A Carcross Thursday

Guess where I was today.  Right, Carcross.  And we were lucky as the train was coming into town just as we were eating our ice creams from Matthew Watson General Store.

The whistle blew and across the bridge came Engine 101 pulling the passenger cars.

Seeing the train come in brought back so many fond memories of my days as Train Order Operator for this railroad.

White Pass & Yukon Route.  The last train ran from Whitehorse to Skagway in October 1982.  I was in the hospital recovering from having my new little baby and the engineer blew the whistle a number of times as they passed the hospital.

And here are my travelling companions.

Carcross is filled with old derelict cabins. 

And, thinking trains, I hopped in the Duchess to drive the train to nowhere.

Trip to Skagway

On the way to Skagway for the day we stopped at Carcross for a coffee.  A couple of days earlier I had Alanna in the truck and she wore the Minnie Mouse bow to town.  It was left in the truck and was plunked onto my head for this lovely photo.

The day was Glorious (finally).  Above is the Carcross Hotel (blue) and Matthew Watson General Store (pink).  I remember eating in this hotel when I first came north and Polly the Parrot (now deceased) sat in the corner swearing at the customers.  This is the hotel that is on one of the Canada stamps.  It is suppose to be haunted.

The drive was great.  I couldn't decide which photo to keep in this blog so I kept both.  The scenery is always breathtaking (on a clear day).

We saw one big black bear, one deer and one coyote and saw each one at the last minute right at a curve in the road, making it dangerous to stop,  so no animal photos this time. 

Skagway was overcast but NO rain and it was quite warm.  We lunched on halibut and chips, and window shopped in the afternoon.  As soon as we drove back across the Yukon border, the skies opened open again and became brilliantly blue.  That is when we love the Yukon.

Walking Lily

I am sitting Lily for half a week.  It has been rainy rainy rainy for the last month so went for a walk between showers.

The damp ground really shows off the colours of the ground cover.

Happy Birthday Brooke

Was Brooke's Birthday on Saturday.  Happy Birthday Brooke.  The kids were dazzled by her birthday cake.

They helped me carry it upstairs, helped me light the candles and helped me carry it into the dining room while we all sang Happy Birthday.  

Then they helped Brooke blow out the candles.  They only seem to get cake on birthdays so they were also excited to eat a piece of cake!  SR made an absolutely delicious bar-b-que steak tenderloin dinner.  He is quite the chef on his Bar-B-Que.  Unfortunately it was pouring rain outside so we ate  in the dining room instead.  And Uncle Amon and Auntie Em joined the dinner as well as cousin Abby all the way from Vancouver.  Was a lovely party.  

July 7 and 8, 2017

It was sleep-over night on Friday.  The kids got a hold of my phone and started taking pictures.  Naughty but cute.

So I got in on the act.

On Saturday morning we went to Garage Sales.   At one sale there was quite a bit of "girls" things.  We bought a FP Stroller and doll and a plastic dog.  When we were leaving Alanna spotted a box with "princess slippers" in it, but we went to the truck, packed up our purchases and off we went.  We were on the highway and Alanna shouted from the back seat, "Turn Around, Your Going the Wrong Way!!!  I NEED SLIPPERS"  I was pretty sure she was talking about those Princess Slippers she saw and she was pretty adamant that she needed some slippers RIGHT NOW.  Talked her into going to one more sale before we returned.  Luck was on our side as the slippers were still there.  She chose pink ones of course and couldn't be happier.  I asked Emerson if he wanted a pair as well (fair is fair).  He said yes and chose a blue pair.  And they click click click clicked around the house all afternoon. 

Later that afternoon I asked if they wanted an ice cream cone.  Of course the answer was yes.  By the time we got to McDonalds they were both asleep.  Now what do I do?  So I drove to Rotary Park and waited there for about 40 minutes until nap time was over.

They did enjoy their treat.  Alanna was half way through her ice cream then said she was going to save the rest for Dadda.  Emerson and I were trying to explain that that was not possible as it would melt before he was able to eat it.  She couldn't quite understand that concept but eventually did concede to throwing the remainder in the garbage.

In case you ever need this information, McDonalds small ice cream cones are too big for 3 year olds. Ask for one ice cream in two cones.  I did have to lick up the drips as they happened and the ice cream WAS tasty!

HAPPY CANADA DAY

I made it downtown to the beginning of the BIG Canada Day Parade.  (It was actually the longest most colourful parade I have seen in Whitehorse!)  And who were participants but Emerson & Alanna.  They were part of their Daycare Float (although they were not on any float but had to walk the parade route).  Here they are sporting the T-Shirts from 3-H Preschool, Canada flags on their face, balloons, flags to wave and treat bags to pass out to spectators once the parade starts.

And across the street they go to join their group.  The beginning of the Parade is a waiting game.

The Preschool section was part of the Filipino section of the parade.  Although you cannot see the float above, you can see the colourful decorations that were on this float.

 And there they waited for the parade to begin.

This is the banner they walked behind ... again, waiting for the parade to begin.  Well, finally the parade began and off they went.

A couple of hours later I met Joan and Debbie at Shipyards Park to celebrate ... as you can see ... in the rain.  We wandered a bit but didn't stay too too long.  Ended up at Boston Pizza, meeting Gail there for a drink and bite to eat.  

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!

Canada 150

Happy Canada Day 150!!!  

The family is decked out in Canada clothing and colours.  Then they are off to walk in the parade as part of the Daycare Float.  Photos (I hope) to follow.

Happy Birthday Helen

Spent a pleasant afternoon lunching with the Birthday Girl, Helen.  Went to Bean North and the weather cooperated as we were able to lunch outside.  Had a slice of chocolate quinoa cake to end the lunch and celebrate the birthday.  Haven't had a piece of cake since I cannot remember when.  It was heaven.

Happy Birthday Helen!