Summer Vacay-Part 1-Canada

Lets start with another dialogue from my darling husband.  Warning***It may be slightly offensive to some of you, so you can skip it if you want. 

Kevin-"Is it weird that you are half female and half male?"

Me-"I'm pretty sure I am still fully female.  I just have a little man growing inside of  me"

Kevin-"So that makes you like a transgender"

Me-"Nope, I haven't changed anything"

Kevin-"Is it weird to have a penis inside of you?"

Me-"I guess if  I didn't like it, I wouldn't be pregnant"

That got him to shut-up. 

So, back in the end of July, we were able to go spend some time in Canada.  Kevin got really upset when I suggested I go home and play with my family while he studied for the Bar exam. I guess he now not so secretly LOVES Canada and knows that it is so much fun. So, he met me out there straight from finishing his 3 day testing from hell to enjoy a blissful 10 day party with the best party planner I know, Jackie! Now, I have 1000s of pictures, so please bear with me.  This is an extremely long post, and there will be plenty more to come, but I would understand if you give up part-way through. 

We got in super late on Friday night/Saturday morning so we decided to take it easy the first day.  It also didn't help that all that travel made me puffier than the Michelin man! We headed up to Waterton to ride bikes, picnic, and play on the beach, oh yes, and an evening Kayak!. 

 Building Tee pees and  log cabins at driftwood beach

Me and Jackie. Its a really good think they cut out my sexy cankles, I know you would all be jealous. 

 Cameron Lake- Kevin thought it looked like Lord of the Rings.  

 This part of the lake was in America.  The snow and ice was not in Alberta. 

Sunday was a day of rest, we just hung out with the family, but on Monday, Jackie had other plans.  We got up early and took off to Iceberg Lake in Glacier national park.  It was a lovely hike, and not too far, although Kevin did manage to get some nasty blisters on his feet in some of the strangest places.  

 Basin of Iceberg Lake.  A little family photo with the fetus. 

 Bear Grass. It only blooms every 5 years. 

 Walking across the Glacier. 

 View of one of the Glacial lakes

 Glacier water is SOOOO cold!

Jackie worked really hard to get Kevin to pose with the bear grass that looks like anatomical body parts. Here is the only successful picture. 

The next day, we went on a Kayak trip to rest our little feet. 

 Doesn't Kevy make his skirt look manly

 the crew

 I am not sure which one of us this is, but good action shot Jackie!

And, it wouldn't be Canada without seeing a beaver!

Well, this is what happens when you don't blog about your adventures right away. We kayaked and then hiked.. I got my days mixed up.  Then, we went to writing on stone to float and play in the hoodoos. 

 Robyn finally got what was coming to her when Sam tackled her over with all her tubes. 

 Hiking in the hoodoos

 floating down the milk river.  

So after we had wonderful burns, it was time to get out of the sun.  We decided to go mountain biking in Waterton to Wall Lake. 

 This is Kevin's all time favorite picture.  I could hear Jackie using her "surprised" word quite loudly ahead of me as I watched her fall in slow motion. Disclaimer- It would not be funny if she were hurt.  

 Jackie made me dismount for all bridges.  I think she thinks I am clumsy or something.  I only did it because of the fetus. 

 Action shot of Kevy. 

 Wall Lake

 Waterton Lake

Prince of Whales hotel. 

Well, we were rested, so it was time to hike the leisurely trail to the Garden Wall. Kevin still had blisters, but he needed to suck it up.  It was going to be 80degrees according to Jackie (remind me not to trust her again) so we headed out to the top of the Going to the Sun Road.  Well, as previously stated, we will not trust Jackie again.  There was fresh snow at the top of the pass, and it was a whopping 39degrees. Almost 80 right? So after we went on a wild goose chase to get Kevin a coat, we finally started our hike.  Even if it was cold, it was beautiful.  

 The very famous Goose Island in St. Mary's lake. 

 Kevin loved his reflection pictures.  We had to pull over at every single roadside turnout. 

 Walking through the mist at the Garden Wall

 Bighorn Sheep

 Grizzly Bear. 

 The Chalet

 Overlooking Logan's Pass

One of our little mountain goat friends frolicking near the road. 

So after I, being 6mos pregnant, nearly had to carry Kevin down the mountain because of his blisters. It was a good day for Kayaking again.  This was a 25 mile trip, and apparently we need to go earlier next year to get some REALLY good rapids, but it was still so fun. 

 Lloydy got to make it out with us on this trip!

That's me and the fetus.  Good action shot Jackie!

Well, we couldn't just waste a day and get on a plane, so we left early and went up to Banff before we flew out to California, part 2 of our vacation. 

 Best Hosts ever! Thank you again for showing us such a fabulous time!

Well if you made it to the end, you can see why I have procrastinated my blogging.  Stay tuned for Part 2 of our Vacay. and then for our series of The America tour. 

Sneak Peek

Well, we have had a busy, and fun summer, I will update my blog next week, but for now, it seems I have been terribly negligent.  We are having a boy, but since Kevin only makes boys (according to him), there was no question now was there.  If you read my previous post, you should know that Kevin plans on naming my fetus Klaus Nicholas. My nieces and nephews lovingly dubbed him baby Ho Ho.  I had seriously hoped this would dissuade Kevin from pursuing the ghastly name, but for now, we will refer to him as Klaus.  Serious name discussions will follow, but only when he can be reasonable.  I am still working on Brady Belichick. 

This pregnancy is something.  I am enjoying it most of the time, but I am seriously questioning that sanity of anyone who has had more than 1 child, and I haven't even done the whole labor thing.  Do you all develop selective amnesia where you forget how sick and tired and painful this can be?

Since most people share funnies that their children say on their blogs and I won't have one speaking for over a year, I will just share Kevin comments.  Most are simply ridiculous, but every once in a while, I do get a good laugh.

The other morning Kevin says "I didn't sleep very well last night".  In my most concerned voice I asked "why not?  Are you OK/" he replied "yeah, it's just the baby, he was kicking me all night!".  HMMMM.  I almost kept a straight face.  No sympathy from me.  My other favorite, and it was the very next day.  He had his hand on my belly, the baby was doing his usual tumbling routine, and Kevin got these really wide eyes and looked up at me "Did you feel that?"  Oh dear. He was a blonde child.  You never get over some things. 

Below is the picture that Kevin has been so proud to show to anyone who will look. 

When we were getting the ultrasound, the tech was very impressed by our little man's large parts. I guess she probably does see a lot of babies, so she must know what she is talking about.  Kevin was so proud that he walked around with his chest out saying "did you see how big it was?" over and over again for weeks. 

These are the creepy 4-D or 3-D or whatever they call the images.  Kevin hates them, but I think it is surprisingly less creepy when it is your own spawn.  At least Klaus will be handsome, even if he has a bad name.

One more for good measure.  Only about a month and a half until his arrival.  I guess I better start getting ready!

 

Check back next week to hear about all our summer adventures we have had MANY.  I have 1000s of pictures, so I have to sort through them that is one of the reasons it takes me so long to update.  It is just too much to process sometimes.

What's in a name?

To me, a name is a defining part of life. I think that people make instant assumptions and biases based solely on someone's name. Just think of all the kids that get teased because of the names that their parents lovingly gave the and that those same parents thought was adorable. I know some people have had the names that they want to name their future spawn picked out from childhood.  I can't say that I have that problem, but I do have a problem over-thinking this issue.  If I knew of someone with a particular name, I associate them with other people of that name. I don't want to think of some stuck-up jerk, or annoying kid every time I see that darling face that is made from my DNA. I can't get into the Mormon trend of making up strange names. Once again, you aren't giving your poor child a fighting chance unless it is a method of toughening them up, but I think there are better ways. They are the ones tied to that poor name forever.  

So why am I talking about this? Well, my husband and I have some pretty different ideas of what is an appropriate name. We will only discuss male names because he "only makes boys". In fact, he told me that if it is not a boy, I have some explaining to do. (is there an emoticon for eye rolling?).  Well, for those of you that know us, we have discussed names of our spawn for quite some time. It started back about 6 years ago when we were hiking Angel's Landing in Zion's National Park.  Kevin saw carved in stone the name Klaus. Since then, he has had this horrible idea make that the name of his first born son, but not just Klaus, Klaus Nicholas. You know, his nickname could be Santa, or St. Nick. Well, that was the starting point. His love for America and the founding fathers has had him wanting a George Washington, Thomas Jefferson (the elder statesman), and Abraham Lincoln.  His 'refined' side loves the name Giorgio Armani Hill.  His narcissistic side loves Fitzkevin Darcy (I'd actually go for Fitzy),  Kevin-Kevin, or Kevlar.  His athletic side wants Truman (the Truth), or FAMOUS Hill (just call him Fame) and these are just a few.  

I can only say 2 things. I either hope we have a girl, or it is a really good thing that we are both big, so our kid's will be able to defend themselves when they get bullied.