Here's McKenzie and Grandma C testing out Kayla's new pink scooter!!! If only McKenzie was a few inches taller she could ride it by herself...
On Sunday McKenzie headed back to Aunt Kacey's for the week and Matt and I headed off to the airport to leave on our trip to Banff. Before we left Matt gave McKenzie her first driving lessons in the truck - she was so excited to be 'driving' Daddy's truck...
On the way we talked to Aunt Jennifer and found out she was at the hospital in labor. We got all the way to the airport before deciding we should get a later flight and go see her so we grabbed another cab and headed for the hospital. We didn't have long to wait before Claire Alida Herrman made her way into the world! She is such a beautiful baby - we were very glad to get to meet her before our trip. Here's a picture of baby Claire showing off her beautiful eyes. Check out Claire's blog for more info on her : )
After seeing Claire we headed back to the airport to catch the next flight to Calgary but found out the hard way that you now need to check in two hours prior to an international flight so we had to wait eight more hours for the next flight at 9:30 pm. So we checked our bags in at a bag check service and grabbed another cab to South Center for dinner and a movie then back to the airport. The third time was a charm - we were able to catch the evening flight. We were so happy to find the Oracle greeters still at the airport in Calgary ready to get us on the next shuttle up to Banff which is an hour and a half drive from the airport. We arrived around 2:30 am but were just happy to be somewhere with a bed to sleep in. We didn't get our first look at the area until the next day and it was truly amazing! Here's a picture of the view from our hotel room - looks like a postcard doesn't it?
Here's the hotel looking up from down near the river, it looks a bit like it's straight out of Harry Potter doesn't it? Matt took this picture when we went on a small hike to see Bow Falls after having lunch at a pub where Matt experienced the Canadian treat, poutine, for the first time. Unfortunate name - great food, needless to say he loved it!
Overall, our trip to Banff was very restful and we really enjoyed seeing a different part of the country. It's amazing that this hotel was built over 100 years ago - it was part of the series of resort hotels built along the Canadian railway line. We also got to experience Canada Day, which is July 1st, while we were up there. It's very similar to the 4th of July in the States - lots of flags and fireworks. Here's a picture of Matt and me on the last night relaxing in the lounge.
We got back home on July 3rd and McKenzie was very happy to see us. She wanted to go home and see her dogs. They missed her too and were very happy to have everyone home.
On the 4th we went out to Monroe to visit Grandma and Grandpa Z. Afterwards we had some friends over and joined our neighbors out in the cul-de-sac for fireworks. Matt and the neighbors put on quite a show with a little of everyone's favorite things. McKenzie missed the show since it was past her bedtime but next year she'll be out there doing sparkles with the cousins.
Saturday night we had some friends over for the first official bon fire of the season - the Christmas tree was burned - a tradition we stick to every year. Then on Sunday morning McKenzie was being a big helper once again and brought both newspapers in for us. Hopefully this won't inspire her to want a paper route someday - you have to get up pretty darn early for that.
On Sunday we also went down to Seattle to visit baby Claire and to wish Uncle Christopher Happy Birthday! McKenzie was very gentle with Claire and even gave Claire several kisses. Giving kisses is something she has just started doing so it's a rare treat to get a McKenzie kiss : )
We have been very lucky that we have a little niece one year younger than McKenzie because it has allowed us to offload thing to Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Chris once McKenzie has outgrown them. They did get some new things for Claire that McKenzie was very interested in - here she is testing out Claire's new swing. It passed the McKenzie test with flying colors - Claire will have lots of time to enjoy it if McKenzie still fits into it!
That's all for now - sorry for the worlds longest blog entry, hopefully this will make up for the dry spell.
1 comment:
Poutine - hmmmmmmmmmmmm
not to sure about that stuff !
In the photo it looks dessert-like, maybe apple slices with a cinnamon sauce and icing - oops - not even close. Sounds kinda nasty to me - french fries with melted cheese curds and gravy - definitely an artery-clogger :-(Actually I think we tried something very similar on a recent trip to visit Chris & Jennifer in Wisconsin. That would make good sense, with the proximity to Canada and the cheese curd connection. Could probably get to like "poutine", but not so sure I want to :-)
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