Product: Jilli Bean Soup's Mushroom Medley

I have been making a very big effort to get out, go exploring and find adventures in our own backyard. There is so much to do and see in the city. My goal this summer is to do just that... get out and discover. 

Goal: Explore

Where: Anywhere

Why: Because summer (and life) is too short to sit around and be bored, there is so much to see. It also makes me so much happier and leaves lasting memories for all three of us.

Maybe you'll discover something here that you didn't know about. Maybe you'll be inspired to go discover and explore yourself. Here's to new adventures!

Where: Kinsmen Park

Date: May 6

Cost: nothing

What we brought: picnic dinner (and runners next time as the sand makes all other surfaces slippery)

At the beginning of May Anna & I had a picnic / park date with our good friends Lisa & Lucas. We both packed up meals for our families and met at the Kinsmen Park where we spent the evening eating olives, Cheetos and maybe perhaps sneaking a G&T in a to-go mug. We climbed on equipment, refused to go down the spiral contraption (me) and watched two kids get to know each other better. 

Before:

"Is Lucas a boy mom?"

"Yes Anna, Lucas is a boy."

So... Auntie Lisa doesn't have a girl?"

"Nope, just Lucas but he loves to have fun just like you and I am sure he loves the park."

"Hmmm.... Ok."

After:

"You're right, Lucas was fun. They also had cheesies"

On our way home the two of us pulled over and went for a little walk across the river on the LRT bridge. I asked her if she wanted to go home to bed or to go see the sunset. She had no trouble choosing that one.  It was beautiful and I love these little moments of exploring. We talked about how beautiful the sunset was, we watched a beaver and she told me about the boy in class that doesn't listen.  They are some of my best and favorite times with her. 

Anna: "Mom, can I tell you something?'

Me: "Always."

Anna: "R doesn't listen to the teacher very good. But you think he's bad. S is even worse! He never listens, for real."

Me: "He can't be worse than R?"

Anna: "He is."

Jasper: Part 2

Back in January we took a weekend and headed to Jasper. I shared the first part of our weekend here, this is the second day in Jasper and it was magic. The clouds had disappeared and all the mountains were lit up against the blue sky. I will never tire of that view! After we had breakfast and checked out of our room we rented ice cleats and headed to Magline Canyon to hike the canyon and the ice. 

I can not begin to describe how amazing to was to see all the ice, the frozen falls, all of it. Nature is so unreal! I was in awe. I have never seen anything like this, and going here in the winter was always a must do for me. 

We got to watch ice climbers (so brave) and Cory even got to stop and help lift a climber that had slipped and lost her ice picks. It was a heck of a hike and I can't lie- I was exhausted but it was so worth it.

Brave Actions

Sometimes being brave means standing up for yourself or facing a difficult situation or signing up for something you've been to scared to do. Sometimes it means standing in line to get on a roller coaster that didn't look so bad from far away. Then that roller coaster stops two rides before yours at the safety check because two people weren't buckled in... there's a loop... you go upside down. It means staying in that line even though all your inside voices are telling you to get the hell out. I stayed, I rode it twice (they send every ride twice, I would have been fine getting off after the first go). I screamed bloody murder the whole ride- twice. I hurt my throat but I was glad I stayed. I am not sure if I had fun or not but the other two I was with had fun laughing at me and maybe that's why I was there.

Roller Coaster at Calaway Park outside of Calgary.

Sometimes being brave means walking out onto a glass floor 160m up and watching the teeny tiny cars below. It means holding your breath when you take that first step. It means asking the youngsters beside you to "please stop dancing on the glass floor", it means to breath slowly as you tell your brain that you will not plummet to your death. The brain is a marvellous thing and it certainly played a few mind games with me while I was out on the floor. Anna was so brave, she came out, freaked out and asked "What if it breaks?" and then left. She came back and stood with me and then all on her own. She was so proud and we cheered he on. Cory on the other hand stayed off, he couldn't take a step, looking down alone made him queasy but we love him anyways.

Glass floor at the Calgary Tower. 

ps. I read the brochure after we came down, it read "less than an inch of glass between you and the bustling city street below", LESS THAN AN INCH! thank goodness I read it after.