I doubt there's anyone out there still bothering to check in on this blog - and I don't blame them -but despite my slacking I'm still in this, for the girls. There never seems to be enough time in the day to do it all (and remain sane) and the blog is often at the bottom of the list, but I'm not giving up on myself!

So what have we been up to since June? We managed to have a fabulous summer, despite the horrible weather we had out here, thanks to our camping adventures. We had many wonderful weekends with friends, with family, on our own, by lakes and in the mountains, in rain and hail and sunny weather. The girls, Mehdi and I spent 10 days on a family holiday traipsing around BC, a trip the girls are still talking about longingly. I went in our little camper a few days ago and just the smell of it had me eager for next summer so we can get out there again.

This fall, I'm teaching part-time again and the girls are both in school (Anissa, grade 2; Eli in preschool and part-time daycare). Maybe for the next post (sometime soon, I'm promising myself!) Ill write a little bit about the girls and what they're up to these days. For now, some shots from our summer vacation:

Conversation in the car today:

Elianne: "Oh no, oh no. There are holes in my leggings. Mom, why'd you give me leggings with holes to wear?"

Me: "Your leggings have holes? Your purple ones? Oh, I didn't notice."

Elianne: (who must wear "fancy" clothes at all times and changes outfits many many times a day and gets very upset if we try to convince her to wear anything remotely practical or something that is any color but purple or pink) "Oh no! Oh nooooooo!" -begins to wail - "Oh, this is terrible! The holes in my leggings are YELLOW!"

Me: "Huh? The holes are yellow? What do you mean? Calm down, Elianne!"

Elianne: "Oh, not yellow! Not yellow! I don't like yellow! I want purple!" (crying)

Me: "What do you mean they're yellow?"

Anissa: "Elianne, that's your SKIN."

Elianne: (stops crying) "Oh."

We finally did it. The planets had lined up and the conditions were right: sunshine. No snow in the forecast. So, after months of waiting, we hooked that 21 foot beast in our driveway to the back of Mehdi's "new" car and pulled it out of the big city and into Kananaskis country.

Camping! One of the first things I told Mehdi when we decided to move to Alberta, a little over three years ago, was that we were going to have to become a camping family. Embrace the outdoors, all that stuff. That's the thing to do in Alberta. Mind you, many Albertan families are lucky (= wealthy) enough to embrace the outdoors in 30-some feet of luxury trailer, complete with satellite dishes and master suites. Ours is not so fancy, but it has everything we need for a comfortable holiday. And after our test run this weekend, I can confirm that we made a great choice.

I can't tell you how happy I felt to be out there, in this gorgeous campground with a mossy, beautiful forest and the sun shining and the smell of pine. We got there on Saturday, cooked a tasty dinner, roasted marshmallows around the fire. After putting the kids to bed in their bunk beds, Mehdi and I drank Baileys and hot chocolate around the fire. And when it was adult bedtime too, we kicked in the heat in our little home-away-from-home and thanked God we weren't in a tent! The Rockies are chilly at night, even on a hot day.

Nothing particularly exciting happened on our adventure. The girls had fun building pretend fire pits in the woods behind our campsite, running and jumping over fallen logs, and making a nature collection. Mehdi and I enjoyed having no phone/internet/TV to distract us. It was peaceful.

I can't wait for more!

Elianne is sounding so grown-up these days. Or, more accurately, she's sounding like a teenager! She's got a dark sense of humour, and doesn't hesitate to share her opinion on everything. A few examples:

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, my Mom and Elianne made chocolate chip muffins. Later, my Dad and Elianne went for a stroll and Elianne filled him in on what the ingredients were: flour, eggs, water, sticks and some rocks. She said it very seriously, with a sneaky look in her eye. When I got home from work, she offered me a muffin. As soon as I took a bite, she said, without even blinking, "Oh, Mom, watch out. They look like chocolate chips but it's actually dog poo." Yum.

Yesterday, while we were eating dinner Anissa asked about how exactly cows make milk. Mehdi and I were trying our best to explain, and trying to work out the details between us (for an ex-farm girl, I'm not very savvy on the science behind it all). Anissa was asking questions and it was quite the educational moment until we were interrupted by a very loud sigh from Elianne. "You guys, can we stop talking about this already? It's so BOWING!" (=boring)

As for any news, not much going on here. Just waiting for winter to end (yes, still snowing here, as I write) so we can use the camper we bought months ago. At this rate, we'll have a few weeks to use it before the next winter hits. Wherever you are as you read this, please send some sunshine this way! We're desperate.

(Note: this pic was taken a few weeks ago, during a pocket of nice spring weather, after Anissa's school spectacle at the university.)