Adventure, yeah. I guess that’s what you call it when everyone comes back alive.
Mercedes Lackey
We are not sit around kind of people… obviously 😂. When we are on vacation we try to see and do absolutley everything that we possibly can. This vacation was no different, actually this one was even busier because we had friends and family to visit, kids to keep entertained and everything we did included everyone. All 20 of us 😳. Day 1: Geocaching Day As soon as we got into the van the music put smiles on our faces. If my Mom had a playlist… 94.3 DriveFM would have been it 😂. Magic Man by Heart was the first song we heard. It is also the 1st song I can truly remember from my childhood. I can picture my Mom vacuuming the house and Heart just blaring!
We started our adventure in St. James (the area of Winnipeg I grew up in) and I showed the Girls my elementary school, my middle school (although it was called a junior high at the time) and my high school. Then we took a drive by my WinnipegBesty’s house, the house I grew up in and the park at the end of the street. We couldn’t find the geocache but rolling down the hill with SBean, just like I did when I was a little kid was truly the treasure. Well, that’s what I’m going to remember at least 😂 in reality… The huge hill of my childhood was merely a bump in the field 😂. SBean said, “Mommy this looks like a good hill to roll down, do you want to?” I stupidly said, “yes”. Of course I was wearing a silly dress that went right up to my ears and let all the kids at the park see my lily white ass LOL when I got to the bottom I stood up and started dry heaving! That’s right, this old body can’t even roll down a bump anymore 😂.
Next we went to Oakview Retirement Home. Or what I thought was Oakview 😂. We wandered the halls until we realized… wrong place. Honestly in my mind that’s where it was my entire life! Oakview was right in my area and it was my Moms’ first job! I don’t know if I’m more embarrassed or mad at myself LOL. We went for a quick visit but it was wonderful. I knew him from the back of his head. He was sleeping. He would remember me and then he would apologize for not knowing who I was. I said, “it’s ok. I know who you are. You are my Grandpa. I am Kristin.” Right right. A few minutes later we said it all again. He told me he has dementia and that’s why he forgets. Then he remembered me and said, “Ron and Kathy’s daughter. Yes. It’s sad to hear about Kathy. I liked her.” He cried. He had a pocket full of candy just like he always did. HBear loved it! SBean said, “I’m shy because old people scare me” 😂. When I left tears spilled out. In my heart I knew that was the last time I would see him 💛.
We stopped by Grants Old Mill. It doesn’t work anymore. That was the going trend, things weren’t where I remembered them, nothing worked, things looked old and unfamiliar. That’s crazy to me because I spent 30 years there! How could anything that I’ve known since I was born be SO unfamiliar to me?
One of my favourite stops was when we took the Girls to the house we brought HBear home to. Our first family home 💛. It was amazing to walk the old neighbourhood and recall the days that we walked around in our new parent daze lol. It was great to see HBear playing by the river where she practiced crawling 💛.
We took the Girls to The Forks. Everyone that lives in Winnipeg is so over The Forks that we thought we should pop by when it was just the 4 of us. I have always loved The Forks and although nothing has changed, it’s still felt oddly unfamiliar to me, like I was experiencing it for the first time. Ninja and the Girls read all of the historical information so that we could get our Manitoba Geocaching Badge. We had 25 geocaches programmed into our app and every single one had been muggled or just wasn’t there 😞 WTF? Thank goodness we got that Earthcache or we would’ve walked away empty-handed which has never happened before!
We went back to Ninja’s old neighborhood, back to the house he lived in when I met him, in Lindenwoods. The biggest surprise was that the trees were so big. I found that in my old neighbourhood too. I used to say how much I loved the streets where the trees met making a beautiful arch. My Mom always told me to be patient, the trees would grow with me. She would have loved to see them now. They were beautiful. Walking around Ninja’s neighbourhood I realized how many gorgeous walking trails there were that we didn’t take advantage of. Back in our early 20s we never slowed down long enough to enjoy the simple things like walking. I mean we used the trails but usually it was on a drunken night. It was just so beautiful to walk around the pond and enjoy the family time.
We were staying with my SIL and honestly she was the Hostess with the Mostess. Our bedroom was like a freaking hotel room 💛. Big fluffy towels rolled up and placed nicely in a basket on the dresser just begging to be used and every morning she made bacon, eggs and hashbrowns. Our first night we had homemade hamburgers for dinner and hung out in the backyard.
That night all the Guys went out for a visit and I took the Girls to WpgBesty’s house to visit with her and my Sis!
Day 2: Tinkertown
Music!!!! Omg all the music was so good! It was like they took my 30 years of living in Winnipeg and made a soundtrack and put it on the radio! I heard every childhood song from Men at Work to Journey to Fine Young Cannibals to Neil Young! I heard all the songs of my preteens and teens from Extreme to Mr. Big and Guns and Roses! Everything! It was amazing 😊. We got to listen to the tunes as we sat waiting for the train to go by because really, it isn’t a trip to Winnipeg without having to wait for a train 😂.
Tinkertown is an amusement park that’s been on the outskirts of Winnipeg for as long as I can remember. I have not been there since I was probably 5. It was a fabulous day and the kids had so much fun! WpgBesty’s daughter, BrookeyBear and HBear were absolutely inseparable! SBean had a fabulous time with LittleK and all of her cousins, SweetPea, JQ, and CabbagePatch. PrettyPenny stayed home with Mommy, my SSIL (sorta sister-in-law. They are not married but in my heart she is my sister 💛).
That evening it was the ladies turn to go out for drinks. We had a hilarious time! It was nice to just hang out with my Girls. Of course WREBesty is a dude but he rocks so I will forgive his penis for the night 😂. I didn’t really invite anybody in particular but more just put it out there. I understand after a decade people might not want to take the time out of their lives to visit an “old friend” so I wasn’t surprised that it was a small crowd. I was surprised when FacebookBesty came out! This is a woman that I’ve known since I was probably 8. She is a year older than me and none of her friends ever liked me 😂. When our paths crossed we always got along, it was sad that due to circumstances we never became friends. Since I have moved to BC and we have become Facebook friends I feel invested in her life. I get a kick out of seeing her kids pictures, her sense of humour sometimes cheers up my entire day, and we have messaged each other many times over the past few years. We always joke about having a beer together… And she actually came out… And we did 😊. Thank you. I had an incredibly lighthearted and thoroughly enjoyable evening!
Day 3: Manitoba Children’s Museum We woke up to rain. That did not bode well for our plans to take all the children to the Assiniboine Park and Zoo. I love going to zoos. We don’t have a zoo here in Penticton and the kids have only ever been to the Calgary Zoo. Winnipeg has a fabulous Zoo and I was very much looking forward to showing it off to them. However, we made the best of it and took the kids to the Manitoba Children’s Museum. I had never been there before 🙄. It was awesome! All the kids had so much fun! HBear was in her science geek glory! My Sister’s best friend and her son met us there and it was fabulous to see them! We ended our day with ice cream 😊.
The rain finally cleared up and it was a beautiful evening! It was also Ninja and I’s 7th wedding anniversary! I could think of no better way to spend it then with the same family and friends that were there from the start and stood up for us when we said our vows. We had a delicious dinner at my WpgBesty’s house. Her hubby OilerBesty is a chef and he ALWAYS goes above and beyond! They have the ideal children’s backyard! A pool, trampoline, fire pit, hot tub, tree fort, and still more grassy area to run around on! In fact… she grew up and made her home… my childhood home! When we were younger my house was the house that all the kids came to play at. She came over the first day of kindergarten and basically… She never left 😂. Sitting in her backyard having a beer watching the kids play felt… normal. Completely comfortable. Like I do it all the time. Right.
That night we had a fire. Living where we do, we don’t see open fires very often. In fact, the Girls had never actually roasted a marshmallow over a fire pit before 😬. For shame I know. It was a late night. Actually, considering I usually turn into a pumpkin at exactly midnight I did so well! Yes that was me tooting my own horn because I don’t think that we are in bed before 3 AM once the entire week!
BBear and HBear are like 2 peas in a pod. I asked HBear how things were going and her face got all dreamy LOL despite the fact they only see each other in the summer HBear has always considered be BBear her best friend. It’s weird but not weird 😂. I asked her what they had in common and she said, “nothing really but everything kinda.” I totally get it my WpgBesty is 6 feet tall, blonde hair, blue eyed and a math/science geek. She is a children’s oncology nurse. Me… 5 foot 3, brown hair, understand letters not so much numbers LOL and absolutely despise hospitals. She is a great listener and I am a great talker. She is patient and understanding and I am impatient and quick to jump to conclusions… Yeah we’ll go with that 😂. We met the first day of kindergarten and we have never looked back. She is my lobster. It’s K and D against the world. She knows what I’m going to say before I even think it and usually convinces me not to say it before it gets me in trouble 😂. 2 more different women we couldn’t be. However, we won best twins on spirit day in junior high. Tweedledum and Tweedledumer LOL. It makes my heart almost burst with happiness to see them get along so easily. When it came time to say goodbye they were both inconsolable. Apparently we will be buying Minecraft complete with headphones and microphone so they can have play dates ASAP 😉.
Day 4: St. Malo
We woke up and drove to St. Malo to visit my SSIL’s family cottage. I was a little bit worried about the plans for this particular day because I wasn’t sure what to expect. As we drove I realized my only wish was indoor plumbing and not just an out house 😬. I was so pleasantly surprised! It was stunning! The cabin was huge and the new gazebo was gorgeous! The almost acre boasted crabapple trees and a huge area for croquet and other fun games! There was a drone that we lost in the tree minutes after we took it out LOL and a fire pit just begging us to make Smore’s over it! Did I mention the river? That’s right the cottage was on the bank of Rat River. It was like something out of a movie! The kids running down trying to catch fish with their nets, peeking into all the shells to see if they could find clams, my Bro on the rocks teaching the kids how to cast while Musky eagerly waited for them to reel a big one in! I can’t even think of that day without smiling! We had such a wonderful day and my Bro made us an amazing Manitoba dinner of panfried Pickerel to cap it off. We certainly did have Smore’s and SBean is now an official Smore’s addict 😂 my SSIL really does make the most decadent and tasty Smore’s that I’ve ever tried in my life!
When it was time to put the kids down I was in for a surprise! When we first got there and picked our rooms the Girls took the room with the bunkbed. A single on top and a double below. HBear said she would sleep up top and SBean and SPea would take the bottom bunk. SBean kept on saying to me, “I don’t want to sleep by the moose.” I glanced to the corner and saw… Something. I thought it was an otter? Or a meerkat? I didn’t really look too closely I just assumed it was a stuffed animal standing up on it’s hind legs. I looked at the kids like they were absolutely idiots and said, “no Sweetie that’s not a moose that’s just a stuffy.” Well, when it was time for bed SBean had a complete meltdown. She did not want to sleep beside the moose. I was laughing so hard trying to explain to her that it was not a moose when my SSIL walked by and said, “oh is the M-O-O-S-E bothering the kids? Do you want to cover it up with the blanket?” 😳 I slowly turned my head and look at it again with completely new eyes. Oh my GAWD that’s a fucking moose! Not a full moose but just the head of a moose. The eyes of the creature I thought it was turned out to be… Nostrils 😳. Oh my Gawd 😂😂😂. Once it was covered by the blanket everything was fine again and the Girls went straight to sleep. Crisis averted 😂.
We allowed HBear to stay up a little bit later and when it got super dark my Bro brought out his Skyview app and we roamed the fields naming all the stars and planets that we could see! HBear was in her glory! When it was time to go to bed we started walking to the cabin and she began to cry. I explained to her that I felt that she was mature enough to be able to stay up a bit later with the adults but perhaps I was wrong? Through her blubbering she said, “no Mommy you’re not wrong I behaved so well!” I then explained to her that everybody acts well when they’re getting what they want. The maturity part comes in when it’s time to go to bed. If you can handle going to bed like a big girl then I know that I made the right decision and you are mature enough to handle it. She instantly stop crying I looked over at me with narrowed eyes and said, “all right, all right I get it. I’m going to bed.” Success.
Day 5: St. Malo and The BBQ
The next morning the house started to stir and I heard HBear and my Bro making breakfast. It was so sweet to listen to them. HBear was so grateful and kept on gushing, “thank you for having me. I love you. Thank you for teaching me how to fish. Thank you for showing me the stars. I love you. Thank you for showing us this amazing place. I love you.” It melted my heart ❤️. After breakfast my SSIL’s parents came over for lunch. It was my first time meeting them… I don’t know how that is possible LOL they’ve been together for 10 years! They were wonderful! I am very happy that my Bro has them in his life.
At this time we took the opportunity for a family photo! The last one we had with everybody was the Christmas before Mom passed. Since then our family has grown to include SPea, CPatch, and PPenny. This one’s going on the wall!
On our way back to WpgBesty’s house we stopped in a field and took pictures with the haybales, can’t get much more prairies than that!
I took these pictures for all my BC friends. In BC we rarely see French and it took me a while to get used to that. In fact, I don’t know why we get used to the fact that French is practically nonexistent in any area of a country that has dual languages. Growing up I took French from grade 1 and up, signs are in both of our national languages and tons of streets are en francais. See…
Our evening was spent at WpgBesty’s house. We had another delicious dinner, the kids had fun playing in the backyard and after dinner we had a water balloon fight!
Now, this is going to sound terrible but it was actually completely innocent and absolutely hilarious! You know how some kids have lemonade stands… Our kids set up a bar/dance club in the basement of WpgBesty’s house. They took 1 type of each beer and brought it downstairs and set it up with snacks, a disco ball, and chairs for seating. There was also costumes hung up on the Bow Flex, WpgBesty was just happy that the Bow Flex was being used for something 😂! They invited us down into groups, men and women. The men went down first and watched the Girls dance and got a drink. They gave them to us for free 😜 but said they were OK with accepting tips 😂. Next it was the ladies turn! It was hilarious! We were all out singing Steps from NKOTB and every inside joke began coming out! Then HBear interrupted and screamed, “stop! Call 911! Somethings wrong with my Mom! She is… Funny!” 😂😂.
Around 4am my BIL laughed as we cracked the next round and he said goodnight and all that was left was WpgBesty and her hubby, OilerBesty, Ninja and me. It was just like old times. Awesome!
Day 6: Kildonan Park
Not so awesome the next morning. We had plans to meet everyone at Kildonana Park at 10 AM. Obviously that didn’t happen 😂 but OBesty was up cooking breakfast and we had everybody fed and ready to go by 11… So I was actually pretty happy LOL. Especially considering when we woke up Ninja jokingly told me that we couldn’t go because he couldn’t drive yet 😂.
The backyard and the house looked like a bomb hit it though! So, I offered to take WpgBesty’s kids with us so that they could stay behind and right side up their house. WpgBesty and OBesty don’t get a lot of respite. Their youngest has autism and to be quite honest I don’t actually know what a day in their life looks like. As we were driving I looked back at the Girls and I was absolutely tickled pink! I looked at Ninja and said, “this is great! Just as long as we don’t lose one.”
When we got to the park all of my Sis’s friends were there. My Sis was sitting down at a picnic table breast-feeding CPatch. I asked LittleK to sit down beside her. I asked my Sis if she would keep an eye on LittleK while I introduced the Girls to everybody. I thought I should get that out-of-the-way so that my attention could be focussed on playing with the Girls for the rest of the day. Of course my Sis was breast-feeding AND all of her friends were there! She absolutely was not prepared to watch that LittleK when she was so obviously distracted by everything that was going around on around her. Completely my fault. I quickly took the Girls around and did introductions. I looked back and LittleK was still sitting at the picnic table but my Sis was standing talking to a friend nearby. I started to walk over and I heard SBean scream like there was a colony of ants crawling up her! Nope… HBear had shot her with a huge water gun and completely drenched her pretty outfit she had picked out especially for this event. 😳😳
The next thing I knew… LittleK was gone. I looked up and just as I realized this fact WpgBesty and OBesty were walking towards us with great big smiles on their faces and not a care in the world. Shit. Every single person disbursed! Of course WpgBesty found her getting ready to go into the pool. We were situated right beside the amazing waterpark and LittleK loves the water! Everything was OK but I realized again that I have no concept of what their life is like. At times like this the distance between us smacks me in the face and I am doused with the cold reality. I barely know her gorgeous, smart, and entirely innocent Little daughter. I am sad that I am not there all the time. Even though we have both chose our paths and they are in different places, I wish more than anything I could watch her Girls grow up to be amazing women like their Mom.
Just as LittleK went missing my Grandpa’s 2 Sisters arrived! I had not seen either of them since I was a very young child. My Bro’s Mom also arrived just at that moment! The entire day was fabulous and my cup runneth over 💕.
Ninja and I spent our final evening in Winnipeg packing and enjoying one last glass of wine with my SIL. Oh and we had Sorrento’s Salad!!!! She was an amazing hostess and I had such a great time staying with her and JQ. It’s funny, out of all the siblings we see her the most often because she is a teacher and she spends the majority of summer and spring break with my in-laws in Penticton. However, seeing her in her own home was a totally different experience! Her hospitality and openness blew me away and when we got up in the morning and I close the door I was much more sad than I thought I would be.
We stopped at my Bro’s house to pick up Dad and say one last goodbye to the 3 of them. I so enjoyed getting to know my SSIL better. She is a fabulous Mom and PrettyPenny is a very lucky and loved little Girl 💕. It was also a beautiful thing to see my Bro as a Dad. He has always been the fun Uncle but he totally suits his new role. Seeing him with his dog, baby, and partner made my heart sing 🎶💛.
It was a long drive home. We drove straight into the smoke and it rained all through Alberta. We stayed in Strathmore at a very nice hotel that served a real continental breakfast 🤣.
Home safe and sound I reflect. I take it all in. It was all smiles. All love. It was a true vacation. I just had the best time.
I am so happy to be home, and this is home, I feel quite confident about that especially now. However, the memories that I that we made this past week will be in my little mental treasure box of happiest memories to be used whenever I may need a pick me up 💕.
Having Multiple Sclerosis is like trying to drive a car with a broken steering wheel and faulty brakes. You never know what’s going to happen next — Jamie-Lynn Sigler
