Summer Fun

I feel like the blog this summer has been replete of mountaineering photos and tales of our travel adventures - and this blog IS supposed to be about Canada ... and adventures HAVE been had here this summer!! Western Canada's summer weather has, I must admit, been pretty disappointing this year. We have fallen victim to several major hail storms, lots of rain, cool weather and a general lack of sunshine compared to last summer. But Ben and I have managed to sneak in a few nice exploits!

As soon as the weather was warm enough in July, we packed up and headed a few hours south, to Waterton Lakes National Park, for a camping weekend. This has been on our "Canada list" for quite some time, so it was awesome to finally make it there! There were plenty of low-key hikes that I could still do at five months pregnant, we saw our very first grizzly bear (a mom with three cubs!), and were just in time for some amazing wildflowers. I also learned that as much as I love camping, this would be our last camping trip while I'm pregnant ... even a thick blow-up mattress layered with every sleeping mat and blanket we own (while poor Ben slept on the ground!) are no match for a pregnant woman's aching back and hips!! But nonetheless, we loved the trip and I think Bosco did too.

We had gorgeous weather all weekend, so were shocked to drive right into an extreme hail storm on our way home! It's hard to tell from this photo, but in the course of about ten minutes, there were suddenly three to four inches of hail on the highway.

*******

We have also snuck in a few barbeques with friends and walks in the park on nice weekends, and last weekend we decided at the last minute to hop in the car with Bosco and spend Saturday night at a cozy B&B in Canmore, a charming mountain town between Calgary and Banff. The weekend was drizzly and cool, but it was still a treat to escape the city and cozy up in the mountains, doing little other than eat, wander the trails around the city, and wile away our Sunday morning in a cafe, gazing out the windows at the mountains. You can see me here, beginning to finally look quite pregnant at 27 weeks!