What I Did on my Summer Vacation (2026 edition)

(The only good mosquito...)

Here's my annual look behind the scenes at the exciting (?) summer I apparently had. Of course, I have to start with the rain. So. Much. Rain. The wettest summer ever recorded in Edmonton. How wet was it? It was sooooo wet...
  - Yellowhead Trail was renamed Yellowhead River
  - basements were converted to indoor pools
  - the Telus World of Science included underwater exhibits

Ouch. Okay, here are some numbers. Over 580 mm of rain fell from June to August, making it the wettest summer ever. In June alone, we got 263.9 mm of rain, shattering the previous record set in 1912. July saw an equally impressive 264.7 mm. We had to rescue our kids from outdoor concerts at both Neon Skies and KDays during extreme thunderstorm events. At least I got this cool certificate:

(Thanks to meteorologist Josh Classen.)

Rain, of course, brings mosquitoes. So. Many. Mosquitoes. And they all seemed to want to get into my house. (When I say "get into my house," I don't mean standard bugs flying in through an open window. I mean aggressive, organized swarms equipped with tiny wire cutters and a coordinated breaching strategy.) We killed hundreds of them--over a dozen one day. I started to document my kills as art pieces on Instagram (see above).

It was with much delight that we left E-town behind for our Canada-centric vacation to Ontario!

(Note: we did not visit TORNOOT.)

 

(But we did, however, visit Toronto.)

Toronto is a city famous for its vibrant culture, epic traffic jams, and millions of residents who secretly wish they were living in New York. Even more exciting than Toronto (a low bar, I admit 🤣) was Niagara Falls (the Canadian side only!). Here are obligatory gorgeous photos of the falling-water thing they have there: 

 

If you are not aware of Niagara Falls, there is more to do than stare at water being affected by gravity. You can see butterflies and birds! Rides and attractions! There are (multiple) wax museums!

(I, for one, welcome our new AI overlords.)

Coming home was its own adventure. On approach to YEG, there was a severe (orange) thunderstorm in our way. Because of course there was. Sigh. Now that there's Wifi on flights, I was able to listen to the pilot talking to YEG ATC (via LiveATC.net). It was pretty cool hearing what was happening in real time. Kudos to the WestJet flight crew for deciding to divert to Calgary, after holding for a few minutes. Yeah, the trip ended up being longer, but--safety first! That said, as an Edmontonian, being forced to land in Calgary feels like a subtle personal insult from the atmosphere.

      

(Orange alert! Looping around, getting dizzy!) 

Family time was a priority this summer. My youngest daughter graduated high school and will be going to the U of A this fall. We're all going to be super busy and won't be able to spend much time together. Unfortunately, we...er, did not include her when the rest of us went to Banff. (In our defence, she was on a band trip to Whistler.)

(I walked all the way up here, for all you know.)

We did all go on the High Level Bridge streetcar. Slow, quiet, and relaxing. Bonus: no severe thunderstorms!

(Who doesn't love trains?)

My parents recently downsized, meaning that I finally had to move all of my remaining junk out of their house. I had been putting this off for 29 years, but I can finally say that I have moved out of my parent's basement. Aside from a startling amount of collectibles, I also had to take my large, poorly organized comics collection. It took a few weeks, but I finally sorted, organized, and cataloged all 3,804 comics. The bad news is that I haven't been able to find a buyer yet. So although I am now a Mature Independent Adult, my comics and collectibles are now cluttering my house instead:

     

In the spring, I picked up another teaching award. It's not a big deal.

(Okay, maybe it's a bit of a big deal--look at that hunk of glass!)

In between all the fun, there was still: work. For example, inspired by a student who took an independent study course with me, I worked up a new lecture topic on naturalistic decision making and the Recognition-Primed Decision Model. (Honestly, it's way more exciting than it sounds.) After the work overload of last year, it was nice to have a better work/life balance.

Hopefully, you had a chance to relax and recharge over the summer! 🌞

Why aren't you studying?