Roll On, Saskatchewan

A visit to Shaunavon early August means Horse Show.  Horse Show prep ... Horse Show ... Horse Show wrap-up.  It's a lot of work, and being there the weekend of is only a very small part of it; but I was glad to help out (it's not so hard to help out when Mom has everything so organized, and the weather was gorgeous!)

Justin and Maklin toured the parks in Shaunavon and found other ways to entertain themselves.  They did stop by the Show both days, but short visits.

I had Mak on a horse with me last summer, but he was pretty little, and he wasn't overly interested.  This year, he rode around with Nana ... he loved it!  He kept asking to 'bounce' (trot) and was fearless to ride on his own ...

As his language has developed, animals have become a highlight.  All animals have a name, but other than birds, their 'names' are the generally sounds they make.  I was also impressed with how quiet and patient he was ... holding out his hand and slowly walking up to a 'baby moo'.

We spent most of our time outdoors at the farm ... Dadda and I took turns going on 'the tour.'  Maklin quickly established a routine of what order we needed to tour the farm in:  puppies, chickens, horses, through the barn, cows, cats, tractors .... and repeat."  Occasionally we we were able to distract him with something new:

my old tricycle ... it's seen about 30 years of Saskatchewan winters!

Or sometimes with something old ... 'driving' never gets old!

A highlight of trips home is always visiting with all the Great-Grandparents.  This year we got to watch Great-Grandma Annette ride in the horse show (and kick butt in the gymkhana as always!!); and we stayed a few nights with Great Grandma & Grandpa Simmons.  Maklin too much joy in running in their big open basement ... with all this space he perfected his new move: "spin".  I'm sure I don't need to elaborate any more than that!

Great-Grandpa clearly left a mark on Mak this time ... he walks around saying, "hey-hey! ... hey-hey Dappa!" (in the same tone as Grandpa's 'hey-hey..." very cute!)

The trip back to Edmonton we split into two days, with an overnight in Strathmore.  It was a hot day, so we stopped at the playground/splash-park in Brooks to break up the drive:

I sat in the back to read Mak a story so he could nap ... at least one of us ended up napping!

We always stay at the same hotel in Strathmore ... Mak is getting very comfortable there!

Poor timing on my part means no pictures ... but Maklin and Dadda had a blast in the pool at the hotel.  Justin would push Maklin a little ways up the water slide (from the bottom) and then Mak would skooch his way down and jump into Dadda's arms ... he had SO MUCH FUN!  No swimming for Mama ... I lost my swimmy bottoms in Saskatchewan!  :(

We arrived home from our trip two days earlier than originally planned, having decided to by-pass our planning camping days in the Cypress Hills.  Next summer.  This trip was long enough, and we were all looking forward to being home and sleeping in our own beds ...