Visitors from London

Brian, Karen, Kimmie, Eric and Adrienne chose the 'Toon as their first stop on their western adventure and we had 5 absolutely awesome days together. It had been a year since the cousins had been together but you'd never know it upon witnessing the reunion. They were thick as thieves in no time.

We didn't even give them a chance to unpack their van before we dragged them to one of the local parks for soccer. Eric, Ethan and Josh had a great time playing soccer while the rest of us explored the park.







Rain on their second day meant we had to opt for crafts, games and swimming at the indoor pool. The waterslide was a big hit with the Corneils and was a good warm-up for the West Edmonton Mall waterpark which was just a few days away.


(in this picture, Pete is entertaining Adrienne with his air guitar skills...)



Wednesday was spent playing more soccer in the park which we then followed up with a trip to Crickle Creek. It was a hot hot day which meant ice cream was a must regardless of whether there was a hole-in-one at mini golf.











On Thursday we all made the long trek to Edmonton. The plan was to camp for two nights but Pete and I made an executive decision for all 10 of us to "camp" in a hotel room together on the first night after the campsite informed us there was a 100% chance of thunderstorms. We were able to get a family suite at the Days Inn which had 2 rooms and a kitchenette so we cooked our hot dogs over a stove element and had a great night in spite of the rain.



Friday was our long-awaited trip to the West Edmonton Mall waterpark and oh what a day we had. The kids were fearless tackling all the waterslides they were tall enough for. Josh surprised us by going on some of the big ones that Ethan had only conquered a few months earlier. Meanwhile, Kimmie was the star of the day and was unphased by any of the "biggies". She saved the best for last and tackled the uber-terrifying red slide that drops straight down from a ridiculous height as her last slide of the day. Everyone watched and cheered, including a couple of people she'd met throughout the day who were astounded at her fearlessness! Still not sure who was more proud... Kimmie or her Mom and Dad!!!



We camped that night after a dinner out at the Old Spaghetti Factory. We all had a great night (except for poor Bri who got to enjoy his clam chowder a second time around...).




We had a sad farewell the next morning and wished the London Corneils well as they continued west to Jasper. Hopefully it won't be too long before we have our troops together again. A big thanks to Brian, Karen, Kimmie, Eric and Adrienne for coming all this way to see us.