Hiking at Wind Tower (with Jenn)

Here are some photos from yesterday's hike near Canmore with my friend Jenn, her dog Miller, and her friend Greg. I need to get out to the mountains at least every other weekend to remind me of how amazing it is to be able to have this in our "backyard"!
It's been sunny and warm here the last few days--our gardens are loving it. It's supposed to rain tomorrow for my next "zoo" trip with the kids, then cool down for the rest of the week.
Not too many plans for the next few weekends...the end of the school year is quickly approaching, along with Stampede and then our next trip back east, hopefully with an additional big trip overseas--destination to be determined!

A visit from Uncle Dave!

Dave has been in ON and QC for the past week for a work conference, and to visit some family and friends. Here he is meeting our nephew for the first time: looks like a natural! :)

A walk around the resevoir...

In the southwest of Calgary, the Glenmore Resevoir offers a bit of nature right in the city: with great views of the mountains, and lots of trails for walking/running/biking/rollerblading. Claire and I headed out for an easy jog/walk this afternoon and ran into her brother trying to unload his new 15' catamaran!

Back to spring...

Well, after a few questionable days of cold temperatures and 10-15cm of snow (!!) earlier this week, we are back to spring temperatures (18-20c today) today, and the tulips are much happier...

Going to the zoo, zoo, zoo...

I got to enjoy the zoo, zoo, zoo with some of "my" kids earlier this week: despite the cooler temperature, everyone had a great time...I'll try to post the more "anonymous" photos on here...

Gardens are starting to come alive!!

Red Deer Lake for May 2-4

We spent this long weekend at the Kimptons' cabin on Red Deer Lake, just north of Red Deer. We were able to entertain ourselves with some games and sports on Saturday despite the cooler, windy day, and the weather cooperated with a beautiful sunny day on Sunday for Shandra and I to relax on the deck while the boys played golf (and eventually got rained out!). It's a great spot to enjoy nature--lots of birds, and the promise of a great vegetable garden. We will have to head up there a few more times this summer to enjoy the lake as well! Thanks to Shandra's Dad, Marshall, for putting up with us for the weekend!

Updates from back home...

Here are some recent photos of the Jackson clan--enjoying the long weekend up in Bobcaygeon with our newest addition. Joel and Janet seem to be natural parents, and Mom and Dad are loving the benefits of being grandparents. Amy is getting ready for her due date in July, and she and Jay have just finalized their offer on a new house for around the same time in July--lots of excitement coming up!

Dave will be in Quebec and Ontario over the next week and a half, for a conference for work, and then a brief, but much anticipated visit to Amherstburg to visit with the Brewins and possibly tag along for a sailing race!
We miss you all lots and lots, and think of you all the time!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to our moms, and to all of the moms we know (especially the new moms, and the "soon-to-be" moms!). Hope you enjoyed your special and well-deserved day!

Shoulder Season weekend

More photos: camping, and sneaking into the Red Earth Spa after our bike ride for a well-deserved hot tub!

Shoulder season: Day 2--Mountain Biking!

On Sunday, we woke up to rain, cloudy skies, and a significantly cooler 5c day. We headed out to the Mount Rundle loop, along the Bow River, and had a nice ride, despite the cool, rainy weather! I must admit I'm a bit rusty: a technical single-track trail like this had me "taking my bike for a walk" much more than I would have liked, but it was still great to get out on the bike...Finally, another great weekend to remind us how lucky we are to be living where we do!

First "Annual" Shoulder Season Weekend: Day 1--Snowboarding

After a few weekends in the city, we decided we were ready for an outing in the mountains. Being "shoulder season" after a great year of snow, we were lucky enough to have the choice of snowboarding at Sunshine Village for the last time this year, or taking our bikes out for the first real mountain bike of the season (we've only been out at Fish Creek so far). We decided to do a little bit of both, making it our first unofficial "shoulder season" weekend.

On Saturday, we headed out to Banff on a beautiful, sunny day at 18c in the city, and almost as warm in the mountains. The snow was fantastic--just soft enough to make it easy and slow (my favourite!), but still enough snow to make a great day of it! Dave was pretty excited to land his first 360 (twice!) and catch some "sweet air" off a cliff or two. I was just happy to have made it through the day without falling! As you can see, it was warm enough for a long-sleeved T-shirt--such a great way to enjoy a "winter" sport!


We camped overnight at Tunnel Mountain--another enjoyably uneventful (i.e. no bear encounters! only a few elk) "car camping" experience.

Cinco de Mayo

We have been part of a sporadic "Gourmet Club" since we moved here...every few months, someone hosts a dinner with a theme...This month our dinner fell on May 5th: "Cinco de Mayo", so our new friends Tannis and Steve hosted a Mexican themed dinner, complete with a pinata! Rob Budianto was in town for the weekend, so he joined in the festivities! Felize Cinco de Mayo!!

Tannis and Robo take some hits at the Pinata...