Jefferson and I spent Memorial Day weekend abroad...if you consider Canada abroad... :) It was a lot of driving, but we had a really good time and got to see a wedding. :) It was our first vacation since our honeymoon and my parents took care of the girls, so it was just us. And a gazillion hours in the car. Seriously. We met new people, experienced things we don't get to here in the US, saw beautiful country, and just enjoyed ourselves in general. There are a couple of things that we noticed about Canada. The people are nice. Its the little things, but they're nice. When someone was merging onto the highway everyone moved over. If you had to hit your breaks because you were going faster than the car in front of you and there was a car beside you, that car moved over. It was a welcome change of pace. The people there take pride in their work and their city. The city was clean and they had recycling bins on the corners, not just trash cans. In Canada, when a teenager graduates from high school, it is not automatically assumed they are going to college. They may go into the work force, they may go to college, which is like a technical school here, to learn a trade, or they may go to university, which is comparable to a 4 year school here. The people that we met that are in the trades take just as much pride in their work as those that have jobs after getting their 4 year degrees. It was a nice change to come across a person that lays tile yet is proud to do that. I feel like, as a country, we have gotten away from that. Certain jobs are looked down upon and we expect everyone to go to college. Somewhere along the way we need to get away from that and realize that everyone is not meant to go to college. If everyone went to college, who would work on cars, collect trash, and keep the roads up. Speaking of roads, I expected them to be in bad shape because of their winters (we had a mild winter this year. we only had one -40 day this year.) but they weren't. They were in better shape than many of the roads we traveled on to get home. This was our view at sunrise Friday morning after having driven for many many hours.
The girls in the meantime were with my parents having a blast. Amelia decided to reward my leaving with saying Nana before she said Mama, which of course made my mom super happy. They got to have movie night with Ken and Donna, spend some time around they house, and go to see Mae Mae and Uncle Scott on Sunday. They have been a little cranky and tired today, to say the least. They always have so much fun when they are there, but i'm pretty sure all that are involved are as worn out as the girls are. All 3 got in on the action of the slip n slide Ken and Donna gave Dori for her birthday.
They even went on a bear hunt with Mae Mae! :)
Speaking of birthday, Dori is now 5, has graduated from preschool, and is starting kindergarten in the fall. I don't know where the time has gone, but it has gone fast. She had a huge birthday party with many friends and family and had a blast. She was so excited to have everyone over, spending time.
Her five year stats: 33 pounds, 40 inches tall, both in the 10th percentile. She enjoys playing dress up, having royal tea parties, and building legos. She has gotten pretty good at writing her letters and is working on expanding the words she can read. She enjoys gymnastics and goes once a week to River City.
Until next time....
