Another Field Trip

Today was another day for a field trip. We went to a petting zoo just south of us. The afternoon started out with lunch of hot dogs, chips and water. The buns were almost too big to get their mouths around. Russell was sitting with some boys. He did not want to be with the girls the whole time. Our neighbors came with us for the afternoon.
Ciera had a hard time keeping the hot dog in the bun.
The three kids posing for a picture getting ready to go see some animals.

The kids had a chance to feed the llamas. Russell kept calling them mammals, which they are, but the two words sound similar.
This llama here emptied Russell bucket of oats. Their head fits in just perfect to get the last kernel. Russell had a small allergic reaction in the same eye as before when we got home. It cleared up right away. He is going to acupuncture tomorrow with me to see if that will help.
This is the most pretty out house Chloe has been in. There was even a water jug to wash your hands with soap. She was quite happy to use the out house.

Special Treasures

Great Grandma Weich made Russell and Chloe each an afghan. These are not little baby ones, they are for their size with room to grow. Russell and Chloe are blessed to know their Great Grandma and treasure the things she makes for them. She has always made them slippers and they wear them daily. Chloe's afghan was a new pattern Great Grandma thought she would try. I told her you are never too old to learn new things. Both afghans match their rooms.

Lots of Activity with the Whitmore's

Yesterday I was in Grande Prairie with Mom. Chloe had been complaining about her gum on the bottom hurting. I keep brushing her off because she always seems to have something wrong. I told her I would floss her teeth when we get home. A minute later, she said "I lost a tooth!" I was driving in traffic and told her she didn't. She said yes she did. Sure enough there was a tooth in her hand. She had been eating nuts with Russell and felt something hard in her mouth and tried to chew it, then realized it would not chew. I was very unprepared for her loosing teeth. With Russell, he received a Thomas Train under his pillow, so we had to do something for her. She came out of her bed this morning and said there was nothing under her pillow. I felt about 2 inches tall because I forgot! So she went back to bed and pretended to be sleeping and I slipped her surprise under her pillow. Her day was now off to a great start!
We went today to the Peace Area Riding for the Disabled Society arena. There we observed disabled kids riding horses. This girl here was in a wheelchair and needed to be put on the horse with a lift. The kids thought that was pretty cool.




One of the instructors took us back to the barn to see a horse. The first thing they asked was if they could give the horse a snack. I think they snack was big alfalfa cubes. They thought the lips of the horse tickled their hands.

So then we were done, Russell's eyes started to itch. He washed his hands and within a few minutes, this is what happened. It got worse after this. The other eye was red down to his lips and he had these white welt looking things on his face. We went to the hospital to hopefully get a shot of Benedryl which is faster acting than oral. After taking one look at the ER, we left. I gave him some oral meds and the redness and itchiness started to subside by the time we arrived home. His one eye is still swollen but the red is gone. I know he has seasonal allergies, but nothing that Claratin won't fix. He has been around horses before without a problem. I think it is the hay which he has not been around. So needless to say he wanted to go to bed at 6:30 this evening. He is going to try acupuncture like I am getting for my allergies to see if that will help him. I do not want him to go down the same path that I am on with allergies. So far he is not off to a good start. He has been on Claratin for 2 seasons already. So this is a day in the life of the Whitmore's. I am blessed that his reaction was not worse and I am blessed that I have the privilege of broadening their horizons. Things could be worse and for that I am thankful.

Chloe's Hair

This is my first time braiding Chloe's hair solo. She loves her hair in braids and only gets it done when she is at Grandma's. She wants her hair longer but gets very impatient. The top part is to her cheek bones and gets in her eyes and drives me crazy. Because she was bald for 1 year and then had very little hair for another3 years, she never got use to having things in her hair. So here we are at a crossroads. Last summer I cut her hair short and she loved it. I am trying to resist doing it again. I let her watch Barney while I braid, works good.

Grain Terminal Tour

This afternoon, we went to Louis Dreyfus grain terminal in Rycroft for a tour. The most we have seen is from the truck and the grading office. This is Kevin showing the kids on how to grade wheat. I found it very interesting. Russell and Chloe liked watching all machines work. Russell knew every type of seed. Kevin has seen Russell when he hauls grain with Grandpa. Uncle Alvin works at Patterson Grain in Manitoba. Yes, we did go to the competition Alvin!

The squishing method for grading canola is still used. An electronic machine to detect the chlorophyll for a more accurate grade is in the works.
Chloe loves hats and was very excited to wear a hard hat.

This is how the grain gets carried to the top of the terminal in these baskets. We could not go to the top because the cleaners were running.

There were no cars to load today but this is where they would be. They get in 50 cars at a time and need to have then loaded in 10 hours. It takes 8 minutes to load one car. There is a large cable that the cars are moved ahead with to fill the next one. There are 2 tracks with 25 cars on each. Hopefully we can go there when the grain cars are being loaded. The kids had fun and so did I and learned lots.

Thursday we are going to a riding arena for the disabled to learn about how handicapped people ride horses. Stay tuned.

Baby Victoria's Shower

The church members of the Lighthouse Church had a get together in honor of baby Victoria. Here is the lady of the hour catching up on her beauty sleep.
The cake was delicious. Kim was cutting the cake like she did at her wedding, except without Steven this time!

A fun time was had by playing some baby games. This is Annalee and Marta.
Naomi and Kimberly.
This is the other Kimberly. I call this Kimberly, Kimberly and Kimberly Weich, I call "My Kim".
Victoria had her tummy filled and was ready to look around. Everyone enjoyed a little cuddle.

Bernice
Edith
Chevonnie
Ethal was quite nervous to hold a baby and not use to it. She was cute.
The ladies all pooled our resources and gave Kimberly a gift card to The Children's Place so she can buy clothes as the need comes. She can have fun shopping for her daughters. We are blessed to have another member to our family and the church family as well. I will enjoy getting to watch her grow up and develop her personality.