Oh my! I have not posted in a LONG time. Sorry everyone. Well, we decided to go down to Raymond for Canada Day this year. I have heard people
rave about the Raymond Canada Day parade so I looked forward to seeing what the fuss was about. :)
We headed down Friday night and stopped with my aunt and uncle in Okotoks for the night. It was so nice to visit and show off Oakley. By ten we were off again and got to Raymond around 1:00. It was so nice to have Rachel drive down with us to help calm Oakley when he spat out his soother, etc. Jake and Riss hosted us for the rest of the weekend. The boys discovered that they both independently found out about and started building their own
rocket stove. Like any good boys, they started playing in the dirt and created two different versions of rocket stoves during the weekend. It was fun to see them so passionate about their cob stoves.
Our visit was full of games, husbands playing with mud, wives watching chick flicks and lots of strawberry eating! I introduced Larissa to frustration (also called three card or lucky unders) and she taught me 3,4,5 (or "Count your cards, stupid"). There's something so nostalgic about playing card games in the summer for me. The only thing missing that weekend of my old memories was a propane lantern and a tent.
While we were there, Riss helped me make a Canada Day onesie for Oakley. I was
very impressed with Rissa's skill in doing baby handprints. I painted Oakley's hand red, she held his hand and positioned and I pressed it onto the onesie and then painted two strips to create a Canadian flag.
SO cute! I couldn't stop admiring it that night. It was very impressive.
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| Some of the Smith spectators |
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| Some more |
Now, as Raymond is mainly a mormon town and we believe in keeping the Sabbath holy and focussed on the Savior, the town of Raymond decided to have Canada Day festivities on Monday July 2nd instead. we got ready and walked over to where the parade would pass by. There was a whole ton of Smith extended family there. I had to re-meet most of them as the only times I have met the grand majority have been my wedding and a funeral - not the best time to have one-on-one with people. We were all there to cheer on Matt's uncle Darrel in the parade. He has just finished his debut
novel, The Anniversary Waltz and he had a float to celebrate the book. I was very intrigued to see floats from Cardston, Sterling, Lethbridge, Coaldale, etc. in the parade. I wondered why they weren't in their own Canada Day parade. That's when I found out that in Southern Alberta, they are all about their parades. Raymond gets Canada Day weekend, Magrath has Magrath Days, Lethbridge has August long weekend and Cardston has something end of August and everyone goes to all of them! That's a lot of parades and rodeos and such. I loved the bag pipes! I was also happy to see candy there. A Canada Day parade is so sad with no pipes and no candy for the kids to catch. Matt caught a roll of toilet paper from the plumber's float. :) So, my consensus is that Raymond does throw a good parade but I probably won't drive down every year or even every other year to see it. Which reminds me. I was amazed to see how many people come back to this small town every year for Canada Day weekend. It seemed to be a common thing. That's endearing.
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| Look at us, all patriotic! |
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| The reason we were there |
After the parade, the Nelsons had a book signing and family dinner at the elementary school. We both enjoyed showing off Oakley and his precious onesie. At the luncheon, there were games and such for everyone to participate in but I'm pretty sure the most popular was the giant inflatable balls that you climbed in and then were rolled around. Matt went in and loved it. He wants to own some when we grow up. Interestingly, he said it didn't make him feel dizzy at all, even though he was rolled sideways, upside down and all over. It looked like a lot of fun in a crazy, claustrophobic way but I wasn't feeling well so I bowed out. One day, maybe. We headed home after Matt pushed a few of his siblings around. I almost think he had more fun pushing (or kicking in Tanner's case) than being inside the ball. ;)
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| Ready to go |
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| I love that you can see Matt almost upside down in this photo. :) |
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| Rollin' around the field |
Well, thanks Raymond for a fun-filled Canada Day!
Our visit was full of games, husbands playing with mud, wives watching chick flicks and lots of strawberry eating! I introduced Larissa to frustration (also called three card or lucky unders) and she taught me 3,4,5 (or "Count your cards, stupid"). There's something so nostalgic about playing card games in the summer for me. The only thing missing that weekend of my old memories was a propane lantern and a tent.
After the parade, the Nelsons had a book signing and family dinner at the elementary school. We both enjoyed showing off Oakley and his precious onesie. At the luncheon, there were games and such for everyone to participate in but I'm pretty sure the most popular was the giant inflatable balls that you climbed in and then were rolled around. Matt went in and loved it. He wants to own some when we grow up. Interestingly, he said it didn't make him feel dizzy at all, even though he was rolled sideways, upside down and all over. It looked like a lot of fun in a crazy, claustrophobic way but I wasn't feeling well so I bowed out. One day, maybe. We headed home after Matt pushed a few of his siblings around. I almost think he had more fun pushing (or kicking in Tanner's case) than being inside the ball. ;)
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