Oh Canada Part 4: Hikes

 

each day in banff, we took off on little hikes.

sometimes it was a bit crazy getting 8 peeps ready to hit the trails,

including one little six week old.

izzy was a little trooper and loved being carried on the hikes.

i couldn't have done it without the help of my sisters and parents.

 beauty is all around in banff,

and anywhere you go,

the views are breathtaking.

pristine lakes,

wild mountains covered in rock and trees,

and lovely flowers.

*these pics are from our hike to grassi lakes and johston canyon.

thanks to parker for all the good shots.

Oh Canada Part 3: Cousins reunite!

After a long year of not seeing each other, the little cousins picked up right where they left off. 

Grandpa brought up magnifying glasses for them.  These were a hit.  The girls went all over the cabin using their magnifying glasses to check things out.

They explored, got in the hot tub, played chase, flew kites, watched movies, made necklaces and listened to music together, not to mention all of the cool hiking-that's coming up.  

There is an awesome video of Maya and Lizzie who are three weeks apart listening to the song 'Dynamite' with one head phone in each ear, singing their hearts out.  Love it.

We took a trip to the dollar store....which means that here in Canada, you come out spending $37. 

We found a great park, and saw amazing views. 

These littles loved being together.

Oh Canada! Part 2: Izzy loves

Izzy had only met Mom before coming out to Banff.
She was instantly eaten up when she arrived.
She met Grandpa, Amy, Cam, Emily, Lizzie, Sarah, Sophie, Carly and Parker for the first time. 
During our stay at Banff, I only really held Izzy to nurse her.  She was adored and loved by everyone and they all took turns holding her.
Grandpa knew just how to get her to smile by stroking her cheeks, Cam is now known as 'the baby whisperer' and Carly and Parker hardly let Izzy out of their sight.
She had just started to smile when we arrived at Banff, and it was sweet to see her grin at people.
And lick Grandma! 

Oh Canada! (in chronological order)

For vacation this summer we decided to head to Banff.  Evan and I had visited Banff the first summer we were married in 2003, and have been in love with it since.  And dying to return.  We decided that with Izzy being tiny she would most likely travel well, and why not drive 22 hours with four kids?!? The trip was epic.  It was insane at times, but I am so so glad we made the trek.  It was one I will always remember.

We left on a Friday morning at 6:37am to be exact.  I just want to remember that time, because it was a miraculous feat that we were all loaded in the car and ready to go at such a time in the morning!  And I do remember Maya asking if we were "there yet"and we had only been driving about thirty minutes.  Evan and I laughed to ourselves, and I seriously wondered if we would make it to Canada, or the North Dakota border for that matter.  But make it we did!  And we made it to the Canadian border.  I really enjoyed driving somewhere that we hadn't driven before, and North Dakota, the northern part is really gorgeous.  It has crazy rolling hills....and then those hills abruptly stop once you reach Canada.  Saskatchewan is flat.  Sooooo flat.  But it has these BRIGHT BRIGHT BRIGHT fields of yellow-canola fields in all directions as far as you can see. 

These pics are when we stopped to have a little break in this beautiful field of wildflowers.  Maya went exploring, Brynn played in dirt, Zoe played in the car, and Evan hit a box on a pole with a rock.  He was a happy man!

Noteworthy items:

*While driving in the car Maya and Brynn spotted some cows.  They began exaggerating how many they saw.
Maya: One hundred million trillion thousand!
Brynn: Sixty thousand (all of her guesses start with sixty thousand) billion million!
Zoe: (abruptly) FIVE!  (she didn't want to be left out)!

*Getting a speeding ticket in North Dakota-which was only $20!!!

Izzy at five weeks

Izzy Buns (as we like to call her, or if you want you can add 'cat' to the end of it to make it official like Brynn and Zoe do) had her pics taken by a wonderful friend of mine.  I wanted to have them taken earlier, but really don't remember much about the months of June or July.  It all seems like a blur to me-so I'm just happy that I have some pics of her at all at this tiny stage.  And now that Izzy is almost three months (!) I almost can't remember her at this age.  Time really does sneak by.  But I love these sweet pics of her face, hands, feet and beautiful eyes-and the hair!  Can't forget that.

We have been back from our adventures out west; with 1,000 (not exaggerating) pics to go through.  Someday I'll get around to those....

...and Maya started school today!  She is gone all day long-and it's sad and great in ways.  I miss her, but know that she is loving it.  I know it's so crazy, but I worry that she'll get hungry being gone for so long.  The girl can eat more that I can at mealtime.  She came home tired and happy.  A good sign.

I am slowly figuring out how to have four little people, and fall is fast approaching here in Minne.  I am getting ready to get legwarmers out....who's with me? 

Happy 4th!

 

Highlights of the 4th:

*Izzy's first boat ride at 3 weeks.
*Izzy sleeping through it all, and loving a breeze through her hair. 
*Zoe willingly getting in the lake with her Dad.
*Zoe eating her weight in salami.
*Zoe willingly touching a sunfish we caught.
*Brynn getting in the lake and sitting on Evan's shoulders.
*Brynn taking a ride on the tube and loving it, wanting to go faster!
*Maya fishing her heart out on the boat and knowing all the names of the fish that lived in the lake.

And now, we're off to have some fireworks in the driveway!