Change of plans

We were supposed to be arriving in Iceland tonight.  Due to some severe thunderstorms and mid July being a really popular time to travel apparently, we could not get any flights to work out.  Even if the standby lists had looked okay they would quickly be adjusted to try to find seats for all the paying customers who missed their flights because of the weather.  Quite a few were canceled out of Richmond and Mark had some canceled at CHO last night.  I packed and repacked suitcases for Jared, Lydia and myself 3 times in the last 24 hours.  Mark came up with several different plans and now we have a new one which looks like it will work.  About a year ago I was talking with a friend who has been living in Canada for the last 10+ years and she mentioned how pretty Banff National Park was.  It has been on my radar since then.  Mark looked up flight plans and we are now attempting to go there (with his Mom) instead of Iceland.  We do hope to get to Iceland but I think we will push is back to the Fall and hope we can see the Northern Lights as we would not have been able to see them now.   So maybe we will make it to Canada tomorrow or maybe we won't and I will unpack suitcases again.

We have been trying to cross a few more items off our Summer fun list.  On Sunday we had our edible Play Doh day.  We made PB play doh, Birthday Cake Play Doh and Kool Aid Play doh.  My Mom made PB play doh for us frequently while I was growing up but I think I have only done it once with Jared and Lydia.  It was my favorite.  They liked the birthday cake one the best and nobody liked the Kool Aid Play Doh.  It was pretty fun.  They both loved that they could eat it as they played and created.  It helped them practice more cooking skills too.

Jared and I went on our own date to Carter Mountain on Monday.  I needed to stop and get gas in my car and got completely lost after filling up the car.  I am so used to getting there from our house that going from a different spot through me way off.  Eventually we found our way there and were only about 7 minutes late.  We missed the story but after Jared finished his craft all the people who were later than us still had to finish so we read the story together.  It was about an astronaut and they made pretty fun helmets.  We were rather hot on the hay ride, I really associate them more with Fall not Summer but Jared liked it.  He was happy to pick out his own 5 peaches and loved the ice cream.  It was nice to go out with him.  He has been really pleasant all Summer which has been lovely.

Today we visited the new Splash park in town.   Its actually only 5 minutes away from the other splash park in town which I think is pretty silly.  This playground (Tonseler) is 25 minutes away and while I don't mind driving there a few times to play it would have been nice if they built the new splash park in a more centralized area if they were going to the trouble to build another one.  It goes back to the whole city/county thing which I still think is unnecessary.  The city of Charlottesville is totally winning in the water recreation department.  I actually think they other splash park is better.  It has more water features and more shade for people to sit in and now we know.  This park does have a fun playground and Jared and Lydia were happy to go between the water and the playground.  We met up with a new family in our ward and enjoyed getting to know them more and tell them about some of our favorite things in Charlottesville.  I have felt like a bit of a slacker with new families because we have been traveling more this Summer and look forward to getting to know them.