July started off with a 4th of July party at some friends' of ours. It was a nice time and the kids had fun playing in the kiddie pool...a nice cool down in the 90F temps! A couple days later Janelle and the kids flew to Calgary. We had about 5 days to visit, shop, and take in the Calgary Stampede with Blair, Darlene, Lana, Isabelle, and Samuel. We had a day at the Stampede and the kids had a blast...it's always interesting to take in an event with kids and do the "kids" stuff. :-) Petting the baby pigs and the Super Dog Show were the two hi-lights. We also got to have a quick visit with Elaine and made a trip to Blain and Grace's to see their new house. After about 5 days Ehren arrived with Deana & Jay and we took off on our three day family reunion in Radium Hot Springs, BC. It's about a 3 1/2 hr drive, but on the way up it took us 5 hours. We hit a closed highway in the mountains which backed up traffic for miles. There had been a head on collision between two semi trucks. What a mess! Once we were there we had a great time. We left the kids with Blair & Dar for a morning and went white water rafting. What fun! They gave us wet suits which we needed in the 4C water...only 12 hours off the glaciers so it was nice and refreshing. :-) It was about a 3 hr raft and we hit a couple category 4's. We didn't lose anyone so we were lucky! While we were gone rafting the kids went to the Hot Springs and had a blast. It was nice to see everyone again as it had been about 15 years since I'd seem some of them last!
Once we were back in Longmont Ehren took in his second triathlon of the year. This one was much longer than the sprint one he did earlier as it was an "Olympic" distance tri. He did well, but left room for improvement in the last lag of the event...the run. It was a little hard after the long swim and bike which surprised him. Janelle took the kids to cheer him on and after they enjoyed their time swimming in the Boulder Res (where the tri swim started). This was Ehren's last "planned" event of the summer so far.
The weekend after Janelle threw a baby shower for Deana. It was a lot of fun and she got some great gifts. While the "big" girls had fun at the shower, Ehren took the kids to the Qualcomm summer picnic. It was a Mexican theme and the kiddos had a great time. As of this last week of July, the girls are currently in a 3 day camp at the Sunflower Farm here in Longmont. They have been having fun and it's been a nice break for Mom, and a little 1:1 time with Evan. To bring the month to and end we're starting to finish our basement! Finally! We're quite excited and have managed to plan it with pretty much everything we wanted...can't wait for Jay to get it done!!
