Our Time in Grande Prairie

There really isn't much of a story behind our time in Grande Prairie. Except maybe it was too short. I think no matter how many weeks we spend with Connor (and his mom and dad) it will never be long enough. This year we had just 2 1/2 weeks with them and it flew by.

We arrived a day later than originally planned because we spent an extra day in South Dakota. We stayed at a different trailer park this year - one that was more suitable for children should Connor have the chance to come out and spend a day with us there. It was right beside the one we stayed at last year nd each time we came and went from it I saw the intersection where I had my accident. (They have now put in a traffic circle which opened the week that we arrived) I didn't think seeing would be so bad and really it wasn't - well except for the nightmares. Oh well, just my brain sorting it all out I guess.

We arrived mid afternoon and quickly set up camp and went to see Connor. We got some take out for everyone so we could be there just a little longer and grab a few extra cuddles. Let me tell you it was wonderful!

The next day was a busy one. we had an appointment with our lawyer in the morning and concert tickets for that night, with lots of cuddles and playing in the middle.

Rick and I had seen Honeymoon suite in 2007 at the Spencerville Fair and Rick had seen Prism back in the 80's when they were just breaking out. Neither one of us had seen Lee Aaron before.

Lee Aaron was good. I had no idea what to expect, but she definitely put on a good show. The base was a little loud so at times you couldn't make out what she was singing but overall we enjoyed her music. She played for about 90 minutes which was also a surprise. Usually with 3 bands in a show you expect the first 2 to be around an hour at the most.

Prism was outstanding. They put on a really good show and also played for 90 minutes with song after song and some good audience interaction. All of the bands did a meet and greet after their sets and Rick got a poster signed and talked about the show he had seen in the 80's with the band members.

The last band was Honeymoon Suite and it was not nearly as good a show as the one we saw 11 years ago. They would play a song and then do a filler with a solo and then play another song and do another filler. it was stange because they had a bigger catalog of songs to play than the other 2 bands so we expected more of a performance. The first time we saw them they only played for just over an hour but we heard many more songs. After an hour this night I don't think we even heard 5 songs so, tired for the days adventures, w left the concert at around 11:00 pm.

I must say going to a concert with your child is both cool and weird at the same time. We all had a great time though and I was glad Dan got the tickets.

On our way out to the trailer park, after dropping the kids off, I saw the northern lights! So, so cool!

One of the things that fascinates me about Grande Prairie is that they paint their utility boxes. If you read my blog about our trip last year I took pictures of the ones we passed every day. This year we seemed to be in different parts of the city and there were far more of them that I had not seen before. So I looked it up.

They started the program to keep vandalism down and to beautify their city. They use local artists and, through an application system, chose new pictures each year to add to what has already been done. i thought it was pretty cool. You can read more about it here: http://www.cityofgp.com/index.aspx?page=1510

The rest of the 2 weeks flew by with little shopping trips and Connor visits and cuddles. One of the hi-lites of the visit was Thanksgiving dinner. We bought a big turkey and cooked it with all the fixin's including Pumpkin Pie. It was the first Thanksgiving we have shared with the kids in years and it was wonderful! The food was pretty good too!

Connor's 2nd birthday was on Saturday the 6th of October and we had planned to leave on the 7th to head home. However, it had snowed a few times when we were there and, checking the forecast, it looked like significant snow was going to happen on the sunday from Grande Prairie to Edmonton to our final destination of Lloydminster, so we made the difficult decision to leave 2 days early. We crammed in as much as we could for those last 3 days!

We have offered too being the kids home next spring or summer for a visit. Rick's father has not seen Dan since he went out west and really wants to see his great grand son.If they make it, I will get some pictures of the 4 generations together. For now thought, I did get a picture of 3 generations of this family.

Stay tuned for the story of our return trip!