Busy Busy Summer

Well here it is October already, about time to do an update on our busy busy summer! It's been so long since I posted, we did many things this summer, that I think I have actually been procrastinating on this post because I didn't know how to sum up the whole summer in a somewhat condensed manner (plus I bought a new digital SLR camera that I have been wanting for a long long long time and took just a few less than a million pictures so I have spared you by making a slideshow representative of our summer):
What did our family do this summer? We:
1. Went to a Canada Day parade in Airdrie. Lots of fun.
2. Visited family and friends in Taber and Lethbridge. Went to yet another parade (a CANDY parade) in Coaldale.
3. Made multiple trips to two of our favourite places, the Zoo and Heritage Park.
4. Ate lots of ice cream.
5. Took the kids to Calaway Park for the very first time. They absolutely loved it, and had a blast riding the tamest of the tame rides. But their fear if a ride so much as hovered a foot above the ground confirmed our decision not to visit Disneyland in the fall.
6. Jaina went to overnight camp without me for the first time (at the camp where Matt used to work summers), Lewis had his first sleepover alone at the Grandparents. They both LOVED their weekend.
7. Matt and I escaped to Waterton to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary.
8. We celebrated cousin Oscar's 2nd birthday.
9. We attended a couple of family weddings on Matt's side. Lots of fun to see relatives again.
10. On a sad note, Matt's grandpa passed away in August at the age of 96 years (4 years shy of his goal to be 100). He had an incredible zest for life and was an amazing person. We can all only hope to live as long as he did, in the great condition that he was. He will be missed.
11. Matt and I took the kids to B.C. We stayed with his wonderful aunt and uncle and explored Vancouver.
12. We made a side trip out to Vancouver Island to visit Matt's cousin and her family. Jaina had her first horse ride and both kids loved the acreage and animals there. It was a great visit.
13. We came home through Kelowna and spent a few days there with our beloved cousins Nate and Kristie and family who moved there in May. We enjoyed lots of beach and playground time.
14. Then we went with Nate and Kristie to Kristie's family cabin on a smaller lake in the Shuswap. The kids had an absolute blast together, as did the grown ups. We spent two days swimming off the dock and hanging out, and Matt and I even got to try wakeboarding for the first time. We had quite the view of a forest fire at Notch Hill.
15. Then we came home and our kids continued to grow up before our eyes (more to come next post).

Here is a slideshow, about 1/1000th of the pictures taken this summer: