A trip to Banff

Rustle and his girls took the Hoch cousins to Banff for a little hike.

We went to the Upper Falls at Johnston Canyon -


Sarah was not all that impressed -


and to Lake Minnewanka to skip some stones.

River Rafting

We took a long rafting ride on the Bow River with our friendly neighbours. It was a lovely day, not too hot, not windy, just perfect for a relaxing float through the city. The children swam along, snacked a lot, and we even got to see a deer. Didn't catch any fish, though.

Picnic at the fountain

Sarah and Alison wanted to take their bikes to the fountain to have a picnic. Here is photographic evidence that Mom is not completely unfun.

Mountain Hike

Rustle took his people for a hike in the mountains. It's not as much fun as he thought because he has to stay on leash, but it's always nice to get out with the whole family and enjoy the splendor of the Rockies.

Exploring

This week, while all the neighbour kids were away on vacation, the girls and I did some exploring. We got to the Science Centre, rode bikes on the trails at Fish Creek park, and drove for an hour and a half to the beach at Sylvan Lake.

There was sand and swimming, which made the trip "definitely worth it" in the words of Sarah. Very crowded, but there was still fun to be had.

Swimming hole

The girls took Rustle down to a swimming hole off the Bow River where lots of dogs come to play and kids can splash and throw rocks and even.......


jump off bridges!



Alison couldn't quite get her legs around to actually get to jump off the bridge. She is not happy with being too little to jump off bridges. At least she agreed to wear the life jacket.

Rustle's buddy

Rustle has been wondering where his buddy Jack has gone. The little boy who kept calling, "Rustle, sit! Rustle, sit! Rustle, sit!" and throwing him cookies by the dozens has gone back home.

Poor Rustle.

Some good buddy moments...

Yahoo!

The Stampede parade was a lot of fun for the small people in the family.

There was the exciting trip downtown on the train, interesting floats and tons of horses to watch. Terrific stuff.

The Mauros are here

Mary, Ed, Lucas, Jack and Sam are in town, and we've been having lots of fun.

We went to the dog park.

We went to the river.

Rustle too!

We went to the zoo. Check out the flamingo impression.

Tomorrow, the dinosaurs!

Happy Canada Day