Taste of Edmonton

 These young Asian gals were practising for their presentation on the stage which they are facing the back of, in downtown  Edmonton's Churchill Square for the Taste of Edmonton.  This festival brings in many food restaurants who feature two or three chef favourites for the public to taste.  We bought tickets for the tasting event and then visited the different "restaurant" kiosks to try what they feature.  It was a very different way to have "lunch".

 Many people wandered the area and enjoyed the food and the entertainment but it was not crowded over the lunch hour, this first day of the event, so there were very few lineups.  Bill and I visited again later in the week and it was very crowded (dinner time) and there were lineups.  Our favourite??? Zinc, who provided bread pudding with a butterscotch sauce topped with banana slices carmelized in brown sugar....yummy!!!!

 Small patio type tables were scattered around the shady area where patrons could sit and enjoy their samples and watch the crowds or listen to the entertainment.  A beautiful day, not too hot, sunny with a breeze, so very enjoyable.

Daniel's favourite was this lava mousse explosion, made of chocolate and dressed like a mouse with a chocolate tail.  He loved it...we each had a taste and I can see why he enjoyed it so much!  Not just appealing to the eye, but the delicious taste made it his # 1 favourite.
Following this, Bill and I went back to Nadine's( we babtsat while Daniel napped) and began preparing the soil in her walkway garden for the planting of perennial salvia and spirea bushes as well as a burning bush, all of which except for the salvia, were her birthday gift.  I will post pictures of the finished gardens in the next post.  Stella D'Oro lilies and blue fescue grasses were also planted in her window box garden which crosses in front of her picture window.  Looks lovely and quite an improvement!

Daniel's Swimming Lessons

Daniel has begun his first set of swimming lessons and he loves the pool.  Mommy and Daddy take turns in the pool with him.  He has learned to blow bubbles, play the Hokey Pokey, kick his feet and lay on his back.  Extra pool toys are added with little games to help reinforce the skills, but for the most part it is just fun for him.  He leaves the pool extremely hungry and very tired.  August's sessions, Daniel will be in the pool by himself, so we shall see how that goes.  Go Daniel!  Love you!

July 1st Family BBQ at Nadine's

 July 1st, we arrived in Edmonton at Glowing Embers where we plan to stay for July and Aug.  Following a visit to the University of Alberta Hospital where Nini is recovering from hip surgery( 3 screws in a fractured hip), we had a family barbeque with Nadine, Michael, Daniel, Ryan and Rea.  The beachball and hide and seek were a hit for Daniel...everyone had a time of "playing" with him.  It was a beautiful  relaxing afternoon and evening.  Thank you Michael and Nadine!  Family bbqs will be few and far between once Ryan and Rea move back to ON in August.  They will be missed!

A shady backyard, large patio and comfortable chairs provided a great setting for Nadine's family bbq.  Everyone was well fed, potluck style and enjoyed the afternoon immensely.

Nadine's cluster of peonies at the front of her new home were in full bloom for the long weekend.  So nice to approach the front door of her home and smell the sweet aroma of fresh flowers.  Nadine says these are her kind of flowering plant as they require no care, just deadheading when finished their bloom.  This cluster is so large and well protected so that support is not required except from each other.  Very nice!