Hair cuts!

I know what you are thinking. Why are haircuts exciting? Well, Rustle's girls have unusual hair needs. Sarah lets hers grow and grow. Alison just shaved her head. But Mom insisted and Mom was right!

Alison's buzz cut has some style now!

Sarah's dead ends are gone AND she looked like a girl when it was all styled. Nice!

Sarah update

Sarah spent a lot of time this past winter getting really strong and improving her skiing. She had her best results ever this season, including a first place medal at the Jay Cup slalom race. She placed third overall in Alberta and represented Team Canada at the international Whistler Cup in April. So, she's pretty much awesome!

I never get tired of this picture. 

This is Sarah in the Super G at Whistler in her Team Canada speedsuit. It is an incredible photo!

Sarah is off!

Sarah left for Colorado this morning. The new ski season has begun!

She left a note. What a great person she is.

Bozo Cup

Sarah won the Bozo Cup today. It is a head to head race that runs each spring. She raced seven times and didn't lose once, except for a crash. She is sitting at home with a trophy and bag of spoils while icing bruises on her knee and hand. It was a pretty good day.

Mauro Visit: The Castle

What better way to enjoy Lake Louise than staying at the Chateau? I just can't think of any!

O Christmas Tree

We spent a lovely family evening decorating the tree. Each of us chose an ornament to hang first - Sarah a skiing Snow Baby and Alison Santa and Rudolf (whose nose no longer lights up after years of joyful play). I am loving all the stories the ornaments tell.

Sarah is 14 now

The most exciting thing in the world when you are turning 14 and you are Sarah is a new texting phone. She sent over 100 texts on her first day. She really, really needed that new phone.

Nothing was more exciting when you are Sarah's parents and you saw the look on her face when she opened her new phone. Such joy.

Happiest of birthdays, Sarah!

Christmas Concert

This year's Christmas concert featured both bands that Sarah is playing in this term - regular Grade 9 band as well as Jazz band. What is fun for Sarah is that she sits right up front in both bands which means we get to see - the music stand in front of her. What was not fun for Sarah was that the song that featured her solo performance on the saxophone was cut earlier that day.


The other not fun thing is that the lights were very bright and I did not get any good pictures.

I am really hoping that she will play some of that Christmas music at home for the family.

Training trip

I just dropped the big girl at the airport for a two week training trip in Colorado. I hope she works hard and has tons of fun. I miss her already!

Gymnastics

As part of dryland training, the girls have been training at The Flip Factory. They have been jumping on trampolines, swinging from bars and climbing ropes. It looks like tons of fun!

Lake Louise Hike

Rustle and his girls hiked to the top of the world today. Actually, Rustle apparently did it a few times over as he would up ahead, then back to the girls, then ahead and back again. It was a brisk fall day, but no snow. Guess that start date in three weeks might need to be reconsidered.

This is me (Sarah) in Grade 9, Baby

We have been at school for over a week now (since Sept. 1) and so far Sarah still doesn't have a blue and red adidas bag or a humongous binder but she is in Grade 9. In Alberta, she is the oldest grade in Junior High, so no problems being a minor niner.

Alison is in grade 6 now (no song lyrics for joke fodder when you are in grade 6), so this means she is Boss at her school too and gets the back seats of the bus.

Rustle still hasn't learned any new tricks.

{If you don't get the reference, you can watch the Barenaked Ladies perform "Grade 9" here}

Jam-packed Summer Fun, Part 2

Now for the Lake of the Wood shots:

Bob on the laser.

Alison the Wakeboarder.


Alison the Kayaker.
Everyone loves tubing.
Nothing beats the hot tub after wakeboarding.


I think they had fun.

Jam-packed Summer Fun, Part 1

I can not believe that summer is over and school starts for Rustle's girls tomorrow. We were so busy having fun that we didn't even notice the time slip away.

So, a very picture-heavy post to help describe where the time has gone... I present: Part One - Cape Breton Adventures.

We had a magical visit:


We ate a lot:

We didn't eat the fish that Alison caught, even though she named it Dinner

but it didn't make us that grumpy. We also made some sweet stuff:


And we spent a lot of time exploring.



We took a road trip around the Cabot Trail:




and went whale watching in Pleasant Bay: (Alison was extremely excited)

The whales came pretty close to our zodiac:

And there is always time to read Calvin and Hobbes:

Kelowna

Sarah was invited to play in a soccer tournament on Canada Day weekend in Kelowna. It was a great excuse to get the girls to the Okanagan so they could check out a really neat place.

Sarah's team played some very competitive soccer and bonded together over movies and popcorn during their off time. We were staying at the UBC Okanagan campus, which gave the girls a lot of opportunities to bond. In fact, we hardly saw Sarah at all over the whole weekend.



Since we were going there anyway, Alison competed in a track meet. It was very different from her first experience, since it was hot and sunny in Kelowna. In fact, she ran 600 meters in 31 degree heat. Trooper! She managed to score a few personal bests and improved her technique in several events.



We did get to enjoy a bit of Kelowna too. We spent Canada Day at the waterfront, listening to bands and snacking on Kettle Corn. Yum. We drove up a hill into a rather plush neighbourhood of Kelowna to watch the fireworks at night so we could see everything and it was amazing having the backdrop of a lake and mountains.

We also got to the beach. There was a zip line in the water that got a lot of attention from Alison. She looked, but there was no sign of Ogopogo.

High Honours

On top of being an awesome ski racer, attending the Amis Du Monde meetings and conference featuring Craig Keilburger and playing two instruments in band, Sarah also managed to earn top marks at school. They get very excited about marks at her school and gave her a plaque.

I have a hard time expressing in words how proud I am of her accomplishments this year. She has learned how to organize her time and prioritize her schedule so that she can accomplish all these things that are so important to her. She has learned how to do things that so many adults still can not figure out. My heart is just bursting.