We are having a great time in Red Deer. The kids are on a permanent vacation I think. They're up too late at night and playing non-stop together all day but they are having so much fun that it's hard to interfere. Josiah spends his day mostly chasing cats, there are two, Cindy and Pedro. He loves them and is always trying to either hug them or sit on them so I'm constantly on the look out. There is also a Labrador Retriever named Phoebe, who is gentle and very lovely, a gecko named Daphne and a Vietnamese fighting fish named Angel. It's a very active place with four children and the animals but everyone is getting along well. Abbi and Ashton started school on Aug. 31 which was a bit of an adjustment for Hannah. They were only in school for 2 days though and then they were off for the long weekend. It's hot here! I don't know what the rest of Canada is like but it isn't much like September where we are. The past couple of days it's been about 30 degrees and although it cooled off nicely last night, tonight is still pretty uncomfortable. I'm not complaining though because it will all be over soon enough. Before school started back for Abbi and Ashton, Chris and I were just hanging out around her place having some pretty low key days. She doesn't drive so if we need anything we walk to the grocery store. Abbi would ride her bike and Ashton and Hannah would ride scooters. It's a bit of a walk, probably an hour to and from, and I'm definitely feeling it. It's been a busy summer but I haven't done much in the way of exercise! A little yoga here and there but I really need to get back to a routine.

We rented a van on the weekend and went on a short road trip to Drumheller. What a great time! The kids had so much fun and Chris and I enjoyed ourselves too. There is just so much to do with kids there which made it pretty easy for Chris and I to have a good time. We got off to a late start on Saturday as I ended up having to wait in line for an hour at Rent a Wreck for the van. One guy working on a Saturday, the last Saturday of the month and a long weekend to boot. He also has a U-Haul business too which is why it was so busy. We had a couple of stops to make before heading out of town and everywhere we went there were line ups. By the time we got going it was lunch time and then everyone was hungry and needed to eat. We made a quick trip to Tim's which turned out to be a very long stop because it was so busy. Five sandwiches is no easy feat for a trainee. It seems like someone is always training at Tim Horton's. They screwed up the order and forgot the bagel for Josiah so we had to turn around and go back. Josiah had not yet napped and was getting pretty cranky so we actually ate on the run. Chris fed herself and handed back little tiny pieces of bagel to Josiah which Ashton kept telling him to 'chew'. Josiah had been choking on us all week and scaring me to death. He has two new teeth coming in and the only thing I can figure is that it hurt to chew because he had taken to just swallowing everything you gave him whole. So everyone was on alert when Josiah was eating. Drumheller is located in what is known as the Badlands of Alberta. It's desert country. It's a two hour drive south east of Red Deer through miles and miles of farm country. When you reach the town you drive down into a valley and the landscape changes drastically from fields as far as the eye can see to rolling hills which are compacted layers of sandstone and mudstone formed by the erosion of the glaciers millions of years ago. The rock layers are supposed to date back to the Cretaceous Period and you feel like you are steppping back in time as you drive into the valley. As you drive through town you notice there is a dinosaur on every corner and the kids were calling out the names of what they thought they were everytime they saw a new one. There is a lot to see and do and we only barely touched the tip of the iceberg so to speak. We arrived in the late afternoon and checked into The Badlands Motel where we planned out the rest of our day. We decided on dinner first at a local restaurant and had our worst meal of the trip. We were more careful the next day. After dinner we went out to the Royal Tyrrell Museum which is home to the largest dinosaur find in the world. It's pretty overwhelming, a whole lot to see in one visit and we went through it all pretty quickly. Another time I will go back, when the children are older and can appreciate it more, because I really didn't get to spend much time looking at each exhibit. The kids were oohhing and ahhhing a lot though, they were pretty impressed with the dinosaurs and the big talk was a tarantula we saw. We got back to the motel and got everyone settled for the night. Josiah woke everyone at least three times during the night with his screaming, poor little guy. We had breakfast in the restaurant at the motel which turned out to be terrible meal #2. We went with the breakfast buffet but it was all overcooked and/or tasteless. So much for being more careful. Our first stop of the day was the Hoodoos, tall rock pillars that sort of resemble mushrooms and were formed by erosion over thousands of years. The pillars are protected by what's called a capstone made of rock and once this falls off the pillars will erode completely and disappear which I guess will eventually happen to all of them. The kids had fun climbing and exploring caves in the rock and climbing the path through the Hoodoos but it was so hot we couldn't stand it out there for long. On our drive back into town we passed a rattlesnake slithering across the road which much to the dismay of the children, got run over by a couple of cars. Chris and I were just amazed that we had actually seen a rattlesnake in the wild. Our next stop was ReptileWorld which is Canada's largest reptile exhibit. It's not a big place but I saw more reptiles than I've ever seen before. In fact I saw reptiles that I have never seen before. There was a 600 lb alligator named Fred. He just happened to be hanging out at the end of his aquarium which was closest to us so we were about 2 feet away staring him directly in the eyes. It was more than a bit scary and Hannah couldn't even bring herself to look in. Josiah on the other hand was fascinated by him and every other thing in there. We saw gila monsters, a reticulated python, crocodiles, every kind of snake imagineable as well as the Black Mamba, one of the most poisonous snakes in the world. Ashton got to hold Brittany, a six foot boa constrictor, which he bravely had wrapped around his neck. Hannah was pretty fascinated by this but was too afraid she said to hold her. I looked over a little while later though and she was with the handler and holding Brittany in her hands. I got some great pics of this but can't get them off my camera until I have access to Art's laptop again. It was a pretty exciting place for everybody actually and we stayed until we had seen everything a few times. We left there and did a little shopping and then found a lovely little Italian cafe where we had lunch. Excellent find! We had quesadillas and lattes and freshly baked pastries and were very full when we left. Next stop the water park. There are a great many waterparks all over this fine province but I'm always surprised whenever I see another one. I'm just never expecting it. In fact, we had not even packed bathing suits for the kids so we had to make a quick stop at the local Saan and Fields stores to grab some suits and towels. This one was downtown next to the 26 metre high replica of T-rex which is a big tourist attraction in Drumheller. The kids played in the water for a bit, it was a scorching day so it was a bit of a relief but too hot to stay too long as there is no shade. We grabbed a bag of cotton candy and some bottles of ice cold water from a vendor and Chris took Abbi, Ashton and Hannah on the long trek up to the mouth of T-rex while I waited below with Josiah. A long hike up in the heat but they'd been waiting to do this since we got into town. It was our last activity of the day and then we were finally on the road again heading back to Red Deer. Josiah was asleep within minutes and slept the entire way while the other kids played barbies and dinosaurs!