A Visit To Creston (# 32 Road Trip)

This past weekend we made the trek out to Creston, BC to visit with Dan's sister and her family. I will confess that we also went out to do a bit of town scoping as we have been considering a move out there. Unfortunately I got sick just before we left for the trip so I spent the most part of it feeling down in the dumps, with a bad head cold, cough and a really runny nose. It wasn't exactly the way I wanted to spend the weekend but c'est la vie. All in all we still had a really great time.

We arrived Thursday evening and the kids were so excited to see their cousins whom they hadn't seen since September (when we went camping.) Marshal and Violet immediately got along and spent the whole weekend playing dress up and all sorts of imagination games! This was a definite improvement from last year when we visited in May and the kids had a hard time getting along. A year certainly makes a difference in their ability to play together. It was Cohen and Desmond who had a bit of a harder time with sharing and co-operating but overall the kids were quite content to play with one another. 

Marshal and Violet playing prince and princess.

Hanging out in the castle.

On Friday morning Dan and I went to do some house hunting while Aunt Sarah took all the older kids to the Family Place in Creston. They have this amazing FREE program that runs every day with different activities for children and their families. It is run out of a school (that is no longer used as a school) and is seriously terrific! I would liken it to a free preschool program. The classroom is equipped with all sorts of learning centers and activities for the kids. They have crafts, snack time and people who are there to work with the kids. Parents do have to stay and are responsible for their children but it is a fabulous program and one that I wish we had in Calgary. The boys just loved it. Here they are at Family Place having fun with their cousins.

Desmond and Cohen enjoying the rice bin.

Violet and Marshal racing some cars.

Marshal is one serious driver.

The kids ready for snack time.

After house hunting and the family place we went back to the Moreton's house for some lunch and then Dan and I went back to check out a few more houses we had to wait for the afternoon to see. Then it was time to check out the local library. Again the kids had a great time just being kids. The library was a great space and quite inviting. We hung out there for awhile simply because the kids were content reading, wandering around, playing, doing puzzles and colouring. I have to admit that it was really nice to be in a slightly smaller library where it was easier to keep an eye on the kids and it was not busy at all! The pros of a small town!

Fun at the library!

On Saturday we headed to the farmers market in the morning. The market is usually quite a bit larger and is also outdoors in the summer, but as it was still a bit chilly it was indoors for the weekend. We had fun checking out all the local hand made treasures, and even got some yummy treats. In the afternoon we went to check out the local trade show which Jesse was at for the weekend (he was promoting his business.)

Farmer Marshal just chillin.

The trade show was at the rec. center and we promised the kids that we would go swimming if they behaved. They did pretty well at the trade show so as soon as we were done we headed to the pool! Unfortunately I don't have any pictures from the time we spent at the pool but the kids had so much fun. I was so impressed with how well they did. We were there for 2 hours! Even Novah had a great time. They had this awesome little foam floater with a rope on it which Novah could sit it. Violet was very happy to swim around pulling her the for practically the whole time we were there. The boys also had lots of fun going through the lazy river, playing with the pool toys and "swimming." It was a great way to spend the afternoon.

After the pool we headed back to the house for dinner. Dan and I decided to stop and get a DQ cake for Sarah (who had her birthday earlier that week.) We told the kids to keep it a secret and they did! Though Violet told Sarah we had a surprise for her as soon as we got home. But at least she didn't say what it was. Ice cream cake was a yummy treat for everyone!

The birthday girl and her cake.

The kiddies enjoying their cake!

Here are some more photos of the kids having a good time playing throughout the weekend.

Marshal and Violet were really quiet so I snuck into her room and found them playing dolls on her bed.
Cohen thought it looked like fun so he jumped in there too!

The boys were quite interested by the dolls since we have none at home!

Cohen and his dolly.

They were very happy and stayed there for a little while. 

Novah having fun crawling around.

She loved watching everyone!

Cheese!

Playing lite brite in the closet. 

Wrestling with Uncle Jesse.

Colouring.

Colouring with Violet.

The beautiful girls after church on Sunday. 

All in all we had a great weekend and the kids had a ton of fun. No decisions were made regarding our scoping out of the town but we got to see everything we planned on seeing and were able to do a lot. We had a great visit with family and a really fun weekend. We left Creston on Sunday afternoon and had a smooth drive home to Calgary. Thankfully the kids (and I) fell asleep and we were able to make it home in just under 5 hours with no stops! That was the easiest road trip we have ever done since having kids!

Jordan