Bring it

With transition season out of the way, Q says bring on the snow!

Playa Saladita

After leaving the frigid temperatures in Calgary, we experience what Jay referred to as "The Delta"- a 55 degree temperature change to mid 30s in southern Mexico.  We stumbled upon a great little get away about an hour north of Ixtapa.  No crowds, happy kids, great food, beautiful beach and perfect beginner surf.  A week was hardly long enough. 

 

The house.

The beach.

 The boys.

The kids really took a liking to the crabs.  Feeling wasn't mutual.  Noah was fearless.

Ethan and Quinn were in heaven.  Dump truck, diggers, sand and water.

 Opposite ends of the relaxation spectrum.  

 Q and his "yobster."                                       Checking out the surf

The best part is that the kids would entertain each other leaving adult time...  love it!

Adults were no where to be seen!

When the beach was too hot, the pool proved just as fun.

Love this shot.

Heady and Quinn would finish off the coffee and...

...I would head out for a few hours to the amazing break just down the beach.

 Definitely my kid.

 What an spectacular vacation.  Was pretty choked to leave.

Token flower shot from Heady.

Trim

We put this off as long as possible, but the mad scientist look needed to be tamed.

You think he needed a haircut?

We knew it wasn't going to be easy, Thomas was fun at first but the man can't be tricked!

Thomas' fun status returned after the scissors were put away.

Haloween

I'm pretty sure Quinn had no idea what we were doing...  For him it was just another evening ripping around the neighborhood with his buddies - but in a lion costume.

 Sharon and the Green boys came over for a little pumpkin carving.  Noah ate more than carved...

 Still not too sure what to make about this whole carving thing.

 More fun to play with.

 Who knew he would get such a kick from the pumpkin.

 It took some convincing, but the lion costume was a hit.

Didn't care much for the candy, but he stopped to look at every pumpkin on the street.

 Pretty fierce creature!

Vangroovy

Q and I finally we're able to get out to Vancouver to see Matt and Chels.  We're treated to a great weekend of warm sunny weather and great company.  Although Quinn can now tell you that Uncle Matt and Aunt Chelsey live in Vancouver, he'll mention Goatface first...

Q was obsessed with Goatface the guinea pig, not to mention the guitar, the frisbee, and his Uncle Matt.

Everyone get a kick out of Mr. Crocodile.

 

I was waiting to see which one of them was going to pee on the hydrant first.

STARS

After 5 years of anticipation for this rotation, Heady is finally flying with STARS!  She shared the excitement with the entire family...

Pretty sexy chopper.

 Q was initially pretty pumped about the helicopter, but soon was distracted by all the "ana-planes" outside.

I can't wait to fly - only 4 more years...

Great Nanny can't wait to show the pictures to her friends when she gets home.

 They got a call when we were in the hanger, but unfortunately got called down and we didn't see Heady take off.

Not too sure which button he's pushing, hope it's not important.

St. Piran larches

What a treat!  Heady and I got to have an adult dinner and an adults only hike up Mount St. Piran for our anniversary.  It was great to have that elusive freedom for a day or so.  We really owe Thessie!

Lake Louise in the morning sun.  Ran into Al who was shooting a wedding at the Chateau - despite our best efforts he couldn't join us for the hike.  Looked like a crazy wedding though...

On the way up through the larches - we had passed the tea house and the crowds at this point.

Breaking into the alpine.

After some really efficient switchbacks we found ourselves on top with relatively little effort.

Uber cheese.

Despite the snow, the temps were in the mid 20s!  Summer perhaps?

Some great views across the bow valley.

            Unreal scenery!

Definitely the peak of the larches.