The Calgary Stampede

I am back from my first trip to Canada with another stamp in my passport and having participated in the famous Calgary Stampede festivities. I got to meet a lot of my customers and other industry players, so I would call the trip a success.

For those of you who are not familiar with the Stampede, once a year for 10 days in July the entire city turns into a Western town and celebrates the rodeo being in town. It literally takes over the city - everyone dresses up in Western wear and business grinds to a halt while employees participate in parties and other Stampede festivities. I cannot even count the number of people who wished me a happy Stampede! Calgary was beautiful, the weather was fantastic and the people were so friendly.

I was a little nervous about leaving the boys for 3 days, but they did really well on their own -- I am so proud of all three of them!

Andrew was so cute on the way to the airport. I was trying to explain to him that Mommy was going on an airplane to Calgary and that I would be gone until Friday. To put it in perspective, I reminded him that Wednesday is Clown Day at school, Thursday is bus day (Tumble Tykes) and Friday is Splash Day and that Mommy would come home on Splash Day. I also tried to make sure that he understood that only Mommy was going on the plane, but as soon as we got to the airport and he saw all of the plane he got super excited. He even said, "Mommy, I excited!" He thought that he was going to get to go on an airplane too -- it broke my heart to not be able to make him happy by taking him on the plane with me. He kept saying, Andrew go on airplane too! It was heart wrenching!

Andrew has been going to swimming lessons all week and he is doing really well (according to the latest report from Daddy). He is working on floating on his back (which he hates) and going under water to retrieve rings, etc. I am looking forward to taking him to lessons next week to see his progress. Tyler was well behaved for Daddy (for the most part) and he did really well taking bottles. I was worried he might have a hard time nursing again when I got home, but he did just fine tonight. I had the great joy of pumping on the go during my trip (including pumping twice on the airplane in the teeny tiny bathroom), and while it was a major pain at times, it was manageable. Pumping is definitely a labor of love ...

Tomorrow is a full day - our friend Mandy is getting married and then we are going to the drive-in to see Harry Potter, yeah! Speaking of Harry Potter - I finished re-reading book 6, so after watching the new movie, I will be all set for book 7 release on July 21. I am really excited now!

I am exhausted and ready for a good night's sleep in my own bed ... ahhh.