Day 3: St. Cloud, MN

We had a great day! We splashed and slid at the waterpark for almost 4 hours before driving another 4 1/2 hours to St. Cloud for the night. 

We thoroughly enjoyed our time at the Kalahari Resort – we were blessed to be able to take advantage of their “Choose Your Own Adventure” deal (offered on only certain weekdays) where we got a free room upgrade to a “Royal Suite” - two queen beds, 1 king bed, 2 bathrooms, three Tvs – supper coupon for $40, and free breakfast for 4! 

This is a view of the "living room" between the two bedrooms.

We were truly spoiled. God continues to bless us abundantly on our trip.

The kids were pretty played out by the time we were driving again – Jeremy fell asleep and had a nap while we drove. Later, when we stopped at a rest stop, Nathan said he couldn't run – his legs were too tired. We did climb a lot of stairs! 

There were three great tube rides that we could all go on in groups of 2 or 3 – including one that was like a roller coaster. Daniel and Nathan almost chickened out when they braved the new "Sahara Sidewinders." They had to stand in a glass box and on the count of three the bottom was opened and down they went! They decided that they didn't need to go again though :)  

Sahara Sidewinders

Daniel and I both enjoyed the “toliet bowl” slide which we've never tried before. There was also a great lazy river that we went on a few times as a family on tubes. A another plus - all the rides were open but there were no line-ups! It was great to go off-season.

Day 2 – Wisconsin Dells, WI

We were on the road by 10 am this morning for a planned stop at a Chicago deep-dish pizzeria that Daniel had researched before we left! We had a great meal at Lou Malnarti's  - their classic deep dish pizza with a buttery crust, sausage, fresh tomatoes, spinach and mushrooms. And check this out - they deliver to Canada! You might have to order a couple days in advance and it comes frozen but it would be very yummy and fun :) Our waitress was Vicki who has been working at Lou's for 41 years! When she heard this was our first time at Lou's and we were driving to Alberta she gave us a free dessert - their signature freshly baked chocolate chip cookie with icecream and whip cream! It's a good thing we don't eat this well all year. 

We arrived at the Kalahari Waterpark resort by 5 pm after a 30 minute highway delay because of an accident and paying 8 times for toll roads. After checking into our suite (a free room upgrade!) we headed straight for the waterpark. No pictures yet but I'll post some tomorrow of our room and the waterpark. We spent a good hour riding the waves and sliding and we will go back tomorrow for a couple more hours before driving again. The kids were pretty tired and will sleep well tonight!

Thank you for everyone's prayers and thoughts - it's great to know that our family and friends are praying for us. 

Day 1: Kalamazoo, MI

After a day of driving through rain and a great visit with friends in Windsor, ON we stayed the night in Kalamazoo with Daniel's sister's parents-in-law. They are a wonderful pastoral couple whom we enjoy visiting. Noelle and Jeremy had some trouble adjusting to the idea that we were driving for “hours” - within the first hour we had heard, “I'm bored” and “When will we be there?” By the end of the day though (7 hours total) they had settled in more. We started listening to “The Secret Garden”, they played with small toys, looked at books and looked out the window. I had planned daily bags again with new (thrift store) books and small treats for every day so they were excited to open their bags for day 1.  A good start to our trip!

Back to Alberta

The van is packed, the house is clean and we are ready to start our trip back to Alberta tomorrow morning! We'll drive back to Toronto at the end of August for Daniel's last year of school but in the meantime we'll spend the summer living, working and visiting in Alberta. 

We plan to visit friends in Windsor tomorrow for lunch and then stay overnight in Kalamazoo, MI with friends. I don't know if I'll have a chance to update this blog until Tuesday evening (when by then we'll be in Wisconsin) but I'll post pictures and and update as soon as I can! 

Dotty for You CTMH special!

The latest CTMH special is super fun dotty patterned paper! The special runs from April 17-May 31 so check out the picture below or watch the video to see artwork created with the 24 sheets of two sided patterned paper that you can buy for only $5 (with a $35 order) or receive FREE. To take advantage of this offer, go to my online store or email me today!

New Studio J technique video

Check out this video to learn great tips and techniques for using the stitching tool on Studio J!

Scrapbook layout - Christmas 2009 digital layouts

 I loved the pre-set stitched circles on this layout and then I had fun adding brads onto the scallop border and layering stickers. Done!

  This layout came together quickly since after I added the pictures all I needed to do was play with the title and journaling space.

I love being able to add titles on top of embellishments like ribbon! A simple layout that took little time with the pre-set layout and embellishments. I did change the title box and journaling box to picture wells so I could include more pictures.

I had fun adding the stitched stars and then filling one of them with buttons! The stocking banner was made with the stitched pennant banner, covering the pennants with green journaling blocks and placing the stocking stickease over top. A little finicky but I love how it turned out.

Check out Studio J if you are interested in easily creating digital layouts like these! There is no cost to use Studio J - you only pay when you order your layouts!