Catch Up #6 - August

Still trying to catch up on the summer posts.  Most of this post is August - some from end of July.  We had so much fun and did so much!

The backyard fun continued with the girls new playhouse.

They had fun helping Daddy build it.

When we went to the zoo we saw one of the new baby penguins.

The girls and their best friends at the zoo.

Cara and Leah - still best buds!

Gwen and Sidney - best buds too!

It was hot hot hot here and the girls and Mom took many trips to the spray parks to cool down.

Along with lots of other kids!

And we started redecorating  Cara's room!  We did a Space/Star Wars theme.  Cara was a good helper with the painting.

Cara loves The Wizard Of Oz books and movie and all things Oz - so when she heard that the musical Wicked was in town she really wanted to go - and so she and Mommy had a afternoon at the theatre and got to see the show!  She even wore her hat for the witch ;)

With the moving to a new house this summer we didn't end up with the vacation we thought we'd do (Vancouver to see Connor and Simon and their parents) but we took a long weekend and went to Banff to do a trip and we did things that were new to us and the girls and we had a great time only an hour or so from home.

The weather was up and down but even the grey clouds are nice when you are in the mountains.

Skipping rocks.

Exploring around Lake Minnewaka.

The chipmunks are pretty tame and get very close.

A fireplace in our room meant that we could roast marshmallows.

We went to the Cave & Basin historical site and the girls counted endangered snails the size of an apple seed that live in the mineral rich (and stinky) spring waters.

Cara trying out an old phone.

At supper the girls got to have their first Shirley Temple!

Yummy!

Our hotel had an indoor playground that the girls used well.

We did a light rain walk down the Bow River to the Bow Falls.

The girls took an oath to always protect the National Parks.

We drove up to Lake Louise and picnicked.

A beautiful day and a beautiful girl!

Everyone had to touch the cold water.

Gwen enjoyed her big lollipop from the candy store in Banff.

A picture no one was ready for.

We did the hike at Johnston Canyon to the lower falls.

Daddy was a superstar portaging the girls!

Cara was a great hiker.

Gwen rode up to the falls and hiked back down - she deserved her ice cream at the end!

We rode the gondola in Banff up to the top of Sulphur Mountain.

And we made it back down again.

There were so many people at the top that we waited in the line to go down for over an hour!

More rock skipping

We let the girls loose in the wilderness.

The Pez dispenser collection grew.

Gwen lucked out - we ordered the child size spaghetti and meatballs and they brought her the adult size!  She made a good dent in it!

Gwen and Lake Louise.

This is from our Johnston Canyon hike - looking at the falls through the tunnel/cave.

Cara at the top of Sulphur Mountain,

We went to the hot springs pool in Banff for the first time.

As we paid for our tickets there was a medical emergency on the pool deck and we had to wait until that cleared before we could go in...an hour later all was well.  The gentleman who needed help was fine as well.

The girls got so warm in the pools that they needed some ice cream to cool off.

Any excuse for ice cream.

We spent a good amount of time at the hotel's waterslides every night.

That blur is Daddy and Gwen!

And that blur is Cara coming down solo!

They love waterslides!

Posing with a bear before we headed back to Calgary.

We didn't see any real bears but we did see a snake, a marten (like a weasel), chipmunks.

We had a great time.

Then it was home to get ready for the first day of school!!  We still had a few more days of summer to use up though.  Next update will take us through end of summer, school starting and a FREAK snow storm!!!