I'm loving this.....

Lady Antebellum - Need You Now
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Our afternoon:

We had a lovely afternoon at the pool - two hours of swimming followed by 10 minutes in the hot tub before we headed for the showers.  One of my favourites things to do was to float on my back staring up at the clouds and geese above me - I was just floating...and it was as if I was flying with the geese amongst the clouds...my body felt so light in the water it was as if I was flying :)  

Of course, I tried to tell Abby about this and get her to try it - but she just looked at me as if I was crazy!!

The pool is designed to look like a local lake - it even had the small 'airport' and a plane flying overhead....pelicans too...and there is a big slide with a HUGE bucket that fills with water and then tips about every sixty seconds.  There is a wave machine and a 'lazy river' that has a current that pulls you around...the other pool is a lap pool.  Our town also has another pool that is a salt water pool and also has a big tube slide, kiddy pool and an outside splashzone for the summer.

Now Abby is 8, she is old enough to wear an adult wrist band in the pool - this means that finally she doesn't have to be within arms distance from me - YAY!!!  FREEDOM!!  She can now swim around and go off on the play equipment or in the lazy river on her own - and while I still keep a close eye on her, it was nice to feel that extra bit of freedom and be able to swim more on my own...

Starving after our swim:

My yummy London Fog after our swim.  I sat there enjoying it, feeling all relaxed and tired....very happy after my swim - and even more happy that dinner was all done and in the crock pot ready - there was no way I was in the mood to go home and make dinner:

Sam's first day back at his 'old' school - I think he loved being back there:

For today......

Outside My Window...it is hazy but they promise a lovely day - sunny with a 14c temperature.  We have been having lovely weather but I really want us to have rain or snow - please someone do a rain dance!!!  We NEED some rain or snow please!!!  It is soooo dry out there - there are wildfires starting daily and yesterday there was one quite close to our home - just along the highway - started just by a guy cutting his grass - a spark from his lawnmower tractor!!!  The girls can't ride their quadbikes any more just in case - it's THAT dry :(    We NEED rain!!

I am thinking....that I really should finish this post before my battery dies....

 I am thankful for...a lovely Spring Break and Easter - that the children were all in good moods and all got along really well all week long - Chris seems to be really happy lately and our trip away seemed to do us all good!  Spring seems to be doing us all good!!  A four day week for Lloyd last week and a four day week for Lloyd this week :)

From the learning rooms...life keeps ticking on....we learn what we learn....life learning....a little art...a  little science...a little math...some story writing....journaling...haiku...maps....whatever we feel like doing....

From the kitchen...Easter treats, all kinds of baking from Susannah in the last week.....sweet and sour chicken going in the crockpot today....

I am wearing...I'm not dressed yet, so my nighty right now.

I am creating...crochet, art journaling, ATC's, many Haiku, 

I am going...swimming today :)  so looking forward to it :)  also to the library!!

I am reading...not a lot this week except  some magazines that Lloyd picked up for me...it's been a fun relaxing week....

I am hoping...it rains or snows on Thursday and Friday!!!

I am hearing...Sam chatting to himself in the shower...and the shower water running.  

Around the house...it's been fun having the children home all week - having the doors and windows open wide all week because the temperatures have been so lovely...eating brunch out on the deck each day...we have tidied up the acreage after Winter and it is looking tidy this year which makes a change as the last couple of years there has been work going on and there has been a mess outside - building work and chaos and mess everywhere - but this year it looks neat and tidy out there and I am happy :)  

One of my favorite things... walking around our acreage and seeing the changes through the year and over the years - seeing the trees grow - seeing the birds that return each year - seeing the ant hills year by year....seeing that the porcupines are still in the same areas....seeing the saltlicks are being used.....knowing our land and how it changes over time.  Knowing the rhythms of life here.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:  swimming twice this week, coffee date this week while Laurie starts his tumbling class, Sam starts his new class, hopefully meeting Samantha!

You can join the Simple Womans  Daybook HERE

Looking for Dad....

Lloyd...

Lloyd was hiding from Sam here:

Old Trail!!

Wasp nests

This shows the size of the nest compared to Sam:

You can even see the comb still in this one:

snapshots....

Which way now???

Abby and Susie don't seem to agree on which way to go at this point:

...but we did make it to the next cache, which Susie found - it was a touch one to find though as it meant going for a lot of off-trail hiking through some very rough ground (bushwacking!!! lol!) but we did get there and it was a lot of fun!!):

Cache 2!!!

This cache was a real cute one!!!  It was a big bug!!!  Neat huh???  

First cache of the day!!

This was the first geocache we found today and BOY was it a big one!!!  I think it was the biggest cache we had ever found!!  Lloyd found this one!!!

Stick mad!!

Sam is crazy about sticks!!  He always has to pick up a stick for a gun or sword or walking stick when we are out on the trails...but THIS stick......THIS stick is surely a little big ;)

Stay out of the stores - HIKE instead!!!!

We love hiking - we've always enjoyed walking - I always have - even when I was much younger I loved nothing more than hiking on Dartmoor in the UK or through woodlands or whatever.  When the children were younger we always found places to walk with them and they've all grown up spending weekends and trips walking and hiking in woodlands etc...today we spent several hours out hiking trails and 'bushwacking' (lol this word is new to us and we keep laughing about it but it seems to be used a lot in geocaching so we've started using it).

Tonight I was looking online for some info on health benefits and hiking so I could log the info into my fitness journal instead of the info off of my treadmill - and I came across THIS GREAT ARTICLE!!  It talks about how great hiking is for you - not just regarding calorie burning and cholesterol and blood sugar levels, but in preventing depression!

I particularly thought this quote below was interesting (although not surprising in my opinion and experience - I'm not big on malls or shopping in general unless there is something I need):

"In fact, they found that taking a hike in the countryside reduces depression, whereas walking in a shopping center increases depression. Results from the 2007 study showed that 71 percent reported decreased levels of depression after hiking, while 22 percent of the participants felt their depression increased after walking through an indoor shopping center. Ninety percent reported their self-esteem increased after the nature hike, while 44 percent reported decreased self-esteem after walking around the shopping center. Eighty-eight percent of people reported improved mood after hiking, while 44.5 percent reported feeling in a worse mood after the shopping-center walk."

I can definitely agree with the fact that after an afternoon in a mall I feel nothing but stressed from crowds, the over-stimulation of lights and noise and the feeling that I've wasted time, money and energy. After an afternoon spent outside hiking I come home rejuvenated, relaxed, happy and feeling good about myself from all that fresh air and exercise and like I've done something good for my children.  Today we spent time listening to Grouse drumming, owls hooting....we watched woodpeckers on the ground, squirrels running....we hunted geocaches and traded items...we investigated old wasp nests....we learned about old trails that lead up to the North West Territories.....we looked for signs of Spring....we burned up al those calories from Easter treats.....we laughed, we climbed, we took turns with the gps.  We all came home in good moods.

Don't judge!!

Love love LOVE THIS POST about not judging other Moms!!!  I think it says exactly how I feel about everything :)

Mickey and Minnie curl for Alberta!!

Our wonderful friends Val and James took part in their annual 'Jugspiel' competition yesterday - they go curling with milkjugs!!  From what I can gather they have teams and have to dress up in costume - then in between their games they basically drink and eat - and of course the more they drink the funnier the games get!!!

Vals team chose to go as Disney characters - and while  their friends were Snow White and Prince Charming, Val made these AMAZING Mickey and Minnie Mouse costumes!!!  Aren't they wonderful????  I know they were stressing Val out more than a little this week - but the end results are soooooo GREAT!!!  I really do think she did a fantastic job!!!

Val - Sam will expect you to do the housework in this dress from now on ;)  

ps.  If I have any of these details wrong Val please correct me in the comments ;)