Banff Pictures

Holy moley! I came home to over 400 emails & voicemail full to capacity. I knew things were piling up at home, but I didn't realize everything was being flipped upside down! When I left for Banff my ex-girlfriend & oldest friend in Edmonton was getting married at the end of August & we were planning her bachorlette party. I get home & not only is the wedding off, but she's moving out. A contractor came by today to give me an estimate on all the work I need done before I can put my house up for sale. I called so many different places before I finally found someone who could:
a) call me back
b) start the work before September

Now I'm back on the painting/cleaning/selling/storage-ing mission. I'm going to paint the stuff I can reach like doors & trim before the professionals come in. That way if I have any spills or drips, they'll be doing the final stuff. Now I just need a baseboard guy, new light fixtures, new door knobs, finish sewing the curtains, fix the bathroom floor tile...whew! I'm tired already. lol On to the Banff pictures:



My favorite day of the holiday was the afternoon I took off by myself with nothing but a cooler & the doggies. We explored a few different lakes in the Banff area, chatted up a cute kayaker & lounged around on a picnic blanket drinking cider & soaking up the scenery.






I know dogs are always supposed to be on leashes in national parks, especially in bear country, but the pug was having so much fun digging up rocks along the shore that I wanted to see if he would actually swim if I went in with him. We waited out most of the other tourists & then I brought the dogs into the freezing cold lake with me. Kiero was a pretty good swimmer (though she seemed totally unimpressed that I made her get even her feet wet), but the pug was a bit top heavy & too short of snout to be much of a swimmer. Back to the beach for him while mom floated for a bit, happy to escape the heat & mosquitos. Best Day Ever.