Stampede breaky and garage sailing....

Hi Ho Garage Sailing we will go..... and Stampede breakfasting....


first stop Mac's... moi haha, I love the new flavor :-)


we garage sailed all the way to the Ranchlands community breakfast, it was THE best breakfast we've ever been to, they had free everything..... icecream, popcorn, snowcones, beavertails, pancakes, and of course the best free gift of all.......
COTTON CANDY!!! we talked to the "Candy man" when we got up to him, he said he had already whipped up 600 cones! The line never ended, not that it was a long line but it was a never ending one....

we were very happy to get our free cotton candy!!! :-)

oohh lala

the Scrapbooker's girls were at the breakfast, which was the whole reason we went, just to say hi.... little did we know, it would be so awesome!! Holly guides Maddie thru making a rodeo tag, and Megan says Howdy :-)

me and Angela, yee haw!

over to the Beavertail section where the Scouts cook up a storm

haha me again, taking pictures of all the Cowboys Hats, this family I'm stalking was particularly cute cause all the kids matched :-)

off garage sailing again. You know what I don't get?? Why is it people don't price their stuff at garage sales? I find it frustrating to walk up and guess, or make an offer, so I don't... I walk away? is it laziness? is it a new trend? Either way.... I'm not a fan!

Creekside had a BBQ today too, but.... after the Ranchlands one, this one was kinda lame. Sorry to say it but there wasn't anything interesting going on beyond the free Hotdog and Coffee. Maybe when the area grows more?
there was a carriage ride tho' with a really pretty horsey, so it wasn't all bad :-)

Stampede 2010 yeeehawwww

Tonight we had tickets to The Stampede Grandstand Show. The weather couldn't have been better, and the show was amazing.... here was day 1 Stampede adventure :-)

We started off in the Tee Pee village. The smell of smoked meat filled the air here!


First stop on our food quest was the Tornado Potato, we walked around and around to no avail, but we found a new company called Chipstick, so... that's where we went. The had so many different flavors to shake on the chip Dean couldn't decide so he put them all on... I stuck with Salt and Vinegar...yum!

inside the horses were lined up getting pretty bows in their hair for the big show tonight.

make sure you walk on the right side!

the Greatest outdoor show on earth... was about to begin!

we bought the backpack deal from the radio stations, it came full of munchie food and coupons... unfortunately it only came with COKE, no Diet Coke, so Dean got both, great deal otherwise tho, and we didn't have to wait for the kids walking the aisles with food!

The winning team crossing the finish line, well winning for tonight... there are 9 more nights they have to compete in!

I love looking out and seeing all the Cowboy Hats :-)

the grandstand show was spectacular!! It was constantly moving, in the air, the stage and fireworks thrown in randomly... where to look?? These daredevils were especially fun to watch, flipping around in the air on motorcycles, guys on the ground doing jumps, and in the ball to the left there were 3!! guys driving their bikes in there??!!

wow, wow, wow....

grand finale' fireworks... beautiful!

the night lights up!!

last stop before heading home... Mini Doughnuts, to quote Homer... "Mmmmmmm"

when we left the grounds @ 11:46, the temperature was still 22!!!

Yehaww I love Stampede!!!

The Amazing Papa...

Well the toaster broke down. I really liked this toaster because it does bagels too and I didn't want to break in a new toaster. I figured it was something simple and the problem seemed to point to a fuse somewhere as it suddenly broke down after Maddie and her friends toasted 723 waffles in it. I couldn't throw it out when it has served the family with such distinction! I flipped it over and was going to take it apart and found out the toaster company really doesn't want you to mess with their products. They put screws in there that required a special toaster repairman tool. Frustrating! Well, we were going to the Hat this past weekend and I decided to take it down to see if my dad could do something with it.

First, he tackled the tool problem. I figured deep somewhere in his toolbox he could have such a tool called ToasterDriver or something. But no, if you don't have a tool, well, you just make one! Haha. It never occurred to me to make the tool. Here he is hack sawing a screwdriver to make the toaster tool.

Haha! The toaster was open and we found the problem was indeed a thermal fuse.

Off to The Source to grab a replacement fuse and then a make a few adjustments.

Place the new thermal fuse where the old one once was.

Put it all back together and test with the multimeter.
Use the newly formed ToasterDriver and put it all back together.

We now have our toaster back. Thanks Papa!

the Napa's backyard...

Suddenly our calendar was empty, so off we ran to the Hat....

chillin in the back yard, under the watchful eye of a friendly gnome

playing Rummio.... with Papa rules.... we didn't like Papa rules lol

in the garden

aww so cute :-)

perfect day :-)

Garage sale'in in the Hat

Saturday mornin, we kidnapped Nana, a map and newspaper and hit the streets of Medicine Hat looking for garage sales. We found about 6, had some good laughs, found a few good deals, Maddie got a bunch of cook books for free, stopped for a coffee at the Zucchini Blossom.... but most of all, we had fun with Nana :-)

on the road...

Zucchini Blossom

Maddie gravitates towards the teas...

waiting for my latte'

across the street from a garage sale, some of our treasures

all the loot!

Tea Curio

A few weeks ago Maddie and I were in Value Village, and we saw this Curio cabinet  for 14.99. We thot' it would be perfect for her teacup collection.... a little paint and some love, we'd see what we could do with it.


got the trusty sander out, and went to work......

finishing touches on the sanding... weird how the wood all looked burnt underneath??

my friend at work told me to rub a candle on the edges so that we went to distress the edges after it would be really easy for the paint to come off.

ready to paint....

and voila.... good as new ( as old ) again ! It turned out pretty kewl... and the candle trick! Awesome tidbit of helpful knowledge!

unfortunately....it's full already! Those are all Maddie's teacups and teapots that she has been collecting on her own.

Nana and Papa got Maddie a tea set for her birthday, it has 2 matching teapots!!

some closeups, of her collection

I told her she can't get anymore now...lol the shelves are full!