Harvest & Heritage

As much as I love the other seasons of the year, I do have to admit that summer is a fantastic time for eating!  Corn on the cob, fresh BC peaches, and berries for jam.  Life is good and tasty!



Speaking of which, Nathalie is definitely a Shipley when it comes to corn on the cob.  How someone so small can pack away so much is truly astonishing! 

I'm such a nerd, but MY Target is finally open.  Huge cause for celebration!!

On August 5th, we celebrated another first...Heritage Day.  Heritage Day is celebrated in Alberta on the first Monday of August each year.  In 1974, the Alberta Government declared Heritage Day as an annual holiday to recognize and celebrate the varied cultural heritage of Albertans.  However, it is an optional holiday, meaning that businesses can choose whether or not to recognize the day as a general holiday.  Greg's company does, so we had a long weekend to relax and be together.  It sounds like most Albertans use the weekend to camp, hike, spend time with family and friends, and visit museums.  We had heard there would be a small festival in Prince's Island Park, so we headed there in the afternoon.  Well, looks like most of the festivities had been moved to Olympic Park Plaza, but instead of heading elsewhere, we just used the day to stroll and enjoy the park.  We found a little playground and splash pad, cute!

After some playtime, we crossed Calgary's Peace Bridge.  Opened in March 2012, the Peace Bridge accommodates the increasing number of people commuting to and from work by walking or cycling.  And of course, those that just want to enjoy and explore Calgary's pathways, like us!

We walked along Memorial Drive to the Louise Bridge, which crosses the Bow River also and connects the downtown west end with Memorial Drive and the Kensington neighborhood.  It is configured with reversible lanes to accommodate higher traffic into downtown in the morning and higher outbound traffic in the afternoons.  The bridge was built in 1921 and named after Louise Cushing, daughter of William Henry Cushing, mayor of Calgary from 1900 to 1901. 

Lastly, celebrating the varied cultures of Alberta would not be complete without balloons...an octopus for Ben and a flower for Nathalie.  :)  A great holiday afternoon in the city!