September 2017

We rented a paddleboat at Bowness Park and took a spin around the lagoon.

There were lots of geese and many goslings as well.  They were adorable.

Some of the ducks were a little too friendly and came right up to the boat.  All fingers remained intact though.

That weekend we headed to Big Hill Springs.  We checked out the waterfalls.

It was perfect weather for a hike.

The kids wanted to climb across this log but their parents were not prepared for soaked kids.

We hit Heritage Park on Labour Day for one last time before school started.  We rode on the carousel and other rides and checked out some more houses we hadn't been to in a while.  We don't know why Cara was making this face, but she was having a good time, honest!

First day of school!  Gwen was excited to start Grade 2!

Can you believe she's in Grade 2 already?  She is in a split Grade 2 - Grade 3 class and has one of Cara's old teachers.

Cara was excited to head to her new school.

Grade 4 is going to be awesome!

One last picture before heading their separate ways.  They both really miss seeing each other at school, but luckily they know where to find each other when the day is done.

Gwen waiting to go in on Day 1.

Cara was dropped off at the door and went in by herself.  A big change from Grade 3, but she can do it!

That weekend we had our first Guides/Brownies event for the year, a bottle drive.  The girls did great and managed to fill our car twice.  They celebrated with some hotdogs at the bottle depot.

We checked out a new playground that was built to celebrate Canada 150.  It was pretty cool and had a saucer the kids could hang on to better when flying high.

Our apple tree in the backyard produced a ton of apples so we had to make something good.  Mary made some delicious apple jelly.

Gwen had to take a trip to urgent care because she wasn't feeling well.  But by the time she got to see a doctor, she was feeling great.  So nothing serious!

Our garden only produced one good zucchini...but it was a good one!

Cara's new school is big on school spirit and Cara is having a great time getting on board!

The next weekend, Cara had her first Guides sleepover.  She practiced hard to get her official Guides bedroll just right.

She was very nervous for the campout and the sailing, but she did it and had a great time!

The kids sailed without a grownup in their boat (the instructors were in a speedboat nearby), and despite some minor bumps they made out well.

Cara even fell in the lake and learned a valuable lesson in reaching into a boat for your jacket before it's tied up!  She got wet but no harm done!   Here she is with her favourite boat, the Millenium Falcon.

Uncle James was in town for work so we helped him celebrate his big 40th birthday!  The girls were happy to see their uncle!

Cara's Guide troop went to this cool new place called Granary Road just outside Calgary.  They learned about bugs, agriculture and ecosystems.  All reports are that it was awesome.

We hit Calaway Park to check out the Halloween festivities.  Here they are posing for a skeltie with a new friend.

Gwen is getting pretty good at driving a bumper car.

They met this cool robot guy.

And posed for the traditional Halloweekends picture.

Chilling with another parkgoer who had been waiting in line for way too long.

Time is going by so fast, Gwen already has her Broom License.

Cara's allowed to take the broom but no drinking potions and flying.

Gwen's class went around the neighbourhood and marked the storm drains.  It's a nice reminder that those drains are only for clean water.

Road working Gwen.

Gwen's school had their annual Terry Fox Run.  Gwen did a 3k run/walk like a superstar.

We bit the bullet and got a new furnace.  Ours was still functional but was not long for this world.  So far we haven't had a really cold day to put it to the test, but it should be soon.

To celebrate 11 years of marriage, we headed back to Calaway Park (don't worry, Mom and Dad went out to celebrate just the two of them a few nights before).  It was probably going to be our last time there, so we made it count.

Rapunzel and a witch driving their parents around.

This witch was ready to fly.

Who needs a wand when you have a rifle?

Rapunzel meets the Old West.

Stay tuned for October: the start of birthday season, Thanksgiving, Halloween and more!

August 2017

The smoke from the BC forest fires was pretty thick.  We headed north to Golden and got a bit of clear sky, but not much.  We stopped for lunch at Reflection Lake for a picnic.

Hopefully we don't get too lost!

We went to a wolf sanctuary that was outside Golden.  It was a bit of a drive through the woods but we eventually found it.  They had 6 wolves including some puppies.

They were big on educating the public on the benefits of wolves to the ecosystem.  

They were hot in their runs and lazing around, but they all got up at some point to walk around.

Gwen listening to a lecture on wolves.

It reminded us all of Nanny and Papa's house.

Call of the Wild.

It was a cool side adventure and worth the journey.

We checked out the Kicking Horse Pedestrian Bridge in Golden.  It spans the Kicking Horse river and was pretty impressive.

We headed back south and checked out James Chabot Provincial Park.

The water at the Provincial Park is a bit rocky, so after supper we headed down to the beach in Akiskinook.  There was a bit of a break in the haze for a nice sunset.

The kids had fun jumping off the raft.

It wasn't very deep so no diving!

The next day we had lunch at the condo.  It was nice and quiet at the resort during the week.

We headed to the public beach in Windermere.  Another hazy day but still pretty hot and of course warm enough for ice cream treats!

We got them from the "Ice Cream Float" that pulled up to the shore.  

That night, we headed back to the beach in Akiskinook.  The kids loved it there.  We played lots of "washing machine" on our emoji float.

Cowabunga!

The next day we went to the Fairmont Hot Springs.  We decided instead of going in the water (we preferred Radium) we'd explore around the springs instead.  Here's a waterfall from the runoff from the pools.

And another waterfall of the spring water.

The kids made some Inuksuks, so now the people will know we were here.

We hiked up to Geary Lookout through the woods.  We made lots of noise in case there were bears nearby.

What a view of the Columbia Valley!  And a good view of the haze.

The girls shrunk down to the size of Smurfs and had to take a rest.

We headed up to the location of the original springs and soaked our feet.  The original bath house is still standing and is full of the spring water.

There is slippery sediment everywhere, which made for some careful walking and muddy feet.

That afternoon we headed back to Kingsmen Beach and rented a paddleboard.  Dad took the girls out for a tour of the beach.

Cara lounged around on the emoji while waiting.

And Gwen practiced her boogie board skills.

Both kids are much stronger swimmers now which means even more fun.

The paddleboard was a blast!

The next day we headed to Sinclair Canyon.  There is a trail just off the road to the hot springs.  It was beautiful!

We headed up to the waterfall at the top of the canyon.

Very picturesque!

We hiked down the other way and posed for a group shot.

Selfie time with the waterfall!

Our two mountain goats.

We spent one last night at the Akiskinook beach.  We were sad our trip was ending but it had been fun.

Gwen contemplated life as a beach bum.

And went for one more dip!

Every so often, a speed boat would create waves with its wake.  It was very exciting on otherwise calm, clear water.

One last selfie at the beach!

The next morning, we packed up our things and got ready to head out.  The highway we would normally take was closed because of the Verdant Creek fire, so we headed back to Golden.  It added a lot of time to our drive, so we planned to make it worthwhile.

We stopped for a quick break at Reflection Lake again.  It was just as nice as before.

We headed into Yoho Park and stopped at the Natural Bridge.  It is over the Kicking Horse river (just like the pedestrian bridge in Golden).  But this bridge is all natural!

It was pretty cool.  A stone arch above a raging river.

The girls considering the power of erosion.

The drive was beautiful, especially because there was no haze!  It'd had been a week since we'd seen truly blue sky like this.

We planned to picnic at Emerald Lake but it was way too busy.  So we stopped in Field.  The girls waded in the water while they waited for lunch.

We popped into the visitor centre for some information and Cara posed with some stuffed friends.

We stopped at a viewing spot for one of the spiral train tunnels that are in Yoho.

As luck would have it, just as we got to the lookout, a train was going through the tunnel!  It took a few minutes for the kids to spot the other end of the train.  It looks like two trains heading in opposite directions but it's all one train!

After a drive that seemed endless, we arrived at Takkakaw Falls.  It was amazing!

We walked down to the bottom of the falls.  The kids touched water fresh out of a glacier.

It was quite amazing and definitely worth the drive.

After a few more hours of driving, we spotted a familiar sight: Mt. Rundle!  We were outside Banff and almost home.  It was a great trip and we are already looking forward to going back.

Since Dad had the rest of the week off, we decided to fill it with some fun.  We checked out the skate park in Airdrie.  No broken bones!

We got some Heritage Park passes and rode on the old timey rides.

And took a ride on the paddleboat.

The kids learned how to throw a spear in the native village.  Dad pointed out it is part of a great Star Trek TNG episode, Birthright.  No one cared.

More rides before we headed out.  The girls had a great time on the swings.

The carousel made Gwen nervous since it felt like you were going to fall off the horse, but everyone hung on.

The carousel is very cool and the horses are not at all creepy.

Posing with the train!

We needed a bit more beach time so we went to Sikome Lake one day.  There was hardly anyone there so it was great.

Of course we played washing machine!

The girls made a lakeside castle with a moat.

Our friends were away so we had to water their garden.  We got to keep this giant zucchini.  Our kids love zucchini!

A super red dragonfly chilling in our backyard.

Gwen was finally tall enough for the rollercoaster at Calaway!  She loved it!  Cara and Gwen are in the back seat.

One happy kid!

We went and visited Freya and her parents and went to the beach in Auburn Bay.  The kids never get tired of beaches apparently.

Eclipse day!  Freya's dad had extra eclipse glasses so we would have a perfect view.

We made some pinhole cameras as well.

And modeled the eclipse with cookies.

The wonders of the Universe....

It was a perfect day for viewing.  Dad came home from work to watch with us.  The girls had fun finding crescents in our backyard like this one.

Since it's still summer vacation, Mom and the girls headed back to Heritage Park.

We checked out the spindle weaving.

The girls really enjoyed following this play through the town.  They even got to take part!

And a ride on the Ferris Wheel.

The kids were being bad so we put them in jail for a bit.

We checked out Gasoline Alley and got to practice driving.

We had some S'Mores and told campfire stories.  Gwen's was the best story ever about Teen Titans.  Cara disagreed.

We got in another trip to the spray park.

Aunt Leah came by and coloured the girls' hair.  Cara went with blue and some pink!

Gwen went all pink!  They both looked great!

We had a fun day at Bowness Park with their buddies Leah and Sidney.  But summer is almost over.  Luckily, both kids love school and can't wait to go back.  Stay tuned for September!