Lennard had a meeting in Calgary on Friday, so we decided to load the trailer up and leave a day early. We headed out about 4:00ish on Thursday evening and eventually made it out to Strathmore to park in Appleton’s yard for the evening. We visited for a while and they showed us their huge hangar/workshop that they build since we moved. It was almost 9:00 before we tried to get the kids to bed and it was an hour before they finally gave up.
The next morning, Lennard drove us in to Strathmore to Dave & Nysha’s so that the kids and I could hang out with Nysha and the boys for the day. It’s the first time we got to see their new place and the kids were excited to play with Levi and Will. Unfortunately, it was quite cold outside. We attempted to let them play at the park for a while, but it didn’t last very long. We played games, watched movies and chatted. It was nice to have a ‘down’ day. Nysha was so good to let us come, feed us snacks and lunch, and then even give me a last minute hair cut!
These three make me laugh. Ben was born the day that Levi was blessed, so they are only about 6 weeks apart in age. I love all their cheesy grins. At one point all three of these crazy kids were all sitting on top of each other in the chair. It wasn’t until I pulled out the camera that Levi got shy and hopped off.
The kids tried to play the ‘apple’ game and did pretty good for the most part. It was funny how the rules got stretched farther and farther the longer the game went on. We were both glad that Levi and Emma got the same amount of apples in the end!
Lennard came and got us just after 3:00 and after checking out our old house, we drove back to Appleton’s, hooked up the trailer and headed out to Calaway Park. The kids fell asleep about 5 minutes out from Nysha’s and slept through everything until we were unhooking the trailer. It was great!
We surprised them with new camp chairs. They were so excited to have some their size! The next morning, after a lazy morning and a good breakfast, we headed over to Calaway Park for when it opened. The kids were so excited to discover that they could go on pretty much any ride (as long as they were tall enough) without having to worry about tickets (like at West Ed). We went from one ride to the next and they loved everything!
We had such a fun day. We went on rides until about 1:00 and then headed back to the trailer for some lunch and then we did more rides. By about 3:00 the lines were getting long and the kids were wearing out, so we went back to the trailer. The kids snuggled up on the couch and watched a show. I had to take one family picture with the timer so that I would have proof that I was actually there… that’s the bad thing about the one always taking pictures – there’s none of me!
The next morning (Sunday), we loaded up and headed out towards Banff. We had a bit of ‘fun’ trying to find the campsite on Tunnel Mountain. We were staying at the Trailer Park, but the directions the GPS gave us had us almost in to downtown Banff with some crazy tight corners! We finally got turned around and out of the residential area and eventually found our campsite. It was a beautiful area. We decided to go explore downtown a bit more, so we headed down that way. It was quite rainy, but it stopped long enough for our walk. There are a few restaurants that we would love to try out another time. One was all different kinds of fondu and raclette. Yum!
We hung out in the trailer for the evening, but still managed to roast marshmallows and make s’mores over our propane fire. (Again… Ben’s lovely faces that he now makes when I try to get him to smile!)
We were amazed at how well the kids did in the trailer for bedtime. Last year was such a gong show, that we were worried about how they would do, but overall they did really well. The first night was a bit rough, but after that, there was about 15 minutes of back and forth and then they were out. It was great!
The next morning (Monday), we explored Banff a bit more. The kids loved seeing a waterfall, although I think they were more excited to throw rocks in the water.
We decided to go to Bass Pro Shop on our way home. We thought that with such a huge parking lot that there wouldn’t be any problem pulling in with our trailer on behind. What a mistake! It was crazy!!! We found a mostly empty gravel lot across from the mall that we pulled in to and then walked over.
The first place we always have to head to is the quads. Ben had a blast climbing on and off of every quad he could find. We checked out a few more things and then headed into the mall to get something to eat. After a good lunch (with so-so service), we headed out to find that while we were in the mall, the empty lot had filled up! There was another motorhome trying to get out, but because someone had parked quite a ways out from the fence, he was having a hard time. Lennard and I helped guide him out and then he helped us get out. I was glad to get out of there!
It was nice to get home, but at the same time we thoroughly enjoyed our time away together. We are looking forward to our Oregon trip even more now!
Thanks for coming! We sure loved it!
ReplyDelete