trip to Banff

we went to Banff this weekend- we didn't get to go to Alaska as previously mentioned as Matt can't take holidays this summer  But we had an amazing time 

We did the drive from our place to Hinton (which is outside of Jasper) Friday night - its a cheaper hotel room prices since your not in the national park heehee- it's also a 5 hour drive from our place- 

On the Saturday we went to the grocery store to fill up our cooler with breakfast and sandwich and snack items (drinks of course!!) and started our drive to Banff. We stopped at the Miette hot springs which is before Jasper. John thought it was pretty cool cause there were 2 cold pools and 2 hot pools. The water STINKS though the sulfur smell was pretty strong. As we got out we notice a little creek beside the building and John wanted to touch the water- OK...IT WAS HOT!! lol he thought that was cool!! We then drove the Columbia Icefield HWY which goes from Jasper to Lake Louise. We stopped and looked at the Athabasca Falls - hiked to the bottom. kids loved it. Had Lunch in the car as it was starting to Rain. Drove to the Ice Field Interpretive Center- which Matt and I were disappointed as it was more of a rest stop selling tours to go on the Athabasca Glacier. However they had actual bathrooms and Laura said ok to those ones- she didn't like the other ones we used as they were TOO STINKY. she wouldn't use it! It was raining pretty hard when we came out of the building it was COLD!! However we turned the corner the rain stopped. We stopped at Bow Lake. It was beautiful and we could see the Glacier from the top. We decided to drive to the Hotel in Banff and do things there as it was already getting late. We got to the Banff Springs Hotel our room wasn't ready so they gave us one until we can get into ours so we could go swimming and whatever (nap they said...pfff the kids said to that! lol) so we went swimming when we got back our room was ready. We got a 1 bedroom suite and the kids had the living room where we got a cot and a pull out couch. It was a lot roomier than the room we were given before hand. We decided to do the kids' scavenger hunt around the hotel. It was huge and beautiful. I recommend going to see this "Castle!" if you ever are in Banff. We had dinner at the Italian restaurant there (Castellos) it was YUMMY. finished the hunt and the kids got a prize. Went to sleep after that. 

The next morning we were leaving to do Lake Louise however decided on route to start with Johnston Canyon. we found parking with not too much looking. did the Hike (Laura in her Dress!! perfect girly hiking attire!!!) we got to go so close to the waterfalls. it was amazing. Then we had made sandwiches to eat on route to Lake Louise. However when we got there there was absolutely no parking. We would have had a 5km walk at least if we went. we decided to do Lake Moraine instead. Went there there were cars parked far away however we lucked out and got a close spot. We did a hike to the top of the rock pile and managed to get great pictures. We then told the kids to have a nap if they wanted to do anything else! we drove on Tunnel Mountain- saw the surprise corner in which we see our hotel and the bow river. Then went to the Cave and Basin Museum. This was where the National Parks first started. They found hot springs there and then CPR decided to build a hotel to get ppl out there which is how Banff Springs started 125 years ago. (its now a fairmont Hotel) after that we went for a swim had pizza and i actually fell asleep. We then went for another "hike" to Bow Falls. They are right at our hotel however I am so bad with directions that i added at least a km to our "walk" there were SOOOOOO many stairs to get there. It was awful!! lol We got to a spot on the walk along the river and i saw more stairs and i gave up i said I am heading back. Laura and I walked back while Matt and John kept going. We made it back about 5 minutes before the boys which then matt informed me those were the last stairs when i gave up...lol i was not too happy. 

The next day we started the day off with a raft ride on the bow river. Last year we were on Slave lake for Canada day- this year on Bow river' what is next? 

we then went back to the hotel had a swim as we were boiling. then made sandwiches for lunch. had a little relax time and at 2:30 the hotel had a little ceremony for Canada day with cupcakes, a moose, a RCMP officer. Kids thought it was pretty awesome. We then did the gondola to the top of the mountain. Once we got there we could take a walk to an old weather station however seeing all those stairs the kids said NO WAY. I was fine with that. We went back down after ice cream! and then we went to the Canada Day Parade downtown Banff. While we walked there i had Laura on my shoulders. We were talking and all of a sudden she got heavy. I asked Matt if she was falling asleep- he said she was asleep. She did NOT look cozy. So we got Beaver Tails/ice cream while waiting for the parade and let Laura sleep on me till it started. Kids really enjoyed it. Went back to the hotel had supper, then they had an Candy apple roast on the fire..it was pretty cool it was delicious...if anyone needs ideas - you take a granny smith apple put it on Marshmallow stick and BURN IT...it has to look like a lump of coal...the blacker the better. then while leaving it on the stick you take the skin off...it flakes off. then you put cinnamon and sugar mixture on top of the skinned apple go back to the fire and melt it till it's golden (the sugar mix) and put it in a bowl to enjoy (don't enjoy off a fork or anything) they fall off easily ....YUMMY 
we went swimming one last time and then left in the morning for the 9 hour drive home. 

It was a great trip. Loved it. Have any of you ever gone there? or any great trip stories?

update

Wow it's been a while...like way too long- We have done a lot in the last year- however not so much.  The kids are back in swimming on Saturdays - however it's great they are 10 minutes apart-

Last summer we went to Hay River in the north west territories.  Now we can say we have been to the NWT.  We also drove to Ontario for a couple weeks in the summer - that was fun.

We went to Florida for Christmas- my family met us there the week before Christmas and then Matt's family for the 10 days surrounding Christmas- we had 1 house for my family and 2 when Matt's family was there- side by side- it was a great holiday- We ended up driving back to our house - (the kids and I flew to Florida and met Matt there - he had meetings in Winnipeg and Minneapolis)  We drove the first day to Dallas - there i got a call saying my grandpa passed away.  So i wanted to be back to Sudbury for that- we slept in Douglas Wyoming the next night and then Matt and the kids dropped me off in Calgary where i flew to Toronto and got a ride with my cousin and her family to Sudbury.  the 3rd night Matt spent just outside of Edmonton.  Who can say CRAZY?

We also went back to Ontario for a couple weeks after Easter.  Matt had to come back a week early since he had jury duty (SUCKER!!)

I met my best friend, mom, sister, 2 aunts and a bunch of lovely ladies in Chicago in May.  That was a great time.

Our next trip is at the end of the month- we will be going to ALASKA!!  WOOT-  we are taking a ferry (not a fairy as Laura thought) from Prince Rupert to Juneau - spending a couple days there- then going to Skagway then to Whitehorse. and driving the highway back home.  We are unsure about doing Dawson City- because it's so much further out of the way....like 18 or 12 hours depending on which way we decide to go.

I will try to write here more often (hopefully once a week)

WOW

Things have been slowly getting into a routine here.  Saturday the kids have swimming lessons in High Prairie- which is 30 minutes away.  The first session they were back to back lessons, so we would have to keep Laura entertained while John was in the water for 45 minutes.  Then Matt and Laura would go in together.  Swimming is daddy's thing.   John would play dinosaurs with the other kids while Laura was swimming.  Now this session they are at the same time, which is awesome cause I have been taking them and Matt's been doing lots of yard work.  

Last weekend was beautiful, we managed to do 2 loads to the dump, 2 loads of junk to the burn pile- when we bought the house there was a playhouse here, we had to get a backhoe to dig the earth beside the one wall as it was starting to crumble, well then playhouse broke down (thank god then and not when the kids were playing!)  .  We also did a lot of burning, and actually had ice cream by the fire.  However this weekend is another story- It took me 45 minutes to get to swimming 1 hour to come back, the roads were horrible, there was like 2 feet of snow over night.  Last weekend was Easter, it was really weird just being the 4 of us.  

Sundays, we are usually doing something around the house or playing.  

Monday Laura has speech therapy for an hour.  She's STUBBORN, she does not take after her mom one bit....or her dad!! hahaha

Tuesdays- Wednesday and Thursday- John has playschool- I have to pick him up at noon, however we try to go to playgroup.  The library in Falher started a mom and tot time on Tuesdays and the one in McLennan on Thursdays.  We absolutely try to make them.  Girouxville has playtime also on Wednesdays we try to go there but not always.  Cafe Nord in Falher is also a good place to go play with little miss, and bonus, if the kids are good on the weekend we go Mondays or Fridays!! john likes to go..

Fridays- John's favorite day is pop day- If he's been good all week he can have pop with either dinner or a movie.  

At the end of March Gramma and Papa came over- Gramma was here for a week and Papa Friday to Tuesday.  It was great to have them here.  The boys started taking apart the bathroom, Matt ordered a one piece tub, however then they tried to put it in, it was TOO BIG.  So now we are totally renovating the bathroom, It's going to have a corner tub with jets (its in my living room right now!) We also decided to drywall the bathroom as it was a dark room since it doesn't have windows. 

I digress yet again. When Gramma was over she saw John's playschool, met his teacher, met a friend and her kids.  We went to Peace River and then the day before they left we went to Grande Prairie to swim with the dinosaurs, we went the weekend of my birthday in March and the kids loved it, we thought maybe the kids would love to go there with Gramma and Papa.  They got a hotel and the kids had PIZZA HUT!! (a huge treat as it has real pepperoni- around where we live the pizza has big pepperoni - its more like salami)

It was sad to see them go, however Gramma decided she couldn't wait till July to see us again that she is coming in May.!!!

So our schedule is as follows for the months to come

May- Gramma visits

June - My mom, Aunt and Grandma visit

July- drive to London, ON (Obviously cause we can't drive to England!)

August - we will be in sudbury for a week - and driving back to Alberta

September- Gramma and Papa will probably visit!

October- we are flying to London and going to my cousins wedding in Sudbury!

November- Nothing planned quite yet

December - FLORIDA 

If any of you want to come visit please do not hesitate to do so!!  Contact Matt or I! :)  heehee

Wow that was fast.

So when we were in Tillsonburg, Laura had gone for a speech assessment, however i had to tell our speech therapist that we were moving.  She found someone in the area- as i told her i was willing to drive up to an hour for Laura to have her therapy.  Well I just got the call this morning that we are starting next Monday- I am unsure how things work here right now but I will have better understanding on Monday.

We also got our health cards today!  Now we are officially Albertan!!!

We knew for a couple years now that we will be going to Florida for Christmas in 2012.  We have been saving up Aeroplan points and everything.  Well this weekend we booked our trip.  We were only going to go for 2 weeks however, as it works out staying for 3 weeks worked better for us. So we are going to three weeks.  Friends and family are more than welcome to come visit us if they want too!!

Now we just have to look at booking a house- we would like 2 side by side houses as the Dale's don't want to share a house with the 4 kids (who could really blame them! heeheee)

Our trip to Grande Prairie was actually exstended- Matt was staying there for 2 nights, however after my first day there I WAS NOT Staying a 2nd night, Laura had run off on me, refused to listen...you know all the stuff a 2 year old does.  However the 2nd day there the kids were amazing.  They listened real good...so their reward was staying a 2nd night.  They loved to pool, the hotel even had a waterslide.  Laura was swimming around with the waterwings and even jumping in like a big girl our 2nd night there!! They are definately growing up my kids.

Laura thinks she can go all day without napping, usually around dinner or right after she cuddles into me and falls asleep.  As much as i dont like that she does that - I LOVE IT!!  She's only young once and I love the cuddles.  She's gotta learn she's not quite there yet she still needs to nap.

Been A While

So we had Laura's birthday party with Jess and Jessica and the kids.  The cake turned out pretty awesome if i dare say so myself.  The weekend after the birthday was the Superbowl.  Well Matt invited everyone from work over- obviously not everyone came but we had a great turnout.  We managed to get the house in order the week before - all the boxes were emptied and well it was a great party- the kids played downstairs, where we set up the ping pong table.  I think they all had a good time.

John and Laura started swimming lessons on February 11th in High Prairie.   However this week Laura didn't get to go, she has been sick almost all week.  John had his first school trip with the playschool he attends.  They went to a carnival in St Isidore- which is a huge french festival.  Sounds like he had a great time- however we had a conversation as we were driving home from me picking him up from school.

"So John did you have soup and grilled cheese for lunch"
- I said no thank you but they still gave me soup.  And i didn't want a grilled cheese so I ate the lunch you sent me.
"OK - so what else did you do?"
-We played outside.
"Did you have maple syrup on snow?"
-The other kids did but I didn't mommy.
"why not John?"
-Because you tell me not to eat snow.
"But John mommy tells  you not to eat snow and you still do it, why didn't you try it? you love syrup"
-I don't know
"That was one of the treats mommy loved as i was your age"

And today i had to tell him to stop eating the snow and catch up with me.

Well Friday we went to Grande Prairie- we bought a Hyundai Elantra it's Red!!  It's Great!!  It's Matt's!!! Now we are going to sell the van and I get to drive the huge truck

Yesterday Laura managed to open doors with the round door knobs.  OH NO!!!  I also started trying to put her in big girl underwear- Within 10 minutes she had her first accident.  Yesterday I put a pull up on her for the first time- she insisted on underwear on top.

Today- the kids had lunch downstairs.  Laura came up NOTHING on her bottom half...So i go downstairs to find her diaper.  It was wet but that was it.  So i go to change her- Noticed POOP on her bum.... oh no.  So she must have pooped in the basement after she took off her diaper.  I gave Matt he option to change her or go find the poop....she must have been taking care of her doll- pooped and kept taking care of her babies.  She had traces of it going every which way in the toy room.

Happy

Well I am happy to announce that my van has started every day since last Friday.  John was able to start playschool this week.  He loves it, the teachers love him, the other kids love him....it's great

He leaves on the bus at around 8:05 am and he's a big boy and wants to wait for the bus by himself- its right in front of our house.  I have to pick him up at noon.  Well the first day- the teacher told me that there was another boy who started the previous week- he and John play really well together.  There is an autistic child in the class that won't play with other kids.  However, he wanted to play with John and the other boy.  At one point the teacher had to tell the autistic boy and John to stop running around, she said that as much as she had to say it she was so happy to see him play with someone.

The next day I pick him up and the teacher tells me that he's got alot of charisma- that the kids just flock to him and want to be friends with John.  You would have thought he was here all year and not just on his 2nd day there.

Thursday - I went to playgroup with little miss, as it starts at 10 and lasts all day- I figured if i went from 10 to 11:55 I could pick John up and go straight home.  It worked great as it's in the same town as John goes to school.  John was in a bad mood coming home (he was up at 6 am)  He started taking a fit when we didn't see the beginning of the train that was crossing the road.  He was MAD.  He managed to take a nap and he was in a good mood after that.  After dinner John and I went back to Falher.  The library had a special teddy bear story time.  John was great- he became the favourite of the librarian, at the end she even told me that if I ever needed a babysitter for this stellar boy she was available- I said You didn't meat my little girl though.... lol

At the library kids were asked to bring a teddy bear- he brought one he got from the Fisher's at Christmas.  He named it Scooby.  Well she asked a couple kids to come up and tell as story about their teddy.  After a couple kids John gets chosen - he goes up "This is Scooby, he's a dog, he knows everything about dogs."  Then they were reading stories, there were 2 bears on a cover of one story, he says LOUDLY "That little one is a honey bear" - The reader asks him "How do you know that" He replies "It is, because I am smart" - Well he had all the parents roaring.

We came home and he went to bed really well...it was nice to have some mommy and John bonding time.  Once the kids were in bed- Matt and I worked on the floor in the what will be now the exercises room I think.  We put in  like 150 tiles.  seems like a million.  I also managed to bake mini cupcakes for Matt's work and baked a teddy bear cake for Laura's birthday - however when I follow the directions on the package to the T- first off the batter didn't go in all the nooks and crannies in the pan like it should have, then i had to cut off the part of the cake that went up well after i cut to let it cool on a wire rack the head fell off on both sides....so I sure hope i can use skears to hold it up...The recipe for the cake was the longest one i ever made to date.

Frustrated!!!

Alright so as you might know- I got my van Tuesday night- The kids and I had a great day on Tuesday- We went to High Prairie to the pool, lunch and did a little bit of groceries.  The pool there is pretty awesome!!!  The kids loved it and so did Mommy.  I can't wait to go with daddy! John did the waterside quite a few times...and its pretty big!!The best part?  When i got home i had a hubby- not a sick man anymore!!

My van was on the car hauler and wouldn't start, Matt gave it a boost with his truck and they got it off.  He then went to fill it up with gas.    Let it run for a bit and stuff....I booked it in for a out of province inspection on Thursday.  Well I need to get paperwork for that....So come the next morning (Wednesday) the bus called to say it was cancelled - but the van won't start.  Shit i can't go get the paperwork needed, so I called the auto shop and rescheduled for Friday.  This morning Matt boosted my van before he left so I can go to Falher and get the stuff i needed so we can bring it to the shop Friday.  Well he left at 7- the licence office doesn't open till 9! So I let it run....when we got in the van it was nice and toasty.  Got there fine no problems whatsoever. Decided to stop by the shop to see if they could still take it today.  He said Sure!!  It will be about an hour and a half.  (That was at 10 am)  It is now 2pm and I am still waiting for him to call me to tell me it's ready- I wanna go finish the paperwork.  I thought he would call the second Laura went to sleep but he hasn't yet.  What is up with this?  I wanna go to Falher today!! (I was supposed to clean all day - totally finish upstairs and then do the van stuff tomorrow)\

Well I am also waiting on the electrician- 2 weeks ago he said  I will be there next week (meaning last week) when he didn't show up we called him Friday and he said probably Tuesday Wednesday.  It is now Thursday- My goal was to have the house all done and set up before Laura's birthday which is next weekend- which doenst seem like its happening.  I am so frustrated with this Alberta time...that's what i have been calling it since it just seems to take so long to do anything- I know i should just relax, but I am tired of relaxing, i want thing to be done so i can actually do crafts with the kids, play with the kids, read with the kids (other than the few books that are in John's room- but you can only read Scaredy Squirrel so many times!)