Happy 90th Birthday, Papa Les!

It was a huge event in Cape Breton to celebrate Papa Les' 90th birthday.

There were days of parties and lots of food, beverages and cousins.

Since Sarah had to go to Chile to train for skiing, Alison had to get all the attention and lobsters for herself.  It was almost as though she held up the sky!

 

(Thanks to my fabulous sister for the great pictures!)

Mauro Visit: Conquering the Ski Hill

How could we not take our beloved guests to our favourite ski hill? Lucas and Jack took snowboarding lessons one day, and then their favourite aunt took them on a little zip around the mountain on skis. We even caught some air! We totally rocked the place!

The boys soon discovered that snowboarding involves a lot of sitting.

Hey, look! Mary has her camera out!

Mauro Visit: Snowshoes

The boys and the moms took Rustle out for a snowshoe around Lake Louise. There were lots of snowmen to crush and hills to climb. It was a fun way to get around the lake!

Mauro Visit: The Castle

What better way to enjoy Lake Louise than staying at the Chateau? I just can't think of any!

Jam-packed Summer Fun, Part 2

Now for the Lake of the Wood shots:

Bob on the laser.

Alison the Wakeboarder.


Alison the Kayaker.
Everyone loves tubing.
Nothing beats the hot tub after wakeboarding.


I think they had fun.

Jam-packed Summer Fun, Part 1

I can not believe that summer is over and school starts for Rustle's girls tomorrow. We were so busy having fun that we didn't even notice the time slip away.

So, a very picture-heavy post to help describe where the time has gone... I present: Part One - Cape Breton Adventures.

We had a magical visit:


We ate a lot:

We didn't eat the fish that Alison caught, even though she named it Dinner

but it didn't make us that grumpy. We also made some sweet stuff:


And we spent a lot of time exploring.



We took a road trip around the Cabot Trail:




and went whale watching in Pleasant Bay: (Alison was extremely excited)

The whales came pretty close to our zodiac:

And there is always time to read Calvin and Hobbes:

Kelowna

Sarah was invited to play in a soccer tournament on Canada Day weekend in Kelowna. It was a great excuse to get the girls to the Okanagan so they could check out a really neat place.

Sarah's team played some very competitive soccer and bonded together over movies and popcorn during their off time. We were staying at the UBC Okanagan campus, which gave the girls a lot of opportunities to bond. In fact, we hardly saw Sarah at all over the whole weekend.



Since we were going there anyway, Alison competed in a track meet. It was very different from her first experience, since it was hot and sunny in Kelowna. In fact, she ran 600 meters in 31 degree heat. Trooper! She managed to score a few personal bests and improved her technique in several events.



We did get to enjoy a bit of Kelowna too. We spent Canada Day at the waterfront, listening to bands and snacking on Kettle Corn. Yum. We drove up a hill into a rather plush neighbourhood of Kelowna to watch the fireworks at night so we could see everything and it was amazing having the backdrop of a lake and mountains.

We also got to the beach. There was a zip line in the water that got a lot of attention from Alison. She looked, but there was no sign of Ogopogo.

Hawaii is amazing

We love Hawaii. We had such an amazing week and so many wonderful days. I think my favourite activity has to be surfing, but maybe next time I'll get someone to take pictures of it. No way I'm not going to be back out there on those waves!

Some interesting photos:

Our first breakfast saw a slightly rainy day (apparently a rainy day means lightly sprayed with mist as you continue to enjoy the outdoors) which meant a rainbow over the ocean. Spectacular!

Girls with good balance at a park near the hotel. Love playing near palm trees and the ocean!

Our hotel pool had a waterfall area. It was great for cooling off and for shoulder massages!

The girls were missing 4 days of school, so we took small sun breaks so they could keep up. Alison was missing an author visit, so she emailed her teacher some questions she wanted to ask.

We found some very cool lava formations. This area is known as Dragon's Teeth because the lava cooled straight up like teeth against the ocean. Here are the girls exploring as Dad searched good photo ops.

Sunsets are pretty spectacular. Lots of families headed to the beach to watch the sun slip behind Moloka'i. Here are my lovely girls splashing in the last waves for the day.

Maui is glorious! We love it!