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

IT'S SUMMER!!! It's hot and sunny outside and stays light out until 11pm - it must be summertime in Edmonton! It really feels like summer this week and I'm getting into the groove of summer days and nights. Plus there's the adjustment of having Archie at home all day. We don't have any huge summer plans (because we already took our big vacation) so I'm mainly looking for ways to have a lot of fun closer to home. Edmonton is awesome in the summer so I'm not too concerned. Speaking of our "big vacation" ALL of the photos are now up for your viewing pleasure. And yes, there's a lot. What did you expect? You can see all of New Zealand, Australia, and Fiji photos here. I like to think that I tell a very full story through photos, like a photo journal.

We came home from the South Pacific just in time for the final round of hockey. The Edmonton Oilers were playing against the Florida Panthers AGAIN in the Stanley Cup Finals. It felt like a total do-over of last year, although this time it felt less consuming. Probably because we missed an entire month of the playoffs while we were away. We jumped straight into the action though!! I'm still mostly just here for the cute themed outfits, the snacks, and the yelling though. As you are probably aware, the Oilers lost AGAIN. It was very disappointing but I guess that we're all used to it at this point.

There were tattoo artists doing FREE real tattoos at the arena again this year and Tim decided to add to his collection!

Once hockey was out of the way I was happy to move on with my life and to focus on other things! Like attending Chartier's Read | Eat | Drink Book Pairing Dinner featuring Anthony Bourdain's book Kitchen Confidential. I loved this event and Chartier totally understood the assignment. Their menu was very thoughtful and included perfect nods to Bourdain - right down to the "bumps" of caviar.

We finally celebrated Nicole's birthday at her restaurant of choice, Pals!

We celebrated Pride Month at a Pride Block Party that was super fun! Any opportunity to wear rainbows and be supportive allies (and to teach Archie to do the same) is my favourite!

For Father's Day Tim decided that he wanted to have dinner at La Petite Iza, which is one of our favourite restaurants that we haven't been to in ages. Plus I gave him some gifts!

And of course I celebrated the International Day of Yoga! I'm so grateful for the beautiful dedicated yoga space that I have in my home. <3

Tim left for Montreal on a work trip in the middle of the month and then he went straight to London from there. I spent quite a lot of the month solo parenting! Thankfully Archie is super easy now that he's older and I don't mind spending time alone with him at all. I actually really enjoy it! Archie and I later flew to Toronto so that we could be in London for Theresa's funeral. It was a really quick trip and we were only there for two nights. I'm so glad that we were able to come together as a family and to say goodbye to Theresa all together. I think that everyone got a lot of closure. The funeral wasn't a miserable event at all - it was really nice. Theresa was cremated and we're all going to plant trees at our homes using some of her ashes. Tim and his siblings seem to all be doing really well.

I wasn't sure what I was supposed to wear to a funeral and I settled on this.

Back at home I was invited (with a guest) to a BBQ Cooking Class (valued at $200 per person) as a sought-after influencer. This was very exciting and momentous for me because I was invited by Linda Hoang, a massive Edmonton content creator and social media strategist, who now knows who I am. (Are we friends?!) They were literally asking for me and what I do: longer-form blog posts. This felt really great and it was like a real job assignment! Plus I was not mad about all of the delicious smoked meats that I got to eat!

I was very happy that I got to see Laura who was in town from Ottawa! <3

And lastly, Tim and I celebrated our 12th wedding anniversary! We went out for a wonderful kid-free dinner at a restaurant called MS|SM, which serves an edomae-style omakase menu curated by 2-Star Michelin Chef Masaki Saito. We loved this experience so much! I'm certain that this is the best sushi available in Edmonton. Then we booked a hotel room for the night at our favourite hotel, the JW Marriott. It was a wonderful anniversary! Tim even bought me earrings with pearls in them because pearls are the modern gift for 12 years. <3 I love our life and our relationship and my husband so much. <3

June was a month that ended up having a lot going on. Plenty of various emotions, but all in all, it was real life. And life does continue to go on. I am always grateful for the life that we have built. <3 I have a bit of a summertime bucket list of things to do around Edmonton and I'm excited to get started!

Life with Archie: First of all: School. June was the last month of the school year! They had a Dress as your Fave Character / Actor / Musician day at school! Archie picked Dog Man, of course.

Archie's class had a final English Language Arts diorama project where they each had to choose a book and create a scene from the book. Archie picked Dog Man: A Tale of Two Kitties (surprising no one). His diorama turned out so well!! We helped him a bit but he did so much of it on his own and he designed exactly what it would look like. We were so proud of him!

The kids received their class photo for Grade 2! They're such a great, tight-knit group! And mostly the same kids since Kindergarten. I can't wait to see what these kids get up to in Grade 3!

And then it was the last day of school! Grade Two is finished! Archie had a great year and got ‘A’s on his report card in Science, Art, Physical Education & Wellness, and Music. He learned so much! He catches on to everything really quickly and is truly becoming an incredible artist. He is his father's son, after all!

As is our tradition, Archie got to choose any restaurant that he wanted for dinner on the last day of school... And he picked Olive Garden. He's in a real Olive Garden zone these days. (Which I understand because it was my favourite restaurant as a kid too.) We also got him some last day of school presents - which was mostly books and activities for the summer.

Second of all: Programs. All of Archie's spring programs wrapped up for the summer! Beavers ended for the summer and because it was his third year as a Beaver he was able to swim up! This means that he is now in Cubs!! Archie is looking forward to starting as a Cub in the fall with a whole new uniform.

Archie's Swimmer 2 swimming lessons ended... And he passed! He'll be going on to Swimmer 3 in the fall! He can actually swim now and it's wonderful. It's amazing to see that something has clicked and he now understands how to swim. Even funnier is that he managed to pass this class after missing SO MANY of the classes this round because we were away.

And there was also two LEGO Build and Take events where he built a Father's Day Paddle and a World Play Day Planet.

Third of all: Hockey. Why can't you idiots just WIN?! Like last year, Archie really loved getting all involved in the playoff action and loved attending the Watch Parties. He is certainly going to grow up with a lot of special memories of this time, regardless of winning or losing.

Fourth of all: Going to his Grandmother's funeral in London. This accounts for his 72nd and 73rd flights! I don't think Archie really knows what to make of his grandmother dying. He hasn't said much about it and hasn't asked many questions. He did say that the funeral wasn't what he expected because he thought that there would be a body lying there. This lead to me having to explain what cremation is and that his grandmother is inside of the wooden box. He seemed fine with this information. All in all, I think that he was just happy to see his cousins and they all said that the funeral was fun because they had a blast together, ha ha. Theresa would have wanted it that way. <3

Fifth of all: Miscellaneous. Just some other random things from the month!

Archie is always keen to learn about Pride, love, and acceptance. He ate lots of tasty foods. Saw the new How to Train Your Dragon movie. And had a hang with his friend Max from Ottawa.

He's definitely excited for the summer and the fun things that we have planned ahead!

Now it's July and summer is here! I'm hoping to soak it all in as much as possible! The month kicks off with Canada Day and I love our BBQ and fireworks tradition that we've started with the Coxes. Because we aren't doing any major travel this summer I started brainstorming some ideas of fun things that Archie and I could do closer to home. As usual, this snowballed into something much bigger than originally intended. Which is EXACTLY what happens every single time, ha ha! I was thinking that Archie and I could take a little Alberta road trip together... And we sure are! The two of us are returning to Stettler to spend two nights at Ford's Farmstead, a super cute farmstay. We went there last summer and have been talking about returning ever since because we loved it! I'm going to put a goat in my bed for real this time. Then the two of us are continuing down to Drumheller for two nights. We're staying at an adorable B&B called The Tyrannosaurus Rest! Of course we'll do the whole museum and everything like that. All the dino stuff! Then we're driving over to Canmore to hang out with Lacey and her fam in the mountains for a night! Mountain time is always the best time! Thennnnn we're heading to Calgary for four nights. Tim is going to fly down and meet up with us there for a Calgary weekend of fun! We're gonna do it all! We're going to go to the Calgary Stampede (I have never, ever been because I'm against rodeos) but only because one of our favourite bands, Bleachers, is playing there and we want to see them!! We're also going to do Calaway Park, the Calgary Zoo, and hit Discovery Wildlife Park in Innisfail on the drive home. Plus eat all of the good food, obviously. So yeah, this is me as a person. Planning a small road trip and ending up with this. HA HA HA. Taste of Edmonton is happening and it's my favourite, so there's going to be tons of eating happening there! Tim and I have second row tickets to see John Mulaney and Martin Short at the Great Outdoors Comedy Festival and we are very excited about that! We have also bought tickets to take Archie to Monster Jam, which he is very, very excited about. Never in my life did I think that I would be going to Monster Jam, ha ha. And Archie will be doing one week of Natural Investigators Summer Camp, which I think he'll really enjoy. This camp is happening at the Royal Alberta Museum and I think that he'll get a lot out of it! And that's phase one of the summer! It's somehow packed with stuff (which is always the case) even though we "weren't going to be doing anything." I'm not complaining! I can't wait to enjoy all of the fun! Enjoy these warm and sunny days, friends! <3

THIS MONTH’S SHOUT-OUTS!: July 5th is Candice Weingartner’s 43rd birthday!

I'm so glad that we have gotten to spend more time together in recent years and I value our long friendship so much. You're such a strong and capable woman that I have always looked at with such high esteem. I hope that your special day is spent in the sunshine and that you feel very spoiled!! Love you! <3 July 8th is Crystal Hawker’s 43rd birthday!

I am always so impressed by the amazing strides that you consistently make to live your best life! You're always so open to putting yourself out there and trying new things. I miss you a lot and I hope that we'll be able to see each other soon. You are always so special to me and I love our enduring friendship. Sending all the love! <3 July 15th is Robin Checkowy’s 43rd birthday!

The best hugs and a warm heart - that's what comes to mind when I think of you! You're the best mom and you're always working so hard. I hope that you can take the day to relax and feel truly celebrated for the wonderful person that you are. Love you always! <3

July 26th is Nadine Ottenbreit's 11th wedding anniversary!

Congrats to you and Kyle on 11 big years! I hope that you get to do something special to celebrate! Cheers!