Weekending: Pyjama Days, Hiking and BBQ's

A lot of our time on the weekends is spent trying to complete projects we have going on around the house. While our house is far from a fixer upper, (it's only a few years old), there's still a little wear and tear and cosmetic projects that need looking after. But, I don't want our summer to pass us by and all we have to show for it is freshly painted walls! It's easy to stay in, but we try to find a balance of working around the house and getting out and doing things.

Friday, Calgary was hit with a crazy storm. It rained most of the day and the howling winds were out of control. It was the perfect day to stay in our pyjamas, eat snacks on the couch and watch movies. Sully's attention span for TV is max 20 minutes, but I'll take what I can get. Since I felt bad for Jim having to take the train home from work in this weather, we drove downtown and picked him up, stopping to get Tim Horton's for dinner on the way home.

Saturday, Jim got to work sanding a few walls in the house and I baked the Lemon Blueberry Greek Yogurt Muffins that I bookmarked from Running With Spoons. I thought for sure they'd be a hit with Sully, but oh the faces he made! Luckily, Jim was a huge fan and downed three in one go.

After Sully woke up from his afternoon nap, we headed out to Bragg Creek and did the Diamond T Loop trail, which is 4.5km and took us just over an hour to do. It's a pretty steep climb up, which definitely had us huffing and puffing, but then heading down is a breeze! There's a bench and a lookout when you get to the top, but the trees are so thick at this time of year that there wasn't a lot to see, view wise. Definitely a great hike to do when you just want something quick.

Sully loves when we hike with him in the backpack carrier and he doesn't make a peep the entire time. It's so great that we are such a short drive from mountain hiking trails.

We picked up stuff to throw on the BBQ on the way home and then started on season 2 of An Idiot Abroad once Sully was in bed.

Sunday, we had a quiet morning at home puttering around. Jim went out for a motorcycle ride while Sully napped and I got ready for my cousin's birthday BBQ at my aunt's that evening. It's so nice that we have some family here and can still attend family get-togethers. My aunt Max and her husband Barry always cook delicious food! And the adult interaction for me is always nice, haha! Of course, I failed to take any photos of the evening, although Jim did get this awesome one of me and Sully, ha!

Tell me something fun you did this weekend! 
Have you hiked out near Bragg Creek? What are some of your favourite trails?

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

I have never met a historical fiction book about World War II that I won't read. It's a topic that I will always find fascinating and never tire of reading about or learning about. There are so many different stories to be told about the war, from so many different sides and points of view. When The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley came on my radar, I immediately requested it at my library and as luck would have it, there were no prior holds on the few copies out there.

I'm writing about this book because I want every single person I know, and even those I don't know, to read this book. I honestly cannot imagine anyone not enjoying this story. And to further convince you, The War That Saved My Life is a young-reader (middle grade) book, so it's a quick read, but worth every minute that it does take you.

The War That Saved My Life is the story of Ada, a ten year old English girl and her six year old brother, Jamie. Or, at least that's how old we think they are, as neither of them have ever celebrated a birthday before and don't even know what day they were born on.

Ada and Jamie live with their mother, in London, in a one room apartment above the pub their mom works at. Ada was born with a club foot (although she doesn't know there's an actual diagnosis for her disability) and her mother has treated Ada as a cripple, with utter disgust, disrespect and embarrassment, since the day she was born. Ada has never stepped outside the walls of their apartment, she doesn't know how to walk, and she's often the victim of her mother's abuse, both verbal and physical. Her world is tiny and the only thing that gives her purpose is taking care of Jamie.

As the war becomes more serious, children in the town are being sent away by train to live in the country, away from Hitler's war and imminent danger. Ada's mom, forever ashamed of her "condition", only intends to send Jamie away, telling Ada that no one would want her with her ugly foot. But Ada has other plans, and without their mother knowing, Ada sneaks off with Jamie early in the morning, and makes it on to the train with him.

The world that they are met with comes as quite the culture shock. They aren't used to kindness, baths, clean clothes, full stomachs or an adult that won't hit them when they disobey. This new life with Susan, their caregiver, presents them with new opportunities and experiences, and opens up their whole little world. Imagine Ada's bewilderment when she discovers that her club foot is nothing to be ashamed of and no reason to be locked up for: "your foot's a long way from your brain". But despite all this, Ada and Jamie can't fully accept their new situation as surely it will be ripped away from them as soon as the war is over. The inner turmoil that Ada struggles with over accepting their new situation and not taking things for granted was so well done.

The War That Saved My Life is heartbreaking, heartwarming, sad, funny, hopeful and also a bit scary. I felt every single emotion immensely. How will Ada and Jamie adapt to their new life with Susan if they can't fully trust her? What will happen when the war ends? Will Ada's and Jamie's mom ever come look for them, and what will she do if she does?

I don't think I can fully express, in words, the effect this book had on me. I couldn't put it down, and when I had to, I couldn't wait to get back to it. Ada, and Jamie, and Susan were such real people to me, people I wanted to reach through the pages and hug and then have a cup of tea with. I still think about them and it's been several days since I read the last pages.

I have read my share of historical fiction books on World War II, and I can honestly say that this one is in the running for my all-time favourite. I beg of you, make this a book you read too. I promise you won't be disappointed.


Do you enjoy reading historical fiction? 
What's your favourite book on WWII?

Weekending: Calgary Stampede Edition

Believe it or not, I have never really gone to the Stampede before, despite living only 3 hours away from it most of my life. Sure, there was the odd road trip down for a night of drinking at a bar while the Stampede was going on, but I don't recall ever having set foot on the actual grounds of the Stampede before.

Friday, Jim took the afternoon off of work and we headed down on the train to the Stampede around 3pm. It was a hot week all last week, and Friday was no exception. We were already hot and hungry by the time we arrived, so we headed into the Big Four building for some air conditioning and food. We ate in the Tiki Hut which is a lounge area that serves alcohol only and allows minors up until 7pm. My aunt Max and her husband Barry met us there for a drink before we headed off on our separate ways. (They had tickets to Blake Shelton!)

We took Sully over to the Agrium building to see all the farm animals. He loves animals and he got quite a kick out of the big sheep, cows and horses.

After that, we walked around the grounds and ate some mini donuts (my must-have for any fair I visit!). Sully would only eat them if we liked the sugar off first. I don't know who's child he is. I also made it my mission to find the Pineapple Whip stand to try a, you guessed it, pineapple whip "ice cream". It was delicious and refreshing and Sully definitely approved of this one!

 

We then headed over to the Grand Stands for the Chuck Wagon event and TransAlta show. We were lucky enough to get free tickets to the show (thanks Krista-Lee!) and spent the rest of the evening there. Our seats were fantastic, but unfortunately, Sully was not interested in sitting still for very long and he kept trying to pull the hat off of the lady sitting in front of us, who, I must say, was not impressed. (But shout out to all the young guys sitting behind us and next to us who indulged Sully with his never ending request for high-fives!). We ended up going down to the standing area where we could walk around and watch the chuck wagons cross the finish line right up close.

 

In attempts to get Sully to fall asleep in the ergo on me, we ended up leaving and walking around the grounds before heading back for the TransAlta show. The theme of the show was Canada and it was a pretty spectacular event! There's dancing and singing, acrobatics, fireworks, an impressive stage with moving parts and props, and the trip down Canadian history lane was pretty fun. We ended up leaving just before the fireworks at the end of the show started as we wanted to beat the crowds at the train station.

We got home and into bed at a ridiculously late time, but it was worth it! And Sully slept in till 8:30 the next morning and then came into our bed for another two hours, so we really can't complain.

Saturday morning, our community was having what we thought was a Stampede breakfast, but when we arrived, it was actually a Stampede BBQ. Hotdogs for breakfast! We didn't stick around too long, it was hot out and we needed to get back home to eat something of real sustenance. But not before Sully had a chance to sit in the cop car there and push all the buttons that make the sirens go off! He didn't even need to be shown what to press. He was pretty proud of himself. On the walk home, Sully spotted an abandoned balloon which he was obsessed with for the rest of the day.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, naps for Sully and then I headed over to Ange's place with a bunch of other Calgary bloggers for a BBQ and fireworks. Her condo has an amazing view of the Stampede grounds and front row seats to the fireworks! Of course, in typical blogger fashion, no photos were taken to document the night except for the fireworks ones and this one I took of our very short game of Cards Against Humanity. It may have been my first time ever playing it and I may have laughed a little too hard.

{Photo ℅ Ashley}

Sunday was more of a recovery from the Stampede day. We slept in, had breakfast, watched a few episodes of Idiot Abroad (hilarious show!) and then packed up the truck with our bikes and headed out to the Glenmore Reservoir. We originally just planned to go for a short bike ride, but after we made it around about a third of the way we decided to just keep going. It was a beautiful day for ride, and I'm pretty impressed that we biked 15km.

 

We came home starving, BBQ'd some burgers and then put Sully to bed. Another episode of Idiot Abroad before the weekend is officially over.

Local friends, did you go to the Stampede this year? What's your favourite thing to eat there?
Tell me something fun you did this weekend!