matching those kids up to that volunteer so they can have a positive mentor in their life) and back to work 5 days a week- possibly in August but maybe not until September. That means more summer time with Wrennie! yay!

Pistachio, Yoghurt, and Elderflower Cake

On the weekend, I served this to some friends on a lazy Sunday afternoon...

I found the recipe on the Jamie (Oliver) magazine here.

Was it good? Yes. Would I make it again? Definitely. 

Saying goodbye

On Saturday we said goodbye to Grandma Jeske as we buried her beside Kenton's Grandpa Jeske outside of Edmonton. His aunt and uncle were in town for the wedding on Friday, so this seemed like a good time to get together as a family to do so.

The mosquitos were everywhere, and we all managed to pause long enough to pose for a photo.

This headstone is for Kenton's great grandfather, Louis Riehl. His great grandmother, Elsie Riehl, as many of you know, is actually still alive- she just turned 106 years old in June!!

Afterwards, we went to Nana and Papa's for dinner with everyone. Kenton's second cousin, Lisa, brought her son, Lucca...I am not too sure on the spelling...for dinner as well. Wrennie loved him and kept saying "baby!" over and over. 

Kisses for Lucca 

The kitchen sink is the place to be.

Here is a sweet little series of photos from a few days ago. My favourite part? Wrennie's popsicle 'stache.

Wedding!

Congratulations to Kari and Pete! They got married on Friday, and though it was rainy, it was such a great day to celebrate with them.

(Kari is Kenton's cousin on his mom's side.)

Here are some photos from the reception...

After the dinner, speeches, slideshows and cake (or actually a cake of cream puffs), there was a dance. Kyle and Jordan wasted no time.

Band photo.

The girls of the family. 

(From L to R, Kayley, Marley below her, Dana, Kari the bride, Kendra and then Jennie and me in front)

Break it down!

Brothers...

Geoff and Kayley

Kayley, Brett and Marley- siblings!

 Brett and his girlfriend, Jennie.

Oh hey it's us :)

And last but not least, my blurry photo of the bride and groom!