Summer Vacation: Day 8 to Day 12

Jasper, my Jasper :)  I love Jasper. We allll love Jasper. Days 8 to 12 were spent in and around Jasper!

Jasper the Bear photo, through the years!

We visited some of our favorite spots in Jasper National Park!  Here are the highlights:

Jasper Tramway: I've rode the tram as a child and Cal and I have rode the tram once for sure, maybe twice, we can't quite remember!  

Made to the top of Whistler's mountain!

 This year we finally decided to take the kids up!!  Blake's always had a fear of heights but this was the summer to conquer those fears ;)  Emerson was most nervous on the tram, Reese spent the ride up in the arms of a sweet lady who asked her if she wanted a better view and Blake gazed out the window, taking it all in!!  Em was fine, she just had to look down at the floor a few times!  They all thought it was pretty neat and were excited to hike when we reached the end of the tram-line.  The hike to the summit of Whistlers mountain was steeper then Cal or I remembered it ... must be our old age ;)  The kids did fabulous though and we were so proud of them!  The views from the summit are amazing and well-worth the short hike!

Pyramid Lake: We took a nice walk around Pyramid Lake, complete with a few (100) photo's ... lol!  Such a beautiful location :)  The kids enjoyed spotting the minnows in the crystal clear water!

Watching the minnows, at Pyramid Lake

My favorite photo :)

Gorgeous Pyramid Lake

Lake Annette: We passed on swimming in the lake this time but had a picnic lunch/hot dog roast near the lake!  And met some new friends at the park! 

Athabasca Falls: Another fave :)

Friends of Jasper Survival Kit: On Wednesday evening the Friends of Jasper hosted a survival kit workshop for kids and our kids really enjoyed it!  They learned about compasses and how to use and create a survival kit.  It was a great program and Cal and I even learned a thing or two ;) 

Parks Interpretive Program in town: We had fun one afternoon when we decided to stop to see a play at the old fire hall in town.  We all ended up part of the play and had some great laughs :)

Those were a few of the highlights!  Whistlers campground is one of my most favorite places to camp.  There is so much to see and do around and always great learning opportunities for the kids!  Although we noticed this year that the kids seemed to have all the answers at all the interpretive programs ... it was actually quite comical!  One of the interpreters even recognized us from last year ;)  

We had a few close encounters with the wildlife ... Blake was extremely close to an elk one morning!!  Cal snapped a pic and Blake ran off, lol!  I'm glad Cal didn't have any close encounters while training for his marathon!!  I was a bit worried about that.

So there is the final re-cap of our 2015 summer vacation.  We had a great time and are very grateful for this time together :)  Can't wait for next years summer vacay!!