The Edmonton Valley Zoo

Chris' social club at work put on an evening at the Edmonton Valley Zoo at the end of May. We got in at reduced admission one Saturday evening and had the Zoo all to ourselves! We had fun walking around and had a special presentation with Lucy the elephant. We also got free drinks and snacks!

 We got to ride the carousal as well, and would have got to go on the paddle boats if we didn't get a down pour of rain just after the elephant presentation. We waited it out for awhile in the reptile exhibit and then headed home early. Too bad, it was a fun night and we hope they do it again next year.

Backyard Fun

 Rachel, Isla, Tessa, Stella, and Macy.

 Gotta have a goofy one!

We love our backyard! It has 'been under construction' as Macy would say for the last month and we are missing it! (We brought in more top soil and seeded it again, so we can't go out and play). Here is some backyard fun we had one sunny day early in May with our friends Isla and Stella.

Canmore, AB May Long Weekend

I'm going to start by saying we had the nicest and warmest spring ever. I'm talking +28 C in April. Of course May long weekend usually brings bad weather and we usually don't care since we never do anything. This year though, we had plans to go to Canmore with our friends the Fixsen's, and were sure the weather would be more of the same, hot and sunny. But nope! However, rainy and cool weather didn't stop us. We had the best weekend!

We drove down Thursday night after Chris got home for work and arrived at the Fixsen's condo around 10:30 pm. Friday morning we went for a bike ride and played at the park. 

I love Stella's fake sleep!

After lunch we went hiking at Grassi Lake. The cool weather was perfect for the way up.

Wyatt made the girls a picture scavenger hunt of things we would find on the trail, one was the twisted tree!

 Macy, Wyatt, Isla, and Stella.

Grassi Lake.

After we made it to the top, the guys hiked a little further to get better view and the girls explored some of the caves.

After the hike, Chris and Brett went mountain biking and later Leslie and I did some window shopping around town.

Saturday morning we went swimming at Elevation Place. After lunch, Chris, Macy, Brett, Wyatt, and Isla went back to do rock climbing.

After dinner we did the park again and then hit up the ice cream shop.

Sunday we did church in the morning and Banff Hot Springs in the afternoon. The cool, rainy weather was perfect for the hot springs. However, I've been spoiled by the Bozeman Hot Springs and these weren't as great...but still fun.

Monday we did the Candy Store and packed up. It was a super weekend. The kids traveled and slept as well as could be expected. It was a fun mini holiday in the middle of May and we're so grateful the Fixsen's are so awesome and invited us along!