Summer Begins - Canada Day and Waterton

 So, this summer is a lot different than usual. The borders are closed still, so that means we won't be able to go down to the cabins. It is such a big bummer, and we are all devastated. We could have flown in, but then we would have to come home and quarantine for 2 weeks. We went back and forth about it, but finally decided to stay in Canada and make our own fun here. We plan on going to Banff, Waterton (which I have only ever been to once), and then a big road trip to Vancouver Island in August. We will miss all of Jeff's family and my parents and Joce and Jeff who are all at the cabin. They either drove because they were American citizens, or flew in and decided to do the quarantine thing. It's already been so so hard, but we are all doing our best to keep busy and not think about what we are missing!

For Canada Day we surprised the kids and took them to a hotel for a night to go swimming! We left the day before Canada Day, since Jeff had it off, and we swam all evening and the next day. I can't explain how excited the kids were and always are about staying in a hotel. They love the adventure of sleeping somewhere new. At Best Western Port-O-Call they have two fun water slides, and a baby pool with a smaller slide. Leo loved that area and being able to go down the slide by himself, but of course he also wanted to be like the big kids and I ended up taking him down the slide too many times to count. It kept me warm though because, unfortunately, the hot tub wasn't open because of Covid-19 rules. That was a bit of a bummer. The kids slept great, even Leo in his playpen that he's too big for! I brought snacks for after swimming, and then we ate breakfast at the restaurant at the hotel the next day. After swimming for hours and hours, we still had to drag the kids out of the pool. They seem to never get tired of swimming! We all had a hot bath or shower and headed home. It was so so fun!

 We went to Waterton on July.9 and stayed 2 nights in the Waterton Lakes Lodge Resort. Jeff took a Friday off so that we weren't in the huge Saturday crowds, and it was so worth it! We got upgraded to a suite with a kitchen and 3 bedrooms, which was amazing. 
We woke up, ate breakfast in our room from the food I had brought (milk, cereal, yogourt, sausages), and then headed to Red Rock Canyon. Right by the canyon is a short hike to Blakiston Falls, which I thought was really gorgeous. Leo has chosen to be very hard these days...he likes to go the opposite way we tell him to and just do the opposite thing we say in general. We let him walk this trail, which was maybe a bad idea, but we eventually made it to the falls and all the kids loved it! Bentley and Deacon are sure enjoying hiking and nature these days. Then we walked back, ate our lunch we brought, changed the kids into swimsuits, and walked over to red rock canyon. It was absolutely gorgeous, and the water was so freezing. I honestly had no hopes of the kids actually swimming in it, I just thought they would walk around and splash in it. At first, they tried to avoid the water, but as time went on we started stepping through it and going deeper and deeper. Then we convinced Deacon to go down the little rock "slide" and he did! He is such a brave boy! He was so cold, but kept deciding to do it over and over. We finally convinced Bentley to do it and she did a couple times, and then was done. There was a bigger slide with deep water at the end that Deacon wanted to go down. I was worried he wouldn't be able to swim and I'd have to rescue him so I ran back to the van to get his life jacket after he demanded it. It was adorable how brave he was and how much fun he had with this! He swam right into the freezing deep water, and was cold, but so excited about it. He really impressed all of us! Leo enjoyed climbing around and playing in the water, and we all had a really great time.
I should also mention all of the animals we saw! They were a big part of our trip as well. When we drove towards Red Rock, we saw a bear up on the hill coming towards us and then just headed off. We kept driving and saw another bear, this time a mama with 2 cubs! There was one car ahead of us and they literally crossed the street. It was one of the coolest things I have seen! There was a fake bear statue that we saw too, and Jeff screamed that there was a bear, and I actually got quite scared by it! We also saw a deer in town. Waterton is full of wildlife!
After that we came home for a snack and a nap for Leo. Then Bentley and Jeff headed off horse back riding. The minimum age was 5, so unfortunately she was the only kid who could go, but I think it was a fun little date for Jeff and Bentley. I wasn't sure how Bentley would do, but she came home so excited and told me all about the fun she had. Her horse even tripped and fell, but she hung on and wasn't scared. The guide was very good and loved Bentley, and Jeff said it was the most beautiful horse riding experience he had ever been on. 
I took the boys to the splash park and normal park that was right beside our hotel while they were out, and that was fun too. We ran into some friends and Jeff and Bentley met us there when they were done. Then we headed to Waterton Weiners for some hotdogs, and then beavertails for dessert. We all slept well that night after a great day!
The next day we ate breakfast in our hotel again with the food I brought (life saving!), and then rented a canoe and a kayak. We canoed and kayaked on the upper Waterton lake, in emerald bay, and it was just gorgeous. I think we all enjoyed it, and Leo did pretty good as well. Afterwards we just played by the shore for a while and relaxed. Then we grabbed some lunch at a BBQ restaurant and headed home. As we drove out, there was a huge lineup of cars coming in, so were pretty happy to be going the other direction! It was a really good weekend.