May 17: Back from Oil Country

Boy, hanging out at home in the spring in Oil Country when the Oilers aren't deep in the playoffs is a different experience. Outside of Ben and I pondering roster moves, and Chris and I joking about who will pull out of the basement on the playoff pool we're in, there's not much to report on the hockey side. I'm just hoping the Oilers can land Redden and Richards (or Kariya or reacquire Smyth) in the offseason.

Anyhow, we all had a great week in Edmonton. Plenty of pictures to boot. Some of the highlights:
- Celebrating Geneva's first mother's day
- Hanging out with Ben, Kim & Elia; Shawn, Dolly & Theo, and Dave & Van. Always fun to see the kids together and compare how big they are all getting.
- Picking up Shrek Happy Meals while singing tunes from the Sound of Music with Geneva, Tyler, & Christina (sorry Sydney... but you did love your "I'm an ogre, BURP... I'm on it" Shrek toy.
- A belated birthday dinner for dad at Mirama with On Ba Co (I hope I spelt that right), Ian & Kath. Goodness, Kath looks so good... next time we see you you'll be a mom!

But the real adventures hit when we got to the farm:
- Day One: Before my parents and Chris came over on Mother's Day long weekend, Gong gong was prepping the $1,000+ BBQ on the patio. I was napping in the living room (prepping my body for 4 straight days of cheesecake) and Sydney was chillin' on her swing chair. Suddenly, Geneva comes barreling into the room and yells at me "GET OUT OF THE HOUSE" and then runs back to the kitchen. Of course, after years of Geneva screaming at me I'm a little desensitized to being yelled at somewhat assumed that the translation to "get of the house" was "get off your lazy butt and do something." so, i was slowly getting off the couch when Po-po (who has NEVER yelled at me) came scrambling into the living room screaming "DAVE, GET OUT OF THE HOUSE, THE PROPANE TANK EXPLODED." Things became very clear suddenly. I ran to grab Sydney, we darted out the front door and away from the house. Whew! The house itself was ok, but I saw a huge cloud of smoke coming from the back. Sydney and I walked to the back of the house (a safe distance) to see Kirby, Geve and Gong-Gong extinguishing a massive fire on the BBQ. Crazy. See pics below. We're just glad everyone is alright.
- Day Two: Sydney is slowly getting a grasp of my one-up-manship. Case and point. The Chan family was hanging out at dinner. I was clowning around with Sydney at dinner (she was in a great mood overall... I think she loved being at the farm because it was temperature cool like home, she had good naps, and there are so many wonderful animals). Anyhow, after dinner and upon cleaning up the dinner table, i did the ol' "lean-in-and-whispter... then-burp-in-the-ear-trick." Geve said it was gross, and Sydney wasn't too impressed. Well, guess what she did in return. Yup, wearing her "I Love Daddy" shirt, she took a big poop in her pants while sitting at the kitchen table and stained that shirt. What a goof... hahahaha, serves me right as mom would say.
- Day Three: ARGHHH!!! Ippssy, Ding and I headed out to see the horses on our last day together. Stupid Ding (the German Sheppard) being the trouble maker that she is, she barked at the horses and they startled Ippssy. I couldn't see what happened, but Ippssy either strained her right leg or she got kicked by one of the horses. I know she was pissed because she never barks at anything, but after she got hurt she walked over to the horses and barked at them non-stop. She was limping all day when we left... sigh, i feel so terrible. I love that dog so much, and she's SOOOO good with Sydney.

Lots of fun memories though overall. Man, I wish that I could win the lottery and just move everyone to Vancouver Island where we could have our on private villa. Enjoy the pictures!

Much love,
Daddy