A Day at Mt. Rainier

We spent one glorious Saturday exploring Mt. Rainier National Park. It was beautiful, as you can see from the pictures. The glacier was amazing to see so up close. We spent some time at the Grove of Patriarchs which was incredible. To get there, you had to cross this bouncy suspension bridge, one person at a time. Gabe loved it! The Grove was full of old-growth trees including Douglas-Fir that were 1,000 years old! It was amazing.
We ended the day by stopping for dinner in this old dining train car that was restored into a restaurant. Gabe was absolutely thrilled! (Too bad that what looked so cool on the outside was extremely shabby on the inside, way expensive and nasty to boot! Oh well, we figured it was worth it for Gabe's sake! :) It was pretty cool climbing up the stairs to eat inside a train!! We even got to see some real steam engines puffing by too! He loved it!

Canada family reunion

Every year Mom's family gathers from all over Alberta and the States for Magrath Days - a weekend celebration of Pioneer Day that the town puts on that includes community meals, a softball tournament, a parade, a carnival, fireworks and more. I grew up going to Magrath Days and now I get to bring my own children. It is so fun! I love tradition and this is one of my favorites. Now all my siblings and cousins come with all their children which makes it a crazy BIG gathering but a blast too!! Here we are playing games right away - haha! That's my family for ya!Nyah had a wonderful time copying the big boys Wesley and Gabe putting stickers all over Grandma's entry. Uh oh! (Good thing those stickers came off easily since there was about 100!)
When arrived Thursday night, we immediately headed over to the ball field to start warming up for the first softball game. This is a very serious competition! Each family has a team and since my Grandma's family has always been a big part of the community, we have plenty of people to play! There are a lot of rules - one of which is that there has to be 3 girls on the team. When we can make it, Mindy and I are usually 2 of the 3. It is SO fun to play with my sister...and Eric, Matt and Griff. Just like the old days when all of us played on a softball team in Utah. We kicked butt (although not due to me) and had so much fun! Only this tournament is even better because I have all my extended family playing and watching too! The softball tournament is always a highlight of our 24th of July trip.

The next day was my birthday and Mom made me a delicious German Chocolate cake. I had a lot of help blowing out the candles! After the 2nd softball game, we all got together for dinner. What a fun birthday for me!

Gabe, Mom, Mindy and baby Colt Hayley holding Colt in his darling little sweater, heehee!! (It was a little chilly so he borrowed Nyah's spare sweater. We all thought it was pretty dang funny!) What a cute baby he is (pink sweater and all) - look at those dimples! :)Jack and Gabe were having a grand old time jumping up and swatting at that wind chime on Grandma's deck. There was so much giggling going on, it attracted my attention and out came the camera! I love those little boys so much.

Magrath Days ~ family breakfast

On the morning of the 24th we always start off the day with a big family breakfast of pancakes with Grandma's chokecherry syrup, sausage, bacon, and juice. It gets everyone together first thing in the morning from all the houses that we're spread out to. For the rest of the day we are pretty much all together going here and there to all the fun activities. I got a bunch of pictures at the breakfast which kind of makes up for the small amount of pictures I took rest of the day. There was just way too much going on and I was enjoying myself entirely too much to remember taking pictures of it all!

I can't help laughing every time I see this first picture of Dad holding Nyah... not looking her best! She looks sooooo bedraggled!! Poor baby was not feeling her best on this trip - molars coming through and not much sleep on top of it. This little cuddle session first thing in the morning with her Papa was a welcome respite.

Dad and Nyah, Ellie and Uncle Jim

Aunt Jackie and Blake

My cousin Layne, his wife Megan and little Blake

My cousin Cole and his wife Paige (who was so sweet and darling with little Nyah all weekend... even though she was battling terrible morning sickness herself!)

Alex, Griff holding Colt, Amanda and Ellie

My wonderful Mom and I!

Magrath Days ~ the parade

The parade is one of the most anticipated events of Magrath Days... particularly for the kids! The reason being primarily because of the CANDY! I have never seen a parade that throws out so much candy. It is positively exhilarating! :) The floats and horses and fire engines and everything else are pretty cool too, haha! Especially since we know about half the people marching in the parade. The kids go armed with multiple bags to stow their goodies in and as the parade progresses, they venture farther and farther out into the street to get the best pickins!

Gabe and his cousins Wesley, Jack, and Logan were still pretty young so they weren't as obsessed. However there were a few tears of frustration from Gabers in the beginning when he wasn't quite fast enough on the mad grab! After that my sweet little cousin Natalie took him under her wing and helped him get all the treats he could handle. I have to admit that it brought tears to my eyes... to the point that Mindy stopped, stared, and exclaimed "Are you crying?! You're pregnant!!" Haha, no I'm not pregnant, just an emotional Mama when I see someone be kind to my struggling child. Definitely an overreaction on my part but I'm occasionally weird, what can I say. :)Mindy, me and Amy - the annoying photographers walking up and down the line of family, snapping pictures! We are all bloggers, so there you go!Mindy and LoganJack, Mom, Dad and Gabe (wearing Papa's sunglasses! He is so sensitive to the sunshine... must come from living where it is perpetually cloudy!)

Griff, Uncle Bob and Matt...poised and ready to pounce!!