Let's Have a Party in Calgary!

It was another day of the kids trying to amuse themselves in our hotel room. All those years of Lego have done Alex well. He was the only one who could figure out how to make a decent vehicle out of these magnetic shapes!

Apparently there weren't enough chairs in the hotel room...

A game of hide and seek...Sawyer was pretty pleased with his hiding place.

And it was off to the taproom to do some last minute tidying before Patrick and Krysten's investors showed up for their first look at the space and some of Patrick's amazing beer. A few items of merchandise...many more boxes in the back room.

A great crowd of people showed up. Patrick and Krysten did fantastic fund raising. Some people sought them out and offered money. That's rare! One thing is sure...they all believe in Outcast Brewing and their ability to make a go of it.

Dean has helped Patrick out immensely over the years. Patrick worked at his tiling company in between jobs at different breweries and he supported Patrick in his dream of brewing his own beer. These are good peeps!

Patrick and Ryan breaking in the crib table. Patrick served two great beers...one was a pale ale and the other was a yummy berry one that I loved.

We babysat the kids the next day while Patrick and Krysten ran errands. Miss Hailey has decided that maybe we're OK after all.

The dogs ended up in time out for a while. I don't know how Patrick and Krysten manage...three kids, two dogs, a brewery...I'm tired just thinking about it!

Cinder has calmed down a bit from her puppy stage when we saw her last year.

Hailey was quite pleased with her mac and cheese. She was pretty much delighted with everything.

A play set for the kids in the backyard. Lots of swings, a slide, climbing wall...fun!

Some swing time...

Sawyer insisted on killing a daddy long-legs spider and then was fascinated by one detached leg that remained on the wall and kept wiggling. To be a kid...

I took them to the park to burn off some energy. One thing we did discover was a skateboard park where you can borrow helmets and skateboards. Well, alrighty then. I think we had a plan for the next day! Sawyer claimed Hailey's stroller...

Back at home, Charlie was patiently waiting for Patrick and Krysten to return. He does love Patrick...

We finally gave in and let the kids have the tablets. Whatever amused them...that's what grandparents do, right?

After babysitting, we headed back to the Blind Beggar Pub where we were meeting our friends, Lorie and Flemming, for dinner. Krysten had pointed out these black bunnies somewhere else. Apparently there are a lot of them around...

Back to the patio where we had dinner the first night...

We would be long gone before the live music!

Amusing ourselves (or amusing me!)...

Our good friends, Lorie and Flemming. They used to be the supers in our building in Fredericton, but moved back to Calgary to be closer to family. We do miss them and it was great to catch up.

The next day you could be sure that Alex and Sawyer had not forgotten about the skateboard park. Love Alex's helmet!

It is really close to their house and there are jumps for every level of skateboarder.

Sawyer was working hard...

And checking out the girls!

Alex was working up a sweat. Apparently his helmet is a little dirty inside! They had so much fun.

A video collage of our day at the park...

They were having a skills competition, which we stayed to watch. Sawyer was not happy at being a spectator.

After the competition, it was back to riding.

And then time for a last visit with everyone. Krysten made an amazing shepherd's pie. OK...slightly out of focus, but still a memory!

And a belated birthday celebration for Patrick. We were so happy to be with him on his birthday.

Hailey was pretty happy too...

The next morning, it was goodbye to the family and to Calgary. We had such a great visit. Can't wait for the taproom to be officially open.

Crikey...this was the wait to go through security.

We had an uneventful flight to Montreal and enough time for dinner in the airport before our flight to Fredericton. Goodbye Montreal...

Thanks to the kids for a great week. We were so happy to share their new adventure with them. Best of luck, Outcast Brewing!

Time to Celebrate in Calgary!

We are off to Calgary! It's going to be a short visit, but we are excited to go as Patrick and Krysten are close to opening the Outcast Brewing taproom. They brewed their first beer three years ago, have taken their time to become a known and established brand, and have now taken the plunge to open their own space. We couldn't be more proud of them! And, of course, we'll see the grandkids!

Not sure how I picked this seat...when the wheels came down it blocked pretty much any view. The beauty of New Brunswick...lots and lots of trees.

Love the patterns of these farms...

The mighty St. Lawrence River...

You can see Olympic Stadium here...I always think it looks a bit like a spaceship. It was built for the 1976 summer Olympics.

Yikes...talk about a concrete jungle.

I'm sure one of these days I'll remember where to look when I'm taking a selfie!

Welcome to Montreal! It's been a long time since we've been through the Montreal airport.

Off to Calgary...bye Montreal!

I always love a cloud photo...

Halfway there...

One of the things I love most about a window seat is seeing the topography of Canada (and realizing how my geography knowledge sucks). This is a huge lake...

Jim decided it must be Lake Winnipeg, but look at this island in the middle of it that appears to be inhabited. That later sent me down the rabbit hole of googling Lake Winnipeg and islands in it. It seems the only inhabited island is Hecla Island, but the shape of it doesn't look right. Good grief...maybe it isn't even Lake Winnipeg! No wonder the blog takes so much time!

Moving on to the prairies!

Whoa...are we not flying east to west?

That's better!

Lots of little lakes...or swamps!

And these appear to be dried up lakes...

Perfect rectangles for these farmlands, or I guess in Alberta, they're ranches...

And this was stunning! What the heck? I showed it to Patrick and he said it was Drumheller, which made perfect sense remembering Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump. Canada is beautiful!

Hello, Calgary!

It was after 4:00 pm when we landed, and we picked up our car, dropped our bags off at the hotel, and headed over to the taproom. We couldn't wait to see everyone! The grandkids didn't know we were coming so that was a wonderful surprise.

Sawyer running by some kegs! The kids have pretty much been at the taproom all summer and know it from one end to the other.

Nice and shiny! Let's make some beer!

Hey this isn't Outcast beer, but it was one of Patrick's recommendations for Jim to try. We found out the taproom wouldn't be opening while we were there. They were being held up by trades people and couldn't get the required inspections in time. Oh well...it will soon be open.

Alex showing me all the security cameras! Yup, dust everywhere. We had our work cut out for us as Patrick and Krysten had decided to have an investor get together in a couple of days. We were looking forward to meeting some of their fans.

Hailey and Krysten! Hailey has grown so much since we saw her last year. She  wasn't quite sure what to make of us.

Patrick bought me a lovely bottle of wine. I'm a bad stepmom as beer is not my thing. The wine was so good that it came with...gasp!...a cork and we didn't have a corkscrew. Ever inventive, Patrick put a screw into the cork and pulled it out with a hammer!

We were pretty tired by now and headed back to the hotel for something to eat. The Blind Beggar Pub was right across the street, but it was comedy night and they were pretty busy.

We were pretty goofy by now...it was midnight our time. We had drinks but no food.

Hey! The two breweries where Patrick worked before branching out on his own.

After a good sleep, we picked the kids up the next day for an overnight stay. We had lots of pool time and McDonald's for supper. Mmmmm!

Sawyer weight lifting with his Paw Patrol suitcase...

He's so cute!

The next day we headed to the taproom to do some cleaning and enjoy A&W on their special day where proceeds go to the MS Society. They raised over $2 million this year for MS. Thank you, A&W!

Leslie, Krysten's mom, is an excellent seamstress and was busy hemming curtains and trying to keep an eye on Sawyer.

Patrick and Jim working on the bench that Krysten's dad made...

Alex cracks me up...he was limping around with this and I asked what he was doing. He said he was an "elderly" person! I guess old people have huge moustaches!

Things are taking shape...a special place of honour for their trophy which they won at the Last Best Brewing tap takeover last year. Maybe they can hang onto the trophy with a win again this year!

With three kids of their own, they realize how important family time is. This taproom is going to be very kid friendly.

Krysten's dad, also named Jim, was putting the finishing touches on the bench he made. One bench down and one to go!

We cleaned, dusted, mopped, moved furniture...girl power! We were tired but happy with all that we accomplished.

It is beautiful! Finishing touches, like stuff on the walls, to come...

Krysten did an amazing job with the design...

Crib game anyone?

A beautiful crib board specially made for them...

Lots of taps ready for beer!

After that busy day, it was time to head back to the hotel for some pool time with the kids.

Sawyer was not a big fan of the pool as there wasn't a shallow end. He decided to hang out in the hot tub with the big boys. Too funny!

Alex loved the slide!

Trying to coax Sawyer into the pool...I wasn't having much luck.

I did get to hold him briefly, but it didn't last long. Sawyer wasn't have any part of the deep end.

I love this photo so much...happy Grandma and look at their faces!

Sawyer isn't crying. He was trying to show us how brave he was and that he could put his face in the water.

It was a long day and we were all tired. The boys were staying overnight again and I thought I had Sawyer all settled. I took a picture of him sleeping (so I thought) and his eyes sprang open. He said "When you take a picture of me, it makes me hungry." LOL...a stall tactic that didn't work.

Quiet time at last!

Tomorrow is the investor event at the taproom and Patrick's birthday!