Celebrating Birthdays in Calgary!

Over the next couple of days, we went on hikes, tours and celebrated birthdays. The boys at Hailstone Butte...

Joanne and Jim enjoying a laugh over something...Joanne was leaving today to stay with her son and family before heading back to Edmonton. See you in September!

It was birthday celebration time at Krysten's parents! Sawyer had just celebrated a birthday and both Alex and Krysten's stepfather, Jim, were having birthdays the week we were there. There was lots of Lego and lots of Duplo. The boys were busy!

Grandma and Sawyer...it didn't take him too long before he wasn't shy with us.

Alex with his great grandmother...

The boys had a great water gun fight...wasn't over until they were both drenched.

Alex got a new bike for his 6th birthday!

Which of course Sawyer had to try. Anything his big brother does, he wants to do too!

Krysten's family...thank you for hosting our whole family!

Jennifer was thrilled that Krysten made her a special cake for her recent 50th birthday!

I believe this was shortly before her sister, Stephanie, smooshed her face into a piece of cake. Gotta love sisters!

A special cake for the boys...Alex loves Batman!

Feeling pretty chill...

We ended up going to Canmore and Banff one day. Never, ever get tired of this scenery...

Big and little grandsons in Canmore...

Many tourists go halfway across this street on the walk light and then pause in the middle to take this photo. When in Banff, do as the tourists do!

Alex took a huge shine to his big cousin, Nicholas!

We decided to go to the Bear Street Tavern for lunch. They have Outcast beer on tap so it's nice to support them. This is what happens when 16 of us show up for lunch without a reservation, but in no time they had us seated.

Erik in Banff...

So cool to see...go Outcast!

I even got the bartender to take a photo of the tap stick and explained why. He said he loves Patrick's beer and heard that he is only working at this part-time. So Patrick came over and did some schmoozing...he and Krysten have certainly made a name for themselves.

We had to have our photo taken in front of the Banff Springs Hotel, the scene of our honeymoon more than 25 years ago. Still magnificent!

Patrick told us about a back country scenic drive, so the group split up and we went with Jeff and Nadine and the boys.

Damian still having fun with the selfie stick...

The boys being still for a moment...

It was a great day!

Family photo!

Mountain goats...

Loved the striations in the rock...

So many beautiful views...

Reminded me of an alligator!

We stopped here for a bit so the boys could get out and burn off some energy...

Another stop with some kayakers...

And prairie dogs...

The days were going by too quickly. On the last day the boys went to a nearby park to play...it was hot!

A different way to come down the slide...

And sadly, the week flew by and it was time to leave. Goodbye to Calgary and Patrick and the family. Our reunion next year is planned for Kingston...

Over the prairies...

Love the patchwork...

And into Toronto...

Our reunions weren't quite over, because we stopped for a quick coffee in Kingston with Jim's cousin, Judy. They hadn't seen each other in at least 30 years and shared some great memories. She had actually been in Progresso, Mexico, at the same time we were, but we were never able to connect. Such a nice visit. I felt like I had known Judy forever.

A super couple of weeks of visiting old friends, new friends and spending time with family!

Our next trip...an Alaskan cruise in September with Joanne and, our Russian trip partners, the Coopers.

Happy 150th Birthday, Canada!!

Happy Birthday, Canada!! We were all ready to celebrate with our red shirts and Canada flags!

We were heading to Forgetmenot Pond in Kananaskis where we would meet up with the rest of the family for photos and a walk around the pond.

It is so beautiful and many, many people were enjoying it on this special day.

The cousins getting ready for a photo...

Nicholas with his Grandpa...

A certain boy got a hold of my selfie stick...

Damian practising his dabbin'...the look on Dominic's face is priceless..."really?"

Grandma and the boys...

Now that's a close up!

Grandma and Dominic...

Two flags!

The whole family in a beautiful setting on an amazing day!

Family photos...Nadine, Dominic, Damian and Jeff

Jennifer and Doug...

Randy and Stephanie...

Kim and Jim...

Cousins Dominic, Alex, Sawyer and Damian...

Siblings!

Love this photo...thanks to Randy for bringing his gear and taking so many photos!

Alex, Krysten, Patrick and Sawyer...

Krysten and I...

How beautiful is this? Even though there were people everywhere you turned, we still managed to get many photos of just the natural beauty.

Thanks to Randy for all the photos...

That water was cold!

Dominic was offered $5 to wade out to the rock. No problem!

Jeff and Nadine...

Stephanie and I working the selfie stick. I think this photo was better than the one we took.

Brothers...

Breathtaking...

Dominic taking his turn with the selfie stick...

A crazy partial group shot...oops, cut off Alex's face!

Mother and son...Stephanie and Erik

A beautiful photo of Stephanie...

Our official photograher, Randy...

With that lovely morning over, we headed home. The boys had not stopped talking about the Cat Cafe so we decided to take the train for another visit. Dominic immediately got the hang of the train map and announced how many stops until we got off. He's 8...impressive!

Before the cats...cat cupcakes!

The rules...

Some days the cats are more interested in sleeping and this was one of those days...

The boys still managed to get play time with the Pepper lookalikes...

Back home, we prepared for a family BBQ. I have no idea what I'm running away from, but it made me laugh.

Joanne's son, David, with his wife, Sara, and son, Malcolm, also joined us...

A contemplative Jim...it was a super Canada Day. We couldn't have wished for better.

Some of the group went on to the fireworks. We wussed out and enjoyed our time at home.