Summer Fun! – Momma Blog Feature

06/02/2017

Dangerously close to turning 30, I am a stay at home mom to 3 angelic children (HA!)…Colin (7), Molly (4) & Quinn (8 months).  My incredibly hardworking husband Nick and I have been together nearly a decade & have called Alberta home since 2008.  I am passionate about my family, volunteering, fundraising/charity work, and truly enjoy putting my heart into the community.  A huge part of MY community is a circle of 3000+ women in the Facebook group, Leduc Mamas, which I founded 7 years ago as an insecure, lonely, brand new mom.   I’m a pop culture nut, and love to cook.  I would like to call myself a Pinterest guru, but I have more failures than successes…trying is worth something though, right? Old man winter and I don’t get along, but I love to be outdoors when it doesn’t make my face hurt.  I’m always looking to explore more of what Alberta has to offer and can’t wait to continue building our crazy little life here in Leduc! 

Summer Fun!

by Katie Presse

Ah, summer time & the livin’ is easy.  That’s what they say right? I am assuming ‘they’ don’t have children on summer break, or have ever had to deal with infants in the scorching heat.  I don’t know about you, but as much as I LOVE the warm weather & sunshine…sometimes as a parent, it can be tough.  This will be our first real summer as a family of 5 (last summer the baby was brand new and I was recovering from a c-section, so we didn’t do much).  I am also watching two extra little ladies full time, so things should be extra chaotic…err, I mean fun! To keep myself sane, and make sure the kids have a great summer I have come up with some summer goals & activities to keep us busy!

Picnic & Scavenger Hunt at Elk Island

Can you believe I have lived in Alberta for 10 years and haven’t been to Elk Island before? Perfect opportunity to take advantage of Canada’s 150th Celebration & the free park pass! Just in case you haven’t heard of it (I hadn’t until a few years ago), Elk Island is a National Park less than an hour East of Edmonton.  Full of walking/biking trails and tons of wildlife it is the perfect place to spend the day!

If you are like me, you rely on Pinterest for a lot of your creativity.  There are so many fun ideas for nature based scavenger hunts on there.  Even better, I might have the kids come up with their own lists.  We do scavenger hunts fairly often, and I am always amazed at how engaged the kids become and how they are able to focus on the task at hand.

For more information of getting your Canada 150 Discovery Pass for FREE – http://www.commandesparcs-parksorders.ca/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/en/parksb2c

For more information on Elk Island – https://www.pc.gc.ca/en/pn-np/ab/elkisland/info

Epic Canada Day

Not sure if you’ve heard, but 2017 is Canada’s 150th Celebration! Anyone who knows me can tell you that Canada Day is my absolute FAVORITE day of the year.  I don’t consider myself to be an overly patriotic person, but there is something about our community coming together, warm weather, and time with my friends & family that just warms my heart and soul.  I have been known to smile my biggest smiles on July 1st in the past.

I also plan on taking this day as an opportunity to continue instilling Canadian pride & love in my children.  We are so unbelievably lucky to live in a country that we can celebrate loudly & proudly.  I feel so blessed each and every day that I wake up calling Canada home.

We are so lucky here in Leduc, because the city puts on one heck of a Canada Day celebration.  Parade, family activities, outdoor concert, fireworks and this year they are even doing a 5K Foam Fest! I really hope to see you out and about taking it all in with your families! To see a full schedule of events in Leduc, check out the city website https://www.leduc.ca/canada-150-leduc

Splash Parks Galore

There really is no greater combination than kids & splash parks. Even if it is hardly warm enough, they always seem to have the time of their lives. Do you know that we have at least 5 splash parks within 20 minutes of Leduc? We are lucky enough to have one right in Leduc too! Beaumont, Devon, Millet, & Calmar also have one! I haven’t even begun to explore all of the options in Edmonton.  The best thing about splash parks…they are FREE.  So really, there is no excuse not to be there as often as humanly possible.

My splash park tip – always be ready to go.  Keep a bag/tote in the vehicle with towels & swimsuits.  Those super sunny afternoons are always so much nicer when you can head out for a stress free outing and not have to worry about packing up!

Festivals, Festivals, Festivals!

We just happen to live right outside of Edmonton, the festival capital of the world (I just made that fact up, but I am sure we are pretty close). Although a lot of the festivals are geared more towards adults, and can be quite pricey, there are lots of sights & sounds to be found and it is usually a nice way to spend the day walking around at the very least.

Pride, Fringe, K-Days & Heritage Festival are the ones that I plan on hitting up this year, but there are so many more! To see a complete list of all the festivals Edmonton has to offer, check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_festivals_in_Edmonton

If you feel like getting more involved, most festivals are always looking for volunteers to help out! Security, clean up, set up etc.  Volunteering is good for the soul 🙂

Less Screen Time

My kids have tablets.  Tablets that they are on WAY more often than I would like to admit.  We have gotten into a pretty lazy routine of letting them have “pad time” for at least an hour before bed each night.  I hate it. A lot.  But, I also need to set an example and I am not exactly frugal with my phone/Netflix time.

I am not saying we are going to ditch the electronics for 2 months. It just isn’t realistic for us and quite frankly I think I would lose my mind.  However, I am going make some drastic cut backs.  Go for a walk, read a book, jump on the trampoline, sidewalk chalk, set up the sprinkler, use your imaginations and PLAY.  This is what I am striving for on the days that we aren’t out and about keeping busy.  This goes for me too, less time browsing Facebook and more time interacting, creating & exploring with the little people I love so dearly.


Let Them GET DIRTY!

My name is Katie and I am a control freak.  I get super anxious & stressed out over mess & chaos.  I have noticed as my kids get older, that this issue of mine is affecting their childhood.  One day my son came home from school covered in paint…I was really annoyed.  He could sense my irritation and said “I’m just being a kid”. He was so right.  More than anything this falls under the ‘Goals’ category from me.  I want to let go of the control a little bit (Ok, ok…a lot).

Let them play in the mud, eat the bugs, spray each other with water, cover themselves in chalk, scrape their knees, have dirty fingernails, get the ice cream in a cone instead of a cup.  These are the things that make being a kid fun! The last thing I want is for my kids to think back on their childhood summers and remember me being a fun sucker.  When it’s all said and done, I am going to spend the next 18 years cleaning up after them anyways…what’s a few extra minutes?

Overall, I hope on making this summer one for the books.  I know there will be days I feel overwhelmed by the whining, the heat, the bugs…but, I am going to do my best to focus on the fun and the kids! If you feel like joining our crew on any of our summer adventures please reach out! We love new friends 🙂 Happy Summer!