Our new deck!

Now that the ground has thawed, and we have temperatures above, rather than below, zero, it was time to start thinking about our outside space. Our house is on a gentle slope, which means the land falls away slightly towards the back of the property. We don't have a big enough slope for a 'walkout' basement, but nevertheless, it is a pretty big drop from our patio doors to the ground below - about 5 feet!
So, time to plan and build our deck. Here in Canada, almost every home is incomplete without one, and they come in all shapes and sizes. We wanted a deck that would stand up to the many days of intense sunshine, extremely dry climate and harsh winter temperatures, especially considering our backyard is south facing. Therefore, rather than go for a completely wooden deck, which would need replacing after about 3-5 years, we decided to go for a composite material, which is longer lasting and durable. It cost a little more, but should save us money long term.
We've also gone for a 2 tier deck, with a high platform outside the patio doors for the barbecue area, and a lower deck just above ground level for the table and chairs, to make the deck feel more like part of the rest of the garden.
We're really pleased with the results, and have enjoyed our first barbie and meal outside this weekend in the +20's temperatures this May long weekend. Hopefully this is just the start of the transformation of our outdoor space!

Sporting Matters

The arrival of better weather means one thing and one thing only - time to get outside and play a little more sport, without danger of you freezing solid or having to wear 6 layers of snowproof clothing.
Jaz has started her trampolining up again, at Airborne Tumbling and Trampolining Club. She's been missing it a lot since her move over here, so it was a relief to get her into a local club. She's going to start with the trampolining, and might well take up tumbling too later in the year. So far, she's loving her new club, and is in a small group of about 4 kids, doing a 90 minute session once a week. They have 3 trampolines, so there's plenty of bounce time, and she's managed to pick up where she left off, although the levels here are all a little different. As well as the bouncing, they also do a lot of strength and flexibility training too, which she's enjoying.
Jake has started up his footie again too, although herein known as soccer. Here, football is the American Football style game (known as Canadian football obviously on this side of the border) and with the new name, comes a whole new language. Boots are 'cleats', tackling is 'hustling'....I could go on. He's joined the Okotoks Warriors team, and plays in the High Country League. Here, kids soccer is much more inclusive than in the UK. Jake will never be a future Beckham, but has always really enjoyed playing. For the first time here, he is able to play in a competitive league without fear of rejection or ridicule. It has done wonders for his self esteem, and there are lots of other kids at a similar skill level so that he feels a valued part of a team, where the emphasis is on having fun and enjoying the game, rather than the pushy and at times downright aggressive junior league system in the UK, where if you weren't very skilful or didn't show enough natural flair, you were either bypassed completely, or doomed to sit endlessly on a subs bench. There are no screaming parents on the sidelines, hurling abuse when a child miskicks or makes a mistake. Here, bad behaviour such as swearing is treated really seriously, with matches being forfeited or coaches sacked for unsportsmanlike conduct. Instead, the atmosphere is positive and encouraging, with parents cheering their kids on, win or lose, smiling and laughing and enjoying the game. A far healthier approach in our opinion.

Our first houseguest

Neil's mum arrived on 8th April. We went to meet her from the airport, and it felt odd collecting someone as a visitor rather than arriving to check in and fly out! After a couple of days to acclimatise and get the body clock onto Mountain time, we headed out as a family to the mountains for a trip to Lake Louise and Banff. It's been nearly 4 years since we were last there as holidaymakers and it had quite a different feel this time as the lakes are mostly all still frozen over, and there's a whole lot more snow around this time! We also got to grips with the fact that this is all close to home and just a short drive away now, rather than the holiday of a lifetime destination! A lot of places are still closed and inaccessible at this time of year (Moraine Lake for one) but nevertheless we were able to show Sue some wonderful sights and breathtaking views. We stayed overnight in Banff and then travelled up Sulphur Mountain by cable car to the summit, which gave us the most incredible panoramic views across the mountain ranges and the town of Banff. We finished off by a visit to Lake Minnewanka (yep, that really is it's name!!!) and saw some mountain goats licking the salt off the highway. We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip and feel very rested and chilled now we are back at home, with fresh mountain air in our lungs! We should sleep well tonight!

So this is Spring eh?

You know I said in my previous post that it looked as though Spring was finally arriving?....WELL I LIED!
We've had two more dumpings of the white stuff on consecutive weekends. Last weekend saw 15cm fall, and this morning we've woken up to another 15cm at least, and it's still coming down hard!
Bloomin' groundhog!
The early morning commute to Calgary tomorrow will be fun.....slippin' and a slidin' on the Deerfoot Trail all the way I think!

Spring is coming!

Well at long last, it seems as though the really REALLY cold weather might be behind us. I don't want to tempt fate, but it has been soooo much warmer and more pleasant here recently. Even when we have a cold day, it doesn't drop down into minus double digits, so it's a big relief.
Today is officially the first day of spring, and we are on target to have our warmest day so far - it's due to get up to about 14 degrees here today. Still plenty of sunshine, as seems to be the norm here. I reckon we have had about 80- 90% of our days here with blue skies and sunshine since we arrived in November. The only time we get cloud is when it snows. We still haven't had any rain, although we did have some sleet a couple of weeks ago which is the nearest we've got! It's all so different to what we are used to in the UK. So many people say 'How do you stand the cold?' but although it can be freezing, it's preferable to us for it to be cold and sunny than endlessly grey and damp.

Whenever the weather warms up so much, it's due to a Chinook, a warm weather front which blows in from British Columbia over the Rockies. You see it coming as it forms a Chinook Arch, like a firm arch shaped front of cloud over the mountains (see the pic here from our dining room window!) Then you know you're in for a pleasantly warm day or two.
The snow is melting away quickly now, but we still have a few piles out the front of our house as the front drive is north-facing. Across the street, everyone has their lawns back and, although the grass looks all brown and dead, I'm assured by the locals that give it a couple of months, and it will be green and pleasant again.

Not that that will be true in our garden until we do some serious landscaping and turf laying. As the weather improves, and the ground thaws, it is time to start thinking about sorting our plot out and changing the brown mud for something nicer to look at and play on! I guess it's par for the course when you buy a new home, but having never owned a brand new house before, it's all new to us!
First things first - a deck! At the moment we have a big 5ft drop from out patio doors at the back to the garden below! We need to get some decking people out to give us quotes, as a high deck like that needs decent footings and stuff - all beyond the simple skills of Mr Stophe! We also need a fence down one side of the property, and then some turf. As we live in a strict eco-friendly community, we have to observe all sorts of bylaws for water conservation too so it gets a little complicated if we want flowerbeds (we need built in irrigation systems as we can't use hosepipes etc). Having a deck will make such a difference now the weather is warming up. I'm dying to get out there and top up my vitamin D! We'll also need the obligatory HUGE grill (barbecue) that is part of any Canadian 'backyard'. They don't call them gardens much here, as a garden is more like a vegetable garden.

We are also busy preparing for Neil's mum to come out in 2 weeks time. We're off to IKEA to buy extra bedding next week, and are busy trying to plan a rough itinerary of places to visit whilst she's here. Lake Louise and Banff are definites, with a possible trip out to Drumheller to see the dinosaurs (!) and down to Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump (shorty catchy name for a place eh?) to see the sights. Calgary Tower will be another definite must-see....will she have the bottle to stand on the glass floor???? Time will tell! It's all very exciting to welcome our first UK visitor, and show them the sights and sounds of our wonderful new home. We're going to let the kids stay up extra late to pick her up from the airport, so they're very excited too!

Birthday boys!

Neil and Jake both celebrated their birthdays this week. Neil on the 1st, and Jake today (7th). Neil had to work on both days unfortunately, but we still managed to give him a lovely evening with a chocolate brownie cake and a lovely meal at the 'Big Rock Inn' Chinese restaurant.
Jake got a plentiful supply of hockey gear for his birthday, including a Flames shirt and a hockey goal so that he can stop slamming the puck into our garage door on a daily basis! He's been out since the crack of dawn practising his skills with his friend Tom. We're off to Boston Pizza tonight for a nice meal, and he has a fantastic birthday cake from Dairy Queen - although he doesn't know it yet - made from Cookie dough ice cream - mmmm!

school projects

The children recently had a week off school (lots of INSET days plus Family Day all lumped together to give them a mid term break) but both had major homework projects to complete. Jaz had a project where she had to show she understood the Water Cycle by creating a presentation about it, and Jake had to create a project which showed his understanding of chemical changes. Both of them really worked hard and created projects to be proud of. They found that taking part in the project really helped them to deepen their understanding, and we didn't really have any tantrums this time! Progress!