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

I'm getting the sense that August snuck up on everyone and it's not just me. But then again, we've been having a lot of summer fun, so I'm glad that we're living our summertime life to the fullest. I hope that you all have been enjoying wonderful summers as well! At the start of the month we were still in Jasper (this feels like a long time ago at this point!) and we had fun celebrating Canada Day there. The town has some cute activities that we enjoyed partaking in.

We also did a trail ride on horseback, which was very wonderful in the mountains. My horse was named Captain and I loved him.

I also got back the photography from our anniversary and I can share a sneak peek! We had our same wedding photographers, A Different Angle Photography, do our photography once again. The day before our anniversary we carried on our tradition of putting on all of our wedding clothes and taking photos every five years! I still fit into the dress!

We had them photograph our actual anniversary and vow renewal as well.

After Jasper my parents came back to Edmonton with us for a few days and it was nice to have some extended quality time with them.

Tim and I decided to do something pretty exciting... We have become private investors! We now own part of a local company that we really love and believe in; Uproot Food Collective! We have loved them ever since we moved back to Edmonton and totally support everything that they are doing. Whether or not we see returns on our investment is one thing (that would be cool!) but ultimately I’m incredibly happy to be a part of something that I think is truly wonderful. Plus this completely fits in with my food-loving brand!

We've been having fun enjoying the various summer events in Edmonton (there are so many!) and I loved checking out the Whyte Avenue Art Walk and discovering that we could ride threesies on a scooter, ha ha. I was also invited to a restaurant opening which was very fun and exciting.

We have also been deep into house renovation/improvement projects. It has been A LOT. Within a couple of weeks we have had our roof re-done, two holes cut into our roof/ceiling to create skylights (still not completed), and we had all of our windows and exterior doors replaced (including installing a window in the living room that did not previously exist). Needless to say, our house has been like a construction zone for a large part of the summer. But it's also very exciting because we are turning our house into the perfect home for us and we love it. Coming soon: solar panels on the roof!

Then we were off on our main summer vacation of the summer; Muskoka and Toronto! In Muskoka we stayed at Bayview Wildwood Resort in Port Stanton on Sparrow Lake for four nights, which was great. It was wonderful to spend time with the Golem side of the family and every family had their own space which was excellent. The resort was a lot of fun with tons of activities for both kids and adults. The food was pretty decent too! We are planning to return next summer. I got to have a massage while I was there, go stand up paddleboarding (which is my favourite), and there was a sheep trek!! Tim also had a great time wakeboarding. It was a great time!

After that we returned to Toronto and stayed in the most adorable Airbnb for three nights. We always enjoy our annual Toronto time and have plenty of things to see and do there. We went to Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament and our black & white knight WON! We also went to the Ontario Science Centre and ran all of our "Toronto errands." And I got to spend some quality time with my Toronto ladies, which I always love. It means so much that we still get to meet up like this! <3

AND I was very excited to get to have dinner at Dreyfus, the #29 restaurant in Canada at the moment. It was so amazing and it's my new favourite restaurant!

Me in my natural environment.

Once back in Edmonton, I was happy to get back to the Edmonton things. My second favourite festival Taste of Edmonton was happening and I had to eat many things!

Of course I went to see the Barbie movie and had a blast going full Barbiecore for it!

And then we also visited K-Days mostly because I wanted to eat all of the weird food, ha ha.

So that was July!! I feel like we maximized the month and crammed in so many different things! Life with Archie: He has been living his best summertime life! He's always dirty and is covered in scrapes and bruises - this means that he's doing it right? Archie loved hanging with friends and going horseback riding in Jasper! (His horse's name was Lucky.)

We all tried durian for the first time and it was very smelly. Archie didn't hate it!

He was invited to two birthday parties; friends from school named Remington and Josh. He was very happy to attend both and to see his school pals over the summer.

And we've been keeping busy with various daily activities like doing kid yoga, visiting the library, going on nature walks, hanging at the local Green Shack, and baking.

Archie loved our trip to Muskoka & Toronto and had a total blast! He loved getting to spend time with all of his cousins most of all. They all really love each other and it's so amazing to see them all together!

Penny (3), Kenzie (3), Evelyn (5), Laura (6), Archie (6), Madi (6), Amelia (8)

Archie also turned six and a half! He enjoyed all of the fun lake activities but definitely enjoyed cruising around the lake in Uncle Greg's boat the most.

Archie loved Medieval Times and really seemed to get into it. He was pretty stoked that our knight won. He happily ate all the food at Dreyfus (including sweetbreads). I love that we can just bring him along to "fancy restaurants" and it's no big deal. Plus he had a great time hanging with his Toronto friends!

And finally, this trip marked his 43rd and 44th flights!

Archie has started Pony Up! horseback riding summer camp at the Whitemud Equine Learning Centre Association this week, so I'm looking forward to having a bit of a break from the full-on kid time that I've been living. August is more chill with no travel. But there's still plenty going on in town, so we'll be sufficiently occupied with that. We don't have any major plans for the long weekend but I'm sure we'll just be happy to relax. We are attending the Edmonton Folk Music Festival for one day because we want to see the band Fleet Foxes that is playing. And of course, August is FRINGE MONTH. My favourite festival of the year, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival, the festival that consumes my life. Maybe I won't run myself into the ground this year? But let's be honest, I probably will. I hope that everyone is making the most of this beautiful season! THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!: August 3rd is Zena Domanski’s 72nd birthday!

Wishing my beautiful mom a very special birthday and a day to feel spoiled! I hope that dad has something nice planned for you and that you get to celebrate! You're the kindest, most selfless mom, and I am so lucky that you're my mom! I love you so much!! <3 August 8th is Lacey Suttie's 14th wedding anniversary!

Wishing you and Dallas a lovely anniversary and hopefully a date night away from the kids! August 15th is Enobong Anstey's 8th wedding anniversary!

Wishing you and Ian a lovely anniversary and hopefully a date night away from the kids!