We just got back from a fun 2 weeks in Raymond. We stayed with Jess' parents and the kids had so much fun spending time with their grandparents, aunt and uncles.
On our way to Raymond, we stopped at the Calgary Zoo.
It is a nice zoo but it would have been more fun if Maira hadn't been so sick and miserable! She had a fever and a runny nose that day.
One of the highlights of the trip was Raymond's annual Canada Day Parade (or 1st of July, as they say in Raymond).
We all prefer Raymond's parade to any parades in Edmonton for two reasons: first, they throw candy, and second, we know lots of the people in the parade. In fact, more often than not, one of Jess's siblings has been in the parade. This year it was Paul, marching with the Raymond High School band.
Connor was very serious about catching candy this year. He didn't even seem to notice the floats, he was just intent on watching to see if they were going to throw candy or not. He definitely collected the biggest haul out of all the kids.
It's been a few years since we've seen the Kissing Cousins at the parade but this year they were back and they got Jess' dad as well as Jess' Uncle Faris who was up visiting from Boise. These are ladies who dress up and wear bright lipstick and look for people in the crowd to kiss (we call them the Kissing Cousins since some of them are Ron's cousins). See the resemblance between Ron and his brother? Their own grandkids often get them mixed up with each other.
Another favourite part of the parade is the truck that shoots candy off a conveyer belt:
After the parade, Spencer helped Maira check out her candy from the parade.
For lunch, we convened to the backyard for the annual Walker family picnic. Here is Hudson, chilling in the hammock with Grammy, and Connor and Maira enjoying creamsicles from Uncle Fay.
Later that week, Shae and Connor went fishing with Jess and Grandpa Ron. Connor brought his new fishing rod he got for his birthday. Unfortunately, the fish were not biting and so they have still never caught a fish. Jess got some pretty pictures though!
On Saturday, we went to Waterton. Our day there involved splashing in Emerald Bay, floating around in the dinghy, ice cream cones, and horseback riding for me and Shae.
Another fun daytrip was when we went to Writing-On-Stone park on the Milk River. We spent some time wandering the hoodoos with Grammy and Grandpa and then went to cool off in the river.
The kids also spent time playing with Lilia at the park, eating banana splits with Grandma Jane, playing with Grammy's amazing stash of dressups, and playing with the funnest uncles ever, Spencer, John and Paul.
(Click to embiggen)
