Canada Part II

The next morning, we woke up and got ready to go to Waterton, one of our favorite places. I was excited that was where the family reunion was being held. The first thing on the agenda was a hike at Red Rock at 11:00 am. We were really excited to go with some of Derek's family on this little hike. We got to Waterton a little early and went to Cameron Falls. The water there is breathtaking, almost a turqoise color. Erik was so excited to see all that water! His favorite thing to do is throw rocks into any body of water, even if it be a puddle, which he has in fact done. The pavement on the trail was paved with really little rocks all stuck together. Erik saw these little rocks, bent down and tried to pick them up and was soon very mad that they would not pick up. It was so funny to watch! I then helped him find loose rocks to throw in.

It was time to go meet up with Derek's family to go on this hike. We got in the car and drove all the way up the mountain only to be stopped by a worker. He told us that there was construction and we were supposed to take a shuttle from town. He then told us if we wanted to, we could park about a 1/4 mile from that point and catch the shuttle as it passed. Well, we really wanted to do this hike, so we did just that. We parked, walked to that spot and Derek realized he forgot the bug spray and sunblock. He ran back to the car and while he was gone, the shuttle passed by. There were about 10 of us standing there. The driver yelled out the window that they were full and the next shuttle wouldn't be coming for another hour. Poor Derek was sprinting towards us as I frowned at him and he stopped. We walked back to the car with our heads down and very sad. We were only more disappointed when we drove pass the spot all those people were standing to find no one was there. We stopped to ask the worker if a shuttle had come and he responded yes. We were SO MAD! We were so upset that we could have gotten on that shuttle if we only waited three more minutes, but the driver said an hour and I was not going to stand there that long with two little kids!

We drove back down into town and decided to stop and eat lunch. As we sat there, Derek's parents drove by. Derek texted them and told them they just drove past us. Only a few minutes later, they drove back to talk to us for a while. After talking for a while and telling them our sad story, the shuttle drove by and Derek's family was on it! Derek's dad then told us that when we texted him, they just drove by all the people waiting for the shuttle! So, if we had just drove on a little longer, we would have seen everyone and we would have been able to go with them! It was really sad then, but funny now.

Since the kids were so upset and we lost all that time, we decided to splurge and ride on a surrey. We got to ride for an hour all around the beautiful park. We had so much fun riding along the Waterton Lake and through the little main street with all the shops. The kids were waving and yelling hi to everyone like they were in a parade. The kids absolutely loved it and it was so worth the money.

While we were riding, this was what we saw everywhere. It was so fun to be so close to the deer. They would walk right up to us. It was so cool.

After we rode the surrey, we got ice cream and sat out on the bench. The kids were in heaven! We just sat there on Main Street of Waterton right outside the Ice Cream/Candy shop that overlooked the GORGEOUS lake while enjoying some of the best ice cream. You could smell the waffle cones and candy. It was very relaxing. We then went down to the lake and threw rocks in there for a couple hours. Erik would throw rocks in all day if we let him. He LOVES it!

On our way back, we stopped at the Prince of Wales Hotel to see the view. Bria especially loved the Hotel and took this picture of it.

The view of Waterton Lake. Pictures do not justify.

We got back to the lodge for another dinner and then the talent show that I didn't find out about until I got there. Derek's Great Uncle told him I was going to play the piano, no ifs ands or buts. Well, he was sure wrong! I felt really bad, but I didn't have anything prepared. There were a lot of great acts though! While standing there for a very long minute, he begged me in front of about a hundred people. I was so tempted to do my Snow White impression instead. I always perform better if it is funny because then I don't feel dumb if I mess up. My Snow White impression would have been that much better, because my nerves were jumping all over the place and would have made my vibrato go at a thousand vibs a minute! but I just sat there. Next year I will prepare something funny on the piano. I retired to bed early again because I was SO tired from all the running around all day.