Today marks my final day in the prairies. Come tomorrow morning, at 6 am, Avelyn and I will be drifting through the clouds on an airplane. (Note to self: when choosing a flight online it may be wise to not simply choose the cheapest flight. It is cheap for a reason. A 6 am departure and a three hour lay-over in the Calgary airport with a 14 month old is going to be the ultimate test of my parenting skills.)
This past week has sped by and the days have been filled with nice memories. Like this:
We drove to my dad’s hometown of Wynyard, Saskatchewan to visit my great-grandmother. She is 99 and sharp as a tack. Not many people get the opportunity to be a part of a photograph that captures five generations, but I am happy I did.Â
Avelyn was a big hit at the care home. She brought many smiles to the wrinkled faces there.Â
The drive home from Wynyard was tiring. For all parties.
 
My parents have been nothing short of amazing when it comes to lending a hand with Avelyn and giving me a bit of a break, which is such a treat. Thanks to them I was able to go out for a five hour dinner with these lovely ladies.
Kendra (the hottie on the far left) and Kristin (the raven-haired beauty in the middle who just got bangs and they are soo foxy) and I have been friends since elementary school. There is such a rich history that surrounds us whenever we get together, but our friendships are more than just “remembering when”. We are all on very different paths but I am glad they converged for an evening. While we picked at a table full of tapas we laughed and cried and shared and reminisced. I am so thankful for timeless friendships.
Today we had a gut-busting Thanksgiving dinner courtesy of my mom. It was delicious. Although I could have done without the turkey and mashed potatoes and vegetables. All I really like is the stuffing. Oh, the bready, carby goodness.Â
My dad has stepped up to the childcare plate and yesterday morning he was kind enough to get up with Avelyn to allow me a few more minutes of sleep. Nice, right? Lucky for him, when he went to pick her up from her crib he was greeted with the gagging stench of a diaper full of diarrhea. (Kids are awesome.) He stripped her down and while holding her by her paired ankles, trying to keep her soiled cheeks off the bed, he realized he didn’t know where the wipes were. So. He went to the cleaning closet and pulled out a contained of Lysol Wipes. You know the ones? Good for those hard-to-clean stains on your toilet bowl and kitchen counter? Yeah, he scraped my baby’s bum raw with one of them and now her rash is back. Wonder why. After the traumatic diaper change I heard my dad getting breakfast for Avelyn. I decided it was time I got up so I walked to the kitchen and saw this:
My dad said, “She’s always trying to eat the dog food so I thought she might like her breakfast like this.”Â
Grandpa duty is officially over.Â
Happy Thanksgiving to all the Canadians out there. And to all you Americans, what’s with Thanksgiving in November? It’s way too close to Christmas. October is totally the way to go.Â
21 Comments
I agree with you on the Thanksgiving deal….October would be much nicer.
And poor Avelyn’s bum!!! I hope she recovers. I do feel sorry for you on the trip home, but hopefully it won’t be as bad as you think it might.
Love the pictures! Five generations is really awesome.
Have a safe trip home.
October would be better, no arguments. But what would be BEST is to celebrate them both. You can never have too many mashed potatoes
Wow 5 generations- those are photos and memories you will always cherish!
I love seeing pics of Avelyn- my own baby just turned one, but she has SO MUCH LESS hair that she looks so much younger…
Love the diaper/breakfast story! That’s why it’s fun to hang out with Grandpa! You never know what’s happening next…
I love those pictures! I’m glad that, all in all, you had a good trip. And the part about your dad and the wipes and the breakfast? Classic! I’m sure you’ll be laughing about it soon, if not already ;)
That Lysol thing is both funny and horrid! Poor little girl! Sweet idea on the breakfast on the floor thing – I wish that would have gotten my daughter to stop eating dog food!
Awww!!! Grandpa sure tried didn’t he?!? Looks like you had an awesome time, hope your trip home is ok :)
The only thing missing from this post is a portrait of your dashingly attractive brother.
ps. My lyrics are bottomless…
That is hilarious!! :)
5 generations?!? that is soooo lucky! your dad is hilarious. one time i asked my dad to buy me some lysol wipes and he brought home baby wipes…so maybe all grandfathers think they are one and the same!
Happy Thanksgiving! I love the sleeping picture…the little dribble of drool on Avelyn’s chin is adorable.
Sounds like a great time! I can’t imagine still having friends from elementary school, that is amazing! Poor Avelyn…Fireass is her new name. Your sweet dad, I mean I know it made sense to him, clean AND disinfect at once!
That picture will be passed on for generations. You’re so lucky to have captured that moment.
My favourite part of Thanksgiving is the stuffing too, and if I didn’t get weird looks I would take a whole plate full of it and leave the turkey and potatoes for everyone else. Luckily I scored most of the stuffing left overs and I will eat it for lunch today!
The reason for T’day being so close to Christmas is especially designed to wring the maximum amount of stress out of us! Nothing like full time angst for 2+ months to get the ol’ blood pressure perking.
Your baby is so cute. I hope for a quick recovery from the Lysol-induced rash. Gee, what was he thinking?
Your dad is the greatest! What’s wrong with feeding Avelyn on the floor – she didn’t mind a bit!! He may have set a bad precedent, though. He’s going to be a tough act to follow. Of course, you will have to forego the Lysol thing. Avelyn will gladly give that up too. Eating on the floor — not soo easy.
I noted he immediately caught your typo about “writting” on your lap. Hmmm – still has a lot of teacher in him, doesn’t he?
Love the pictures. Treasures for certain.
I’m sure mom made a fabulous dinner- I can see you all sitting enjoying each other and the wonderful food.
Yes, and where was your dear brother – no pictures? Didn’t he at least get to change diapers once?
Hope your trip home is totally uneventful. Whatever happend to grouch water?
My sister-in-law used to serve the kids lunch on the floor. On plates, of course! They thought it was hysterical and at the food like crazy. If they had been at the table, they would’ve nibbled like mice and refused most of it. Hope the flight home goes…better. Oh for the days when you could buy Dimetap (with alcohol) for “colds”. Made for some pretty compliant kids on long trips! Not that I used it :)
You surely do know some nifty people. Thanks for sharing them.
Happy Thanksgiving! The “five generations” shot is amazing.
I am so glad I am not the only one with a kid who likes dog food! That is hilarious! Happy flights…I am sure it was miserable!
Your Dad CRACKS ME UP. I see where you get it from. Yep – Wednesday it is for a Playdate – we drive home tomorrow :)
She’s always smiling for pictures. So cute!!
Your hair looks gorgeous, as a side note. And I seriously want to eat my lunch on the floor now.
What a wonderful trip!
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