July 2017 - Low Reunion & Waterton

The second week we were up in Canada involved the extended Family Low reunion. It was so fun to see most of the Low cousins I grew up with. Luckily for us, we have things like Facebook that help keep us in touch, but nothing compared to face to face interaction. 

Carli & I were the cousins who turned 30 this year! 

Griffin throwing down some strawberries at dinner one night.

Cousins enjoying the teeter totter and climbing on rocks. 

Of course we made a stop in Waterton while we were in Canada. Growing up, I took for granted how gorgeous of a place it is.  I love showing my kids around now and letting them enjoy the great out doors. It was also great to catch up with my good friend Jasmine! 

Playing at the park

Lucky for us we spotted a bear while we were there - how cool is that?!

Griffins favorite activity is throwing rocks in the lake - he was obssessed! 

Gorgeous view

Camerson Falls is so pretty!

We took the kids hiking up bears up - its a short but steep hike. After a lot of initial complaining, we bribed them with candy to stop - yay! Avery ran up the rest of the mountain after that like a boss. 

Hiking is pretty tiring stuff for some

Jaxson & Ryan went fishing at Cameron Lake with Justin, Zach, Kate & Kara. 

They had a great time!

Jaxson's rainbow trout

We did a bit of exploring in Glacier National Park, and just like Waterton, it is gorgeous! 

"I'm tired!"

Ryan was brave and jumped into the freezing cold water 4x. Made for some great pictures!

Brrrrr!

July 2017 - Echo Lake

We had a couple of days July days in Denver before we left on our big trip. The kids enjoyed a carnival night at their pediatric dentist office - face painting, pony rides, cotton candy, etc. They loved it! 

Griffin always talks about riding horses so it was so cute to see him enjoy these pony rides so much!

I took 2 days to drive the 15 hours up to Canada without Ryan's help - luckily we survived! The kids immediatley started playing with cousins and loved it. This is Griffin with the triplets - Thomas, Mason, & Luke. 

Avery instantly fell in love with baby Charlie and always asked to hold him. 

Shortly after arriving in Canada, the adults all headed north to Calgary to celebrate Mom's 60th birthday. We enjoyed a nice evening dinner with a fancy cake and then cards and swimming at the hotel. 

The following morning, we all headed to the Calgary stampede - ye haw! It was a bit cold and overcast outside, so those of us who didn't have extra layers opted for rain ponchos.

Of course I found the deep fried cookie dough - yummy lunch!

We enjoyed watching the rodeo in the afternoon & the chuck wagons in the evening.

"The horn and their off!" It was neat seeing the chuck wagons in person. I remember every year mom watching them on the TV and cheering. What a fun birthday - Happy 60th Mom! 

After we got home from Calgary, we packed up & headed to Echo Lake. While we were trying to get everything set up, the kids and I made blueberry muffins.

Passing out the muffins to all the hungry kiddos

Avery found out she loves to kayak and had a blast zipping around the bay on this thing

Jaxson spent hours in the water playing with the cousins

Water gun fight!

Tubing was the top choice of just about every kid there - fun!

Griffin tolerated the cool water as long as Daddy was in the water with him

Avery would bargain getting thrown in the water for candy

Sunday night walk to the duck pond park

Annie, Avery, & Faye - all born within 3 weeks of each other

Ryan & Julie in the water trying to teach Jaxson how to water ski

Paddle boarding with my buddy

Paddle boarding was so fun! If you wanna see something funny, try to watch 2 good size adults get on a single paddleboard and stand up.

Spike ball - it was a fun volleyball type ish game that we enjoyed learning while on this trip

A gorgeous sunset on Echo lake  - its my happy place!

Just making sure I can still wakeboard

and water ski!

Another hit was the jet ski - I love taking my kids to this place I enjoyed so much growing up!