Marie and William visit!

We had our final visitors for the summer this past week! We sure feel lucky and blessed that so many friends/family were able to come and visit us this spring/summer. Each and every visit was wonderful and we made so many memories! My good friend Marie from Dubuque and her almost 8 year old son William came a couple of weeks ago to spend some time with us! William and Max became friends within 2 weeks of us moving to Dubuque in 2009. Max had just turned 2 and William was 18 months. It was so fun to have the boys back together and to talk to Marie in person instead of over the phone or text!

They were able to celebrate Canada Day with us on the 1st. We went to a spray park in the morning, took naps and then headed to the Japan/England semi-final World Cup game in the evening! It was a super exciting game that unfortunately ended with England scoring an "own goal".

                                                         Max participating in the wave!

Thursday the 2nd, we got up, dropped my girls off at the neighbors and headed on a little Alberta road trip! We first stopped in Drumheller and did some really cool exploring. We hit up the suspension bridge, saw the hoo-doos, did some hiking, went to the dinosaur museum, hiked to the bottom of horse thief canyon, and the boys did some hiking on their own at horseshoe canyon! It was a busy, but really fun day and we got to see so much. Drumheller is the Canadian badlands..you're driving through fields after fields on flat land and then all of a sudden, you're in a canyon with rocks everywhere you look!

                           We had a list of things Marie and William needed to do/try and ketchup chips were one!                                                    William liked them...Marie, not so much:)

That evening, we drove a couple hours over to Banff. We stayed just outside the park in Canmore and even got there in time for the boys to do a little swimming while we enjoyed the view!

Friday we got up early and went to Johnston Canyon and hiked to the Upper Falls. Afterwards, we hit up Lake Louise, Moraine Lake, the Lake Louise Gondola and interpretive center, dinner and ice cream in downtown Banff and then Mount Norquay before heading back to our hotel in Canmore and doing some more swimming! The weather and the views were both just beautiful. I've been to the mountains several times in the past few months and I can honestly say, I'd go back every weekend if I could. I just love it there and it never gets old.

                             Below, Max and William are "Cheers-ing" to their water they got out of the creek:)
                                             

                               
                            It was such a beautiful day we let the boys go down by the rocks and                                                                                         William accidentally fell in!

Saturday morning we slept in a bit and then did the Banff/Jasper highway. We made a few stops, saw the Athabasca Glacier up close, hiked up to the top of a really cool waterfall along the road, ate an awesome sandwich in Jasper, saw some wildlife just as we were exiting the park and then drove home! The boys did amazing..they probably watched 8-10 movies, ate whenever they were hungry, hardly complained at all and made the trip so great for Marie and me!

Sunday we hit up the Telus World of Science museum which was really fun. Then we watched the World Cup Final (USA vs Japan) and had so much fun cheering on the USA! After the game, we went to a canola field and took some family pictures. The canola is in full bloom right now and I'm sort of obsessed with it. It's so beautiful to see fields after fields of bright yellow flowers. I'm so glad we got some pictures with it that we will have forever. I feel pretty lucky to have such a talented friend! And her side kick was pretty good at making my kiddos smile:)

Monday we did one last thing on our list and that was to go downtown to the legislature. Edmonton is the capital of Alberta and down by the government center, they have fountains that people can swim in. It was a little chilly so I didn't bring swimming suits, but I did bring an extra set of clothes for each kid so they dove right in and had a blast. Afterwards, the kids asked if we could get a tour of the Legislature and we happily obliged! It doesn't happen everyday that kids ask for a tour of a government building! They were great on the tour and I learned so much.

                  Poutine also made the list that they had to try:) French fries with gravy and cheese curds...a                                                        Canadian favorite or should I say favourite:)

Tuesday we had to say goodbye to our wonderful friends, but we will get to see them in a few short weeks when we head back to Dubuque. Thank you Marie and William for a great visit!