A week in review

View from Valleyview Info Centre

We've now left Stony Plain and are in Valleyview at Sherk’s RV park.  Valleyview is about 3 ½ hours northwest heading towards Grande Prairie. We were kind of aiming for Grande Prairie, but decided we’d gone far enough for today.  Since it’s a long weekend sites aren’t super easy to find, and we figured we might have better luck a little further out. The campground is nice with a little playground across from us, and very reasonably priced with full hookups. Hooray!  The road here was pretty good and the views are lovely.  The ribbon of highway cuts through the trees and everywhere around is green. Quite pretty. I think we passed through the Swan Hills on the way up, and it’s a bit like entering the foothills. No mountains though. This is the main Alberta route to Alaska, so the highway was fairly busy too. 

We didn't get away until 2:30 or so, after letting the kids play at the playground & splashpad there. Some days it’s really nice having the house with us, as the kids got soaked!  It was a good idea to give them some play time before getting in the truck for a long drive.  I didn't hear one complaint out of them the whole time. 

 Our week in Stony Plain went by quickly, and we didn't get everything done that we wanted to, but we did make some progress. We visited friends, did some fun activities, and organized the trailer more. It was wonderful spending time with our Stony Plain friends, the Blasko’s.  I actually got to see an adult movie (without kids!), and we all enjoyed the opportunity to join in their block party and feel like part of the community.  

 They directed us to a potential spot to pick Saskatoons, are we hit the jackpot. We picked some huge berries from shrubs that were completely untouched. A yummy haul, although Morgan wasn't too impressed by the picking process.  He did enjoy stomping on the ant hill and riling up all the ants though.  I had a Saskatoon bush in my yard in Airdrie and I was missing my chance to pick the berries this year.  I’ve had my berry fix now, so am happy.

We visited my sister, Erin, and her boyfriend in Edmonton.  Kris’ daughter is similar age to Lily and they had a great time playing. The kids all went in the hot (actually cool) tub for a while to pretend they were fish.  My two do a very good impression.  They all needed a bath to warm up afterwards and all crammed in it together.  Silly kids, but they had fun.  It was wonderful to visit, and although we had just seen them all the previous weekend, it didn't feel like long enough.  Guess electronic visits will have to do for a while now.

We didn't connect with others that we were hoping to, but I guess that’s how life goes sometimes.  I forgot about the long weekend, and many people had holidays and plans for this week before.  There’s something about this weekend, right in the middle of summer that makes me forget that it’s a holiday weekend.  I forgot it last year too – not sure what that means!  However, lately I have noticed that I’m paying less and less attention to the date and remembering what day of the week it is. It just doesn't mean the same thing it used to, without the work/school schedule to reinforce it. 

We got some of the shopping done, but not all.  Some of our projects were completed, or at least set in motion, others got put on the backburner, and several new ones have appeared.  I can tell that the trailer maintenance will be a continual thing.  Somehow I thought that moving into the trailer and not working would mean I’d have all the time and energy in the world to get things done, but so far it hasn't panned out that way.  I don’t know if my expectations were unreasonable or I’m just being lazy (I suspect a bit of both), but I find I’m (we’re!) not as effective as I thought I would be. 

We didn't want the kids to feel like this week was all about mom & dad doing projects, so we took them for some fun activities too. Morgan chose to go to RopesQuest in West Edmonton Mall.  We were there this past April, but this time the kids spent way more time on the ropes.  I’d say they were daredevils, but I went on with Lily last time, and the scariest part was the stairs between the levels.  This time Bob went to supervise Lily and I took pictures.  Lily wanted to go swimming, so we went to the pool in Spruce Grove, which is only a few minutes from Stony Plain.

We finished off a decent week with a good move. Packing the trailer went well, and the hookup was probably the best we've done. Backing into the campsite tonight also went smoothly.  We’re getting it figured out – yay! We’re starting to figure out a system that works for us (and reduces the yelling and hair pulling - our own, not each other’s).  We knew it should get easier with time, but it is nice to see it actually happening. Tomorrow we’re going to check out Sturgeon Lake, and hopefully find a beach or play area for the kids (and us).