High River & Mazeppa {day seven of trip}

July 6: We had a full day today. Grandpa Hershberger had recently finished a book he had written "That's That" about his life. It was rather interesting to read, I appreciate how honest Grandpa H is..and his sense of humor. I read most of the book on our way up here outloud, so Ben could also enjoy it. It created hours of entertainment and discussion. We had to laugh at the many words that only Grandpa would use!! It made me feel both uneducated (for not knowing what the word meant in the first place) and educated (for learning the meaning within the text)! In his book, he wrote about his growing up years in High River and Mazeppa. So, today we went on a bus tour to the surrounding area to see where Grandpa Hershberger's growing up years were held.

It may not look like it in this picture, but Christian was a HUGE fan of the bus. The whole walk over from the hotel to the church where the bus was, he said "ride the bus?" over and over again...just ask Tim and Faith, they were able to hear his conversation!

We first went by the house that Grandpa grew up in. It was quite interesting to see the house, artisian well, and outbuildings...all original!

Next, we saw the location where the school house was..and the artisian well that is still very much running with perfectly cold water. Christian really liked that water. The only downfall of the day was the amount of mosquitos..yikes, they are really more like birds. I think the ones in MN are pretty much direct descendants of these..both very LARGE in quantity and in size!

Grandpa sharing a memory from his school days.

The last place we got out along our tour was at the church where Grandpa Hershberger's dad was pastor. This is now someone's house, but the cemetery is still located in their back yard. Christian found enjoyment in brushing off the grass on the tombstone..we said "keening..gass, keening..gass" (cleaning, grass). That was nice for the lady that was buried there I guess.

After the bus tour, we went over to a park in town and had lunch. Here Daniel, Ben, and Sam are socializing after the subway sandwich lunch...and getting eaten for lunch by the mosquitos!

The afternoon was relaxing, we all got naps in..and then socialized with each other. We ate at a very nice Italian restaurant for supper..I especially enjoyed the appetizers which surprised me..calamari, shrimp, bushetta, and yummy bread dipped in olive oil/balsamic vinegar. It was MORE than enough food!

After supper, we came back, went swimming again..I even tried out the waterslide several times! Christian again turned quite blue in his lips from it being chilly, so we all sat in the hot tub..he was a fan.

"Hot. Tub." He is very clear with his words sometimes, this one was a repeater.