Friday's Fave #240

Hi everyone!  So sorry I'm so late with posting this up.  I fought a migraine all day yesterday and then I simply fell asleep early and totally forgot to post.  I'll be back later with my five.

Updated with my five!  Whew, feeling much better today but boy oh boy, trying to get on here to post with all the kids here today is a feat in and of itself!  Hopefully I can manage all five without them causing the house to come down around my ears.  :)

Last weekend was a long weekend, we celebrated Canada Day, so most of my fives if not all will probably be coming from that.  I love long weekends!

1.  A couple of bike rides.  Hubby and I love to ride our bikes especially in lovely mornings.  We had a couple of chances on the weekend, Saturday morning and Monday morning.  Both were filled with sunshine and not overly hot yet and no wind!  Saturday we rode down our favorite Avenue that goes from 1st street to 23rd Street.  It used to be quite a posh street and prime property in it's heydey.  It is gorgeous with lots of older character homes, some fixed up and some not,  and some lovely landscaping.   It ends up overlooking the river and rail bridge where we pause to catch our breaths before heading back. The coulees were nice and green from all the rain and the water was still quite high from the flooding last week but the view is awesome.  I always drool over the lot for sale from which I took this picture.  

 Monday we rode to a ritzy district where the lots and houses are big and new.  We always like to comment on what style of home we like and tease each other about buying when we see one up for sale.  We like to take guesses at what occupations these families would have to live there.  It's a nice time together.

2.  Day trip to one of my favorite places.  Sunday we took off to the mountains.  We took my Mom and my Sis's family joined us.  Again beautiful weather and one of the most beautiful places.  We found our favorite picnic spot by the creek.  Though the creek was not nice and clear, it was running high and muddy and fast from all the rain, it was still a nice place to get the fire going and roast hot dogs and marshmallows and just relax. 

This little butterfly took a liking to my kids and kept landing on them.  May have been smelling all that sweet marshmallow from some of the biggest marshmallows I've ever seen.  They were the size of the palm of my hand and hubby toasted them up perfectly!

 Of course after all that food, we need to do some exercise right?  Wrong.  I pulled out my book and sat like a beached whale in the sun while the kids took off to hike up Bear's Hump.  I begged off 'cause I've been having issue with my knee, ahem.  It's a switch backing trail going a mile up the side of a mountain to finish on an outcropping of rock that overlooks the town of Waterton.  Gorgeous, but just beyond my capabilities right now.

  

This isn't my video but it gives you a gorgeous quick view of what a beautiful place this is.  And Bear's Hump is only one hike out lots to take around here.  They go from easy to really challenging.  Love this place.

3.  My dog is always a source of amusement for me.  He's such a nut.  We decided to go into town and take a nice mellow walk by the lake, one my mom could easily handle.  I swear that dog thinks the lake was put there just for him to cool off in.  Before we could even blink he had bounded in and took off deep enough to swim around.  He loves the water.  Good thing we had the leash on him.  It still makes me laugh to think how happy he looked in that freezing cold lake.  

I could post pictures forever of this favorite place of mine, but moving on:

4.  A long weekend calls for breakfast out!  And once more we hit this place which has become our breakfast go to place!  I swear we are on a mission to eat through their menu.  Yummy!  And what would Canada Day be without a red and white breakfast?!

My mouth waters as I look at it.  A ton of strawberries (and I'm not exaggerating), custard, strawberry coulis and whip cream.  There was not even a need for syrup.  And I finished every delicious bite.

5.  A great read.  I love when an author is able to take a story and draw me right in to feel with the characters.  A novel that I stay up late reading because I hate to leave the story.  A novel that is clean and I don't have to skip paragraphs or pages or quit altogether.  A novel that I can close with a satisfied sigh.  I found that in this one:

Book review to come.

Thanks for being patient with me today!  Hope all my U.S. friends had a wonderful Fourth of July and a good weekend to everybody!