As I returned to work today, the high of my four day vacation in Banff sustained me. I love my job but I love the proverbial bliss that comes with a vacation.
Our trip to Banff was our last road trip as a family of three (and somewhat a “babymoon” for us).
Here are some pictorial highlights from the trip.
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| My daughter’s face when she first saw the mountains… priceless! She was such a pleasure to travel with and she did great on the long drive. |
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| “Oh wow! Look at my bedroom! I have two beds!” |
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| It was raining on our first day, but it didn’t stop us from taking a walk by the Bow River. |
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| Our first night in Banff, we went out for Chinese food. My daughter insisted on using chopsticks to eat her dinner. She also enjoyed the Jasmine tea. |
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| What do you do when you’re posing by a bear statue? You growl of course. |
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| The rainy evenings made for some scenic misty mountain pictures. |
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| My daughter loved this “cave” in Banff Central Park. |
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| There’s a great kid’s room in the Banff Park Museum. My daughter loved touching the pelts and horns. She also saw her first skull. She said, “Oh no, his face is broken. We have to fix it!” |
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| Looking cool in our sunglasses by the Bow Falls. |
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| Lake Louise was covered in snow and ice! This was the first time we ever saw this! We had to take a few pictures. |
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| Climbing the play structure in Banff Central Park. My daughter kept on shouting, “Look at me, I’m climbing!” |
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| The best picture we could get of the three of us. My daughter refused to cooperate with the “pedestrians” we had asked to photograph us. She would play shy. |
Other highlights from the trip included:
During our long drive I told my daughter we would have to stop in Red Deer. My daughter declared, “Yeah, you don’t stop in Green Deer because green means go.”
Upon arriving in Banff, it was a dreary afternoon and pouring rain. I asked my daughter what she thought of Banff so far. She said, “I think someone in Banff should turn on the lights.”
My husband took my daughter swimming at our hotel pool. Through most of the “swim time” (aka my husband swooshing her around in the water) she repeatedly exclaimed, “Hey everybody, look at me! I’m swimming! I’m swimming!”
We took my daughter to the school playground and watched her play skills and confidence grow during the one hour time frame at the playground. It was fascinating to see her master different areas of the park in such a short time period.
Dinner at The Grizzly House (a fondue restaurant) is always a highlight. The cheese fondue is exquisite and watching my husband partake in the exotic meats fondue is always entertaining. What’s in the exotic meats fondue you ask? Shark, alligator, rattlesnake, ostrich, buffalo, venison and frog legs of course! I stuck to my all beef fondue.
*Sigh*… the majesty of the Rocky Mountains. I’m always sad when I leave. Hopefully we can return in a couple years (with two children in tow).
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Cheese fondue! Last time i had that was in Switzerland on our honeymoon (2000), oh it was divine. What did your wee darling eat? How did the eating out thing go for her? We don’t eat out much, partially for financial reasons but also it’s a lot less stressful if I know what’s in the food.
We brought all her food (for all meals) to Banff, which meant a lot of baking and prep on my part. Our hotel room had a mini-fridge and microwave so we would warm her stuff right before heading out to the restaurants.
When she was done eating we had plenty of activities available to her (packed in her own little knapsack). She coloured, played with finger puppets, built puzzles, and read while we dined. I’m glad we were so prepared. It went well!
Wonderful pictures! Smart girl remembering green means go! Too cute! Its been many years but we took a trip to Banff and had a wonderful time!
Megan