We spent a gorgeous week at a new-to-us lake, Waitts. At only an hour drive from our home it was nothing short of perfect. We lucked out in that the week we went was super hot and as predicted was followed by wildfires. Fortunately, almost all of our days were clear skied and smoke free. I loved, loved watching my kids spend time in the water. I grew up going to Shuswap Lake every summer and so no summer is complete without lake time for me!

We took a little side trip to Banff this summer with our friends, Amorette and Parker and their girls. We left Maeve behind with my sister (Thanks Kim!), and threw the babies on our backs. Our first stop was Sunshine Mountain Lodge where we caught a gondola (Ira was terrified) and a chair lift up higher into the mountains. We then hiked through wildflowers and to Alpine Lakes. It was breathtakingly beautiful! I just wish we had gotten there earlier in the day and didn't have to worry about catching the last gondola back down the mountain. What a great start to our couple of days in Banff!

Living my teenage dreams with a visit to Sundance Lake. When I was a kid, I always wished I lived in a lake community and swore that if I did, I would spend every day there. It's fun to have an easy, nearby place to take the kids to play in the water. The blanket was spread out and Ira was laying on his tummy, instantly. He knows what to do! It's so fun to have cousins to play with, my children love their cousins! Enoch made friends with a little girl and it was so cute to watch them play. Here are the pictures!

After visiting the Spheres, we picked up Cuban food and ate it at the Ballard Locks. It was really interesting to see the sockeye salmon and learn how they pass from the ocean to freshwater. There's just something about large bodies of water that is so peaceful to me.

As you can see from the pictures, we kept the babies out late. By this point in our travels, they were pretty done. So we made the decision to head home one day early. Traveling with little ones is a challenge but I'm really glad we still get to do stuff even if it's at half speed.

On our way home from Victoria, we stopped in Seattle for a couple nights and stayed with friends. One evening, we toured the Amazon Spheres and walked through Downtown to a rooftop view. The Amazon Spheres were really unique and cool. We had to go in two groups which was okay because there was a bubble machine to play in while we waited! Living in a small city, it's a lot of fun to visit big cities!