July Jewels

We had a great summer!  Here are a few things we did in July...besides regular daily life of course.

I love having the boys' help in the kitchen.  Most days.  :-)

Sticker Man

George and his buddy Drake took swim lessons together--it was actually still in June, but, as George says, "Whatever!"

The garden is starting to come up!  Grandma let us share.  "Thanks for the garden, Grandma!" (another George-ism)

July 1st we went down to a parade and free activities at Festival Place.  So close to home!  It was a hot day, but the boys lasted quite a while on the bouncy houses, in the petting zoo, eating bannock roasted over a fire while listening to drumming from a nearby teepee, and playing many games.

O Canada!

Grandma joined us for the festivities

Going home after the part-eh

And the day continues!  We love being close to family.

I got to attend YW camp with this beautiful bunch of girls this summer.  It was my first time being back at girls camp since being a young woman myself!  Quite the experience!

The layout at the stake camp.  Our tent was on higher ground--luckily, as there was quite a lot of rain!

We ended the week with a spectactular balloon liftoff.  What great girls!  

Heading to the Street Performers' festival with our friends the Eatons.  We went the week Will and Ry were at YM camp.

Splashing in the fountains on Churchill Square

There is a contortionist in that box!  It was the craziest thing to watch.

Buddies...most of the time

We got to meet up with Lucy and Kendall in Banff, of all places!  He had a conference and we got to stay in Uncle Tom's condo in Canmore.  What a great trip!

We did quite a bit of hiking and this little rock squirrel kept right up!

The last time James and I traveled this scenic highway in Banff was before we were engaged.  It was romantic being there again together.  

Just look at that color!  The famous Lake Louise.

There were incredible views to behold on the ground as well!

We did a long-ish steep hike one of the days,  We saw 10 peaks!  Spectacular.

The squirrel did tire out a bit...

"This is the best view."

Hungry hikers--L and K helped us deal with the various emotions that came to the boys during the week.  We took them to a challenging vegan restaurant--delicious!

The long-suffering Papa

Back home again--our basil was so beautiful this summer!  We have been enjoying it.

Tommy completed his first round of Harry Potter--he is re-reading his favorite spots now.

And no summer would be complete without a lot of wrestling!

Tommy and George made quillos this summer--so we had to pull out the old ones and get a group shot.

Happy July!