Whitefish!

After Canada Day weekend, I drove straight down with the kids to visit my folks in Whitefish.  Joe planned his fishing trip during that week so it worked out nicely.  I thought I would be extra stressed because I would have no husband, but I feel like I had MORE help with my Mom and Sarah!  Haha!  Who needs a husband when you have a Mom and a sister?  In fact, Sarah wasn't planning on coming until last minute and she was all worried that she was bombarding my time with Mom.  Haha!  Yeah right.  When there are more cousins to play with, it's always a better time!  There was not a dull moment.

We started with Fourth of July pancake breakfast.  

My Mom is in a singing group called the Ukeladies.  I love the name!  They sang a bunch of patriotic songs and did a great job.  Just goes to show, never too old to try something new!  Proud of my cute Mama.

If it were up to my kids they would live in the swimming pool all day, but I made them go for a walk like a mean Mom.

Jane and water could have gone so many ways, but as long as she was wearing one of these handy things, she was fine!  I discovered that she loved every minute of being in the water and had no problem floating around on her own.  In fact, she preferred it.  Any time someone would come try to direct her around, she would get mad at them.

Zoe refused to wear her life jacket all week long.  So, she stayed in the shallow end.  She is so close to not needing one at all.  Maybe by the end of the Summer.

Taylor and Hannah were both huge helps with Jane.  So much love to give.

 We went to Whitefish beach again for fireworks and almost got our toes blown off!  As we were walking there, a couple teenagers lit off some fireworks and purposely put it on the sidewalk to see what would happen.  Well.  They got a lot of furious Ords is what they got!  After it zoomed past all of our feet (it hit the guy behind me) Sarah and Taylor hunted them down and happened to pass some cops while in pursuit.  Sarah surprises me sometimes with her ability to get her sass on and make things right!  Justice!  I would have complained to those around me, but she caught them and made sure they paid for their dumb mistakes.  She's got good Mama-bear qualities and told them just what she thought.  That's the last time those kids will try something that stupid again!  Haha!  We found a spot and got some ice cream just in time for the fireworks display to begin.  It did not disappoint.  

We legit lived at the pool all day.  Perfect vacation.

Jackson, Noah and I have been watching Lemony Snickett's series of Unfortunate Events.  So one evening we pulled out the bed in the living room and just chilled and watched a bunch of episodes  after the girls had gone to bed.

When the boys were not swimming, they were here.

My crew.

Jenny's fam happened to be staying at Echo Lake during the same week so we joined her for a day.  The lake was so cold but it didn't stop us!  And Ryan James was right next door to us and let us use his rope swing.  It was terrifying and so fun!  (Rope-swing photos courtesy of Jenny).

This girl.  Oy!!!

The second Jane went down for a nap was the second I felt like I could breathe again.  Basically, I like this picture below.  Freedom!  She is SO busy and always trying to die.

I had such a fun week made possible by my parents' generosity.  Now that I'm a parent I see how much work goes into everything!  So I am truly grateful for the kindness that made my little family's vacation possible.  Happy Whitefish!

Oh Canada!

 Another super fun weekend at the Glenwood lodge celebrating Canada Day with the fam!  It was Grandma Gibb's 90th birthday so it was a pretty big deal.  Nicole designed T-shirts for all and decorated a float and we got to throw candy at people (which Noah said was his favourite part of the whole weekend).  

In line for pancakes.  This line is getting longer and longer each year!  

We went to Waterton and ran into some dear friends, the Lows!  Jackson and Zach go way back to when they were toddlers in Edmonton, so we made them take this awkward pic together.  "You used to be friends, so stand beside each other and pretend you remember!!"  Haha!  They didn't.  But by the end of the afternoon they were pretty tight.

Our families.  Amelia and Justin have six kids, so with our five it kind of looks like MY family.  Almost.  Haha!  Waterton is so beautiful!  We couldn't have picked a colder or windier day to go, but you could never tell by the looks on our faces.  I was so happy to see Amelia.  Friends for life.

The nieghbours have horses, so we were being brave.

 There was a baseball tournament all weekend so the family kind of had to split their time a bit.  I kind of wanted to play but they mean serious business and it was actually scary thinking about joining the Gibb team to be honest.  I watched them warm up by passing the ball to each other at a thousand miles an hour and was immediately OUT!  There is a reason they won first place this year.  I actually really enjoyed watching, but not with littles.  So we only watched for a bit and made our way over to John and Patty's for food and a dance party.  Noah and Jane were basically the only two out there.  Well.  Me.  I was there too.  Where else do you think they get their sweet moves from?

I know it's root beer, but, this pic of Georige is hilarious.

 This.  This was my highlight.  And I couldn't move after.

Other than the ice cream, I'd say late nights laughing with Joe's cousins (basically Melissa and Robbie were the ones constantly keeping us in stitches) and the fireworks after the dance were the highlights of the weekend.  I was so tired at the end of each day, but somehow was able to stay up long enough to enjoy it all.  Canada Day weekend can be kind of stressful trying to keep kids happy and alive, but we survived another year!