summer update part 2

Earlier this summer the first batch of "Chicago cousins" came up to visit.  My cousin Stephanie and her family came.  It was fantastic.  Love when we get to see them.  We were very busy everyday, just the way the Chicago cousins like it.  We hit all the tourist spots in the area.  I only got pictures of a couple places we went.  We had a great time hanging out together.  

One of the places we went to was the Fort in Fort Macleod.  I never thought I'd actually go there seeing as how I grew up there.  Isn't it funny how you never seem to go to places that you live close by? 

Here are a couple of pics of us at the Fort

Some of the kids stopping so that we could take a picture of them. How cute is "little Zack"?  We have two Zacks - so we had to differentiate some how.

 Cameron got to be the inspector of the mounties and their horses.  He had to make sure that everything was in order or he could make them do push-ups.  He was kind to them, and everyone passed.

 Where they belong?  

 On another day we went to the Bellevue mine tour.  Most of us had been on it - I had actually never gone, so it was new to me.  I really enjoyed it, and it seemed like everyone else did too.

Zack and Braiden getting ready to go coal mining.

 Jake and Clara heading into the mine.

 This is what happens to kids when going through the mine.  Actually he whined for most of it, and then fell asleep on the way out.  Steph and Jakes "little Zack" fell asleep in it too.

 We headed out to Waterton on another day.  No one can come visit the area and not go to Waterton!  Beautiful place, and we love to go there.  

 It also never fails that whenever Blaine is with us in Waterton we always see bears. First we saw a mom and two cubs, and later on we saw another bear, and other animals as well.  It should be a family rule that you must always take Blaine with you to Waterton so you can see all sorts of animals.

 The mom above and one of the cubs below.  They walked right in front of our cars and then stayed pretty close to the road for awhile.

 And Cameron at his lake.  We could not miss going to his lake and water falls.

 Looks like the boys are contemplating something serious.  Or maybe just wondering how freezing the water is?

 Of course Skylar had to be the first one to test out the water, as she is the family fish.  It's always so cold, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be.  We all had to take a turn to see how cold it was.

 Skyar and Braiden - Braiden always the goof

 Blaine and Shannon

 Ahhh - isn't she lovely?  :)

 We also stopped at Red Rock.   Here is a prego Steph with a couple of the kids climbing down in the canyon.

 Braiden and Ainsleigh looking like they found something interesting.

 Steph and Jake and the two youngest on the bridge.  Look at the scenery, Waterton is just beautiful.

 Shan and I decided to go on the little hike to the falls by Red Rock.  I can't remember the name of it, but since neither of us had been to it (actually I didn't even know about them till that day) we decided to take Caleb and check it out.  Caleb wasn't too happy to be stuck on my back for too long, but he finally gave into defeat.  They were actually pretty nice falls.  

Shan and I were doing poses cause we could see Blaine taking pictures.  After a bit I started walking again thinking he had to of gotten a couple.  Well, this is all we got - Shan still got a pose in anyways!

It is always a great time when the Chicago cousins come to visit.  Now we get to see the rest of them in a couple days - so excited!