We had a great vacation!
We started off in Calgary with Kevin and Amanda. It was nice seeing their new house. The kids loved these stairs.
Our kids love their uncle Kevin
We spent the day at the Calgary Zoo. It was really hot! But lots of fun. The kids got wagon rides from uncle Kevin
Lyza was sooo excited to see the dinosaurs. She had been scheming for days how she was going to take one of their eggs and bring it home
That plan quickly changed once she was that some of them moved and made noise
Although she wasn't too scared to slide through their mouths?
This guy was never scared
In 2007 Kim and I went to the Calgary Zoo together when we were just friends. That was a really fun trip!
We found a little rhinoceros in the gift shop
She loves the merry-go-round
We had lots of fun hanging out with these two
They were pretty interested in the komodo dragon
The kids really enjoyed the butterflies
We saw some pretty strange creatures
Giraffe ride!
The tropical areas were tortuous on the hot days. I had such a hard time that Kim now doubts that I ever lived in the Philippines
What a cute bunch!
There was usually a kid on Kevin's shoulders
The bears were really active and lots of fun to watch
There were all kinds of bears...cute ones, scary ones, and even creepy ones ;)
I never got to ride the bears
The kids fed bison
Like a kid in the zoo (referring to her state of happiness)
We saved the penguin area for last. It was really fun AND it was really COLD. If I would have know how cold it was I would have planned our day at the zoo differently.
Thanks Kevin and Amanda for the great time in Calgary!
Next up was Edmonton. The kids had lots of fun playing in my parents' garden area. Good thing nothing was planted this year, otherwise it wouldn't have made it to harvest anyway ;)
We really enjoyed seeing David and Abby and their kids. We couldn't believe what a little man Louis was and how adorable his little brother Bronson is. Our kids have some fun cousins to play with
I think the best part about visiting Edmonton is seeing Hannah. And of course, she didn't disappoint. She is such a talented girl. Our Lyza sure likes her.
Nixon laying around
Nixon thought this dinosaur was so funny
We spent a day in Stony Plain with Sarah and her family. The kids had a blast playing with each other. Lyza loved dressing up and playing pirates
Move over Jack Sparrow...
They also liked playing outside together in between rain bursts
What a cute bunch. Jason, Megan, and Alison were such good hosts.
Snakes and ladders was lots of fun
Thanks for the fun day Sarah!
Our kids also got to see their cousins Sydney, Aubrey, and Abigail. They had lots of fun playing together.
These two had all kinds of fun together
We had lots of fun on Canada Day. The kids got to see their uncle Benjamin. They weren't even scared of his homely beard ;)
Nixon liked playing with his uncle Benjamin's hat
We had a couple fierce games of Settlers of Catan. Thanks Rachel and Simon, that was lots of fun
Lyza liked her aunt Rachel
We went and enjoyed some outdoor Canada Day festivities at the local park. There were sooo many people. There were lots of fun things to do, but the line ups were ridiculous.
We waited in line FOREVER for Lyza to jump in a bouncy house. She could have jumped in there as long as she wanted, but after just a couple of minutes she saw other kids climbing up to the slide
Of course she followed and the slide is the end of all the fun, unless you want to wait in line again (no thanks)
There were lots of carnival type games. This one had the shortest line.
Lyza won a tatoo
Her feet conveniently stopped working when it was time to walk home. So she got a shoulder ride
We also got to see uncle Peter, and the kids really had a fun time with him
I am not sure which of these two enjoyed reading together the most
Lyza and Hannah had lots of fun playing outside together
We had a fun time together in Edmonton. It was nice to spend time with family
Next stop, Welling
We made a pit stop at Toys R' Us and all Nixon wanted to do was ride this pink car
We enjoyed seeing great grandpa and grandma Bullock
The kids loved playing in the sandbox with grandma and grandpa
Nixon liked exloring
We enjoyed being out in the fresh air
The trampoline was a hit, especially with the sprinkler going
The kids would go down this slide, but they were wet from the trampoline so they looked like snails as the slowly slid down leaving a wet streak behind them
A trumpeter on the tower?
Maybe some day Kim and I will live on a farm...the view is sure pretty
Lyza liked reading with her grandpa
Kim and I went hiking together while the grandparents watched the kids. We had a blast
Here we are all fresh and spry as we began the hike.
We did the Carthew-Alderson loop in Waterton
Of course it started off fairly level and simple
We saw this lake along the way
But it got steep pretty fast since we were hiking up to a summit before descending through a valley that would ultimately lead back to Waterton
The view going up was beautiful
This peak looked like a pyramid
The summit was beautiful
The water level in that lake looked a little low so I filled it up
Here is a lake coming down
It is pretty hard to beat the beauty of mountain wild flowers
We came across snow a few times on the hike
I was so tired at one point I couldn't tell if this was a mirage
There were pretty waterfalls
We had to come straight down this snow
I chose the fun way
Wet bum
Beautiful!
The last 7 km of the hike was nothing special except for a couple streams that were nice. Otherwise it was just seemingly endless hiking in the trees
This mossy stream was pretty sweet
Another stream along the way. I wish I could transplant this to our back yard
Eventually we saw some hope as Waterton became visible in the distance
That was one tiring hike
The kids and grandparents met us in Waterton and we showed the kids Cameron falls. Lyza found a friend to feed
We tried to get a family picture together, but the kids were not cooperating
This is the best we could get
I guess the kids were disappointed that we came back. They had lots of fun with their grandparents.
On July 4th we spent the day at unlce Bob and aunt Cheryl's cabin on the lake. Boating was lots of fun
Kim had no problem wake surfing
I tried and eventually got up for the first time
But then I got prideful, even though I wasn't sure what I was supposed to be doing once I was up
We had lot of fun playing in the water
The waverunner was really fun
Lyza really liked the waverunner
kayaks
Lyza got a long canoe ride
Nixon loved this car
Just floating around
Nixon was the only little boy there
Before we left for vacation we heavily seeded a bare patch in our front yard. It was also really hot the week we were gone (hottest day was 107F/42C). We were pretty worried that the seed would not take and the whole lawn would be dead when we got back
But our irrigation did its job and all was well
I took that as a sign that our vacation was a success.
We had lots of fun visiting with family and really appreciate all of the hospitality we received. Take care.
