Rally Caps!

Our ball team played tonight, and while brother Boyd and Katie were unable to make this game -- we put it all together for a great win -- 17-9.

Coach had me batting at the bottom of the order this week and it must have mentally psyched me out or something. I went 1 for 3 with a triple and two RBIs. Some sloppy discipline by myself while at the plate which lead to the two pop-ups -- maybe some time @ the batting cage is in order?!

Honourable mention to Angelo for pitching a complete game with some great junk balls that caused the other team to swing & miss or pop-up!

After the game I went to Schwartzee's to check out the new single-speed bike he built -- nice!! It's gonna be a great commuter bike and trainer for the pathways! I still have my Marin bike & the plan is to put some studded tires on it so Katie can use it this winter, if she wants to commute downtown for work. But depending on how she likes it -- we may have to look at a single-speed conversion?!

Until next time - keep your eye on the ball!

Visitors Homeward Bound

Well the week has come and gone -- a great time with our visitors, but they went home today. Like the rest of the week, their last two days in Calgary were filled with water activities to help cool down and some visiting with friends and family.

Thursday

The boys had a blast at Heritage Park -- basically spending the entire day exploring and playing on the rides. We had pizza for dinner and Wesley ate three and a half slices -- we had to see it to believe it!

Friday

We spent the morning at Chapters reading books - they love to read and make stories, so it was great fun. In the afternoon we hit the wavepool waterpark and cooled off in style. After trying most of our time to get the boys to try one of the kid water-slides, they finally did and then didn't want to leave when they realized how much fun it was -- always the way, right?! In the evening we went to Ed & Christine's for a BBQ with Katie's family and our friends. The highlight was definately the water balloon fight -- 100 balloons in 60 seconds -- and they loved getting "hit" as much as hitting someone else!

We dropped our visitors off this morning and spent the afternoon on our road bikes with a ride downtown - found some shade for a snack and enjoyed being out & active! It's the last day of the Tour de France on Sunday - so I guess we know what we'll be doing Sunday morning : )

Thanks for sharing our week!

Visitors Take 2

The fun continues in Calgary with amazing weather and lots of activities to keep everyone busy! Grant, Katie and Scott played ball on Tuesday night -- probably the best game of the season as our "guest players" helped put the game into overtime, but we end up coming up short by one run. For those of you who enjoy stats (and we know who you are) here's a break-down for you:

• Grant went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs. He had some outstanding defense on firstbase - snagging a line drive that came his way.
• Katie went 3 for 5, coming up with some important hits to keep the rally going! Looks like the batting cage time is paying off -- she'll be missed the next few weeks @ the diamond.
• Scott went 4 for 5 with two triples -- one of them with bases loaded, giving him 6 RBIs for the night.
• Overall, a great evening on the ball diamond!

On Tuesday, we headed to Calaway Park for rides, shows and lots of sun.
One of the highlights was the bumper boats -- the boys loved getting wet and ensuring everyone else got wet too! They also loved "driving" their own vehicles around the tracks and getting piggy-backs between rides, so they could save their energy!
Heather had the boys to herself, as we were off playing ball -- she put them in the jetted soaker tub and the boys loved floating around in their "pool." Heather also surprised us with making some of her famous chocolate chip cookies -- yum!





On Wednesday, we went to the Calgary Zoo! We rode the C-Train from our house to the Zoo and that proved to be as much fun as some of the Calaway Park rides (go figure?!) We saw elephants, lions, zebras, hippos and so much more! The boys loved the Zoo climbing area and we managed to pull them away long enough to take a picture of them!

We took turns pulling each other around the park and tried to find the shade as much as possible to beat the heat.

At night the boys are learning about the Tour de France, as Uncle Scott & Aunt Katie watch the highlights and teach them about what's going on.

Today, G, HG and the boys are off to Heritage Park and Katie and Scott will ride their bikes over to see them for a little visit!

More details to share as the week continues...

Visitors Take 1

This week we are lucky to have family from Vancouver Island visiting us! Here's some pictures and details to show you what we've been doing.

Sunday

Grant and Heather have friends in Calgary, so they hooked-up with them Sunday for most of the day. They enjoyed getting caught up with friends, as Katie and Scott hit the trails for some mountain biking with Mark & Alicia. Later in the evening when they came back home, Wesley and Colin cooled off playing in the sprinkler in the front yard.

Monday

Today we headed to Fish Creek Park and hit the water to build dams, hunt for minnows and explore wildlife -- tons of fun in the water! We had a small hike to a fire pit and roasted hot dogs and marshmallows. We then went to a neighbourhood water park to cool off again, before returning back home.

We're having very hot weather - but are doing our best to stay cool.

Corked Bats!

Season two for our team (The Corked Bats) started last week -- we worked and couldn't make the game and we lost. However, Scott was able to play tonight and went 4 for 4 at bat with a triple, double and two singles. His outfielding was a little rusty dropping two balls while on the run - both touching his glove making it even more frustrating!!

Angelo (Coach!) was in good spirits so he wasn't too mad at the errors -- he's a fun & forgiving type of guy.

Next week with Katie home and Grant, Heather and the boys visiting we could have a boyd-brother reunion on the ball diamond. Plus Katie has been doing wicked in the batting cage and can show-off her skills next week too -- so hold on sports fans!

Out of interest, we tied tonight. We came back in the last inning!

Moose Mountain Riding!

It is HOT in Calgary this weekend -- but we tried to beat some of the heat with an earlier morning mountain bike ride. Saturday we rode from Station Flats to the Moose Mountain Fire Road and climbed for what seemed like forever in the heat - yikes! But at the top of the Mountain we got our payback -- Moose Packers Trail and cut across to Tom Snow Trail back to Station Flats to complete the loop. They were some of the best switchbacks in the area - fast, dry and fun!!


Here's a few photos -- we were having too much fun to stop and photograph the best parts, but take our word for it - the climb is worth it! We also received a nice compliment up the hill today -- a group of guys who were driving up in their truck (shuttle service) to the fun part of the trail were pretty impressed with our dedication to "earn" the downhill by riding up. But as we did it - they looked like the smart ones beating the heat ; )

Tomorrow is a road ride downtown and we'll continue to Bowness Park for some batting cage fun -- we'll try to remember the camera too!

Marathon Man

Ed (Katie's dad) ran the Calgary Stampede Marathon this morning and had a great race. Even more impressive when you know he is 60 this year and looked great crossing the finish line. Great work, Dad -- we're proud of you!!

The rest of our weekend was filled with tons of biking -- how great is that?! We rode Elbow Loop on Saturday together - both feeling excellent throughout the 44km mountain bike trail. And then on Sunday we hooked up with Mark & Alicia and rode downtown to see Ed during the race and rode back home making it a 60km outing on our road bikes. It was pretty much a recovery ride, since we pushed ourselves @ Elbow Loop...but the wind coming back home made it feel like a workout.

Family, Friends and Biking -- doesn't get much sweeter.
Enjoy your week!

Day In Fish Creek Park

So our friend, Tracy - great friend & awesome photographer - got a new digital camera this past week. And since we have new bikes to show off, we offered to be her models!!

We took her to Fish Creek Park yesterday and played around on the trails and in the creek.

She's putting together a little package for us - but sent us a few 'teasers' -- and we'd thought we'd share them with you. Very creative and we're very pleased with what we've seen.

Thanks, Tracy!

BC Bike Race / Happy Canada Day!

Today was the start of the Inaugural BC Bike Race -- a seven (7) day, 500km staged mountain bike race from Victoria, BC to Whistler, BC. What's interesting is that it makes a stop in Port Alberni where my folks are. They are going to do a scouting report for us and let us know how things are organized, etc.

Katie and I would like to do a multi-staged race together. I did the TransRockies (7 days / 600kms from Fernie, BC to Canmore, AB) in '05 with Schwartzee and had tons of fun (I can say that now!) So we're looking at training this Fall when Katie is back in Calgary and having the biking adventure together! The crazy thing is next year, the BC Bike Race is from May 26-June 1. That's VERY early in the season - even more so when you live in Alberta and won't be outdoors biking for very long before the race. But we'll look at the options and keep you posted.

If you live in the areas where the race comes - check out their site and feel free to give us your scouting report:
http://www.bcbikerace.com/Race_Info/The_Route/

Happy Canada Day (even if you're in Mexico. xo)