Holidays, life and good times

So we just got back from a week of holidays.  Good times was had by all!  This was the first trip where we were actually bringing our tent trailer with us for a significant distance.  It was nice to find out that it followed the Sequoia well and it didn't really affect our gas milage much!  Whoo hoo!!!!

The first portion of our holidays consisted of my cousins wedding.  Maddison was one of the flower girls so we had some preperations and involvement that way, even though we weren't really sure how well she would do.  She actually did quite well, even though I ended up having to walk with her up the aisle.  Oh well though.  Amanda looked beautiful and after all was said and done, they are now married and enjoying life together!

Our pretty flower girl!

Amanda & Andy

Since we were so close to Calgary, and on holidays, we figured a trip to the zoo was in order.  So Sunday was zoo day and it was fun!  Maddison loved the animals, the train and the parks.  She also enjoyed the ice cream and treats because, hey, it's holidays right?

Maddison & the Penguins

Part two of our holidays was situated at Ol' MacDonald's Farm near Stettler with Dan's family.  Things went well on the trip there (dispite having to take down in the rain at Didsbury) but once we got there it was a bit of a gong show.  We went to check in to find out which stall we were at (Dan's parents had reserved one for us the entire week even though we were only there Monday to Wednesday night) and the ladies were a bit snobby at the desk.  After a few go-arounds for them trying to figure out our names - which isn't that hard - we finally got our site number and directions to get there.  So we drive down and discover that Dan had to back the trailer around a 135 degree angle to get it into the site.  Wonderful.  So we tied up traffic for a while, got the trailer into the stall and then struggled to get it level because the site was angled but after about an hour or so we finally had it level enough and popped it up.  Everything went smooth after that and we enjoyed our 3 days there. 

Our site at Ol' MacDonald

It happened to rain a bit every day, but it wasn't too bad until Thursday, which happened to be the day we left.  So take down in the rain - again.  All is going ok until we are cranking down the trailer.  With about 1 inch left it stopped.  Dan tried to crank it up again.  Nothing.  The shaft just turns but there is no movement.  So we pushed it down the inch, hooked up, and drove away hoping it would re-adjust itself on the drive so we could do the rest of our camping in Whitecourt.  No beans.  We stopped in Edmonton for gas and lunch and tried to crank it up there.  Nothing.  So we just skipped Whitecourt and drove all the way home 2 days early.  We were not in the best mood to say the least.

Daddy & Brooklyn (who was stylin' that day!)

Once we got home we got all the stuff unloaded from the closed trailer (well as much as we could anyway - the groceries had to stay in the fridge) and went to bed.  Friday turned out alright as we got some stuff done in town and such and Saturday we dragged the trailer out to Mom & Dad's to fix it.  Dad was a huge help and after about 8 hours of work they had it fixed.  It turned out that a welded joint had come loose from the sprocket and so the crank would turn but wasn't catching anything.  So it was a factory problem because welds should not come loose.  Just our luck I guess that it broke on our watch and not the previous owners.  But now it is fixed and all is well - we can camp again!

Brooklyn enjoying the beach!

We also had a chance to tell my parents that we are starting research into adoption.  My mom had read "Kisses From Katie" while on holidays and recommended it to me.  She was surprised that I knew what book she was talking about so I was able to mention that it was a suggested book to read about international adoptions!  So now both sets of parents now we are planning on adopting and I'm thinking that November we will probably go to Edmonton for the adoption course.  Then we will know more about what to expect and the steps to take!

Daddy & the girls at the beach

 So that's been life.  We did have a good holiday despite the problems and our girls love camping so we anticipate many good holidays to come in the future.  Although next year we will probably have a different trailer.... Dan is sick of used stuff breaking so we are selling the tent trailer and buying a brand new trailer.  But more on that later....