Wordless Wednesday

Moving with Kids

Moving with three small kids is a lot different then moving without kids.  I recall a time when I packed everything up and lived out of boxes for the last week or so before moving and everything was fine.  We just moved, and I will tell you, it is not that easy.  You can pack up everything but the essentials, but it is not one small box that is left open.  The day before moving day I had to run around and put all the miscellaneous  toys, dishes, diapers wipes, soothers, blankets and other odds and ends into boxes. 

Thank goodness for my Mother who kept the two older kids over night so I only had the baby to worry about.  I had kept out a change of clothes for all of us, but what I didn’t have was wipes.  The movers came and started loading things into their truck, and the baby pooped.  What am I to do without wipes!?!?!  I realize that there was a time in the not too distant past that people changed diapers all the time without wipes, but I am not that lady, and what would I have used anyway?  I had cleaning rags, but that didn’t seem right, and I no longer had use of the washer and dryer.  I sent my husband to the store to buy a new pack of wipes.  I didn’t know what else to do.

When we had all our stuff moved into the new house, we realized that we did not have a spot for the computer!  I do not know how to live without my computer.  I cannot pay bills or keep in touch with reality (Facebook, Blog..)  We decided to buy a laptop.  But as the funds are limited when you move, it cannot happen quickly.  I ended up setting up our desktop in our unfinished basement, and here I sit writing this now.  I am sitting on the cold cement floor in a very un-ergonomically correct position.

My kids really like the new house.  We were unsure if they would take the move well, so we bought them each a toy to help ease the transition.  They both love their new toys (we didn’t get one for the baby – she does not know the difference).  We made sure we set up their rooms right away.  Our new house has a playroom (it is the bonus room), so I am excited to not have toys all over the house, but the bonus room now looks like a toy box exploded.

I am not sure what spring will bring as we do not have a fenced yard yet, and there isn’t even grass!  There is a park down the street, so I think we will have to frequent it a lot. 

It has been a week since we moved, and almost everything is done (aside from some pictures).  When you have kids, you cannot really leave the boxes unpacked.  They need everything.  Plus it is dangerous to have boxes around when you have a little boy who climbs on everything!

It is a very different experience to move with kids, and I don’t want to do it again any time soon.  Hopefully the next time we move they will be old enough to help more!

Pisces Pet Emporium

We decided to check out the Pisces Pet Emporium because I heard that it was a great place to go.  And they have monkeys!  I thought the kids would really love the monkeys, but they were more interested in finding dogs and kitties.  I was expecting great things, and was a little let down (and so were the kids because there were not any dogs/cats out for petting).  If you are going there expecting a really good pet store, it is.  I guess we thought it would be a little more hands on.

That being said, we did spend an hour there wandering around looking at things.  There was the largest variety of aquarium things I had ever seen.  There were lobsters and eels, fish of all shapes sizes and colors, so many different lizards I could not keep count.  There were turtles and snakes (little ones) too!

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In one corner of the store, they have a large rock wall with waterfalls coming out draining into a large pond with some very large fish. Beside that they have a place for small monkeys!

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I thought it was really cool, my kids were not as impressed (maybe they have been to the zoo one too many times!)

They did not have a wide range of dogs or cats, but we did have to circle around to see them twice. Although we could not touch them, the kids really enjoyed looking at them.  There is a set of display cages, and we saw (and pet) Guinea Pigs, but most of the cages were empty, so there was not a lot to see in that area.

Over all, it was a nice place to visit, and I am sure we will be back to check things out again!

Petland

We went to two different Petland stores last week (the one by Sunridge Mall in the Future Shop parking lot, and the one in Market Mall) and they both stores had puppies out, so people could pet/hold/play with them.  It was great.  You could really get a hands on experience.  I was able to pick up the puppies so the kids could get up close.

There is a wide range of animals (or rodents) available for viewing, and if you like that kind of thing, as my kids do, it is a great (FREE) place to see them.  They have mice, rabbits, dogs, cats, birds, hamsters, guinea pigs and more.  At the back of the store they also have aquariums.  Not only fish, there are also spiders, lizards and snakes.

When we were at the Sunridge location one of the workers was feeding the fish.  Madison asked her if she could help.  I fully expected the lady to tell her no, and was prepared for that.  I did not expect her to let all the kids we were with take turns feeding the fish.  There were four kids, and she got a stool for the little ones, and let them each take a handful of the fish food and throw it in the tank.  That was awesome!  It made the kids so happy and I was astounded that she was so patient.

Calgary Science Centre

                        

The Telus World of Science has it’s last exhibit at their current location - 701 - 11 Street SW.  The Titanic exhibit was really cool.  We decided to take our three kids (all of them were free because they are under 4), and it cost us $58 to go.  Adult admission is $23.50, plus it cost $2/ half hour to park.  Because of this price we are unlikely to go again any time soon.

Aside from the cost, we had an amazing time!  We were not sure what to expect, as we had never been there before, and we were pleasantly surprised.  The exhibit itself was very interesting and even the kids enjoyed looking at the artifacts.  Friends of ours came with us, and we had a total of five kids with us (aged 10 months to 6 years), and they were all entertained the whole time.  It was neat to see all the things that were found in the wreckage and they had them set out in various ways.

In the exhibit there is a section where the kids can do an experiment with floating.  It is parent supervised, and more for the older kids.  The small kids didn’t understand and didn’t want to stay.

 

 

The part the kids found most interesting was kids center (which I cannot for the life of me remember what it is actually called).  There are so many different things for the kids to do in there, it is nearly impossible to name them all, but I will try to mention as many as I can.  There is a table of nails when you first walk in the door, that you can lay on; a music type room that has shapes on the floor that make musical notes when stepped on and further through there are some guitars the kids can play with. There is a drama ‘theater’ where a stage is set up, with dress up clothes, a puppet theater, a sound/light station, and large props.      There are a couple of craft tables.  A section is divided off for kids under 6 with a lego table, water table and small climbing area.  There is a tunnel for the kids to go through, and a floor trap in the centre.  My kids did not want to leave

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You are not allowed to take pictures in the exhibit, but you can elsewhere (like in the kids part).  They discourage big strollers, but there are umbrella strollers there to use free of charge.  It was very hard to find a parking spot, but we did go on a Saturday afternoon.  There was a guy in the parking lot directing us to park across the street.

This exhibit is open until June 27, and I am under the impression that this is the last exhibit at this location.  The new location is being constructed by the Calgary Zoo.

(The pictures are all from the kids area due to the fact that you cannot take pictures of the exhibit)

Wordless Wednesday

Chinook

Chinook I do love thee

Winter ain’t all it’s cracked up to be

Warmth PLEASE come to me