Stampede Week!

 We had a crazy, fun filled week here!  Great weather and lots of activities - get ready for lots and lots of pictures!

2 weeks away from Leah since preschool finished and Cara needed some Leah time so the girls came over for a great play day that included a walk down to the playground.

It was Stampede Week so that means the Annual General Dynamics Stampede Family BBQ at Daddy's work.

Gwen got a new pink hat this year!

 Cara got a new red hat - she likes that the colours remind her of Captain America.

 They got in their best cowgirl wear for the BBQ.

 Cara mastered climbing the wall in the bouncy house this year!

 And Gwen got swallowed up!

 It was pretty hot!

That afternoon we went to a Splash Park with Nana.  Then said goodbye for the summer - Nana is in NB now!  We miss you, Nana! xo

 Friday our day to go to the Stampede Grounds!

Cara struck this cowgirl pose.

 Gwen was ready to go!

 We got there early and had fun in the kid play area before it got over run.

 Cara on a plasma car.

 Gwen too!

 Cara sculpted bacon and eggs out of play dough!

 Then they got to see Mike the Knight Live!

 Gwen had to get a closer look at the end.

 Gwen in the bouncy house that we had to literally drag her out of!

 Then we were off to the BMO Kidzone to meet Diego and Dora!  Gwen was freaked out a bit by the freaky Dora.

 Lunch time can only mean Corn Dogs at Stampede!

 Then it was time to hit the midway.  Cara wanted to go on this roller coaster with Mommy.

She went on it 2 years earlier...can't believe we took her on it at 2 years old!  What were we thinking?!?!

 She had her ears covered the whole time since it was pretty loud.  But she says she loved it.

 Gwen and Mommy on the Bee!

 Daddy took them through the Fun House.

 Then time for a ride on the Carousel.

 Gwen's favourite!

 Then Cara wanted to go on this roller coaster - we thought it was for kids only but when we found out parents could go too she'd set her mind on going alone.  Thankfully she was tall enough.  And she was so brave and happy to be Miss Independent!

 Playing some games on the kid's midway.

 Cara's first (and probably last) bite of a candy apple.  She didn't like the crunchy shell.

 Sitting in a jet.

 Gwen in the back seat!

 Gwen's favourite - a frozen lemonade!

 Cara the pear.

 Gwen checked out the chicks.

 Cowgirl Gwen.

 Cara knows just when to "Ya-Hoo!"

 Cara was racing the clock to clean the cow's udders and attach the milking machine.

 She was fast but not as fast as a farmer!

 Cara and Mr Llama.

 Mr Llama smiled just for the picture!

(This close up is especially for Aunt Jill - since she loves llamas! Haha!)

 After this Gwen went in for a full hug!

 We saw lots of horses - of courses!

 Daddy and Cara went though a cow squeezing machine to learn the life of a cow.

 Daddy the Co-op Butcher!

 Playing more games!

The day ended with alot of games.  Cara and Daddy won a big one on the first game of the day - then Gwen won 2 little ones later on.  Then Cara won a little one too.  Then Gwen lost one of hers.  So Daddy had to win her another one!  It took many tries but in the end he came through with a great prize.....

 A big blue SQUID hat!

Worth its weight in gold!

Saturday Cara was in the right mood for a haircut that we've been talking about for awhile.

She was happy to go to a real hair dresser and kept saying that she looked like Rapunzel in the Tangled movie.  So grown up now with a great little cut - Mommy is almost over missing the ringlets.

 Sunday was so nice we went to the mountains for a picnic at Two Jack Lake.

 Gwen took off into the wilderness...

 Cara flew a kite!

 Looked at the beautiful scenery.

 (this one just shows off Cara's cute hair cut!)

 Lots of attempts to skip rocks in the lake.

 Rundle Mountain.

 Daddy and Gwen.

 Gwen walked right into the lake in her shoes...so bare feet time!

 Big Horned Sheep

 Caribou!

 The girls and a snail.

 We went to the newly reopened Cave & Basin National Historic Site.

This is inside the cave.

This place is what started the entire National Park System and why Banff is where it is.

 This is the Basin.

It is part of Sulphur Mountain so it smells eggy.

 Sunday night was the end of Stampede so Mommy and Cara went to see the fireworks again!

Mommy took the camera this time!

 It was a great way to end a great week!

 ooooooooooooo

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!

A Picnic and Some Really Big News!

 Sunday was a fun day.

We went to a new park (Glenbow Ranch Provincial Park) and had a picnic and a hike.

It was a great place to enjoy a beautiful day.

 Mmmmm watermelon!

 Our hike was slow since our two explorers must explore every bit of nature they can!

 We walked down that path then back up it.  It is a lovely park with lots of trails to explore on other days.

 Cara made a ladybug friend.

 A rest on a big rock before our return hike.

And now for the REALLY BIG NEWS!

Gwen has started potty training and it is going so well!  She's beginning to get it and loves the happy dance, sticker and treat she gets for her successes!  The end of diapers is in our grasp!  Yahoo!

Happy Canada Day!

 Cara reading to Gwen from the Bible she got from her preschool.

They play Mommy/Baby all the time taking turns with the roles.

 The city is getting back to normal this week.  The zoo will be closed until August so we'll get lots of use out of Calaway Park passes!

Adam had Friday off so we went to Calaway Park (not affected by the flood at all).

 The girls have so much fun on the rides!

 Daddy and Gwen on the balloon ride.

 Cara goofing for the camera.

 Cara gives Gwen a kiss before the buggies start bouncing!

 A new ride for Gwen this time - the spinning strawberries!

Another new ride for Gwen was the spinning balloons!

Friday night the girls had a sleepover with Nana & Howie!  They had a great time!

Sunday we went for a nice picnic - we are exploring new parks in the city since a few of our favourites are off limits due to the flooding.

 Monday we got all ready for Canada Day and took the bus downtown!

 Cara played some giant chess on Stephen Avenue.

 We saw dancing dragons at Shaw Millennium Park.

 The girls had some Spiderman ice cream bars!

 Gwen danced to the live bands!

 Cara was happier that this - really!

We had a great afternoon in the hot sun downtown.  The girls loved the bus and the train rides!

There were fireworks at 10:45pm.  We woke Cara up and she wanted to go so Mommy and Cara got to see the fireworks from a nearby hill.

She loved them so Daddy will get to wake her up and take her to see more during Stampede next week!

Preschool Graduation and a Great Big Flood

Our wonderful Cara completed
preschool last Thursday.  The children did a concert for everyone in the evening.

 They sang some great songs with great actions!

 This one goes "My God is so Big so Strong and so Mighty! There's nothing that He cannot do - for you!"

One of Cara's favourites!

 I love this pic since it looks like the teacher asked them a really hard skill testing question!

 Angelic Cara.

 She was in a hurry to graduate!  She ran through and got a Bible.

 On a mission to get back to her seat.

Checking out her stuff (with Nana and Howie holding the girls).

 Cara and Leah <3 br="">

 Cara and Mrs Chandler

 Cara and Miss Amy

 The girls with Nana and Howie!

 Family photo!

It was raining pretty hard on and off Thursday.  Little did we know what was coming.  Turns out that while we were at Cara's concert the first communities were being evacuated because the river was coming in fast!

 Friday the city was flooding.  State of Emergency.  Daddy was sent home from work at 10:30 (not that he works near the river but the city was asking everyone to stay home and off the roads).

We went on a walk (between rain showers) to the park near us that overlooks the highway which was practically empty.  That only happens in the middle of night here.

 The girls just liked running around in the rain.

 It was cold and right after this started a big downpour.  The river was rising.  The first day of summer.

 Friday evening after supper we went to Tom Campbell Hill (a park near us that overlooks the city/zoo area).  The normally busy road here was completely shut down.  It was a bit eery.  Through the trees we could see the swollen river.

 Cara found a stick!

 The kids looked at a bug on a rock while Daddy looked toward Harvie Passage (a turn in the river that has a weir).  Not something you would normally see from this area.

 Close up of Harvie Passage.

 Then we went down to Rotary Park.  A park that is along Centre Street that we usually go to for its Spray Park and playground.  From that vantage point we could look west upriver.  The bridges you see in this picture are pedestrian bridges that link downtown to Prince's Island Park (the floating trees you see on the right side).  That is the park the city usually holds Canada Day celebrations in.

 A look across the river onto a flooded downtown street.

 The Centre Street Bridge.  The lower deck (that people drive on) is almost submerged.

Flooded Calgary.

*stole this pic from Twitter

 This is the Calgary Zoo.  That is a hippo swimming in a flooded African Savannah building.

The zoo has been damaged quite a bit.  It is really sad.  I am very glad that we had just visited the zoo the weekend before.  Hopefully we get to go visit again soon (it is currently closed for at least two weeks).

The water has gone down and people are cleaning up.  So many neighbourhoods have been affected along the 2 rivers that go through Calgary.  The Stampede grounds and the Saddledome were flooded and they are working around the clock to clean those up and repair them in time for the Stampede to begin on July 5.

We are so happy to live on a big hill high above the river.  Many of the places we love to go have been flooded and we look forward to visiting them again after the mess is all cleaned up.