THE GOODS BLOG: Erika's Precious Little Life ~ August Edition

As you can see, this is a few days late. There's been a lot going on and I haven't had the chance to sit down and write this! This entry is going to be packed with photos because of the amount of activities and adventures that went on this past month. As for a pandemic update, I don't have much to say. The numbers have gone up a bit in Alberta lately but it doesn't seem to be much of a concern and hospitalizations remain quite low. There are only 11 people in the ICU in Edmonton with Covid and given the numbers that we've seen in the past, this seems pretty good. In fact, there are currently more people in the ICU at the moment with regular influenza. I'm assuming that the uptick is because of Omicron 5. I'm pretty sure that when we caught Covid in June it was likely Omicron 5, considering that it had become the dominant strain by then. So I will continue to remain unconcerned and have been enjoying my super immunity. Alberta also recently announced that anyone who is 18+ can now receive a 4th dose of vaccine. However, it is recommended that you wait three months after having Covid before getting a new vaccine. So this means that I should wait until September to get a 4th dose. July was PACKED. WITH. STUFF. First it was Canada Day. We went to watch the big fireworks display that Edmonton puts on over the river and it was a lot of fun. I'm conflicted as to if I'm "supposed" to celebrate Canada Day anymore. And part of me feels like I shouldn't? On the other hand, I like doing fun things and I just wanted to enjoy some dang fireworks. I'm clearly NOT celebrating Canada's wrongdoings. I'm a second generation Canadian and my ancestors were definitely not colonizers. I appreciate this country for accepting my grandparents as immigrants and helping them to escape a war-torn Europe. I apologize if this means that I'm "doing it wrong." (I also do not say any of this in an attempt to minimize any of the greater issues whatsoever or to disregard my obvious white privilege.)

Next, Sarah and Darren and their two kids arrived from Toronto for a visit! It was so much fun to show them around Edmonton!

Then both our families were off to Jasper to spend a wonderful time in the mountains! We camped (in tents) for two nights and then stayed in cabins for two nights. It was so wonderful to get to spend this quality time with Sarah. She's my oldest friend! <3

I enjoy this photo and therefore need to share. I took a running jump into the Squishmellow bin at the grocery store. It was asking for it. This is who I am as a person.

Improvaganza happened in Edmonton and it's my 3rd favourite festival! I was very happy to get to see one of the shows! (And to continue my stalking of Ryan Beil.)

And then Taste of Edmonton happened and it's my 2nd favourite festival! I loved stuffing my face with 20 different things!! I naturally wrote a whole blog about what I ate.

Then we were off to Toronto! We weren't sure what to expect from the airport since I'm sure that you've heard that air travel is a "nightmare." We even bought an AirTag for our checked bag so that we would be able to track it if it got lost. However, our experience was totally fine, both coming and going. None of our flights were delayed and none of our stuff got lost. We rented a car and drove to Muskoka directly from the airport (about 2 hours). It was really nice to be at our family cottage on Lake of Bays once again. We didn't get to go last summer and I really missed it. This place has been really special to us, especially when we lived in Montreal and Toronto and got to go there multiple times a year. The plan is to sell the place because it's too small for the whole family and Tim's parents are no longer capable of dealing with the place by themselves. So this visit was a goodbye for us because we won't be returning there. It was wonderful to spend time with Tim's family, although sadly Tim's sister Emily and her family weren't able to attend because her kids caught Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease (which is apparently running rampant right now). I got to do all of my favourite things which include: visiting the Baysville Walkabout, jumping off the dock and swimming in the lake, stand up paddleboarding, canoeing, and waking up at 5:30am to watch the sunrise. I'll miss that place. So many good memories.

We also took Archie to Santa's Village, which is a Christmas-themed amusement park in Muskoka that I've been wanting to take him to for years. Archie was way into it.

After that we drove back to Toronto and spent a few days right in the heart of the city, which was awesome. We loved being right in the action and close to all of the things that we wanted to do each day. This was our "redemption tour" to make up for all of the things that we never got to do when we moved away. We went to Ripley's Aquarium of Canada, which was a really nice aquarium but unpleasantly crowded. I'm surprised that we didn't catch Covid-Monkeypox-Hand Foot and Mouth from being there.

I visited my favourite shops, did a yoga class, and we obviously ate A LOT.

Maybe my favourite thing that we did was the Level 2 Tour at Cheese Boutique, probably the most famous/best cheese shop in Canada. It was quite expensive but worth every penny if you ask me! We were hosted by Afrim Pristine (who I consider a food celebrity in this country) and he was so fun and awesome. He's a certified Cheese Master, author, owner of the store, and has a show on the Food Network called Cheese: A Love Story (which is so good). We hung out with him for like an hour and a half and ate SO MUCH CHEESE.

We also went up the CN Tower and had lunch in the revolving 360 Restaurant. Archie loved this experience a lot and we were so happy to finally take him.

After that we went and stayed in Pickering (a suburb of Toronto) for a few days so that I could spend some quality time with my friends. We went to see a bird guy and it was amazing. (It's actually called the Ontario Falconry Centre but we kept calling him "the bird guy.") Seriously the coolest experience!!

Getting to see Colen, Sarah and Melanie again after two years away was the best though. I've missed them all SO MUCH. And our sad Covid goodbye when I moved away still bums me out.

The trip was a wonderful, busy whirlwind... Just the way that I like it. It had everything! <3 And you know that I've been doing yoga shenanigans along the way.

I feel like we've been living our best summer life and it has been super fun! Life with Archie: One of the most exciting things this month is that we took the training wheels off of Archie's bike and he learned to ride on two wheels! It only took a few hours until he had the hang of it! I don't have any pictures of him riding but there's a video on Instagram. We are very proud of him!

Archie was such a great travel kid this month and was really good at going with the flow and being part of the team. He loved going to the mountains and getting to spend time with friends!

Archie turned five and a half!

Our trip to Ontario marked Archie's 30th and 31st flights!

Here are some highlights of our time in Muskoka from Archie's point of view.

Archie absolutely LOVED spending time with his cousins and it makes my heart so happy to see how much they all love each other. Sadly, two of his cousins were missing. But the five of them that were there had a great time together.

More cuteness from Santa's Village.

We also took Archie to LEGOLAND Discovery Centre, which he obviously loved. Literally the only toy that he plays with anymore is LEGO.

More great shots of Archie at the aquarium.

More shots of Archie shooting oysters and laying on the glass floor at the CN Tower.

Archie having amazing bird encounters!

And of course Archie ate all types of food at all sorts of different restaurants! Some of his favourites were Thai coconut layer cakes, beef patties, an entire kid's cheese plate, jamón ibérico de bellota, boquerones, grilled octopus, oysters, and lobster. I am literally SO thrilled that he's open minded enough to try just about anything.

I love seeing Archie experience new things and to see the world fresh through his eyes. He's turning into such a cool human. August calls for even MORE STUFF. I know how to pack a summer. This weekend Krystie and Jason are arriving from Chilliwack to visit (and stay with us) for a few days! Can't wait to have fun with them! Archie is going to be doing a week-long Pony Up Camp at the Whitemud Equine Learning Centre Association, which is a horseback riding camp and the following week he will be doing a week-long Kinder Science Camp at TELUS World of Science which will be focused on marine animals, patterns, building, aviation, and the human body. He's going to love both of these camps! My very favourite festival, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival is happening this month and I intend to do as much fringing as I absolutely can! And then near the end of the month we are off to Ontario! Yes, I said this same thing last month. We will be flying to London and spending six nights in London doing London things. After that we will be spending three nights at a NEW cottage in Grand Bend on Lake Huron with Tim's whole family. (Hopefully actually everyone this time!) This is a rented cottage that is much bigger and much closer to London, where most of Tim's family lives. The plan going forward is to rent a size-appropriate cottage for a week each summer and to do that instead of the previous Muskoka cottage. This summer is the one "freak time" where we're doing both cottages but this won't be happening again. Looking forward to another fun and busy month! THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!: August 3rd is Zena Domanski’s 71st birthday!

My beautiful mom is the absolute best. <3 I know that you had a wonderful birthday dinner out! I love and cherish you so much and am constantly grateful for everything that you do. Looking forward to having a visit with you soon where we don't almost give you Covid, ha ha. <3 August 8th is Lacey Suttie's 13th wedding anniversary!

13 years, 2 kids, same husband. I'm pretty sure that's a feat in itself! ;) I hope that you and Dallas have a chance to celebrate! August 15th is Enobong Anstey's 7th wedding anniversary!

7 years, 2 kids, same husband. I'm pretty sure that's a feat in itself! ;) I hope that you and Ian have a chance to celebrate! BONUS: We had a robin's nest in our yard earlier in the summer and we had a very fun and interesting time watching the whole journey! I took one photo per day and this is what happened! It shows you how quickly it took the eggs to hatch and how fast it takes the babies to leave the nest!