Indians & Sunshine Celebration...

The Leonard's purchased a new car this week. Chris is in mourning as he was looking at large cars that guzzled petrol with their V8 engine, leather interiors, all the gadgets a bloke could desire and the 'cool' factor - instead we have gone for a 2004 Dodge Grand Caravan. I on the other hand think it is great as we can choose to have 4 seats or 7 seats as the back row can be removed, thus giving me a very large boot where I can throw in the dog, bikes and plenty of bags, great for days out and shopping.

Saturday morning I loaded up the Dodge with bikes, Jinx and the kids and set of for a day at Elkwater, approx 1hr 10mins drive the other side of Medicine Hat. We were off to see 'History in the Hill's' to go back in time and experience First Nations and Metis culture. Before we actually got into the car the morning hadn't gone too well with several incidents happening, including the bathroom cabinet falling off the wall onto Fraser's head and thus breaking the toilet seat in the process. Followed by Jinx having a cough which at first I didn't think anything off until I was speaking to Chris and mentioned that she had eaten 2 Raid Ant killer products which contain poison, so I ended up taking a diversion to the Vets. The vet kindly checked Jinx all over and concluded that as she hadn't been sick she really should have some charcoal solution put into her to help with the poison. Two large syringes of black charcoal was put down her throat and a bill of $110 later I left and continued with our trip. As we drove out of Medicine Hat we left the sunshine behind and headed to the only large black cloud hovering over Elkwater with lightening and rain. Luckily by the time we got there the rain had moved on.

We got to the field where the tepees had been raised just in time to see some traditional dances and even managed to join in one. After which we wondered around the tepees looking inside to see what they were like. We were informed that the trees used to form the tepee are stripped of their bark so that when it rains the water runs down the poles instead of dripping onto everyone inside the tepee. Tegan and Fraser got to look and touch skins of coyotes, raccoon, beaver, weasel and a few other animals along with looking at the tools used to skin and clean out the animals. Did you know that weasels are white during the winter and then they turn brown during the summer!

We left the exhibition mid afternoon and went to find Andy & Sam (and girls) who were staying at Elkwater for the weekend in a campervan. They had a great little pitch, sandwiched inbetween all the other campers who had had the same idea this weekend, but great for the kids with a playpark opposite. So after a quick tour round the campervan - you would be surprised what amenities can be found in an old van, we had a bbq. Unfortunately the rain decided to return just as we finished eating so we made for cover inside the van - Andy had just lit the fire in order to make the kids smorgs (toasted marshmallows sandwiched between 2 plain biscuits and chocolate) aided by his assistant Fraser they carried on cooking. So with full tummys we said goodbye and set off home after what turned out to be a good day out.

Sunday morning after a family bike ride round the prairie with Jinx (minus Chris as Prairie Thunder 2 started on Saturday - 5am starts again) we jumped into Jeanette's car and all set off into Medicine Hat where we headed for the historic downtown area to participate in the 'Spectrum Festival - a sunshine celebration'. The sunshine was certainly shinning today which was great as last years festival was halted by snow. This has been a 3 day event with a variety of events taking place all day. On arriving we went straight to the pony rides which all four children loved and they got to stroke a 6 day old donkey. We then meandered through the park where there was a central stage with performers entertaining the crowd. After having lunch we went to watch the Spectrum dancers on stage entertaining the crowd with bellydancing, bollywood dancing, bikini boot camp and street dance, we decided to move on before they invited members of the audience up to participate - considering that we were sitting in the front row and knew a couple of the dancers it was a good move. Tegan and Fraser also got to stroke a Bearded Dragon lizard along with other animals that were in a small petting farm area. After playing on the bouncy castles and face painting we decided to call it a day via Tim Hortons for some 'tim bits' for the kids - a great day out.