August

Noah's gentle side really shows around babies. We had friends over and Noah sat and read books to the babies.

Got together with all of Nath's cousins for a bbq
these are all of the great grandchildren who had a blast playing together, even though they only see each other once a year, sometimes twice.

Em getting in some cousin time with baby Joel

Nath celebrated his 33rd birthday
I gave him a trip to Washington DC to see U2 in concert and visit his sister and brother in law. He was a little excited!
(It was a birthday/anniversary gift)

Finally enough hair for pig tails, sort of

I made a poker cake for brother in law Eric's 24th birthday
All edible except the cards on the very top.
It was a chocolate chip mocha cake with whipped chocolate ganache filling and italian meringue butter cream icing. In other words- it was good.

Visited the Aviation Museum with some friends.

the boys took turns flying the plane

Days 9 and 10- Homeward Bound

We planned to stop in Moose Jaw to visit my brother and his wife. They had just moved there a couple weeks before. We arrived in Moose Jaw around 4:30 and set up in the tiniest little spot in the "Prairie Oasis" Tannis had booked the spot for us and apparently got the last on in town. We had to wedge our little trailer between an RV and a couple of tents.

We went to see Joel and Tannis' apartment, where Tannis had made us a delicious meal. Their place is cute and cozy. We ate supper in their Dining room/Living Room/Bedroom. It was about 10X12. We also had the honor of being there to witness Tannis' first ever homemade pie. And she passed with flying colors. It was delicious.

They took us to Crescent park, where we fed the ducks and checked out the resident beaver and played on the playground

N, L and Joel took turns giving each other under-ducks

Uncle Joel doing the superman under-duck

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The next morning after a quick breakfast with J&T we headed out on the road again. Our only stops after that were for gas or food in Regina and Brandon and we pulled up back at our house just before supper.

It was a fabulous trip and I can't wait for next years adventure in our little camper.

Day 7 and 8 Calgary

We had breakfast in the camper again and had to pack up in the rain. And were on the road by 10. We arrived at the hotel and checked in. We were dismayed to find out that the hotel did not actually have laundry facilities. Which I was banking on when I packed. So we had to hand wash the essentials in the tub and hang them to dry through out the room. Hoping they would dry out enough to wear by tomorrow. And because we were camping ALL of our clothes were dirty and smelled like a campfire, which isn't a bad thing when you're camping but when you get back to civilization, it's not that great. So our room looking like a laundromat. I wonder what the maid thought when she came in to make the beds.

We headed to IKEA for lunch and shopping. We dropped the boys off in the play area and Nath and I got to shop with just Em for 45 minutes. It was really nice.

We ended the day with swimming at the hotel. Which was not in the new waterpark which opened shortly after we left. (great timing) But the kids still enjoyed it.

The next day we had breakfast in the hotel room. I had picked up some groceries the night before then headed to the Zoo. It was raining again. And so the $1.99 golf sized umbrella I picked up at IKEA which Nath scoffed at worked out quite well.

We spent four hours at the zoo and I think we could have easily spent four more. We had a great day and it was even raining. I asked each of the boys for their highlights. L said the Elephants and the Gorillas were his favorites and N loved the tigers, hippos, rays, mice (in the australian exibit, they were running all over inside the cages- apparently they come in with the straw and they can't really get rid of them. The baby gorillas like to catch them and "love" them to death.) and th Prehistoric Park. They had fabulous interpretitive programs at a bunch of different spots where we learned fun facts like Tilapia fish eat Hippo poop.

The giraffe and hippo enclosure

N holding part of a hippo tooth

L holding a giraffe vertebra. Did you know that a giraffe has the same number of vertebrae that we do, theirs are just that much longer.

One of the gorillas
He was lounging in a wheelbarrow, right in front of the glass.

The baby gorilla
So cute.

Em loved watching most of the animals but seemed to really enjoy the elephants.

L was really tired by the end
It was a lot of walking

The Prehistoric Park was beautiful and incredibly well done. If we hadn't been so pooped from alreay walking the whole zoo I think we would have spent more time here. N had to pose in front of each dino.

He was in dino-heaven!
And yes he does know the names of all of them too.

That night we got the kids to sleep then packed our bags and Nath loaded the van and even hitched up the trailer to van so we'd be ready to hit the road bright and early the next morning. We woke up at 6 and left the kids in their PJs hoping they'd just go back to sleep once we were driving, but unfortunately they did not.

Day 6- Brrrr

It rained all night again. And it was chilly. About 7 Celcius. Had to make and eat breakfast in the camper, because of the rain which was close quarters but I was very thankful for our little camper in this weather. We headed to the Hot Springs to warm up, and we weren't the only ones who had that idea. It was packed. But the 39 degree water felt really good after a night of shivering. They had a nice shallow area which Em really enjoyed.



We then headed back down town for a cookie lunch at Evelyn's. Hey we were on holidays! And then checked out the shops.

The boys really liked the Christmas store

Hated that the mountains were hidden behind clouds

The Happy Campers back at the campsite.
It rained all night again.

Days 5 in Banff

We had thunderstorms during the night and woke up to a cloudy day. Made bacon and eggs for breakfast then headed into town. We found a playground for the boys to explore then walked along the bow river to Bow Falls and the Banff Springs, back down town and back to the vehicle. About 8 km and the boys were tired by the end.

L wanted to take the bus back.

Had to stop at Evelyn's for cookies. Which are more of a meal than a snack.

Even Em got in on the fun. Yogurt Chocolate chip.

We had a weiner roast for supper including peach pies for dessert. Em and L were big fans. N provided the after dinner entertainment

Banff: Johnston Canyon

We arrived in Banff after lunch, and got the trailer set up at Tunnel Mountain Campground. It was the hottest day of our holiday. We then headed out to pickup some groceries. We succeeded in eating out only a couple of meals for the holiday. We mostly ate our own food. I had made a meal plan before we left and packed enough food for the first couple of days and then picked up a few more groceries in Canmore. It saved a lot of money and also saved that yuckiness you feel from eating too many meals out.

Daddy watching over our fire roasted chicken and garlic bread.
By far our most delicious meal.

The boys slept really well in the camper. They would fall asleep immediately and then sleep in til 8am! I guess all the fresh air and activity helped.

L being a goof as usual.

Our first outing in the mountains, was Johnston Canyon. Our favorite hike to do. Nath was charge of carrying Em on his back and holding N's hand. And I was in charge of holding L's hand and motivating him. Which started with getting him out of the van. It was a 7.6km round trip, so it was a bit of a long trip to begin with, and L is not much of hiker, to say the least. So I would try to distract him with taking note of all the dogs that we would see along the hike. I'd say "Look at that puppy, your legs are much longer than his, and you're much taller than him, so if he can do it, you can do it." And we'd chant "I think I can, Ithink I can..." to get to the top of a hill, and talk about the snack we'd have once we got to the Upper Falls.

This is near the beginning of the canyon. It was the height of the tourist season, and this is one of the most popular hikes in the area, so there were a lot of people there.

At the first set of falls there is a bridge you go across to the other side of the canyon.

Em enjoyed the hike but did fall asleep eventually

Then you go through a small cave, up a slippery set of rock stairs, to ...

this amazing waterfall where the water falls 10 meters.

Then you hike another couple kms
to the Upper Falls where the water falls 30 meters.

this is the bridge to the Lower Falls, you can see the lineup to go through the cave.

The Happy Hikers

N posing in front of the same rocks that Nath and I have taken pictures on 13 years ago while we were still dating.

After the hike we headed to Canmore to check out how much my old stomping grounds have changed. We found a nice playground for the kids to play. You can see the hazy mountains in the background. The sky was always hazy and we never got a great clear view of them which was too bad.

Em was happy to crawl around a little.

And of course she was thrilled to go swinging

Here's our little trailer. There were so many gargantuan trailers and motorhomes in that campground. And a good number of them were rentals.
We even saw a greyhound sized motorhome pulling a tentrailer, maybe it for their dogs to sleep in or something. Everyone had brought their dogs.

N's first time chopping wood.