Last weekend of freedom!

With Braiden going back to school tomorrow, this past weekend has been his last few days of freedom.  So of course one of the days we had to go boating again.  It was super choppy out on the lake so it ended up being a tubing kind of day.

Tyson, Braiden, Zack, Skylar, Blaine - and the feet belong to Clint!  The kids are definitely getting braver on those tubes.  I remember when we would slowly putt around when pulling them... not anymore!  And they had some pretty big waves to contend with as well.

 Having some fun.  Clint kept pushing and kicking the other tube out of the wake and into the crazy waves!

 I had to get my turn on the tube as well

 So what do I do when I'm riding in a tube that is loosing air - and I can feel EVERYTHING; which leads to a very sore butt?

I BAIL!

 Caleb not happy that he has to wear a life jacket.  He did fall asleep about 5 minutes later though, so not to worry

The next day we all went and helped Mom and Dad re-roof the garage.  They worked hard on it.  

Here is Braiden getting into the job.  He's taking out the nails left over from the old shingles.

 A happy helper.  (that didn't last too long though)

 Blaine and Dad hard at work.  They ended up bringing the trampoline over.  And that is how they got up and down from the roof.  It worked great!

 Tyson, Zack and Braiden.  Braiden is now the pouty helper...

Zack and Tyson.  I am so impressed with Tyson.  He worked so hard that day;  he worked with them till the bitter end.  Blaine said he did amazing!  

I had great plans for today, as it was Braidens last day of summer vacation.  But plans change.  We spent the day working around the house, doing laundry and things like that.  We have a few projects on the go, and I just needed to get some stuff done.  Braiden spent the day playing with the other kids who live around here.  We may have not done anything too exciting, but it ended up being a pretty good day!

The one very exciting thing is that we now have bunk beds!!!  So happy!!  The crib is gone - not that Caleb ever slept in it...either did Braiden when he was little.  It was mainly just a nice decoration for the room.

 Happy boys hanging out on the top bunk!

Well tomorrow morning is the start of the new school year.... back to alarms, and school lunches. (my least favourite things about school)  But I'm hoping that it also means getting back into a  routine and finally getting those projects done.  Here is hoping that it is going to be a great year in grade 2 for Braiden.

Boating days

One of the things we love every summer are boating days!  So much fun!  While our cousins were up we spent a couple of days at the lake.  

Getting ready to head off in the tube.  

Brothers all smiles... for now

 Clint took them for a wild ride.  They were hanging on for dear life!  They got a few good wipe outs as well.  I wish I had taken some pics of those, but I was usually trying to hold on as well in the boat.

Next Clint and Jason went in the tube, and my dad was out for revenge.  All I can say is poor Jason,  he didn't even see it coming.

 It was the craziest tube or boat ride I had ever been on!  I barely got any pictures, because I couldn't keep the camera steady at all.    But I did get a lot of sky and water pictures...

 At the end of that tube ride we heard a loud pop.  Turns out the tube couldn't handle all the craziness.  So here they are mourning the loss....  well, trying to figure out how to fix it.

Hard at work digging holes in the sand.

Fun beach time!

I had to put this one in - love the look on Marys face. She looks excited!

Mary, Clarke and Mellissa

 Tyson and Braiden on a fun ride - asking to go faster!

Once the two man tube died we had to switch to the three-man.  Here is Blaine, Brandon and Cody. 

 This was a great ride.  They had a few great wipeouts as well.  that is always the best part - watching people fly into the water!

This year Braiden tried the kneeboard. I am so proud of him!  He did an amazing job.

 Blaine and Braiden talking to each other.  

 Such a cute pic of Braiden.  He loved it.  He's growing up so fast! 

You know your always going to have a great time out on the lake.  It's always a highlight of the year!

All by myself

While we were at Banff we went to a park to eat and play.  They had a playground that was perfect size for an 18 month old.  It was great for Caleb, and you don't seem to come across those very often.  He was over there with my mom and went I got over there she told me I had to check this out.  Caleb had figured out how to do it all himself.  In the past I've always helped him out going up the stairs, and going down the slide (which is his favourite thing to do at the park).  It was the perfect playground for him

Going down the slide all by himself. 

He was playing for quite a while before he noticed the tunnel and that it led to another part of the playground.  But after he figured it out he kept going back for more

Just had to throw a shot of Braiden in.  He spent most of the time at the "big kid" one.  

Here is a video.  It's not the best of what he was doing, since he actually had to get a little help on this one.  I can't believe that with all the tons of times he kept going on here, that this was all I got.  Great recording!   He's getting so big!

Lake Louise

The second batch of Chicago cousins came up at the beginning of the month.  One of the things we did was go camping in Banff.  So one of the days we went to Lake Louise.  The majority of us had never been there.  I'm thinking that only my mom had been.  I have to say that it was beautiful.  After spending a couple of days up there, I get why it is such a huge attraction.  

Here is Blaine excited to get to Lake Louise!  And a couple cousins in the background

 A family pic.  

 Cool scenery eh?

 Cameron, Braiden and Zack.  I just thought that it was kinda funny with both Braiden and Zack doing the one eye squint 

 You can sort of see the hotel in the background.  It was a very cool hotel

 Braiden was playing on the rocks here.  While I was hoping he wasn't going to fall in!

 We also went on the gondola at the ski hill.  It was amazing what you could see up there.

 The lake you can see is the one that we had just been at.  

 Braiden went with mom and dad down the hill.  Blaine and I stayed in a closed one with Caleb

 This is what Caleb looked like when we got to the bottom of the hill.  Tired little guy

 After that we drove up to the ice fields.  It was pretty cool.  And you realize they aren't joking when they say the ice fields are melting.  They had a bunch of signs with years on them, showing where the ice field was at that time.  It's crazy how much it has melted!  I also was thinking that the picture that they alway show on the brochure has got to be 30 years old, because it definitely does not look like that anymore!

Here is Braiden at the info centre, and you can see one of the glaciers behind him.

 Trecking up to see the glaciers.  It was so cold!

 You can see Blaine, Caleb and dad at the bottom of the pic

 A guy had told us that there was a little path that took you behind the roped off line, and if you took it  you could actually go right up to the glacier and touch it.  So we had to check that out!  

Here is Blaine "licking" the glacier.  On our way back he admitted that he didn't actually lick it, he just made it look like it for the picture.  haha

We all took a turn on the glacier - we didn't want to fall through or anything, so it was one at a time.

Caleb was so cold.  He kept shivering, so as soon as we had gone across to it, we headed back to the warm car.

Braidens turn! 

 My cousin Mellissa.  

It was very cool to see that.  It made us wonder what it is going to look like in the future.  We will have to go check it out again years down the road and see how it has changed.

Gull Lake

The last day of all of us getting together in Edmonton we decided to stop at Gull Lake on the way home.  We had never been there before.  It was a nice place and I'm sure the kids loved being able to get out of the car for a bit. 

Blaine and Braiden - Braiden of course making sure he looks weird in the picture.

 Hayley and Skylar swimming.  

 Brody playing with his truck in the water, he seemed to love that toy.

 Blaine and a very sad Caleb.  Caleb was still fevered so Blaine wanted to put some cold water on him. And Caleb was just not very happy about the whole thing.

 Jordan showing her mad gymnast skills

 And what could be more fun than playing in the sand?  Aren't they the cutest?  

After this we all went our separate ways going home.  It was an amazing couple of days