Last day of vacation

After making a big pot of stew for supper (a request each time we come), Karen and I went to Tim Hortons for lunch, then a nice long walk by the North Saskatchewan River.  The trees are just starting to bloom in Edmonton.

As you can see, it was another glorious day here - a bit windy and more comfortably cool today than yesterday.

We saw lots of ducks......

......of various kinds.....

.......and of course the geese.

What do you think, crow or raven - they look so much alike!

There were several of these rafts on the river today.  There's no white water, so I don't know what they were doing.

Papa and Bella having a little chat.

Nanny and Megan having a little chat.

Megan showing Nanny what's what.  :-)

Megan is leaving bright and early for a band trip tomorrow, so we asked her to play her solo for us tonight.  Her band will be adjudicated as part of the trip, and if they receive a high enough mark, will be going to the nationals.  I have seen a video of the band (grades 7,8,9), and they sound amazing!  I have a feeling they'll be going!

Megan giving her Mom a flute lesson - made Megan look really good!  Sorry Karen.  Megan doesn't need help to look good!

We finished up the visit with a few more rousing games of Rook!  The time has gone so fast, and tomorrow we head back to the airport and home, so this will be the last travel blog for now.  Thanks for reading!

Mothers Day

After church at Heartland, where Karen works as a childrens pastor, we went to a really good buffet restaurant of lunch.  We all enjoyed the chocolate fountain!

Megan and Karen and Greg really enjoyed the crabs legs!

After church it was home for presents for the Moms.  Thanks all!

It was downright HOT here, but a lovely breeze on the deck.  Here, Bella is showing Greg how much she loves him.  :-)

Eventually, we took Bella for a walk in the dog park to tire her out, then went on to Rundle Park, where there are some really nice trails, including this one on the bridge over the North Saskatchewan River.  We even discovered an area where dogs can run free.

Karen and Erin enjoying the warm day.

It won't be long before it's US in a boat!

This little chickadee was very co-operative - just sat there while I took pictures, getting closer and closer.  There was a hole in a tree nearby, and we decided he was guarding a nest.

I just really like this picture of Greg and Bella.

You've heard of being as busy as a beaver?  This was one busy beaver!  Many of the trees had wire mesh around them, but the beaver just pushed it down and chewed away.

We wore out the two youngest walkers!

Poor Megs had to stay home and work.  She wants to be in a leadership class next year at school and had to hand in her application at school today.  There are a LOT of kids applying for a few positions, but I have a feeling that Megan will be one of the few.  What a sweetie!  She also wanted to be done so she could play Rook and Apples to Apples with us in the evening.  Did anyone catch the Oil Kings hockey game?  So exciting!  Two of the boys were in one of Erin's classes last semester, so they always enjoy watching.  The Oil Kings won their division of the WHL (???) and go on to the finals in Quebec this week. 

A beautiful day in Edmonton

It was such a beautiful day that Megan and I took Bella for a nice long walk.  This Papa duck was swimming around in a pond while Mama was likely sitting on eggs somewhere.

There's a nice little park nearby with a pond and a couple of bridges.

Bella was very anxious to chase the geese, but we persuaded her that she would likely get the worst of that deal!

It was so nice to hear the birds singing by the pond.

Bella was ready for a nap when we got back!

Tonight Greg had 3 hockey games to ref, and Erin and Karen went to church (they have 3 services - 1 Sat. night, 2 Sunday morning), but when the girls came home, we managed a game of Rook and Apples to Apples.  Fun!!!

Edmonton

Drove from Airdrie to Edmonton this morning, quite uneventful and a beautiful day.  Bella was the only one home when we arrived, and barked ferociously until Paul asked her if she wanted to go for a walk.  Then she was all smiles!

I went with Karen to the West Edmonton Mall to pick up Erin and her friend, and Karen took this pic of me by the pirate ship.

An icon of the mall.

Erin and Ben had a PD day today and spent it at the mall with some other friends.

We play a lot of games at this house - I love it! 

By the time we finished playing games, I was too tired to post last night!  And another day begins. 

Calgary

Whenever we drive to Balzac (near Airdrie), where Bev and Glen's motor home is parked at their daughter April's home, we pass this stagecoach.  Today we learned that this was the site of the last (only?) stagecoach robbery in Alberta.  There is quite a colourful story about it on the internet, if you're interested.

Last night we discovered that our cousin Lyn and her husband Case are also in Airdrie right now, visiting their daughter, so we arranged to meet for coffee this morning.  We had a great time, managed to stretch a coffee into 2 hours!  It was great to see you guys!

This afternoon, Bev and Glen took us for a tour of Calgary, which was nice, but the highlight was a drive-around tour of Spruce Meadows, where international horse jumping competitions are held.  What an amazing place!  The only disappointment was that we never saw one real live horse!

Lots of statues though!

This was an interesting display of Canadian and British flags, and there were banners all over with ER on them.  We wondered if the queen was coming, though I can't find anything about it on google.

This was also advertising the National in June.

We had another good day visiting with family, and a great dinner prepared by my sister.  Thanks again Bev and Glen.  Til next time.....

Banff

Today, Bev and Glen took us to Banff.  It was a lovely day for part of the day, a little drizzly at times, and plenty cool, but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves!  This was a scene from the restaurant where we had lunch.

The Bow Falls is a picturesque and popular spot for tourists like us.

It never ceases to amaze me how trees grow out of rocks!

We saw a few deer.  The animals were pretty scruffy, after a hard winter, and part of their winter coat still on.

The picture everyone takes down Banff's main street with Mount Norquay in the background.

And of course, the beautiful Banff Springs Hotel.

Saw lots of elk.

And the unusual hoodoos.

Lake Minnewanka

I think they said this is Two Jacks Lake.

A loon searching for his lunch.

What a great day we had - so much gorgeous scenery!  Thanks again, Bev and glen!