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!
