Road Warning

Yesterday Alex and I both had our first opportunity to drive on the right side of the road. Which wasn't quite as scary as we had both first imagined. When on main roads and the like you almost forget actually. But when you come to a turn, especially a left hand turn that is when you have to really concentrate! Rea took me (Tamara) out and was an excellent teacher. He said I did well especially since I only used the wipers once to indicate that I was turning. LOL.

So now that we were out and about we borrowed Rea and Sandy’s car and took a trip down to Pincer Creek, which also has the a Walmart  J

It was really nice to get out on the road together as a family, we enjoyed checking out the different scenery. We saw deer and Indian silhouettes, big red barns, and obviously plenty of mountains! We all got a real kick out of the wind turbines. At first we just saw one and girls couldn’t stop talking and exclaiming over it and then about ten minutes later we started seeing them everywhere! Fields and fields of them.

Alex bracing himself against the gnarly winds that were happening.   He could actually lean into the wind at a pretty good angle it was blowing that strong!

Once arriving at Walmart, we noticed that although it was a little exciting because it had a Maccas (with heaps of random stuff that we don’t get!) and a supermarket (also stocked with heaps of stuff we had never seen) it was mostly just like a Kmart. Other than being a bit bigger, it didn’t really live up to the hype. But that’s ok, we wandered around and had fun.

We had headed out this way today because we decided to have an Aussie meal tonight and invite all the staff and we even had some of the Crow board there because they had their board meeting today.  We decided to do a big Aussie BBQ with lamb chops, snags, rissoles and shrimps, with all the trimmings. And to finish it off, Pavlova!

Sadly Canada doesn’t seem to have lamb. I know, it’s a crime! We talked to a few of the staff who said that they love lamb but over here it’s really hard to find and it’s incredibly expensive. L Boy are they missing out.

We found everything we needed and headed sback home, stopping a thousand time to take a photo here and there of course.

Since the board had just finished up there meeting when we arrived, good old Josh was able to give us a hand in the kitchen. Seeing as we love him and think he’s awesome, we gave him the best job off all…cutting the onions. Nothing like seeing a grown man cry. J

I (Tamara) began working on the Pav. Now, I know my Mum is probably reading this and going “But you have never made a Pav Tamara!” and anyone who knows me knows that I DO NOT make food that I have never tried before for other people. It just stresses me out and makes life hard for everyone.  It was a recipe for disaster!

Which is exactly what happened. Josh and Alex were having a grand time chatting and joking in the kitchen across the bench from me. Alex looks up while I am counting my 11^th egg white and grumbling under my breath when a little of the yolk drops in and ask how I am going.

I look directly into his eyes, giving him THE LOOK and said “YOU ARE IN TROUBLE”.

You know the look. Women everywhere have mastered it and men cower in fear when they see it. It’s a primal thing. Its why sheds where invented so men could run and hide until their wives had consumed enough chocolate to placate them.

Josh and Alex were no exception. They immediately look like tiny little possums who have just been caught in the headlights of a Mack truck. They stood very still and their eyes became as big as saucers.

“Ah…..everything ok….there? …..Hon?”

“NO! Everything is NOT ok. 20 people are coming to have tea, I have never made Pavlova and you know how I hate trying new foods out on people when I have never made them before, and if this turns out to be a disaster, which it will because I keep getting yolk in there, you are the one in trouble!!!!!!”

Poor Josh. He’s not used to crazy wife rants. But he coped well. Alex was also quite the champ calming me down and reminding me that no-one here had even tried a Pav, so if it sucked how would they know?

Miracle of miracles, in fact even though we set the temperature on the oven too high and did everything wrong, the Pav turned out great J Crisp, crunchy outer coating, chewy on the edges and smooth and silky in the middle, the perfect combination. Mum, you would be so proud!

The snags and shrips...4kg worth, you'd be in heaven Andrew Turner!

Elizabeth enjoying her Pavlova :)

The whole meal was quite a success actually and I think that most of it came down to Josh and Alex keeping a level head. I on the other hand lost my marbles a couple of times but I did feel pretty good when one of the guys actually said “This is my new favourite dessert of all time!”

Yah for Pavlova and amazing understanding husbands, good friends who are always there to help and all the great people who watched the girls while I cooked and were willing to try our food.  It was a beaut day :)

Here is a few other snaps for you.

Hannah and Laura throwing sticks in the lake

This s a Panorama of one view of the site. To the left is the Lodge (Kitchen, Dining, Hall) and the two cream buildings next are accommodation, the building hiding behind the trees is the office and then there are other cabins to the right.

This Panorama is from the side of the mountain you can see in the above picture. Not all the way to the sop as it was a bit windy that day. In pretty much the centre there is the camp site.

The Nesting Period

We have been at Crows almost a week now (a week tomorrow actually) and I am amazed at how settled and comfortable we are all feeling.

I mentioned to Rea (thanks for the spell check mum, LOL) how it feels like we have been here for a month or more and he shared his camp theory with me. He believes that real time vs camp time is a 1:4 ratio. So you spend a week a camp, it’s more like 4. After a few calculations, that means that once we leave here it will feel like we have been here for about 2 years!!! He also told me that he is really only 37 and that his body has just aged prematurely because of all the camping J

This week Alex has been busy up in the office getting prepared for COLTS and also learning as much as he can about the day to day operations of the site, OH&S etc. He has been really enjoying getting to know two of the people running COLTS this year, Robyn and Daniel (He is a volunteer and it’s his first time running COLTS, he has previously completed the course though).  He has also had the chance to hang out more with Ginny, Percy and James who also work in the office. Percy and Alex seem to have a real Australian repour (is that one spelt right Mum?) with them both giving each other a hard time J It’s all in good fun though!

The girls and I have been out and about in town with Janice looking through the second hand shops (WAY BETTER than the ones at home), finding some great toys for the girls to play with, a pram to make life a little easier with Miss E and I also found something quite amazing….ALBERTA-OPOLY. That’s right, the Alberta version of Monopoly. $7, never been opened. Winner.

Can’t wait to bring it home and enjoying playing it with you all. J

I have also been helping out in the Kitchen most afternoons to help prepare supper (tea). This has been a lot of fun and also given me the chance to familiarise myself with Canadian brands and names. There was a huge discussion the other night as I asked Janice where to find the cordial…uh what?

And after bringing this up at the table we discovered there were quite a few differences in beverage names: To make life simpler I have put the Australians on the left and the Canadians on the right, just like the roads…LOL

Cordial : Juice    (Their cordial or Juice whatever you want to call it, is in powdered form, not liquid, kind of like our tang, I’m not a fan because even though it comes in way more awesome flavours you practically give yourself tennis elbow trying to mix the stuff.)

Juice : Fruit Juice

Smoothie : Milkshake

Frappe : Smoothie

Fizzy Cordial : Pop

Man, it had the head spinning once we talked all that through!

Working in the kitchen I was also excited to learn that Crows do a hot breakfast EVERY morning when camps are on. Can I get an AMEN!  How can they afford this I wondered!? Turns out eggs and food in general is a lot cheaper up here. I am yet to work out why, I’m not sure if the Government subsidises it or not.

So I had a few people mention how much then enjoy seeing the photos of us out and about in Canada, (yes Alex, I can already hear you saying “I told you so”) so I tried to go one better this time and include a few virtual tours. But I have serious doubts about them working as I can't seem to upload them, I'll keep working on it and for now here is some new photos.

Thanks for all your continued prayers and support. We miss you all!

Snow, food and photos

As I mentioned on my last entry we stopped in at Rae and Sandy’s for lunch and supper on Friday, which was wonderful. Rae wasn’t there sadly (although this did give us the opportunity to eat his favourite ice-creams, Sandy said she had to hide some from him so there was some left for our visit, LOL). We also had the pleasure of meeting Rae’s parents Sy and Edith, who were both very gracious hosts. They were a part of the founding group who began Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp and it was fascinating to hear the story of how God led them to the campsite and this ministry.

The next day most of the snow was gone, but had been replaced by a very cold wind coming off the lake. So the girls and I snuggled up inside and Alex went up the mountain again.

For tea we visited Peter and Janice, who had also invited Marla and Robyn. We had a great time learning more about the staff and their roles here.

But the real highlight of the evening was that right in the middle of supper, it began snowing!!

It was so beautiful, Hannah was completely mesmerized and proceeded to spend the rest of the evening watching is from out the window. I must admit I also became quite distracted!

When we awoke the next morning the ground had a lovely covering again and it was fun to be the first to walk on it!

We were invited to attend church with Peter and Janice who happen to have a van that can seat us all. Yah! It is also Rae and Sandy’s church and Percy and Marla often attend.

Everyone was incredibly welcoming and we really enjoy being there to worship with them. The girls settled in well to crèche and Sunday school and I met some lovely mums in the baby room.

After church Alex took the girls outside to play in the snow. They made a snowman and did some tobogganing. Hannah really loved it, she is such an outdoor girl. It was a little too cold for Laura so she came in early for cuddles on the couch. 

I have included a tonne of photos in this blog as Alex has informed me that he called them boring blogs if there are no photos. So here are a heap to show all the stuff we have been up to.

On the way to Crows (for anyone interested in roads (!) you know how in Australia we have painted bumps on the side of the road to wake you up and tell you that you are getting close to the edge? In Canada they actually dig out grooves in the road instead, which is the marks you can see in the picture above)

The girls and Alex on the way to Crows. The mountain you can see to the far right is Crows Mountain.

 (I don't think that is the actually name of the mountain but the campsite is at the base of it.)

Josh and the girls having a laugh! The girls really loved Josh, he was great fun.

Alex's panorama of the mountains. We also have this same shot but covered in the new snow that I mentioned before. 

Sorry I don't have any shots of the girls in the snow, Alex hasn't had the chance to upload them yet. 

Today is Monday so we are excited to head up to the office to hear more about the program Alex will be involved in (COLTS) and ways that I can help over the next couple of weeks.

Prayer Points: 

If you pray, I know that Ginny (who is in charge of camp volunteers and camps) would love some prayer about the next two camps coming up very soon. A junior camp (9-11 year olds) and a girls camp (11-13 year olds) These run simultaneously with the Junior camp staying on site and the girls camp heading out camping in the wilderness. Both are in need of a Program supervisor and a Study leader.

I also know from the Crows newsletter and website that they are also down on financial support due to many reasons so if you are interested in supporting their through prayer or financially that they would really appreciate this.

Thanks! Catch ya next time

A welcome to Crow about

Yesterday we packed up at Josh’s house ready to head off to Crows. We stopped off at MEC just one last time (for those of you who aren’t into Outdoorsy stuffy, MEC is a fantastic outdoor shop, the prices are unbelievably cheap compared to Australian stores.)

Then we left the big city and made our way through some amazing quintessential North American and Canadian sites. We saw barns and houses just like in the movies. But of course all Alex wanted to see was the mountains and then once we did see them that was about all he could talk about.

The trip would normally take about 3 hours but we took about 5 because we stopped for lunch and about a thousand photo opportunities. J

At this point I’d just like to give a huge shout out to Josh Wilson and what a great host he was. Nothing was too much trouble and he looked after us so well and made us feel really at home. He even did his best to ensure we enjoyed a few Canadian specialities like Maple Syrup biscuits J they were delicious!

When we arrived at Crows we were greeted by two very familiar faces trying to hitch a ride…Rae and Sandy Bryant. It was fantastic to see them again! And don’t worry Camp Clayton Staff, we gave them a big enough hug to have come from you too!

Once inside the office, we were introduced to the Crows Staff:

Percy and Marla (Percy is the Director here, which is like our equivalent of the CEO at Camp and Marla helps in the Kitchen and around the site)

Peter and Janice (Peter works in maintenance and Janice is in charge of the Kitchen and supplies ordering)

James (Does accounts and other bookwork)

Ginny (Is in charge of volunteers and the camps, she is also Rae and Sandy’s daughter)

Robyn (Runs COLTS and other Outdoor Education Programs)

Now I apologise in advance if we have any of their job descriptions wrong. We gathered most of this information from our first meeting and some of it may be inaccurate.

Then we headed to our great new home for the time here.

WOW! They have totally outdone themselves. There are 3 bedrooms, a bathroom, laundry, lounge room and small kitchenette. It’s incredible, they have thought of everything, extra food and nibbles for girls, baby shampoo, and extra blankets! There was even a huge welcome bag with extra gumboots for the girls, and cute COLT t-shirts for them. We are very spoilt!

They put on a fantastic meal too, steak with Caesar salad and hot potatoes. Awesome J

Today we are headed off the Rae and Sandy’s for lunch and tea, can’t wait, talk soon!

Welcome to Canada

The plane rides....hmmmm.

I am really struggling to explain what the last 24 hours have been like. I think mostly because since we landed my head feels all light and yet my body feels really heavy and although Josh won't admit it, I'm pretty sure that Canada has a strange up and down motion like you are on a ship in choppy waters. He says it's all in my head but I'm not so sure.

It is making typing an interesting experience though, my arms sort of sway a little and keep hitting the wrong buttons. LOL.

The first plane, 14 hours and 20 minutes to LA wasn't too bad actually. The girls behaved themselves really well. They loved being able to watch as much TV as they liked (who'd have thought!) and Elizabeth stuck to her routine and even slept in the tiny bassinet on the plane, although she had to sleep all curled up as she was a little too big for it.

The only bad thing about the plane for me was that Elizabeth basically sat on my lap and climbed all over me when she wasn't sleeping. So eating and drinking were a nightmare. I got off that plane looking like I had been wrestling in tomato sauce, snot and juice. 

We landed at about 6:30am LA time, which was actually Midnight our time. So moving through customs, getting our bags and everything was quite the blur. Hannah and Laura were absolute troopers though. We did wonder if security might be a little tighter due to the Boston bombings but we didn't notice it being too intense. 

After this things got a little more hairy.

The next and final plane was only 3 hours but seeing as it was now 2:30 in the morning the girls finally decided to lose the plot and proceeded to alternate between sobbing uncontrollably and sleeping with drool coming out the sides of their mouths. Their legs kept cramping up (as were ours since we had to try and sit as still as possible while the three of them laid all over us in various positions) which made things a bit more frustrating. But it was all over in a flash compared to the other flight. Waking them up was difficult and a little heartbreaking :(

Then on to customs and immigration. This was a pretty surreal experience.  The immigration officer while seeming friendly at first didn't take long to put on his professional demeanor. After explaining why we were there, his questioning soon began to make us think that he wasn't going to let us in. He explained that he didn't believe that we really needed 6 months to learn about Crows (Abv. Crowsnest Lake Bible Camp) and that he was worried that we were going to take work away from other Canadians. 

Eeeekkk! Please don't put us back on the plane! 

But after much explanation and convincing from Alex he did let us in. This took about an hour. We had arrived with only one person ahead of us in the line but as we left there were around 20 people behind us and we were praising God that we weren't in that line!!!

Then on to collecting our baggage. 

Which we couldn't find. 

Thankfully we did find most of it off to the side. Because we had taken so long the plane company that we had just been on had collected it for us. But we were missing our car seats which meant we had to fill in a tonne of paperwork to figure out where they were and how to get them to us. Hopefully they should rock up at Crows within the week or so. This all took another hour or so.

By this time it was 2:30 in the afternoon Canada time (Josh and Glynis had been patiently waiting for us) and about 9:30 in the morning Australian. But as none of had had more then 3 hours sleep we were walking zombies. We decided to push through and try to make it to a normal bedtime. Easier said then done when we had a few car rides yet. Even I nodded off while trying my utmost to stay awake. 

We had a fantastic supper (which is Tea in Canadian) at Glynis' family home meeting most of her family (they have 7 kids!). I'd love to name them all but I only remember about half their names in my jet lagged haze. But it was so great to have a home cooked meal with real ingredients and no more take away. The girls also hit their second wind and enjoyed the toys they could find and had an even better time when an impromptu snow fight erupted. 

We headed back to Josh's a little after that much to Hannah and Laura's disappointment as they wanted to keep playing. It was about 9pm. 

Here's a strange one for you, it's light here until about 9:30 in the evenings in winter and about 11pm in Summer! And the sunrise is still at about 5:30 in winter and about 4:30am in Summer.  They have no need for daylight savings here.CRAZY!

We all hit the sack with plenty of enthusiasm and slept until 11:30am today, even then I think the girls would have kept sleeping but we decided to get them up. Which is when Josh kicked in to awesome hosting mode and proceeded to make us chocolate chip and banana pancakes with (you guessed it) maple syrup. Hannah was very impressed :) except she was a little put out that there were no real chips. LOL.

Elizabeth is still really struggling and I think she may also be teething a little so she has going back after to bed and the girls and Alex have gone out to hit the shops. We discovered that we had forgotten winter hats and seeing as there is snow it's all the girls want to do, so buying a hat became an essential.

We are planning on heading to Crows tomorrow sometime, can't wait!

 

This is us outside Josh's house yesterday before heading out to Glynis' for tea. Excuse the half asleep expressions. :)

An unexpected monkey event

After all the dramas of yesterday (which you can read about here if you haven't yet had the chance too) we very quickly learnt that our travel agent was not open on Sundays and so obviously we would not be flying out until at least Tuesday. We spent most of yesterday watching DVD's and going over to the airport to eat.

Alex did manage to get to the free gym at our hotel, which was great for him to work off some excess energy.

But today we decided to enjoy a little more then just the airport and hotel atmosphere...

 A day in Melbourne, what could be better then taking our little monkeys to the zoo?

We all had a fabulous time...

 The girls and I checking out if we were as heavy as a tortoise.

 

Alex, me and the girls....oh no wait! That's a gorilla!

Getting up close and personal with Gloria from Madagasca

Hannah enjoying a ride on an Elephant

Elizabeth enjoying cuddles with Dad.

Ohhhh, a butterfly, pretty!

(I'm not sure what the go was but Elizabeth was a butterfly magnet! May have been her sticky fingers, LOL)

I can get it!

Hannah patiently stood like a statue for around 10 minutes (quite the record for her) so that a butterfly would land on her. She was very excited!

Hannah with the Meercats. She decided he must have been the King because he got to sit up there.

Laura playing conservationist in the Keeper Kids area.

But she really loved playing vets and looking after all the sick animals the most. :) 

We spent a good hour or more here, it was a brilliant area for the kids.

So, after an awesome day of relaxation and fun we look forward to heading to Canada tomorrow. Just to be on the safe side and to ensure we don't have to drag our children through the airport at break neck speeds again, we will be getting there 2.5 hours early. 

Shouldn't be anymore dramas from here on out as we are all ESTA-ed up and everyone is definitely booked in. 

Canada here we come!

Up Up and Away...Almost

Well, here we go! It's D Day!

Almost.

How am I updating the blog you may ask when we should be way up in the air on our way to LA?

Great question....well to be honest, it has been a roller coaster of a morning!

First up, just so all the family out there don't start freaking out, we are all happy, healthy and together :)

After getting up at 4am (yawn) we scooted the girls to the Launceston Airport, waited in a ginormous line which took 45 mins and we were then told that our luggage would not be able to be put on directly to Calgary as we has not arrived in time. Alex politely told the gentlemen that yes we were here early enough but the line obviously made us late. Still it was not going to happen, so rather the freak out like people do on the TV show, we got over it.  We were told we would have to pick up our luggage and then make our way to International for booking in, customs etc.

Ok, not great news as we were low on time and high on little people to move, but we were pumped to get it done, so off we went.

After getting on the plane, the pilot informed us that we were running late due to baggage issues. 

Hmmm...ok still not brilliant, but we talked and did a chest bump to hype ourselves up, you know all that jazz, ready to meet the challenge of getting to our flight on time.

Alex did have the foresight to check with the Flight Attended (Michael, an angel from God I suspect, his name does suggest so!) who called ahead to try to help us out. He was dismayed to discover that our luggage was not booked in to go to LA but promised to help us pick it up, wrangle the kids and just be flat out amazing :)

SO after getting off the plane and hightailing it to book in, (I don't think Laura has ever run so fast) Michael leading me and the girls, Alex off to get the bags, we arrive at Qantas book in and are informed that the reason the luggage wasn't booked in properly was because we had failed to fill in an ESTA (which we knew nothing about) for our stop in LA. (ESTA for all you International Travelling Newbies like us is a special Visa Waiver and means we can go through the airport without a tonne of paperwork.) Although these only take ten minutes to fill in online (50 mins for five!) booking in was closing in 15 minutes and the ESTA site was on scheduled maintenance until 4pm Australian time.

Ok, seriously uncool!!!!! But we took a deep breath and .....

"Oh no, wait, don't you have an infant?"

Um yes, it's the squirming, stinky child in my arms (she had done a doozy just as we landed in Melbourne thanks Bec and Chris for the pizza tea last night).

"She isn't booked in on either of your next flights."

PAUSE   ..........................................................................................

The lady looked up and me and said "Please don't cry, we can fix it" :)

Good, that's all I want to hear at this point!

So, after biting the inside of my mouth and taking about 10 deep breaths I relaxed and thought....

GOD HAS THIS UNDER CONTROL and it's just like I tell my kids CHILLAX!

So after re booking our flights (turns our Miss E was booked in, I have no idea what was going on there!) we zip across to a great hotel and book in for the night. Our flight is re booked for tomorrow and this gives us time to do our ESTA, call our travel agent and get a little shut eye before the next adventure.

So I'm off for a nap, please pray if you do that sort of thing and hopefully the next time I post we will be in Canada :)