Canada

A few months ago Dave's fam in Canada (on his mom's side) told us they were throwing his Grandpa a surprise 85th birthday party. We were excited and wanted to go. I told Dave I WOULD NOT drive, I hate driving, and always have. So, he said we could look into flying. I went and got the boys' passport photos taken and everything. After a few weeks I decided that taking Dawson anywhere far would not be fun.. he is quite the active kid. I know everyone will tell you that of their almost 18 month old, but seriously.. Dawson is ACTIVE. So we kinda decided against Canada.
Then, last Tuesday morning Dave called me and told me he had called border control and we could still drive into Canada without passports (for kids) until June 1st 2009. It was May 25th, so we decided if we were going to go, we'd better hurry and go. That day. :) So we did! Which was awesome, I'm really good at talking myself out of vacations. I worked in a wild frenzy getting everything ready, made Dave get off work a little early so he could get a quick nap in (since we were driving through the night.. which might I add is the ONLY way to travel with kids!) We left home at 5:30 ish and got to Calgary at 7:00 am. With about an hour stop in Idaho Falls to walk around the temple.

It was such a relaxing, low key vacation, I loved it! The kids were GREAT! (even Dawson for the most part)

Some fun parts of our vacation include:

The Calgary Zoo

This zoo was AWESOME! It makes the Hogle Zoo seem so small! What's different about this Zoo? The animals are all in their natural habitat (as natural as can be) with plenty of space. They had a huge dinosaur section, tons of animals that we had never seen, just all over AWESOME. Something funny- at this zoo, you could get crazy close to the animals, and the zoo keepers don't care. I guess their theory is: If you get hurt, you're problem, not ours! They also had tons of rock exhibits where kids could climb all over, totally unsafe, but again.. not their problem, I loved it!

Downtown Calgary in the background

Harness I purchased for Dawson, which Dave hated.. but later swallowed his pride and said it was a lifesaver. Dawson will not sit in a stroller, will not be held, and will not hold hands. Someone told Dave it looked like he was walking his dog. Ha!

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Hangin' with (Great) Grandma Bishop!

Dave's grandma was gracious enough to let us invite ourselves over the day before we were to come. Thanks Grandma! She fed us pretty much the whole time, which added some UNEEDED weight gain, but oh well.. Landon and Dawson loved spending time with her, and absolutely loved her basement, just as Dave did as a kid.

Having good times in the basement..

Plenty of More Fun was Had:


Minus the occasional breakdown..

Haging with Cousins, some favorites...

Some meeting for the first time..

Meeting Great Grandpa and Grandma Florence for the first time..

Getting plenty of loves from Great Grandma Bishop..

Having brotherly Bonding time...

Having Leah take me to get an AWESOME pedicure, thanks Leah!

Spending LOTS of time at the park across the street from Grandma's..

Adorning Grandma's house daily with a fresh bouquet of dandelions, which she would proudly put in a vase and display for all to see..

Spending lots of time at Fish Creek, which is RIGHT behind Dave's uncle's house, GORGEOUS!...

This is the view from his back deck, how would it be?!

Eating lots of Grandma's yummy chocolates...

Rough Housing with Uncle Don, a favorite in our house! (Uncle Don AND rough housing!)

Saying Goodbye :(...

Chillin' on the ride home. "Movie... CHECK... Ipod.. CHECK.. Snacks.. CHECK!"

Finding some random rest stop that had a weirdly placed huge dinosaur.. Best rest stop I've ever seen!

Arriving home to The Land of the Free!