Oh Canada - lessons 1-10

Ok, I want to fill you in (and keep a good record for my own memory) about our Canada trip, but describing an entire week would take me a while...and probably get a little boring for you. SOOO, I'm going to turn this into a "What I learned on my trip" list. I got the idea from Annica, who did it a few years back after our Utah trip. Here goes nothing...

(Click any picture to enlarge)

1. Making the long trek to Canada is easy and painless when you turn it into two 1.5 hour flights and a 2 hour drive. I much prefer that to two or so days of driving!!

2. Canada is in fact humid (at least this summer) and there are WAY too many mosquitoes. They're nasty creatures and they'll get you through your clothes and through your Deet! They especially like little kid's faces. It's nice to be back in California where mosquitoes are hardly an issue.

3. Canadians don't celebrate the Fourth of July (obviously), but Canada day, which is on the 1st of July, is almost an identical celebration. They have parades and fireworks.

4. You're never too old for temporary tattoos on Canada day!!

5. The Canada day parade in Raymond draws quite the crowd! Grandma Stringam was even in the parade!!

6. The rodeo goes on, rain or shine...though it's much better in the rain when it's really muddy!! Watching the little jr. cowboys get dragged through the mud was SO entertaining!!

oh, and as tough as they are, even the jr. cowboys get cold!

7. When going to the rodeo...or anywhere in Canada for that matter, always have plenty of blankets and jackets for those unexpected storms. If you don't have a jacket, you might just have to borrow your aunt's sweater like Ryan and several of his cousins did. Sure, he may look silly in a woman's sweater, but those shoulder pads made lying on his shoulder very comfortable. I didn't mind at all!

8. I learned that I am not ok with some of the rodeo activities...I don't like when the cowboys wrestle with the calf, tie its legs together, and flip it upside down. It just seemed cruel. However, I had NO problem with cowboys getting launched from the wild bull into the mud...now THAT's entertainment!!

9. Ok, so I mentioned before that they have fireworks on Canada day, right? WELL, it doesn't do anyone any good if the city (which regularly experiences rolling storms) leaves the fireworks out during a REALLY bad storm. When fireworks are wet, they don't work...that means fireworks shows get cancelled :( ...don't worry, we got fireworks later in the trip.

10. It doesn't get dark until a little past 10:00 pm in Canada, so you tend to stay up much later than you normally would.

Ok, that covers the first two days...this is gonna be longer than I thought. I'll just do 10 lessons at a time...hope you enjoy the first set.