Summer Vacation (Part One)

We just returned from our summer vacation. We spent a couple of weeks in Raymond, Alberta, Canada, and another week in Utah. We had the best time visiting family, and we were so glad to beat the Arizona heat. We came home to 110+ degree weather!

I have lots of pictures from our trip, but I will break them up a little.

These first pictures are from Writing on Stone Provincial Park near Raymond. LuAnne took me, Ava & Dillon. I was sad that Brian couldn't go with us - he would have loved it!

It is such a cool place! As you are driving to the park, you are driving through beautiful prairies and farms, and then all of a sudden you come across this valley of rock formations & sandstone 'hoodoos' near the Milk River. It is called Writing on Stone because there are many pictographs & petroglyphs on the rocks from the Blackfoot Indians. (We didn't actually take the time to go see any of the petroglyphs... we just hiked through the rocks).
After we hiked & climbed, we walked down to the river where there is an actual sandy beach! Really, really soft clean sand. Dillon & Ava were in heaven - they played in the sand for hours - they would have stayed all day! The river is really shallow, so we had fun walking almost across it.
My sister Tash said she remembers going there as a kid, but I didn't remember it. We loved it though!

Ava & Dillon at our picnic before our hike...

These are the hoodoos that we hiked through & climbed on...

Dilly was such a trooper! He hiked & climbed everything - all on his own!

Dilly & LuAnne / Ava on top of a hoodoo...


Me, Dillon & Ava at the beach...

Ava in the sand...

Dillon on the beach...

Ava's sand castle...

Dilly's sand castle - he decided it was actually a birthday cake & he is blowing out the candle!