Okay, people. Since this post was deleted the last time I worked on it, I decided to skip all the high-falutin' journal entry ways and just do a sum-up. There will be loads of pictures, but very little explanations. If you would like more details, please let me know!
DAY EIGHT:
We spent the entire day in
Waterton!
Woot!
BEAR'S HUMP:
Steep hike; not too long. Worth the view?? YES! And the kids found some chipmunks that were more than happy to eat seeds out of their hands.
CRANDALL LAKE:
Easier hike; not too long. But not as easy as we thought; Grandpa had to carry Pitcher Guy (my nephew) on his shoulders because the trail was not stroller accessible. Doh! The lake was beautiful, but we didn't go down to it; in hiking, what goes down, must come up! The forest, though? Fairytale-like. I wanted to settle down and build a cottage right then and there!
CAMERON LAKE:
PRINCE OF WALES HOTEL:
Gorgeous "relic" of a place; absolutely stunning. The view of Waterton Lake behind the hotel is always worth a visit!
RED ROCK CANYON:
Good for wading in, hiking around, and apparently (as Brandon will soon show you if you look closely enough) hiking through. Too stormy (the storm from Cameron Lake followed us to Red Rock) to hike to Blackiston Falls, so we left for the day.
FAMILY PICTURES:
This is my immediate family (with Grandma); I am the oldest of four. Both the proper shot and the silly shot:
After these pictures and some yummy dinner, we played Canadian Cranium, Guitar Hero (you can't possibly play enough Guitar Hero, btw), and lit off some illegal fireworks in the gravel parking lot outside whilst-a-singin' The Star Spangled Banner. Happy Fourth of July!
DAY NINE:
Most people went home this day, but some of my cousins --and us! --stayed an extra day and we headed back to Waterton. After a great lunch, we headed to Red Rock Canyon and hiked to Blackiston Falls:
Back at Red Rock, the kids found a butterfly:
On both days, we saw bears. Lots of bears! And deer, and Mountain Sheep. Here are some pictures of the bears and sheep (the deer were so plentiful, I didn't think to take more than a couple of pictures --you can see them on the other post of the Fabulous Vacation). FYI --the bears in the second video were incredibly close; so close, they had park rangers near by to make sure people didn't do anything stupid (we were in Red Rock on the 2nd day). And I was amazed at how many bears we saw! I have been going to Waterton for decades now, and I never saw as many bears as I saw in this one trip. It was so exciting! Oh, and please ignore all the loony commentary that you hear on these videos. I kind of sound like an idiot. Ah, well.
After we left Waterton, we went back to Lethbridge and met more family for some Chinese Food. By the time Brandon and I hit the sack (and the kiddies), we were exhausted!
The next day (DAY TEN) we went to Sacrament Meeting with my paternal grandparents. The kids were pretty good (always better when their dad is around). After church we packed as fast as we could; Brandon headed back to Calgary (he still had to do work with clients on Mon, July 7th), and we headed back to Idaho (my dad drove with me)! The drive went great, the kids were great, we made great time, and it was really...great. Ha! Anyway, we got back to my parents house and spent the night.
On Day Eleven, I cleaned out the car, packed the last of the packing that would be packed, and the kids and I headed back to Provo. We took my FIL out for dinner at Brick Oven that night for his birthday, and by the time we got home and I got the kids in bed (by then, Brandon had seen his client and had flown to Philidelphia to see other clients), I was done. Done, I tell you! Finished! Wiped out!
It was a FABULOUS vacation (if you couldn't tell by the title), so glad I did it, but it was, indeed tiring. What with that and Youth Conference, I think I need a relaxing vacation, don't you think?
9 comments:
I HEART Waterton! Last time I went was when Will was 2 (I went without Jim and camped with my family). Jim's never been there (or to Canada for that matter), so I'm hoping we can make it next summer. Loved all the pics and they totally made me miss that place!
ahhhh - waterton :) takes me right back to the honeymoon!! i loved that place...and we stayed there at the prince of wales - it was beautiful! we had one of the rooms on a top floor - so the view out our window was breath-taking all of the time!! I am jealous of all the hiking too!
I need to go to Waterton. I'm mega jealous.
We also went to Waterton on our honeymoon. We just went for one day - we stayed in Glacier. It is such a pretty place! This post has made me sad that our reunion next year got moved to Calgary. Oh, well. We'll see the Stampede instead.
We'll have to stop on the way to or from. Or both!
What a beautiful place. I want to go to Canada some day. And that's hilarious that Brandon looks like he's going to puke in that goofy picture!
That looks like a good time. Even with all of the hiking. :)
It really was a fabulous vacation! I loved how much time we all got to spend together! And, oh yes, you can never play too much Guitar Hero!
Ah... but I *did* puke. The food was not as good as Cheryl said. It was quite the mess to clean up.
;)
I love that picture of you & Brandon with little #4's head poking out from behind your back, too funny! And I totally would've been saying the same stuff to the baby bears...ah, baby talk. :)
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