Happy Canada Day!

I'm rather embarrassed to say that I don't remember how Canada became its own country.  We were taught Canadian history in school, and in high school, I also learned American history.  I remember more American history from those years than I do Canadian... Maybe I was always destined to live in the U.S.!

Well, here is a short overview (based on a Google search) about how Canada became a country...  July 1, 1867 was the date that several British colonies (Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and the province of Canada) joined together to form one nation.  They were still a part of the British Commonwealth, which means they still recognized the Queen as the Head. There were several reasons why Britain agreed to let the colonies band together.  The most notable one was because as a united country, there would be less of a chance of attack from the U.S.  There would also be less financial dependence on Britain.  One of the results of the British North America Act was that the province of Canada split into Ontario and Quebec, mostly due to the language/cultural differences.  At the time, the British Parliament (government) still controlled and made the major decisions for the new country of Canada.  It wasn't until 1982 that Britain relinquished complete control and the Canadian Parliament was granted full control over the nation's governance.  Isn't that crazy!?  1982!!!!

Canada Day celebrations aren't as grand as Americans' gatherings on the 4th of July.  It's a fun time, but I definitely think that Americans make a bigger deal out of their nation's birthday, so they throw better parties and get-togethers.  It didn't help that this year, there was a downpour all day here in Edmonton.  A lot of events got canceled and I really thought the day was going to pass as any other.  Luckily, the rain stopped in time for fireworks last night.  The sun doesn't set until around 10:45pm, which means most firework shows don't start until 11pm.  That made for a really late night for our kids! 

In years past, we have headed to the river valley for the city's biggest fireworks show, but this year we decided to go somewhere a little closer.  We headed to Mill Woods for their fireworks show- we thought it'd be easier to find parking.  We were wrong- there were TONS of people who shared the same thought.  It ended up being a lot of fun- there were families with kids everywhere and just an easygoing, fun spirit in the air. 

The kids loved it! Jeremy covered his ears for a few of the bigger fireworks, but other than that, the 15 minute show was great.

 The traffic getting back home- not so great. We got home close to midnight and even though the kids slept in this morning, they weren't quite the same all day today. Luckily, we didn't have anything important planned for today!

Happy Canada Day!