Canada Day 2012

We had such a fun day celebrating Canada Day with the family in Raymond.  Maira made a new friend on this trip: her cousin Sylvia who was visiting from Wisconsin.  Here they are, along with Hudson, all set for the parade.  They've got their red clothes, their candy buckets decorated, and their faces covered in maple leafs - all set!

Shae thought John and Paul needed to up their game in dressing patriotically so she sprayed their hair with red (pink) and white colouring.  They looked fabulous.

A couple of my favourite floats were the baby in the Angry Birds float,

and of course, Darth Vader is the highlight of any parade:

But the very best float came near the end:  the RHS Class of 92!  This was the first time Jess got to be IN the parade!

 Here's a shot of the float's fancy decorations:

And apparently, they won first place in their category...

There was plenty of candy thrown from the float and plenty of watergun fights as well.

After the parade, it was time for the annual Walker Family Reunion in the backyard.

It was the funnest reunion in town, I'm sure, with a big bouncy house, trampoline jumping, creamsicles for everyone, and a big delicious feast:

It was a quick trip with lots of driving.  I'll finish off with a quick shot of how we survive long road trips with 4 young kids:

A Visit to Raymond

Well, it was the end of June, so where else would we be, but Raymond?  We got there just in time for me to run the 10k.  I think this is my fifth year in a row running it (?) and I'm happy to report that I ran my personal best although I did fall short of my goal by 30 seconds.  Next year, I will run it in less than 60 minutes, I was so close!

Here I am, making sure my iPod is all set (sadly the new running app I'd downloaded the day before didn't end up working, but at least I still had music to listen to)

After the national anthem, the runners all let off balloons, and then we were all set to go.

Here I am, running over the crest of Temple Hill, the halfway point of the race.  I'm thinking "I can NOT believe I'm only halfway..."

Here I am at about the 7k mark, thinking "why do I do this to myself every year???"

And here I am at the finish line (1:00:27), thinking "I think I'm going to die.  I'm so glad I finished!"

As hard as the actual race is, the feeling of finishing a race is amazing and that's what keeps me going back every year.

Later that day, we took the kids to Waterton to climb Bears Hump together.  Jess and I climbed Bears Hump on a date before we were engaged and I always think it's fun to take our kids there all these years later.  It's been a few years since we climbed Bears Hump - Maira was a little baby and Connor was a toddler and got carried by his Grandpa most of the way.

This time, all four kids walked most of the way. Hudson was so psyched to climb a real mountain that he climbed most of the way up all by himself.

Here we are starting at the beginning of the trail.

Most of the trail is made up of very steep steps like these:

Hudson did an amazing job for a 3-year old climbing these steps (and the other kids did great too!)

They're so excited because we're almost at the top!

And, we finally made it, and we get to enjoy the beautiful view.

The climb down was a little less exciting for Hudson and he got tired pretty quickly.  I'd say he got carried about 30% of the way down.

Our reward at the bottom was a delicious (and messy) ice cream cone in town.

Shae and Jess went and did some bouldering near Cameron Falls before we headed home.

What not to wear when bouldering (jeans and flip flops):

Graduations

The end of another school year has rolled around.

Shae graduated from Grade 8 with Honours with Distinction (awarded to students with an 89% average or above).  This is her with the other students in her grade who received Honours with Distinction.  (All girls and most of them went to the same elementary school as her too).

Maira finished another year of playschool and will be heading off to a new school to take French Immersion in kindergarten next year.  Here she is saying good-bye to her sweet teacher, Annette.

Connor had a great year in Grade 2.  He's learned so much and is reading very well now.  He had a wonderful teacher, Mrs. Hagen,who recognized and encouraged his love of science and nature.  I'm so grateful for all of my children's teachers.

Here comes summer!