When we were in Calgary, I got to spend a lot of time with my sister's kids and man, do I love them! One morning I took them and and my youngest three to the park to play. My big kids make fun of my Auntie Persona but being an Aunt is one of my favorite jobs!

A stand-out part of our trip - the Calgary Stampede parade! It was fabulous and I love benefitting from my sister-in-law's wild tradition of sleeping downtown overnight to secure seats. The kids are really just happy to show up to anything that includes cousin time.

Now begins my summer of taking too few photos!

Whew! This river is so cold, or "refreshing." Haha. This was our one last summer hurrah (locally) before the start of school. José and Rey joined us and then we met our good friends YuYi and HT there. They live in Seattle, but they were on their way home from CDA. Maeve went on the paddle board with YuYi and then Ira brought his lifejacket to me and he wanted to go too. That was surprising!

Maeve loved throwing rocks into the river with an audience and lots of praise. And then Conor showed us what fitness in the wild looks like when he threw large rocks into the water chasing the biggest splash. A fun day!

Day two was a clearer day than the first - the smoke and clouds were gone and the lake was glittering. My girls did great hauling all their gear out despite still feeling tired and a bit sore from the first day. The trip was just the right amount of challenge were the girls were ready to be done by the end, but could still finish it. We made sure to stop for one last dip in the lake before our final push to the car. Swimming in the water was dreamy! Molly (the dog) swam from person to person entertaining us all. I took some time on the shore to reflect on this trip. I was so grateful to be able to do this with my daughters and my best friends. My body felt strong, no knee pain (!), and seriously to be a bunch of women camping and exposing our children to this was very empowering. My mind felt calmer, I left feeling restored. Stepping away from the busy day to day and the household and family and baby demands was something that really helped to revive me. I'm looking forward to more adventuring with this crew!