Family Weekend in Edmonton

Ben's sister Ashley and her hubby moved up to Edmonton last year for dental school. We have not yet ONCE visited them! How sad is that? Well Ashley finally took care of business and invited the whole family up for a weekend. We all agreed on the First weekend of September (the weekend AFTER school started). Well...my life got very very busy that week. First of all, having Hailey back in school was hard enough, but then a friend from the ward (who's dayhome I covered in June) called me desperately looking for someone to take on her dayhome again. Her son had been in a very serious accident and she needed to be there by his side. So I took those three kids into my home and tried to find a way to get the school aged ones to and from school (which involved me driving to school to pick up their kindergarten aged daughter and then rushing back to get Hailey from the bus stop. Why this craziness? Well there were not enough seats in the van to fit all the kids...so we had to get creative. Anyway, by the time the weekend rolled around I was exhausted. But we still loaded the van and made our way to Edmonton. We got there so late that we pretty much put the kids right to bed...in one room...the same room Ben and I slept in. We've only every done that once and that was the first night in Mexico last year, and that worked because after so many delays and a long flight we were too tired to care. But this time it was much harder. Cait was struggling with the idea that there were people in the room she could talk to and play with.

So after a sleepless night we woke up, ate breakfast and all headed to West Ed for some Waterpark fun! It had been a few years since I'd been there and things have changes a bit. But still so fun. When we got home later that night I was starting to feel sick. I wasn't sure if it was the dogs that Nancy brought or a cold or exhaustion. So while Ashley did crafts with the kids and the guys watched tv I just tried to stay awake.

Sunday morning was rainy and gloomy and I was still so tired and sick. But we all got dolled up and went to church. After church we went to their community lake for a yummy picnic. The kids played at the park and the sun came out for a beautiful sunny afternoon. After a few hours of fresh air I thought I was better...until we loaded into the van to head home. And then it hit me. The exhaustion, the allergies, the cold. I hate colds...and this one was brutal. I honestly cried for a good 15 minutes because I was just so physically spent.

BUT the weekend was fun. I want to do it again when I'm feeling better!! But being with family is always fun and Ashley is such a great and fun host!!