avion ridge

on monday and tuesday, fraser, aaron and i hiked avion ridge in waterton.  fraser was in town from new york and aaron was here from singapore.  we are all converging for fraser's wedding, so it was a meaningful trip.  after meeting in the morning we bought food in pincher creek and stopped for lunch at the amazing mexican restaurant in twin butte of all places.

our route started from the red rock canyon parking lot.  we hiked the fairly flat and wide trail to snowshoe camp.

despite the forecast thundershowers, we managed to forget our tent... or more specifically our tentpoles.  we did however bring 2 tarps and some serious rope and we were able to rig up a stellar place to sleep.

we hiked to lost lake in the evening.  just before we reached the lake, lightning started crackling, and we were excited to watch sheets of hail smash into the water.

aaron also neglected to bring a raincoat, so he was styling the ever fashionable garbage bag jacket.

when we arrived back in camp it was pouring rain, but our gear was nice and dry.  we ate dinner in our shelter and snuggled in for an only slightly damp sleep.

the next morning we lazed around, had a 4 hour breakfast and didnt get going until just before noon.

our route went quickly up the shoulder of the mountain, kissed the BC border, and then turned up onto the ridge.

the views opened up quickly, and the trail along the ridge was spectacular.

we stopped on the peak of the ridge for some food and a chance to enjoy the scenery.  amazingly for waterton, there was almost no wind.  the clouds briefly threatened rain, and we could clearly see it raining in the castle range 2 valleys over, but our beautiful weather held steadfast all day.

after the peak, we still had a lot of ridge left to walk.  the shale turned red as the ridgeline bent northward.

the final section in the full alpine skirted around a col.  going up and over would have made a nice scramble, but we judged it too risky with our full packs.  the steep exposure and off camber trail were risk enough.

on the way down to goat lake we encountered a waterfall coming directly out of the mountain.  it was delicious.

descending into the valley above goat lake was a reward in itself.

after another food stop at goat lake we made the final descent to the valley and followed an easy double track out to arrive back at the car at dusk.  a beautiful trip with fun weather, great views, good food and old friends.

Camping IV

We just got back from our fourth camping trip of the summer and the weather cooperated, we had a beautiful site and the company wasn't too shabby either. ;)  We had a spot directly across from this beach and spent all day playing and relaxing.  We had a few friends camping in various spots throughout the campground the they joined us for daily fun at the beach. 

  

 

 Ty is a little fishy in the water and really improved in his swimming skills here.   He kept wanting to swim out further and further with us and on our last day we took off his life jacket and he swam a few strokes without his floatation device. 

We were camping with our friends Mike and Patti and we invited a bunch of friends up one night for a party.  It also happened to be Mike and Patti's 26th anniversary so we celebrated with some cake.

We also had a very short 24 hour visit from our friend Steve.  Steve is currently teaching in the Gambia and although the 24 hours passed much too quickly it was great to reconnect with him!!  Steve comes up with great games like hide the beans and we really enjoyed our campfire discussions with him.

Lovely site: (In our opinion the best in the campground.  The most sun and right across from the beach!)

Our boys got so dirty everyday but that is what camping is all about!!  Until next time . . .

Idaho

We spent the first week of July in Idaho at my Granny and Gramp's house with my dad and brother, sister in law Raquel and niece Maria.  We missed out last year as Zeke was just a newborn so it was great to be back!  Ty and Maria played so well together and it was great for them to reconnect.

 

On the fourth, we headed to my Aunt Annette's for the annual Independence Day BBQ.  This is my lovely Aunt Annette and this picture captures her beautiful smile perfectly. 

 

 

 Granny and Gramps at the BBQ

The highlight of the whole trip for Ty was "fire in the sky."  We picked up some fireworks at the local roadside stand and did some mini ones during the day and kept him up the latest he has ever been up to watch our family fireworks show.

 Marc let Ty help him light the fireworks.  Grauntie Tammy was aghast that Marc would allow Ty to light fireworks without safety goggles but he was (thankfully!) a little anxious about the fire and would run away quite quickly to the safety of the grass.  He was so excited he was vibrating.  I love the above picture with both Marc and Ty looking up at the fireworks with wonder. :)
Getting ready for the evening show:

Granny and Gramps live up the hill from a lake and across the lake are 3 separate towns.  We have an excellent vantage point to see all 3 towns firework shows and we watched them while simultaneously enjoying our own show out back.

The whole family: (Missing Gruncle Bruce and cousins Ian and Erin)

4 generations:

On our last full day we headed out to the waterslides.  Ty was so excited to go but when we got there he had just woken up after falling asleep in the car and was a miserable mess.  Maria fell asleep and wouldn't wake up and Zeke hated the water and screamed every time he touched it. 

Thankfully Maria woke up, we got Ty an ice cream cone, just carried Zeke around and didn't touch his toes in the water and all was well.  The kids had a great time and did not want to leave. 

The adults had some fun too.

 We had a great time and are super excited to see Grandpa and Brad, Raquel and Maria again in Lethbridge in August!