The reason we typically go to Drumheller in June is to avoid the crazy heat that is
normally in the desert in the badlands. In this case, it was definitely hot, although
nothing compared to the historic heat wave we're getting this week.
First some photos around the house
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Since we were actually home for a little bit with nice weather, we decided to clean out the fountain and
get it running with a new pump. These are my 'helpers' as we Shop Vac the reservoir for worms, and then
replace the pump into a 'pump bag' to try to stop those little buggers getting into the impeller.
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Natalia with baby Emily. She says that this pandemic has deprived her of baby snuggles. She finally got a
few of them on this day.
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Morning ride with light coming into Ranger Summit.
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Nice morning Dawn Patrol ride with Mike D.
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Walter enjoying some fishing practive at Mitford Pond.
Video of Walter 'reading' to me
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Henry sporting his 'Harry Potter's glasses from school, although giving me lots of attitude for a 7 year old.
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For his first and last days of school, Natalia takes Henry to MacKay's. Here is Henry on his last day of
school, on Pyjama Day, with his brother at MacKay's, enjoying the diaroma. His brother is looking at him with pride.
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When we get to a camp site, all I want to do is get setup, and have Natalia take the boys somewhere else.
This process takes about an hour with no kids all over me, and about 3 hours with them around grabbing things.
This is River Grove site 108, for reference, and it has excellent shade for all but the take-down time around ~9:30am.
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Homemade burgers, chips and dip, and beer - best camping dinner ever!
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Some graffiti under the bridge enroute to the splash park in town.
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Walter is a big fan of the largest dinosaur in the world.
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A new donation box at the splash park, courtesy of the good folks at Rotary.
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Henry and Gracie loving the splash park under the watchful eyes of the big T-Rex.
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Henry and Gracie in the 'pee pool', as I call it.
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Henry and Gracie, getting slowly dialed down before bed.
After many years of pushing Henry on the swings, Gracie finally taught him to 'pump'
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Henry at the Tyrrell Museum for his third visit.
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Natalia was quick on the draw and was able to book us for a 9:30am Dinosite walk, before the bulk of the
heat came in. This was an easy hike around the badlands with a guide/paleontologist, and the boys were
excited to learn about dinosaur bones and how to locate them.
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I think this is a prickly pear cactus flowering in the badlands of Alberta.
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Our guide teaching about the different types of rock in the badlands, sandstone, ironstone, and mudstone.
Pretty easy and self-explanatory.
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Henry and Walter exploring the drainage looking for dinosaur bones.
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Both boys successfully found and identified dinosaur bones in the rock! Now that isn't to say that these
bones weren't 'planted' in the area we were exploring, but they did find them!
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The boys getting confirmation that they found real dinosaur bones!
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Henry showing a dinosaur tooth that was passed around.
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Jackson and Izzy playing the 'how much do I weigh' game in the new mammal area.
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Walter and Jackson hiding out in their couch in the trailer watching movies.
Walter splashing around at the Drumheller splash park
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Walter playing with the spray gun in Drumheller.
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All five of the kids looking at the camera enjoying their evening ice cream. The highlight of this visit
was actually Natalia wrapping her head with a towel to buy ice cream since she hadn't brought a mask. Classy!
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Look closely and you can see the Perrier bottle that Henry had set up for a rocket launch in the fountain.
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Another ice cream, this time at the Asteroid Cafe in Roseland, AB.
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We took the 11 bridges to Wayne and finished at the Last Chance Saloon, along with the haberdashery. It's
a cute attempt by the area to draw tourists (and motorcycles) up this way. Crazy to me, but they were in the
middle of constructing a brand new double-wide bridge up this slot canyon, which seems like a bad investment
but AB Transportation isn't known for always making good decisions.
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Henry and Walter enjoying what will be the hottest day in Cochrane's recent history.
