Prince's Island Park

First, a big THANK YOU to Kate, who informed me that I had referred to myself as Dennis' "husband" in "Holly's Story" on the sidebar.  Funny, I had just read over that, and didn't catch it.  Glad to know someone reads this thing!  (Okay, I know a couple people do.)

Last Wednesday was a gorgeous day, so after my chiropractor appointment, I took drove to just north of downtown Calgary and took a walk around Prince's Island Park.  (Look, I learned how to make a link!)  The area was once a lumber mill, which was turned into a park in 1947.  Think Blue Lake Park without the lake, and you've got a good idea of the park.  I had heard about the park, I wanted to go take a look at it before the kids were out of school, just in case it wasn't worth my time, and I ended up with a couple grumpy kids.

It was VERY worth my while.  There are trees everywhere, which was nice, as the community we live in is new, so the trees there are no more than 3-4 years old.  Picnic tables are scattered throughout, and there are walking/biking trails, as well as a big playground.   

There's a restaurant in the park, which my chiropractor tells me is very good.  It sounded pretty busy when I walked by.

There's a lagoon that runs through it, and on this day I saw baby geese a-plenty.

I even encountered a couple Calgary Information volunteers, who happily agreed to let me take their picture.

They told me a lot about various Stampede events coming up; it's not all about rodeos and cowboy hats.  Turns out that if we wanted to, we could find a free pancake breakfast every day throughout Stampede (July 8-17.)  I don't think we'll search for that, but at least I know a little more about this very popular week.  It's nice to know there are more things than just what's happening at Stampede Park.  Since Dennis will be in Vancouver, BC during Stampede Week, the kids and I will avail ourselves to many of the festivities.

I spent about 45 minutes in the park, just strolling around.  I saw preschools having year-end picnics, families having what looked to be reunions, and lots of moms and strollers.  What a nice park to have in the downtown area.

We are already planning to come on Friday, which is Canada Day, the celebration of Canada becoming a country, and later of Canada gaining its independence from the United Kingdom.  Although, as Canada is a Constitutional Monarchy with ties to the Queen of England, I'm not sure how that whole independence thing is going.  Canadian government was very confusing to me when we first moved here; I was actually glad to help Jared study for his Grade 6 PAT (exams) so that we could all learn a little government.

But I digress.  Prince's Island Park is having a big to-do on Canada Day, which should be a lot of fun.  They will supposedly have fireworks in the evening; we will see if there are crazy people lighting them off all over town, as in Portland.  But it should be a fun time.


On a side note, about the chiropractor--while we don't have access to the Alberta health system and are required to have our own (self-pay) insurance, we do have the ability to go to pretty much any doctor that will see us.  That's the problem I have discovered up here.  While at least basic health care is free, it is very hard to find a doctor who is accepting new patients.  (Fortunately, walk-in and urgent care clinics are everywhere).  The closest doctor accepting new patients is about 40 minutes away.  So, since I wanted to be seen for more frequent migraines and my plantar fasciitus, I decided to see a chiropractor.  I saw one while pregnant with Rebecca, and it did wonders for the back pain I was experiencing. 

I actually found my chiro when I went to pick up Chinese & Thai food, in that I drove by his clinic, and that's what gave me the idea to go. 

I have to say it's been fantastic.  I have not (knock on wood) had another migraine since, and my foot is doing better.  (See the walk around the park above.)  My neck has a partially compressed disc, and my back is out of whack in several places.  I had my progress scan last Friday, and while things are still not where they should be, they are heading in that direction.  I'm very happy, and I highly recommend seeing one if at all possible.  I am very lucky that my insurance covers the visits with a small co-pay.  At least for 30 visits at this point.

Yes, I'm Still Here

Well, I knew it had been a while since I had updated the blog, but I didn't realize it was almost two months! Oops! Hopefully I'll be better with summer activities.

Sue & Denny came to visit in mid-May, bringing Abby the dog back to us and staying for May Long Weekend, Jared's birthday and a few more days. It was a great time, but I'm looking forward to their trip here in December, when the kids are out of school and Dennis is off work; his company closes down for two weeks during Christmas. Paid! Yes! Anyway, we had a great time visiting, relaxing, shopping, touring a local historical house, and even visiting Elbow Falls, which doesn't hold a candle to Multnomah Falls, but was a fun trip nonetheless.

Summer has actually arrived here in Calgary, but the mosquitoes arrived last month in full force. I guess we've been spoiled in Portland, as I don't remember too many of the nasty insects except on some of our camping trips, or in the evening in some areas. But here they're out all day and night. We've loaded up on the bug spray, and our bird feeder seems to have attracted birds who like to have a mosquito dessert, which has been helpful.

Mother's Day and Father's Day were quite affairs, with dinners out both nights. Or supper, as it seems it's called up here. The kids and Dennis spent most of Father's Day playing Little Big Planet 2 on the PS3, which was great fun for them. And fun for me to watch and hear. If you haven't experienced LBP 1 or 2, I highly recommend it. Checking out what characters they've created is part of the fun!

I'm off to my chiropractor appointment. I've been going for two weeks now, and I think it's making a difference with both my migraines and my foot issues. More on that later.

Feeling at Home; Our First Visitors

Two days ago marked our first month here in Calgary.  How did we celebrate it?  With Dennis staying home from work, sick.  Or injured from bouncing on the trampoline with the kids.  Or a combination of the two.  We're not quite sure, but we do think there was a bruised rib.  But he is well now, and we are looking forward to our first visitors next Friday--Sue & Denny!  And Abby, our dog.  I didn't think I would, but I have been missing the dog.  Funny.

We have just about unpacked all our boxes, with a little work still needing to be done on the garage and basement, plus finishing up the guest room/craft room.  I purchased another IKEA Expedit bookcase yesterday, and with Dennis' help we will get it put together today or Saturday.  Then I can finally organize the craft and scrapbooking materials, plus make an area for guests to use during their stay.  I'm very excited to have the room on its way to being done!  The living room (downstairs) will be our last room, but it's much lower on the list, as it requires more furniture purchases, which will need to wait.  But that's okay.

On the decorating front, I need a little help with two areas in my house.  First, in our master bathroom, we have this large storage area between the two sinks:

As you can see, I'm not really using them to their full capability.  At some point I will most likely put something decorative on the top shelf, but other than having rolled towels in some of the lower cubbies, any ideas?  Links to anything you have found on the web would also be helpful!

The other "problem" area is my kitchen island, or continent as Dennis calls it:

(Please forgive the mess!)  Now, part of me feels bad complaining about too much space, but seriously, this thing is huge!  There's that big center area that I just don't know how to use.  It does come in handy when I've been to the market, as I can just shove back anything that's on the counter to unload groceries.

I've searched online for photos of islands, and after looking at dozens (hundreds?), I can easily say 1) we have pretty much THE largest one around, and 2) floral arrangements seem to be the trend.  Any other ideas?  Again, web links will be gladly accepted!

On to our upcoming visitors.  I know many of our friends back in Portland have been very concerned with the well-being of my in-laws.  Everyone can rest easy, as they will be coming up next Friday for a couple weeks.  We plan to keep them busy with visiting, being tourists and celebrating Jared's birthday on May 22nd.  His birthday just happends to coincide with the Long Weekend, as Victoria Day, celebrating Queen Victoria's birthday, falls on Monday the 23rd; the kids (and Dennis) get Friday and Monday off!  Jared is very happy to have a four-day weekend for his birthday.  And no, we don't get the following Monday, Memorial Day, off, too. 

I'll be sure to post photos of their visit; it will be our first real chance to do some exploring, as we haven't done a lot so far, unpacking taking up most of our free time.

Thanks to everyone who has written cards to us and the kids; they especially get a kick out of receiving mail, and I'm trying to encourage them to write as well.

Have a great weekend!