My Favorite Month

I'd like to think that Christmas in my family extends to January, Lance's 10th, my 36th and our 11th wedding anniversary. Nothing fancy though just some much needed family time spent in Great Falls, Montana.

Lance's 10th birthday at Luigi's

My Loves!

with Mommy!

Happy 11th Anniversary B!

 

A Family Weekend

We spent the weekend in Calgary. I was able to convince hubby to stay there for 3 days and 2 nights and not just our usual overnight stay. The kids were pretty much amazed with the fancy hotel and begged to stay for a couple more nights.

Day 1 was spent in Deerfoot Mall and we ate lunch at Buffet Yangtze. It was delicious, there were plenty of choices, the kids loved the food and I would love to come back there again. The mall I didn't like much so after eating we headed to hubby's next agenda. The kids and I stayed in the car while hubby did his window shopping. A last minute trip to Chinook Centre was a must since Lance wanted to check out The Lego Store. Both kids got their toys while Mom and Dad bought nothing for themselves, maybe on Day 2!

Day 2 was reserved for CrossIron Mills. We had lunch at the food court, my favorite Tom Yum while the kids ordered pizza in Sbarro (I am craving for some Sbarro pizza as I type this), I forgot what hubby ordered all I can remember is we were satisfied and full. As usual hubby and I bought nothing but the kids got themselves some light up shoes. We went back to the hotel to rest then drove to Pacific Hut (a Filipino restaurant) and ate so much AGAIN!

Day 3 was the day of our very important appointment. We woke up early and walked to the building, luckily the kids were cooperative the whole time. After our appointment, we proceeded to the hotel and started packing. Our last day in Calgary, happy that we got what we came for, happy with the extra days and just happy for our family weekend.

I can't wait for August. A month long vacation, new places, new adventures, all I can think of is, soon I'll be tasting some yummy cannolis!!! :D

Shopping at T&T

Lance's fave: cheesy ensaymada

I love going to Calgary partly because we get to go to T&T Supermarket and buy Filipino stuff (mostly food) and since it's a pretty big store, they got a huge selection of almost everything a Pinoy living abroad would want. I would have wanted to fill out a shopping cart but I decided to just pick out what we need (banana leaves, grated cassava, rice crackers, ensaymada, and my steamer). Just a few items but enough to make me happy and that's because of the steamer of course!

cheese flavored rice crackers

I used it the very next day for my Cassava Suman and then used it again the day after for the Max's style fried chicken. Steamed dishes coming up soon :D

steamed for 45 mins. before frying

first time ever to cook cassava suman

Lunch at Red Lobster

During our recent trip to Calgary, we stopped at Red Lobster for lunch. Hubby ordered the Ultimate Feast while I tried the Bar Harbor Lobster and Shrimp Trio with creamy parmesan lobster and shrimp bake. We were so full and satisfied after the meal. It's worth the wait (we've been planning to eat there for the longest time), but of course, the seafood back home is still the BEST!

Steak is next on our list but first, I'll give the Max's style Fried Chicken a try using my new steamer tomorrow :D

a steamer at last!

New Shoes and My Cool Dude

Having kids make you think less of your own wants and desires. Whenever we go to the malls, I always look for kids' stuff mostly, what they want and what they need. During our recent trip to Calgary, in our hurry to leave early, I forgot to bring Lei's boots as she was still wearing her sleeping clothes and her baby booties which aren't meant for walking. I packed her Crocs but she refused to wear them and that only means one thing, she wants a pair of new shoes. She did just that when we went to Banff. She was barefoot the whole time and only agreed to wear new shoes.

Anyway, I looked for shoes on sale at Old Navy when we went to Chinook Centre but they were not on sale, I didn't want to spend that much on a pair of kid's shoes knowing that she has several pairs at home. Hoping to find cheaper ones at Cross Iron Mills to pacify my toddler, we went from store to store until I saw the espadrilles on the display window of Gap. It looks really cute though it's not really meant for winter use but Spring and Summer are fast approaching. A bit pricey for my taste but I got a bigger size hoping to make it last the whole year :D

We went inside the Crocs store and I almost bought a pair of wedges. I didn't like the fit though, the size 8 was a little too tight while the next size fits a bit loose. I don't want to spend on something that's not comfortable and would just sit on our shoe rack. I would have preferred the flats but they were not on sale and instead asked hubby to just purchase a pair for Lance. He got the cool looking crocband sneakers and that made my boy really happy. He also got a new hat and paired it off with his new shoes. On our way out, some guys commented "what a cool dude!" when he passed by.

Looking at him, my boy really looked like a cool dude, love the new hat and shoes!

Winter Road Trip

CrossIron Mills

The long winter months seem to drag, but I don't mind the cold temperature really. It's just that during these months we are usually cooped up at home. Road trips would probably start in the Spring through Summer. Few more months and we'll be hitting the road again, yeheyyy!!!

Chinook Centre

What I like about road trips is the hotel accommodations, not the trip itself but being able to stay comfortably in a place after a looong trip. I love hotels, the fresh sheets, towels, free breakfast (lol), the queen beds, EVERYTHING!!! I don't mind the cheap hotels either, as long as we have a place to stay for the night unless I plan to stay the whole time in bed and really not go out, I'd probably prefer the more expensive ones. How I wish we could stay for a week in a hotel. That would be FUN :D

The good news is, we didn't have to wait for Spring to go on a road trip. We went to Calgary, a 2 1/2-3hr drive from our city. The weather was good, not too cold nor too windy. A little shopping for the kids, window shopping for Mom and Dad, yummy lunch (or was it a feast?) at Pacific Hut, then back to our rooms at Ramada Limited. We got the cheapest rates and there's not much to expect really considering the price. The kids didn't seem to mind, they're perfectly happy and excited whenever we go on road trips and just like me, they like staying in hotels.

There is so much to see  but everytime we go to Calgary, we always end up at the malls which is not always a good idea (for obvious reasons).  Maybe we'll get to check out the other places next time and definitely scratch the malls from our list :D