THIS CALLS FOR SOME CHAMPAGNE ... BIRTHDAY SURPRISE TAKE 3

well the day finally happened ... j and n took an amazing hot air balloon ride over the city :)

not bad almost 2 years later, numerous cancellations by phone and 2 unsuccessful trips out to the launch site and the birthday surprise for n was finally accomplished. it truly was an amazing experience to float across the sky wherever the wind blows. it was such a peaceful trip and i must say we really did get to see the best parts of our city ... floating alongside the river really is the best views our little city has to offer ... so without further adieu i hope you enjoy a tiny glimpse of our adventure

j eagerly volunteered to hold the balloon open while the fans did their job

working with our pilot lee

he has been flying hot air balloons for 27 years and

had even flown all the way across canada!

getting so close ...

but to be totally honest j and n were just a little bit skeptical because we have gotten to this point before

hanging loose before the trip

(anyone who knows j knows that this is his favorite way to pose for pictures)

ooh haven't seen this happen before ... getting ready to tip the basket upright and climb aboard

we are in the basket and ready for takeoff!

very gently and slowly leaving the ground

across the river

over hawrelak park

we even got to float right over uofa our alma mater

the other balloon that went up with us

uofa

along the river valley ... legislature and high level bridge in view :)

telus field and downtown

even a view of the muttart conservatory pyramids

the wind blew us east beside the oil refinery

and we landed gently in a canola field

we all packed up the balloon and toasted our safe return to the earth with champagne

truly a fantastic flight ... thanks j ... glad to cross something else off my life list of things and adventures to experience

cheers ~n

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY

i usually don't bring too much of my work onto the blog but i am so proud of the father's day project i created for my little ones. i find that father's day crafts are usually lame and cheesy and turn out to be some sort of tie project. but let's face the facts how many dads out there wear a tie anymore? this project did take a few days but i love how it turned out and I feel like bragging a bit so enjoy :)

step 1 paint one of the little ones hand and use as a stamp

the writing on the poster says:

this is the hand you used to hold when i was only 5 years old

step 2 have the students paint the picture frames

(helpful hint get kids to do this one at a time

saves the paint and your sanity)

step 3 assemble the pictures and admire the cuteness

step 4 decorate with foam stickers that are dad like

(take note no tie paraphernalia here)

step 5 wrap with awesome wrapping paper and cards

and there is my awesome father's day gift (i even had a student ask me if i was making one for my dad - seriously how cute ... love love love my job)

cheers ~n

J PLUS N VERSION 2.0

n has been on a six month hiatus from posting but i will be back somewhat regularly ... lots of changes have happened with the lovely house and time has been in short supply which = no postings

since getting back from our fantastic london adventure i jumped back into working full time, having an actual commute to work (40 minute drive compared to 15 minutes before), taking an online master's course (which no word of a lie is waaaaay more work than attending in person), writing two 5000 word research papers and prepping to do another 5000 word paper this summer and starting to think about my upcoming 20 000 word dissertation (which isn't worrying me at all)

with hand over my heart i do hereby promise to become a somewhat regular blogger again

see ya soon(ish)

cheers~n

HAPPY CHRISTMAS

well the holiday season has descended upon us ... the time to fill our days with visiting, feasting and kinds of festive merriment ... it is nice to be back in canada to have a white christmas ... the next few days will be busy so i leave you with some pics from europe with all the streets decked out in lights and all sparkly for the season

oxford and their famous bicycles

the parisians know how to deck the champs elysees in style

grafton street in dublin

happy christmas to all

i have a few more travel posts to catch up on from our european adventure ... i've been so busy writing my 2 papers, prepping for my new job and getting back into our routine at home that i've saved the posts in the past months but still need to write them ... if you are interested please check back on the blog and travel back in time to the archives and you'll be able to catch up on all the fun we had

cheers ~n ... until the new year

IT'S ALL ABOUT BATH

j's mom and brother are in town visiting for a few weeks and we've got a full agenda ahead with visiting scotland, ireland and all over england ... we've been sightseeing around lovely london for a few days and decided to take a day trip to the countryside ... i had the day off school so we headed to paddington station ... hopped a train and make the trip to the city of bath ... we hit the two main attractions ... the ancient roman bath house and bath abbey ... after we wandered the city streets, thoroughly enjoyed ourselves until dark and boarded the train back home

paddington station ...

the spot of many more journeys to come :)

the city of bath in full out fall mode

bath abbey

we paid a few pounds each to take a tour of the bell tower and climb to the top of the abbey for a view of the city ... the tour was a little disappointing because all it was about was how to ring bells and not much about the amazing history of this place ... i mean the first king of england was crowned here but it was all about the bells :)

beautiful views

next stop right beside the abbey ...

the roman bath house

but before touring the site ... a stop at a gift shop to bring home a cute little british doggie in the window

j's mom managed to snap a picture of me doing my photography thing ...

sneaky mom-in-law

next on the agenda ... wander aimlessly around the city and get lost on the city streets

a row of curved buildings just like our cartwright gardens block back in london

stay tuned for more travel stories as next weekend we are flying up to scotland to visit the city of edinburgh, taking a train to york for a few days and then training it back to london ... can't wait

cheers ~n

HERE'S A KEW

j and n took another weekend and decided to tour the outskirts of london again ... hampton court was so much fun so we ventured out west of the city again ... this time to the neighborhood of richmond to wander the kew royal botanic gardens ... it was amazing, beautiful, breathtaking and so relaxing ... enjoy the tour

a nice walk through the neighborhood to get to kew gardens

the grounds of kew

one of the many ponds on the grounds

and one of the many greenhouses

this one the palm house

nice to wander the grounds and get lost for the day

we went on a treetop walkway ...

18m above ground

amazing views

a visit to the japanese gardens at kew

kew palace ... it was closed to visitors

but we wandered around anyways

to warm up we stopped at kew greenhouse cafe

for steak and ale pie and homemade macaroni

seriously the best food ever!

and who could resist a piece of lemon meringue pie that looks like this?!?!

cheers ~n