The Core, Stampede, The Bow and Wii

Stef and my cousin Amber drove to Calgary for the weekend. We did a little of everything!

Friday we headed out walking to go shopping. With the weather being in the mid 30s we didn't get far before realizing that we needed air conditioning. We made it to Lulu Lemon on 17th. Amber was a successful shopper there! We tried some stuff on and cooled off a bit. We then walked the couple of blocks to the train and hopped on with the half million other people in the sweaty train. Gross. We spent the afternoon shopping in "The Core" as it is being marketed. TD Square, Eaton Centre and Scotia Centre. We each got new shirts.

Home for a quick supper and then off to sweaty Stampede. The temperatures were well into the 30s all weekend and with hundreds of thousands of people in one place it got pretty gross. But as the sun went down things cooled of to the mid 20s and it was bearable. We checked out the Coke Stage (free entertainment, good bands if you can get close), walked the midway, checked out the dream house, rode some rides, (the Stampede Skylift ,

The Twister , The Swings ) had the midway delicacy of mini doughnuts, watched the fireworks and waited around for the call that would say that Jason could get us into Nashville North - the hot spot of the Stampede. But that didn't happen as it was so busy there - and he was so busy with all the scumb bags that attend Stampede. So we picked up Tyler (who had worked the mainstage concert in the dome) and headed home, where Logan was now home from work.

Saturday we headed out on the Bow. Always a good time.

It was extremely hot! Logan and Stef were brave enough to get in the water. I think it was hot enough that Amber and I would have followed except that the water is mountain run off and freaking freezing - the the two of them screamed and made faces for quiet awhile before they would admit it was nice in the water, and only then because they were numb.

We all got a little bit sunburned. But for the most part it wasn't because of lack of sunscreen. For example, here is my leg: The blotchiness is unexplainable.

After supper I opened 2 Birthday presents.

A Wii Nunchuck. (from Stef and Matt)

We played for a bit. Did a little Boxing.

Then Tyler and Jen came over and I opened up Mario Party 8 from Logan. We played.

Sunday, we woke up late. Tried to go to Nellies for breakfast but it was full. So we settled for Humpty's (which was also full of people and sweaty hot). But the food is always greasy goodness. Then Stef and Amber hit the road for home. I plan on doing a little editing to finish the day - which Logan naps.

Stampede Day 4

After our late night drinks with Jason and his friend at Earl's, we made plans to head out to Stampede together the next day. When I got off work I came to a house full of boys, beer cans and a couple pieces of pizza saved for me. We had a few drinks and headed on over. The setting for that night's adventure - Nashville North. It was warm and very loud in the tent. But the drinks were flowing. The starter guy was pretty good. Jason something. The headliner was Aaron Prichet (spelling?). It was so loud. And not just cause I am old - Saturday night the volume was awesome. Last night, we had to drink so that we didn't feel the pain of our ears bleeding. Ah well. All is well that ends well - and without a hang over.

I think we are gonna take a couple days off though. Maybe a movie tonight, stay in and watch Stranger than Fiction I stole from Matt the last time I was home. I plan to make a Rachel Ray meal of grilled chicken, Brie, Mango Sub with a cucumber tomato salad. But this weekend we will be back at it with Stef and Amber driving into town on Thursday night.

Ahh Stampede.

Stampede Day 3

Monday night we were sitting around. Wondering what to do. Tyler and Jen were headed off to a movie, but I have no interest in the new Die Hard. We invited them over for a pre-movie drink. We enjoyed some cosmos. Soon enough we decided we should probably head out to stampede again. With a quick phone call to our hookup we headed the block east to the grounds. Logan had some pizza and we wandered a bit. Then we decided to go on the Ferris Wheel. We paid the hundred dollars to get on the ride and were treated to the nights fireworks display while we rode. We even got the pleasure of stopping at the top for the finale.

Then we walked some more. Tyler and Jen decided they needed to get their hands on dick on a stick . What it is is bananas and strawberries on a skewer and covered in chocolate, the unfortunate part is that if they would just turn the strawberry up side down, or change the order they are put on the stick, it wouldn't look so alarmingly like a penis. Logan had a candy apple and we headed off the grounds to catch up with Jason (cousin) and his friend and Earl Tin Palace, right by us. It was a late night, but you gotta love turning a nothing night into something.

Stampede Trip 2

Yesterday we hit Stampede again. Logan was at work so Tyler, Craig, Jen, Chris and I went out. We had a good time. Mostly because of the old saying "It isn't what you know, it's who you know." Jason was working security again. Tyler put our bags and sweaters in his locker at the dome, and we were on our way. 1st stop, Beer Garden. They only serve Bud, which is a lot disappointing, but we managed. We then trekked over to the Coke Stage (which is free concerts) with the other million people for Three Days Grace. We stuck around long enough for Jen and I to hit the washroom and then headed the other direction. We then walked over to Nashville North. A great big tent with a huge line up. The line was way passed the sign that says "If you are here you can expect a six hour wait". Stupid. Who waits that long. Not us. We made a quick phone call and our hook-up, Jason, snuck us in the side door. We had a great time. First Prairie Oyster and then McQueen. McQueen was great - they are a cover band and played everything! A great night at the stampede again. And with our hookups, very little hastle.

Stampede

The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth - they say.

Yesterday was the sneak peak. I was lucky enough to be one of the 100s of thousands of people to receive free passes to sneak peak evening. So after Logan's 10 hour + shift I made him take me. The best part was that Jann Arden was playing. I think she is great.

When we arrived we called Jason who was working security - just to see if we could meet up to chat. It turned out that he was stationed at he Free Coke Stage that Jann Arden was performing at. He advised us to go to the stage left gate. He let us into a sealed off section right off the stage left side. We got seats and a great view. Far better than standing at the back of the huge crowd where I may not be able to see and stand all the time!

As I sit here now I can hear the nightly fireworks ring out and the deep bass - boom boom boom of some performance. Stampede should be interesting. We are in spitting distance to the grounds. The horn honking and hooting and hollering may get old soon.

What a great weekend we had

With both sets of parents and a couple of siblings in town to help us celebrate Logan's graduation we had a great time.

The graduation itself was very neat. Not something you get to see everyday. There were the Police Trumpet Band followed by the Pipe Band. The Pipe Band marched around and had a dancer. And then out marched the recruits. Down the stairs and into formation wearing their "number ones", their dress uniforms. From the top of the badge adorned hats, crisp white shirts, black leather gloves and mirror like shine on the boots they were dressed to impress. Then they marched. Around the parade square they went in perfect unison. It was all very neat. The band was playing, the flags were waving and the recruits were in deep concentration. And then the exciting part. They presented each of them with their badge and certificate! After a quick shake of the hand with the Chief and Head of the Police Association they were off and marching again. Something that I will never forget.

After a quick stop over at our place for some appetizers and drinks we headed of to the Westin for a beautiful dinner and dance. The only problem was the recruits had been working 10 hour days all week and were at the armouries at 7:30 that morning to set up and practice one more time. They were all too pooped to party. Sure they drank and chatted - but it was up to Stef and I to dance the night away. And we did!

We made friends with a couple of other people and the four of us remained on the floor from the third dance until the end. Some people came and went. But we danced. Jason and Tyler Haughey were the DJ's so that added to the fun. They said that they play the music to the crowd. They quickly discovered that no one was going to dance - so that made the four of us the crowd. We had a good ole time!

Saturday we booked the entertainment room in our apartment building. We had food till the cows come home. Appetizers, cake, punch... yum... if I do say so myself. We were a small group and I had planned for an army. But we had a great time!

(I custom designed the cake using clip art -

you are unable to see his reg # on the badge on the hat)

A round of our favorite new game Apples to Apples

Then back upstairs to play a relaxing game of Wii.

Our new game "Smooth Moves"

Logan's Police Graduation Ceremony

Happy Father's Day

To all the Father's in my Life

I love you Dad.

My Father-in-Law

Grandpa Beatty

Grandpa Glass


Lots of Love and
Happy Father's Day

Better late than never

I have been spending all of my free computer moments editing the wedding video and I have neglected my blog.

On the weekend we bought a second game for our Wii - Play. It has some fun games on it. We had the usual suspects over to play. Always a good time!

We also went out to Canmore. Gotta love living close to the mountains.

Tandem Bike Ride

A trip to the Banff Hot Springs

Matt Royer (in from Edmonton) and Tyler

Dinner at Grizzley Paw PubKim and Matt and TylerA little Fondue

My poor baby.

Logan has experienced some interesting things in his training. They have done some crazy physical training, learned things that the average person doesn't want to know. A week or two ago they Tazered him. He was one of seven who experienced that pleasure. He even videotaped it. Not something I can watch. Not true, I watched the other people and laughed - but saw Logan get it and felt terrible for him. To hear him groan in pain is not easy. But his comment on that event was that the pain was more than he thought it could be while the Tazer was cycling (3 sec), but as soon as it was done it was over! There was no lasting pain or anything. Today is another story.

Today all of them were peppered sprayed. My poor baby. They pulled numbers and he was last. He got to watch every one of them go thru it before it was his turn. He said that it was more painful than he ever thought that it could be. Apparently his eyes, nose and mouth started to run like crazy to clear out the pepper spray. Gross.

I feel really bad because the pain continued, well, continues. They were sprayed at 1:00 and felt alot of pain until 6:00. He sat in the car for half an hour with the air in his face until he could drive. He came home and looked horrible. After the exercise they had a decontamination area with a bucket of water and baby shampoo to rinse. But they were told only to wash once cause the spray is worst when it is wet. Then they all lined up in front of the fans they had to cool down the burning. He came home and stood on a phone book on a chair to put his face up to the air conditioner vent. He started to feel better and went to do the dishes. He obviously got sprayed on the hands cause the water reactivated the spray and then next thing I know he has his hands in the freezer.

I guess if the point is to show them how their weapons feel they may think about it before they use them. I think that Logan will reserve the use of Pepper spray for those who have really done bad.

We gotta Wii

I am excited to announce that we got a Nintendo Wii! I love it. We have it hooked up so it displays on our projector. I love that thing! I can't wait to try some of the other interesting games they have created for it. Yeah Nintendo!

Ceremony complete!

Of the four weddings I have edited thus far I have always started with the Ceremony. This is mostly because it is the most important part of the whole day and I want to give it that extra energy that comes with starting a project. I am happy to report that it is complete. The sound quality is not great but I tried to even it out. And there are some shaky moments. But it is all there. And I happen to like it - if I do say so myself.

What next? Hard to say. We will see what tickles my fancy when I open up the program.

Day on the Bow

Today was great. 30 degrees and sunny. We spent the day on a raft on the Bow River. And the best part is that I didn't even get sun burned. A little pink, yes. But that is the best possible outcome.