Busy Weekend

We had a busy weekend. One of those weekends, where you have something lined up, for pretty much every hour of the day. We haven't had many of those this summer, and I'm glad we have a few days off before school starts, so we can catch our breath.

My favourite part of the weekend, was spending Saturday out in Kananaskis with some friends. They have a cabin there, and we were invited to come out and spend the day. The weather was amazing, it was a little windy, but thankfully the wind was warm. The thing that strikes me the most is how utterly quiet it is in the forest. Well, except for Madelyn's constant chatter that is. When she wasn't talking, for a moment here or there boy, was it quiet.

At the lake, there is a sheltered little area, that we tried our hand at paddling a canoe. We've never done that before, and Mason absolutely loved it. In fact, it was hard to keep him out of the canoe. He loved paddling, and both Barry and I took turns taking the kids around and around. Barry and I both paddled until our shoulders burned. [Let's face it, that didn't take too long for me!] And still Mason wanted to go again. Here are some pictures of our day:

Madelyn walking down the path to the beach below the cabin. You definitely wanted to navigate this carefully. We figured it's about a 30 metre elevation drop in about 100 steps... Eeks.

Getting their bearings, it a little pond, before venturing into the big lake. The current was pretty strong, and with the wind blowing, you had to paddle pretty good to get to your destination.

Mason and Barry were a good team. Mason just loved paddling. [Madelyn is talking, if you're wondering]

Madelyn, still talking...

Guess who was also there! Me! To be honest, I was quite content to just sit and watch. Then Madelyn decided she was starving, and Barry took her back up to the cabin for a bite to eat. [We were taking turns going back and forth, because if you have kids you KNOW you go back and forth multiple times, and did you read about the elevation? Seriously, when you get to the top, and your heart is beating in your temples, you need to take turns] So Macy begged me to go in the canoe with him. And so...

There I am. Right here I just splashed Mason with water from the paddle... Who could resist? Seriously. We paddled, and paddled. We went back and forth. Not getting too awfully far from shore. Mace and I paddled around the little island, and on the far side we did encounter waves... But we calmly navigate them without tipping over.

We came back, got Madelyn and went back to the little island, which we explored with bug catchers and nets.

Here, my shoulders were definitely staring to burn...

Back out with Dad again.

I just love that Mason had so much fun. Maybe there will be more canoeing in our future.

Then some splashing and fun, in the ice cold mountain water. [We decided the temperature was similar to the temperature of Mara Lake at the beginning of July]

The view from the deck at the cabin.

Madelyn and Kayley. I have to say I have forgotten how much work a 1 year old can be... Especially somewhere not especially child-friendly. It made me glad my kids are 6 and 9.

We had a great day, we couldn't have asked for nicer weather. We were all pooped from the paddling and fresh air.