Fun in Fairmont

On December 9th, the boys and I headed down to Calgary to spend the night at the Kutarna's before heading to Fairmont for a week getaway with some friends. The kids got along great - so well in fact that we left them upstairs to play by themselves for awhile. We heard a TON of giggling and finally went up to investigate - and found this ...

We found them jumping on the bed, having pulled out all the clothes from Natalie's dresser. They also got decked out in the girl's swimsuits. AWESOME! I guess they might not be quite ready to be left completely alone at this point ...

While the older kids played upstairs, the little ones were having a little fun as well. Blake and Navy enjoyed a ride in the swing together. It's so fun to have had both of our kids so close together!

Blake also tried out the jolly jumper for the first time. Clearly, he loved it!

Later that night, Alex's sister and her boyfriend were able to come babysit the two toddlers (huge thank you!) while the adults and babies went to the Flexhaug's Annual Ugly Sweater/Mustache/Egg Nog Party. I was so excited to be able to go this year and catch up with many great friends from our days back in Calgary. It was such a fun night!! Here's a picture of all the girls in our very fashionable sweaters.

You may notice our stylish accessories ... Alex and I actually pulled Christmas decorations off her tree to use as earrings. So snazzy, indeed!

The next day we made our trek out to Fairmont to spend a week with two friends, Rachel & Lisa, and all of their kiddos. Lisa's family has a time share and she invited us all to join her and her son for a fun getaway in the mountains. The condo was huge and beautiful! There were six kids in total (including two 4 1/2 month olds). It was definitely an adventure trying to keep everyone entertained and happy, but Zach and I sure had a fantastic time!

I can't thank Lisa and Rachel enough for such a fabulous week. As much fun as it was during the day, we definitely looked forward to the evenings after the kids were in bed and we could just relax, watch chick flicks and chat. We stayed up too late almost every night (and ate way too many cookies and ice cream) but it was worth it! Thanks ladies!!

Here's a collection of photos from our fun-filled week together:

Rachel brought spray bottles and filled them with food colouring. They had a blast spraying a rainbow of colours in the snow. We had to end the fun, however, when they started spraying each other!

All the kids with their spray bottles.

They played with playdough, went on treasure hunts, decorated gingerbread men and Christmas rice krispie cutouts, coloured with stickers, and just had a great time making up their own fun!

Lauren was definitely the crafty one in the group and would stay at least twice as long to work on her masterpieces. Such a sweetheart!!

Although Zach and Lauren appear to be playing nicely for the moment, it usually didn't last long whenever these two were in the same room. It was rare that they could be near each other without one of them giving the other a little hit or a shove. We even got to witness occasional wrestling matches! It was quite humorous to watch, although it did get kind of exasperating by the end of the week.

Rachel made some yummy PB&J Reindeer sandwiches for the kiddos. So creative!!

There was a beautiful pool table in the front room, but within minutes of arriving we could see that the kids + the pool balls + the cues were not going to be a good mix. Lisa was brilliant by transforming the pool table into an awesome fort, and she also brought an extra mattress up from downstairs. It became the favourite room to play in and these boys sure had fun being 'little monkeys jumping on the bed'!

There was a small hill right near the condo that was a perfect size for the kids. For Zach's first real sledding experience, he did awesome. A few times he got a face full of snow, but he was always up for another run. Dmitri was the most experienced sledder of the crew and definitely looked like he was ready for some extreme sledding!

Zach loved to follow the older boys around all day, especially Dmitri. He would come out of his room in the morning or after naps, and immediately be asking for his friend 'Mitri'.

We also went to the Fairmont Hot Springs a couple of times. The first time we took all the kids and babies. I wasn't sure how Zach would do as he hates being cold, but the really warm water made up for it and as long as he was in the water, he loved it! The second time I stayed back with the babies while Lisa and Rachel took the other kids. With the wind chill, it got just a bit too cold for the littlest ones.

Almost every evening before bed, the kids got to play in the big jacuzzi tub. They used the ledge at the back as a water slide, so it was always quite the party! On our last night there, Rachel pulled out glow sticks and the kids were totally enthralled!

Lesson Learned:

I thought Zach's glow stick would make a fun night light, so without thinking, I gave it to him in the playpen. About 15 minutes after putting him to bed I heard him shrieking and went to investigate. Well to my utter shock I found Zach with a glowing green mouth, and spots of green all over his pyjamas and playpen. Yikes! I sure didn't think he would be able to chew through the stick! After a quick call to poison control to confirm it wasn't toxic, I gave him a good wash and he went back to bed. Sorry Zach!!

We headed straight to Lethbridge the next morning and made a stop for lunch by the famous Sparwood truck. Zach is really into learning about trucks and machines lately, so he was in total amazement!

Look how tiny he is compared to the tire!

A great end to a fabulous week ... now onto more good times in Lethbridge!