Robert's Family Arrive ...

July 23, 2016

Mike and I drove to Alberta for the weekend ...

Jake and his family arrived this night ...

to spend the weekend visiting Nathan and his family ...

It's a good thing I made a batch of spaghetti sauce for dinner ...

these girls were starving ...

Craig ... James ... Ella and a friend ...

were having their dessert on the deck ...

while Jake and Maren were tucking the girls into bed ...

 

July 24, 2016

Sunday morning and it was decided that we would take the children to the zoo ...

The first stop was seeing the penguins ...

So many animals to see ...

We took a break and listened to the talk about tigers ...

and watched the trainer work with this tiger ...

Then off once again touring the grounds ...

By now the little legs were getting tired ...

and the bellies were growling ...

It was lunch time ...

stopping at the picnic area ... enjoying our meals ...

The girls decided it was the perfect place to practise doing their cartwheels ...

Craig and James were trying to help Ellie ...

After lunch ...

we went to the Butterfly Conservatory ...

The butterflies gently float between the flowers ...

landing on them ...

absorbing the warmth and energy from the sunlight ... to give them flight ...

It was a thrill for the kids when some of the butterflies landed on them ...

It was a truly beautiful peaceful place ...

Ella relaxing by the garden beds ...

waiting for all of us to head to the next area ...

Checking out the monkeys ... reptiles and lions ...

Ellie had enough of sitting in the stroller ... so ...

Craig decided to take a break and sit in the stroller ...

Ellie thought it was great and started to push the stroller ...

with a little help from daddy ...

We were headed to the ice cream shop ...

for another break ...

All these little (and big) legs could use a rest ...

Ice cream is always a delicious treat ... !!!

It was time to get up and get going ...

the sugar-high had kicked in ...

We still had about another hour of walking thru ...

the forested pathways of the Canadian Wilds exhibit ...

We were fortunate to see the grizzly and black bears ... cougars ...

bison ... bighorn sheep and mountain goats ... wolves ... eagles ... owls ...

These are all animals that reside in the beautiful ... unspoiled wilderness ...

which includes the prairies ... sub-alpine forests ...

and Rocky Mountains ...

We then arrived at the starting point ...

stopping to make sure everyone used the washroom facilities before

heading back to the house ...

Ellie spending this time with daddy ... and the giant Penguin ...

The kids were gathered ... on the couch ...

taking a few minutes to play on the iPad ...

before dinner was served ...

Jake and Maren had tucked the girls into bed ...

then came out on the deck to kick back and relax ...

Jake fooling around with the boys ...

not quite sure why he was tossing Craig around ...

(perhaps needing to do a few arm curls) ...

It looked like they were having fun anyways ...

It was getting late ...

Maren figured she should get a good night's sleep ...

as they were heading out early in the morning ...

on to their next adventure ... camping in the parks ...

The guys were still visiting ... all the kids had gone to bed ...

I heard the guys mention that they needed a snack ...

so I figured the one sure way that they would eat and then go to sleep ...

was to make the traditional "Grillers" ...

Jake had mentioned not to let Maren know ...

that I had made "Grillers" ...

This would not make her very happy ...

as she loves them as much as the guys do ...

We had so much fun this weekend ... !!!!

The next morning ... at breakfast ...

Jake couldn't keep it from Maren ... he had to tell her ...

(it was a mean thing to do) ...

I wish I could have gotten a picture ...

with the look of disappointment on her face ...

I'm so sorry Maren ...

I promise to make "Grillers" ...

when you come to our house in a couple weeks for a few days ...

after Jake returns home to go to work ...