Just Keep Waddling

Thursday

Mama and her ducklings

Awesome swinging suspension bridge from the mid 1930s

Climbing the coulees  

Davis on the summit

A bottlecap is also a good tool

for excavating dinasaur bones.

  

The marvelous mushroom rocks known as the Hoo Doos

Then a 2.5 hour drive to Calgary to meet up with my forever friend Lindsay at her exclusive lake community......a perfect oasis for a plus 38 degree day.

But before we reached the bliss of this picture...

We had just made it to the southern fringe of Calgary when our lowest point of the journey began to unfold.  

By Maddy's hysterical shrieking I gathered something was wrong.  

A simple travesty: one of her crocs had apparently fallen out of the van two and half hours ago when I opened the door, and she had just discovered its absence.  

"We have to go back!!!"

"I won't have another single moment of fun for the rest of the trip!!!"

"It was so special to me!!"

"It's all your fault!!"

and other such carrying on at the top of her lungs.

Those of you who know Maddy cannot begin to comprehend the volume of hysteria that she is capable of.  It may shock you to realize that this most quiet, demure child regularly shoves off from rational planet earth and goes into orbit.

Multiple times a week in fact!  

(Someday I will write more about that, because it is fascinatingly difficult)

Anyway, Cinderella's bellows of rage and grief over her lost croc soon roused poor Davis from his nap...

And the two of them went on and on in their duet of doom, inconsolable, until I pulled into the parking lot of our destination.  

Then they ramped it up all the more.  

After our 2 and half hours of driving, all they both wanted was for me to turn around and go back! 

At that moment Lindsay arrived to witness my sad fate and, luckily, her charm seemed to break their mad spell a wee bit, so I threw our bathing suits in a bag and we slowly waddled and wailed our way over to the gate.

Now...

Here is where I sprinkle a little Sugarspoon Parenting Magic on Davis....

(one of my favorite tactics, which I will also be blogging more about soon!)

      There he was shouting, "no! no! no!"

              trying to climb out of my arms, "go back! go back!" 

                           just a total wreck from lack of sleep.  

And in a hushed tone of wonder I posed, "hmmmm, would you look at that locked gate...I wonder what's on the other side......there must be something so special through that gate...I wonder what is on the other side....and they only let some people in....oh look! my friend over there is one of the special people who they let through the gate....and that woman is about to press a button to unlock the gate...."

As I narrated the scene with expectant delight and intrigue, my little fellow's eyes came back into focus and started to see the real world again, he flickered a micro smile, and he stopped crying.  

He had been enticed out of his blind tantrum :)

It's a magic that works for me (which I am continually experimenting with)

Some of the keys being:

my persistent calm 
   a musical tone in my voice, 
       my authentic curiosity and wonderment, 
                soothing repetition, 
                        determined optimism, 

Basically, staying calm and confident in my position of authority, unfazed by their ridiculousness.  

I am the Mama Duck!  and I will gently call them back into formation (just keep waddling, just keep waddling!)

I share this story because on the other side of all the trauma was purest bliss.  We swam and swam and washed away the sorrows of unrequited crocs and hijacked naps.  

We pressed the re-set button and I was able to relish my time with one of my oldest friends.  

Well, we then proceeded to spend about 2 hours in a grocery store.  Have you ever had that experience where you've been roughing it awhile and then you walk into a real store -- everything becomes so interesting and desirable!

After 4 whole days our cooler was finally empty, as was the gas tank, and our water supply.  We made countless rounds around the upscale Save on Foods, ordered and ate their cheap Thursday pizza special, and eventually headed out towards a setting sun to find a campground!

Okotoks :)

Last gem of the day...

It was his first time: gathering the stones, forming the circle, collecting the sticks, lighting the match, tending the fire.

All evening long Brayden was utterly entranced, in his own little seventh heaven.

My little camping man.

Armpit Safety

Wednesday

I found myself swept up in the scientific glory of palaeontology, passionately learning alongside my kids about the world of fossils at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.

Madelyn decided she wants to be an archaeologist!




Davis, on the other hand, decided he wants to be a dinosaur. 

And I don't mean the stomping, roaring, living kind.

He spent much of the day imitating the dead dinosaurs -- striking the official death pose on the floor (you know, how the prehistoric sun would pull taut the wilting muscles and contract the rotting flesh so that the fossilized spine stiffened into an arch -- a very convincing posture of annihilation).

Umpteenth time on the floor, his ever-patient siblings trying to rouse him.

It can be difficult solo parenting 3 different interests and paces of life and learning, but we did our best.

Then we headed downtown to the indoor/outdoor pool for a couple hours of swimming.  Few things I love more than swimming with my kids.

Then at last it was time to prove myself as a camper: our first homemade dinner over the fire.

This is where it got interesting!

I had failed to bring any real BBQ tools and the fire pit itself was deep, with no grill.  

So I was poking way down in the coals to toss our baked potatoes with forks and sticks and oven mitts.  

There was smoke in my eyes and soot in the soup, the pot handle melted, and I almost singed my armpit hair, but overall, success!  

Brayden, my pickiest eater, raved about his potato, "this is the best meal I've had in weeks!!"

(How did I almost set my armpit on fire?  After poking around in the fire with the oven mitt I tucked it under my arm and didn't notice until Maddy screamed that it was smouldering and smoking!  Just one good reason to shave your pits once in a while)

One of the highlights of the whole trip for Brayden was using his real (very sharp) jack knife for the first time.

He spent over an hour whittling and carving 3 willow branches to make s'more sticks for us.  

What glow of satisfaction he had over his workmanship!

Another fantastic evening.  Tomorrow we break camp....

Backroads, bottle caps and bridges...

Tuesday

I could have spent all day in Rowley, Alberta.

Its Hollywood-style sign was a strong signal broadcasting, "Worth the detour! Come on in!" 

Knowing nothing about the place but sensing greatness, I turned off the highway onto the dirt mound of a 'road' under massive construction.

As we crawled along towards the mystery town, I felt pure expectancy and bliss; the familiar bliss of hunting down the less travelled, unknown, and unwanted path.

And what a treasure town it was!

This is how I've always rolled. 

Avoid the beaten track, 

listen for the unexpected invitation, 

pay homage to the abandoned places.

See what no one else sees.

(moreso when I was single, but what JOY to introduce the kids to my bohemian style of travel!)

 We peered through the windows of the ghost town shops 

and felt like peeking toms cowboy pioneers.  

There's just something so great about a whole town 

preserved as a museum  :)

~~~

The incredible thing about the drive to Drumheller is...

One minute you're floating through familiar prairie fields and BOOM! the next minute you're dropping down millions of years below ground level, into a cavernous time warp.

The kids lost their minds over the stunning shift in geography!  

The 11 bridges of Wayne -- the record number of bridges in the shortest distance.  As we wound our way over them (each unique, wood plank, one lane and lovely!) we made up our own songs to the tune of London Bridges Falling Down.


And at last we arrived at the fantastically quaint 100 year old hotel and campground where we would spend 2 nights.

(I highly recommend the Last Chance Saloon.  $15 a night. Great service and ambiance, live music and a delicious menu just in case the camp food doesn't work out)



First order of business: bottle cap hunting! 

A major thrust of the holiday and the boys' main plaything each day...

These were their guys, their cars, their lego, their trading cards, their special collection.

And fun to smash with rocks!

Second order of business:  Homesteading! 

As Ruth Wittig says, "guide towards challenge."

There's the literal stretch of being the only pair of tall arms for the job,

and the figurative stretch of non-hovering 
as Brayden mans the rusty hatchet.

...And we are erect and victorious!

Dinner time was a hop and jump back to Drumheller, lucky us -- the hospitality of old friends.  Thank you Fieldings! 

Throughout the journey we had these outposts of friendship to recharge and play, visit, and receive wonderful food and local advice.  

A rather perfect blend of support and independence :)

Then back to camp for our first night in the wild

...where I discover my favorite part of camping:

The morning after.

In the mountainous calm of 6:00 a.m.

heaven is this... 

4 heads nestled in the centre of this dome

like a quiet, country 4-way stop.

Mama and her Ducklings Hit the Road...

"Give the child surroundings that allow 

for life situations of challenge.

Guide towards challenge.

Give time and space to meet the challenge.

One walks a tightrope, questing.  

Shall I guide a little further?  

Shall I wait a little longer? 

You yourself, adult, are an environment for the child, 

a climate to him."

-Ruth Wittig

It was Madelyn who said, "I feel like we should go on a long drive somewhere."

As soon as she proposed it my imagination took off.  Yes! That's exactly what we need!  A big camping road trip!  

Never mind that the longest drive I'd ever done with my kids was 2 hours, and that I didn't even know how to put up a tent.  

I was hankering for some good old mama duck time.

You know how it is...I wanted to draw my chicks close...to lead out into the yonder and have those little ducklings line up straight behind me. 

Sink or swim, I would be their reference point, 

their climate.

That evening I acquired Tom's blessing and by the end of the week we were ready to go.

So I borrowed a tent, sleeping bags, flashlights, hatchet, etc. and we hit the road for 6 days, just me and the 3 kids.  

This is our day-by-day adventure... 

Monday

We started out soft.....Our first night would be camping out in my brother's backyard in Bashaw.  

My confidence was slightly rattled when I pulled up to their house and opened the trunk:

A shower of pots and bowls, food and sleeping bags tumbled out on top of me.

Symbolic of being in over my head?

(My sister-in-law looked out the window and thought, "wow, she sure unpacks fast!")

But it was the perfect place to begin.

Gratefully we filled up on cousin love...

       played soccer...

roasted weiners and s'mores, 

and took our first stab at setting up a tent.

Which had me second guessing our chances...

Not so sure I can do this alone!

 I was still weighing my competence,

and turning around was still an option.

But we zipped up the tent and went to bed.

Suddenly...

Lightning started flashing every few seconds, ominous thunder pounded the sky, and the tent began flapping wildly. 

Rain that was definitely not in the forecast spit down and I actually wondered if God was trying to tell me something.  

It was like we were in a scary movie reel.  Like we were trapped on a sound stage and someone was pressing random sound effect buttons all night long, one by one: 

an owl hooting, 
   a looooong train whistle blaring, 
      trucks drag-racing, 
         a random airhorn blowing (why??), 
            then a cow mooing, 
               kids playing 
                   and doors slamming well past midnight...

all on a Monday night in Bashaw.

"I don't think I want to go camping," said Bray soberly.

"I miss home!" moaned Maddy.

I barely slept a wink and was more than half way leaning towards cancelling the trip.

Me the next morning.  It was really that awful!

But the next morning's pancakes and coffee revitalized my optimism, and after an endless operation of 'breaking camp' we hit the road again...

Maddy and Aubrey take pictures of each other as we drive away.

(Tune in tomorrow to read our next day of adventure!)