***Disclaimer - for those of your who read R's blog, this post is mostly from there, though there is an extra paragraph or two at the end. Sorry it's not all original, normally I post different stuff on each, but today was an overlap day.***
The first thing I heard this morning was DH saying, "Today is that day!"
"What day?" I asked
"The day that we go to get our son and he has taken off his diaper and decorated his room with the contents!"
"No, really!?!"
"Yep, I am going to put him in the bath and you can clean up his room, please."
So started our day...
It wasn't as bad as it could have been or other people's stories of their kids. The contents in the diaper were not soft and runny, thank the Lord, but a little solid and easy to clean up. I put all the bedding in the washer and cleaned down the entire crib with Lysol wipes. And that was the extent of it.
After this rude awakening, we packed all our stuff into the car and went for a hike. We hiked the West Wind Pass in the Spray Lakes Provincial Pass in
Kananaskis Country. It is in the valley south of
Canmore. Such beauty all around us and guess what!?! With all the excitement of the morning, I forgot my camera!
Yeesh! I did find some photos by Googling "west wind pass
kananaskis" and came across a blog that I am totally going to visit often now. It is called
"Where the GPS takes us..." and there are
pictures of the West Wind Pass trail. So check out their pics. They also
geocache. We
should've done that today. Oh well! Things to know for next time.
Anyways, the hike was a little hard for me - it was classified as "easy" in this book we have
"Where Locals Hike in the Canadian Rockies" by Kathy and Craig Copeland. We found out tonight on the back of the map that it is classified as "moderate". Yeah, that's what I was thinking on the continuous uphill, wishing I could just die there and how much longer was it? It wasn't that bad, though. Once we got to the pass, the view of the valley on the other side was amazing and we got energy from lunch and the way back was all downhill (go figure! :) The only troubles we had was on the way up R's hat was all of a sudden gone, so I trekked back to our last rest spot and no hat - got back to DH and R and there is was in front of him in his carrier. I had checked both sides and the back
before walking back, but no, my kid hides it in the front. So the rest of the hike I walked behind them, and replaced that hat more times than I can remember. Silly kid. He did want to give me hugs every time I did on the way down. Such a sweetie! He did drop his sunglasses near the start of the trail and we found them on the way back down!
We found out that it was 34 degrees in
Canmore today. I suggest if you ever want to check out West Wind Pass, go on a cooler day. We did encounter quite a number of other hikers, including a couple with a 3 and a half week old. R talked about the "
ba-bee" for the next 10 minutes. It's so funny how kids love babies and anyone younger than them. When we had finished the hike, we walked down to the Spray Lakes
Reservoir and put our feet in. So cold, but so good! I was so thankful that I had brought my flip flops for when we weren't hiking. Still wearing in my hiking boots and so I got a couple of "hot spots". I also got the bottom corner of the car door caught on the back of my Achilles' tendon and gouged some skin out of it. Hurts a mite even now, especially going up and down inclines. R loved the water and had a bit of a tantrum when we left. He had a long day with a lot of sitting and I am so thankful for him! When we got home he played in the backyard for an hour and a bit, eating supper while on the run, never sitting, had a bath and got put to bed downstairs in the cool(er) basement.
We (DH and I) were going to go down to the Stampede grounds for the free Tom
Cochrane and the Red Riders show at 9:00 at the Coca-Cola stage, but we were so exhausted and it is so hot and we would have to stand for hours, so we decided to stay at home, relax and maybe go to bed early. My parents (thanks again anyway, Mom and Dad) were going to take R for the night. Too bad we couldn't take them up on it! Another time, maybe! :)
So that was our day. Started out running and eventful... ending on a calm note. Which is good. It was a good day and I am so thankful for time to spend with my husband and son in the beautiful creation God gave us. Even when I am huffing and puffing up a mountain, I know that the view will be worth it and I thank God. What wonderful gifts- life, love and the ability to hike.
On this snowy Alberta day, I am remembering our wonderful summer full of camping last year. We are looking forward to more camping trips this year - enjoying the great outdoors and our kids in them!
Don't they look so little? They sure won't stay nicely on their blanket while we set up this year!
This week we had several days of fog and this was the beautiful result.
I love living where we do - so much beauty to enjoy!
R "hiking" at the spot we stopped for lunch.
Looking down on Barrier Lake and the mountains from the first viewpoint.
From the top - the view to the northwest.
Why this trail is called Prairie View - we could almost see Calgary when looking to the east!
DH and R on the outcropping of rocks.
Along the trail.
Looking down at the lake again.
R needing another little hike.
Exhausted, but we made it! 
Views of the mountains
My favorite addition to any view! :)
One place we stopped for a short break - This part of creation is so beautiful!
Ribbon Falls - it was BIG, you can see DH standing at the bottom. We were at least 200 metres away and there was a lovely spray over us. Cooled us off well on a hot day.
DH trying to get interesting shots of me - not sure how well it worked.
DH relaxing before we headed back.
More views
Resting at the same place on the return trip.
