Celebrating Cameron

It was 12 months ago today that Lindsay and I welcomed baby Cameron into the world and Rory became a big brother. I cannot believe how quickly those twelve months have gone. This last year has been full of smiles, tears, giggles and memories that will last a lifetime. We are so lucky to have two wonderful little boys in our lives - they make us laugh and help us to remember to appreciate the smaller, more simpler things in life. 

Twelve months ago - Rory meeting Cam for the first time.

An early morning birthday cuddle - our handsome boys.

The boys having fun at Fish Creek.

Cameron beginning to learn about the art of rock throwing.

Our very serious Cameron - wondering why mum is pointing that funny looking box at me again.

Daddy and Cam.

The Augustine Boys!

If only we could read minds - I hate to think what these two may be conspiring in the years to come. 

Rory showing off his awesome bike riding skills!

What else can we do on rainy days?? Camping out in Rory's bedroom.

Thank you Cameron for filling our lives with such joy. We look forward to all of the new adventures and experiences in the next twelve months and beyond. 

Happy Birthday Cameron!!!

Summer Time

The Augustine's Camping Adventure!

We packed up the kids and what seems like half the house too and headed to the mountains for a long weekend of camping.  We were greeted with clear blue skies and warm temperatures...but that was all to change during our first night. Around midnight we were all woken by a horrendous thunderstorm. I always forget how thunder in the mountains just rumbles and grumbles and shakes everything and everyone.  We were all snuggled up in one sleeping bag looking up and waiting to see if the torrential rains would penetrate through our tent roof.  Luckily we stayed dried and all settled down after about 20 minutes and soon we all back in our own sleeping bags trying to keep warm and drift back off to sleep. 

The restless night was worth the beautiful clear skies the following morning and spectacular reflections in the now calm Kananaskis Lake. 

After a warming and delicious oatmeal breaky we headed out for a walk and some mandatory rock throwing.

This one was a little heavy to throwing but Rory was quite proud of his 'big' muscles!

An early evening walk in cooler temperatures meant we were digging out our warm hoodies and toques! 

Our first campfire with the boys was enjoyed by all - Cam especially loved to watch the fire and hear the crackle of wood catching fire. 

A couple of restless and chilly nights were too much for our little Cam and he decided to have a little snooze in the afternoon with mum in the hammock! 

We were all quite sadden to see the destruction of the June flooding. This was the main crossing for the bike/hiking pathways out of the campground.  Many sections of the road into K-country were also washed out by the floods and temporary gravel sections were created to have access to the area. The waterline of the flood was also present along many of the creek areas - and in some places it was almost as high as myself. Very hard to comprehend the force of the water that carried trees from upstream and just dumped them where ever they got stuck on other bits of debris. 

We made the most of it as we love this part of the mountains and still enjoyed bikes (even if it meant going up a huge hill) to get unto the pathway system.  All was rewarded with ice cream at the general store!

Hanging out with daddy throwing rocks and learning how to do 'kippers.

Rory could spend hours throwing rocks into the lake - wait we did spend  hours throwing rocks and walking along the lake.  It was a very different camping trip this year - more just chilling out at the campsite.  I forgot how hard it is to cook, clean (with no running water at the campground-thanks to the floods) and keep your site food/garbage free (due to the frequency of bears in the campground). But I absolutely love it and would do it everyday if we could. 

As for the rest of our days this summer we've been busy playing in our pool, going on family bike rides and day trips into the mountains too.  We've really been enjoying our backyard this summer.  We put in a lot of work last year and more this year to make our yard safe and fun for our boys.  

I'll leave you with this parting shot of the 'meadow' at the Peter Lougheed Centre.  There has not been this much water here in over twenty years - again due to the floods. What a spectacular site the flood has created!

We hope you are enjoy your last few days of summer - I'm sure it won't be too long before we see the first snowflakes fall!! We are seeing a few leaves starting to change already.

Ontario

Happy Summer to you! 

Life continues to be busy and full of new adventures everyday.  Cameron is now almost 10 months old and is close to having four teeth. Here is a very late blog update about our trip to Ontario back in June. It was so awesome to see family and friends again.  We were all there for a long weekend and filled the four days to the brim with visiting and touring many sights. The boys and I stayed on another week and had lots of visitors and fun times. During our weekend we managed to squeeze in coffee and Timbits with Nana and Papa with lots of giggles and smiles, a trip to the Farmer's Market in St Jacobs, plus a trip to the Lego Store (a hit with Rory!), to the Children's Museum in London, an afternoon/evening down in Port Dover with a stroll on the beach and a scrumptious Arbour Dog, a visit with Great Grandma with yummy pink squares, a little golf with grandpa, daddy and Rory, and not to forget delicious bbqs in mum's/grammies' and grandpa's stunning garden.

Cam and Nana having a little chat.

Great-grandma and Cam having a cuddle.

Cam's first trip to a beach and discovery sand for the first time! 

Rory getting the low down on how to build good sandcastles from Grandpa.

That's us - a rare family photo! All smiles and sandy!

Rory was amazed with the Knex display at the Children's Museum.

Grammie and Cam sharing some cuddles and giggles.

What a ham! Cam hammin' it up!

"Hi up there grandpa!!"

All smiles and cuddles for Grandpa.

More cuddles from Nana.

We were very lucky to have grandma and grandpa travel back to Calgary with us.  Cam and Rory did awesome on the plane - thanks to some Lego and good ole Treehouse tv!!

The boys at work! We put grandpa to work helping Lindsay trim some branches from our tree. Rory loved getting into the action - 'helping out' by securing some branches with rope.

A big thanks to the Snider's for hosting a fantastic family BBQ to celebrate a very important birthday for Grandpa - '65'.   The 'kids' had fun playing in the pool with a traditional water fight. Rory was getting Uncle Brent back for an earlier soaking!

Cousin Aidan sharing his sunnies with Cam.

Some of the kids just chillin' out after a delicious dinner. 

Cameron enjoyed some time with Dakota. He seemed quite fascinated with Dakota's paws.

Our little golf pro in the making! 

Rory's slide ride at Auntie Shari's.

We had another awesome time in Ontario. It was wonderful to see so many friends and family - thanks to you all that came down to visit us.  We miss everyone very much. A huge thanks to mum and dad who always go above and beyond with their awesome hospitality.

Brothers

A big hello from Rory and Cameron! Having some brother time on the play mat. This first picture is cute and innocent enough.  However the second picture looks like the start of years of trouble in the works! I can see it now, "Hey Cam, I won't tell mum if you don't."

Cameron's first visit to our new park and his first swing ride - needless to say he was all giggles and smiles!

Rory just twirling around enjoying the morning sun in his cool sunnies!

Cameron has been busy discovering all the noises he can make - his current favourite one is blowing raspberries.

Look out...

Look out world here comes our soccer superstar.....Rory!!!!!! Sporting number 51 for the Timbit Orange team, Rory enjoys long run ups to kick the ball and scoring on the opposite teams net. Still adjusting how to play as a team we have enjoyed our two soccer Saturdays so far. Mum was even able to get into the action this week and I have to admit to a little confusion on my part on what was happening on the field. At one point there were about twelve three year olds all running in opposite directions and two balls on the field. But the most important part - all of the smiles and laughs (parents included).  

A little warm up pregame with daddy!

The best part of the game - snacks - usually Timbits and fruit, gets Rory very excited!

Cameron was there cheering on his big brother.

Cam has been loving his time outside, especially rolling around and attempting to crawl off his blankets on our deck. 

Look out world....strong mama was in the yard this weekend! After getting poked and scratched in the head countless times while digging up some rocks, 'mama' took matters into her own hands.  She grabbed the obnoxious tree and tore down the practically dead and ant infested tree with her own bare hands!!! It was quite a sight to see - and boy did it feel good!!! 

Success!!!  Okay in reality I think I just had far too much coffee in the morning, but it was great fun!! It's a shame the kids were napping and didn't see how mama does yard work!!!