Winnipeg Trip and Pico de Gallo Chicken

It’s a funny thing coming home. Nothing changes. Everything looks the same, feels the same, even smells the same. You realized what’s changed is you.

F. Scott Fitzgerald

You can never go home again. Home is where the heart is. Home is where Wi-Fi is. Home away from home. There’s no place like home. There are so many different sayings when it comes to describing home. In my case, they are all true.

It’s funny when I bought the tickets for our trip to Winnipeg this summer that’s the way I thought of it, a trip to Winnipeg. As soon as we landed my phone dinged, I had a text message! It was from my Bro and it said “welcome home.” It threw me off guard! In September it will be the start of my 11th year calling Penticton home. Although I spent 30 years in Winnipeg these days when I think of home, it is the beautiful Okanagan Valley that I think of.

Although Winnipeg isn’t home any more, it certainly felt comfortable… like an old pair of my favourite shoes.

I know that city. Even though things have changed I could still easily find my way around. The people are the same and even though it’s been years since I’ve seen many of them, it was like no time had passed at all! It was very easy for me to slip right back into Winnipeg Kristin the moment we landed.

The Girls and I had the best week! It was jampacked full of visiting, exploring, and laughter! You can hear all about the preparation for the trip on How Was Your Week, Honey? Episode 128: Performing for the Nut House, check it out HERE

You can hear all about our Winnipeg adventures on our latest episode 129: Literally Almost Killed the Kids, check it out HERE

Want the easiest chicken recipe ever? OK! This is a delicious dish that can be made under 30 minutes with just a few fresh ingredients.

Pico de Gallo Chicken
Adapted from Closet Cooking

4 chicken breasts
2 teaspoons taco seasoning
2 cups pico de gallo
1 cup Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Season the chicken with the taco seasoning.

Place in a large baking pan, top with pico de gallo and cheese.

Bake in a preheated 375 oven until the chicken is cooked through, about 20-30 minutes.

Before we headed to Winnipeg, the Girls participated in some fun camps! SBean enjoyed a week of dancing and crafting at Fairy Camp and LOL Camp! They performed at 2 local retirement homes and painted beautiful rocks!

HBear went to Xplore Sportz Camp! They learned about basketball, field hockey, volleyball, tennis, wheelchair basketball, yoga, and fencing!

Ninja and I took in a quick 9 holes after work on Thursday at WOW, it was awesome!

On Saturday we were off! SBean was SO excited for her very first plane ride!

We got into Winnipeg at midnight. WpgBesty and BBear picked us up at the airport. The next day we took the kids to The Manitoba Museum, The Planetarium and The Science Gallery.

We ended the day with an amazing Mexican feast at WpgBesty’s house!

The next day we headed out to La Salle, Mb to visit some childhood friends. It was wonderful to see how their children have grown and the beautiful life that they have created together.

After a great day at the pool, we met my SIL and her BF at my Bro’s house and him and my SSIL made us delicious grilled pizza and homemade cherry pie!

On Tuesday I drove to my Bro & SSIL’s cottage out in St Malo, Mb. The kids had a great time playing croquette, badminton, kayaking in the river (kinda) lol, roasting marshmallows, and playing board games!

When we got back from St Malo we packed up and headed right out to Warren, Mb where WpgBesty has her cabin set up at Rubber Ducky Resort! We had a blast swimming in the pools, riding around on the golf cart, roasting marshmallows and chatting by the fire!

The next morning we played a bit more, HBear took some golf cart driving lessons from WpgBesty and then we headed back to the city. That evening we met my WREBesty at Shaw Park for a Winnipeg Goldeyes Baseball game! It was Xmas in July and we won! They had an amazing fireworks display to end the wonderful night!

On Friday we met my SSIL and PrettyPenny at the Assiniboine Zoo! We were even lucky enough to see the polar bears! After our zoo visit, we met my CharleswoodBesty at The Capital Grill and Bar. It was a delicious dinner and SO good to catch up with her!

On our last day HBear and BBear went to AI-Kon. BBear is a HUGE anime fan and she was super excited to introduce HBear to something she loves so much. They had a great time! While they were at AI-Kon we took the younger Girls to Gimli for a walk on the pier, some ice cream and fun at the new Gimli Aquatic Park! I was even lucky enough to run into an old friend from my childhood, Dopey, at the park! We ended our night playing cards and enjoying every second we had until we had to wake up and head to the airport.

We were up VERY early on Sunday to see the sunrise as we drove to the airport. We had a wonderful holiday but it was back to reality. The Girls were ecstatic to see Ninja and I was so happy to see him too.

Home 💛.