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We’ve now been in Olds, AB a week and have our trailer unloaded and boxes moved into the house or our seacan container for storage. The kids have also been settling into life on the farm. Here are some snapshots of their time so far:

Our last day of sightseeing came on Sunday, June 2 in Moose Jaw, SK – a city that we really enjoy visiting. After listening to the second of Tim Challies sermons on Jonah while we drove and eating our lunch at our new “favourite” picnic spot – our van - we arrived in Moose Jaw. We went back to the Tunnels of Moose Jaw, this time on the Passages of Fortune tour. It is about early Chinese immigration in Canada and the difficult time that they had. It was a sobering tour but very well done and reminds us again to be thankful for the freedoms we have and to make sure that others in our country experience the same freedoms we have.

We followed it with Gelato icecream at the Chocolate Fudge Factory  - yum! They have delicious and interesting flavours and yummy fudge too!

We arrived home (well to one of our homes anywaysJ) in Vauxhall with my Mom Monday afternoon and have unpacked a little and settled in for the week. I hope to continue to blog through the summer and next year  - hopefully more scrapbooking posts as well as our adventures in life!

We arrived at the Kalahari Waterpark Resort within minutes of the Nickerson family for our rendezvous with them! They had driven west to Alberta, dropped our trailer off at the farm and then continued on their holiday to the mountains and down through the States to meet up with us.

We have loved our last two visits at the Kalahari and it is even more enjoyable when we could share it with good friends! We started with the waterslides, wave pool, and lazy river Thursday afternoon and then in the evening the older kids and Dads went to the Indoor Amusement Park and had a blast with the go-carts, laser tag, ropes course, mini-golf and a climbing wall! Friday morning saw most of us back at the waterpark  - including the outdoor part (it was a little cool but we enjoyed the sun when it shone). Another go-cart and laser tag run Thursday afternoon ended our time together as we said good-bye.

The Nickerson’s headed east on their way to Toronto and we headed west to Alberta stopping in St. Cloud, MN for the night (a four hour drive). A seven hour drive on Saturday to Minot, ND and we are now in a different landscape -  from the east coast of densely wooded land to wooded rolling hills and farmland to the flat prairies! Two more days and we’ll be in Alberta!

Our first real warm day and without rain! We wore shorts and sandals for the first time on our trip. It was also Memorial Day in the US so everywhere we went there were line-ups! Our day started with a visit to the Hershey Chocolate World. We enjoyed the Disney-like ride where we sat in a car and rode through a sample Hershey chocolate factory – so much that we went through twice! We also enjoyed the 4-D movie with the characters Reese, Hershey and Kiss. The gift shop was amazing – they have gone a great job marketing themselves J

In the afternoon we went into Mennonite and Amish country around Lancaster, PA. We enjoyed an Amish feast meal at the “Plain and Fancy” restaurant (seen on Man vs Food Nation!) and then took a buggy ride around the countryside.

Tuesday morning (another rainy day!) we drove back to Lancaster and visited the Mennonite Information Center and Biblical Tabernacle. With my Mennonite heritage it was especially interesting to learn about the Mennonite and Amish history. The tabernacle is a full size tabernacle with the different components explained by our guide – including how the curtain to the Holy of Holies was torn top to bottom when Jesus died on the cross and now we can approach God directly.

After the museum we needed to hit the road again – 7 ½ hours of driving to go to get to our hotel in Toledo, OH! We didn't arrive until 10:30 pm which made a late night for the kids. Only a few more long days and we'll be home in Alberta.