Banff

Emily has talked about wanting to go to Banff National Park for quite a while. Her goal was to go this year, but we didn't know how that was going to happen given all the other trips and reunions scheduled for the year. We kind of got to the point where we scratched it, and would find a different year to go, or at least I thought we did. One night she made a comment about how we put Banff on the backburner and forgot about it. I still had a few weeks left of paternity leave, and Hadley had spring break the first week of April. So, out of curiosity, I got on Airbnb and browsed places in and/or near Banff. I was surprised when I discovered how cheap the rates were for that time of year. There was a crazy discounted condo with an indoor pool and waterslide in Canmore that we were tempted with. Four nights in April was cheaper than one night in the summer, so obviously not the popular time to go. We researched more and found that some stuff would still be covered in snow and ice, so would be inaccessible. But  there would still be some pretty cool stuff to see and do. 

The trip would be during Cambri's birthday, so when we asked her if she wanted to go to Banff and stay somewhere that had a pool and waterslide, she was crazy excited. So, we booked it. 

* * *

SUNDAY, 2 APRIL

We left dark and early in the morning for our 10 hour drive across Canada. We reached the border in Sumas at about 6am and basically cruised right on through. We drove until Harlow woke up, because that meant it was time for her to eat. Well, it actually meant it was time for all of us to eat, we were just going off Harlow's schedule. So we stopped for some gas, change of diaper, and a quick breakfast before hitting the road again.

After driving for a few more hours, we stopped in Sicamous at A&W for some lunch. Fun fact: the A&W restaurants in Canada are completely independent of the ones in the US, and are significantly different. They are also everywhere. The root beer tastes a little different, too.

Finally, a little before 6pm, we arrived in Canmore.

This would become our view for the next few days.

I called in some pizza for dinner, and then afterwards the girls were anxious to get in a little bit of swimming before bedtime.

* * *

MONDAY, 3 APRIL

The girls and I woke up a lot earlier than I would've liked. It was actually not a very good night sleep for anyone. But, that didn't stop us from heading over to the local Tim Hortons for some donuts. Since it was around Easter, they had these specialty donuts that looked like a nest of sprinkles with some mini Cadbury eggs nestled in the middle. This would become the routine every single morning.

The plan for the first day was to swim.

Cambri enjoyed modeling off her new swimsuit and cat goggles.

Hadley sported the unicorn goggles. This indoor pool and waterslide was pretty slick, and the girls definitely got their time in.

They really enjoyed swimming around the pool, and would occasionally go down the slide. It was a tunnel slide, so it was pretty dark all the way down. It was also pretty fast. 

Harlow also enjoyed motoring around.

The water felt a lot colder than we wouldn't liked. The girls kept shivering every time they got out.

After swimming all morning, we headed over to The Summit Café for lunch. Hadley was so worn out we couldn't wake her up, no matter how hard we tried.

Cambri was doing okay, and enjoyed playing with the Spiderman table marker.

We both had the club sandwich, which was pretty good. Emily enjoyed hers, too, even with Hadley slammed up against her neck.

After lunch we headed over the shops on main street in Canmore. Cambri loved walking on the snow, and would go out of her way to walk on it instead of the sidewalk. Since most of the snow was a long the curb, it got a little frustrating trying to keep her from falling off the curb, but she was determined to walk on it.

We saw some pretty cool shops. We were able to get some souvenir shirts for the girls and a sweatshirt for Emily. Hadley also picked out a little squishy unicorn from one of the shops with a lot of games and trinkets. Cambri didn't want to leave that store, so it became a whole thing when I had to pick her up and walk out. She didn't get to pick anything out, so that would become a whole thing.

After returning to the condo for a little bit, we went back out for some dinner. Right next to where we parked, was an elk just hanging out.

The girls thought that was pretty neat.

We went to Rocky Mountain Flatbread for dinner. We had about a half-hour wait until they could get us a table, so we walked back over to the shops so Cambri could pick out a squishy unicorn. The shop had closed 5 minutes prior to us getting there, so she would have to wait until the next day.

The restaurant had some pages for the kids to color. Hadley has been doing a much better job of coloring within the lines and using colors other than pink.

Harlow isn't quite there yet, so she just watched. She'll color one day.

Cambri is still in the only-using-pink phase.

The food was pretty meh. It wasn't really flatbread but instead a thin-crust pizza that tasted weird. Hadley had some spaghetti and Cambri got mac n cheese, both of which were rather bland. Harlow really enjoyed the mac n cheese, though. She ate the crap out of that stuff.

* * *

TUESDAY, 4 APRIL

Another day, another Tim Hortons run. The skies were starting to clear up to better see the mountains around us. It was a pretty cool sunrise.

Cambri mostly just ate the top, while Hadley holed hers out.

The plan for Tuesday was to head up to Lake Louise in the morning, and swim the rest of the day.

In April, Lake Louise is still frozen over, which made for a cool opportunity to walk out on it. The girls were not bothered by the snow at all, either. It was quite cold, though, and that's mostly what would get them.

It was actually way cooler than I was expecting.

For comparison, this is what the lake looks like in the summer:

The girls didn't really understand that we were walking on a frozen lake, but were mostly just happy to walk in the snow.

There were these areas where the snow had been cleared to get to the ice and create spaces to ice skate. They also had goals for hockey. We didn't have skates, so the girls were just going to have to pretend.

Where there is snow, there is a snowball fight, and the girls wasted no time teaming up against Emily.

Cambri sure enjoyed the snow, but was starting to get a little cold.

After multiple attempts, we were able to get a pretty solid family picture.

Harlow was mostly just happy to get out of the carrier.

The pictures don't do them justice, but these mountains at the lake really feel like they are right on top of you. They were really quite imposing, which made for a pretty interesting feeling how out on the lake.

We tried to get Emily to take a picture with the girls, but she would just not cooperate.

We finally got one where everyone was looking at the camera, sort of.

We then tried to take pictures of just the girls, and the more we have, the more difficult it is to get them all to just smile and look at the camera.

But throughout the whole process, we get to capture some pictures that really show off their personalities, and that is fun as well.

They are who they are, and that is captured in these pictures, even if they aren't the perfect portrait with everyone smiling and looking at the camera.

Harlow seemed to enjoy the snow as well.

Emily was a little annoyed that the girls posed better for my picture with them.

The girls got their fill, and were starting to get tired and cold, so it was time to head back. Cambri took her time, however, getting distracted by her surroundings and walking on fresh snow.

I don't know why, but they started digging through this snow bank because they were sure they were going to find a deer in it.

Coming down from Lake Louise, we stopped in Banff for some poutine. Harlow really seemed to enjoy it, that of course, after her mini-melt down because she needed a bottle.

Fire! Next to where we parked was a fire pit and chairs. The girls took the opportunity to get warmed after a morning in the snow. The sun came out, so compared to Lake Louise, Banff actually felt pretty nice.

The rest of the day was spent swimming. The girls discovered the hot tub, which was both indoor and outdoor, and they just wanted to stay in that the whole time. We didn't want them to spent too much time in the hot tub, so made a deal with them that they could stay in it as long as they went down the slide every so often.

While puttering around with Harlow, I made sure to style her hair.

However, it wouldn't un-style when we were done.

And that is how she spent the rest of her day.

Emily just wanted ramen for dinner, but the place was too small for us, but also pretty busy when we went by. We ended up going a few blocks over to a Chinese restaurant that was also kind of meh.

* * *

WEDNESDAY, 5 APRIL

Another great sunrise, with even clearer skies, and an extra special donut run for Cambri's b-day.

The clear skies would be especially important today, because the activity for the day was to ride a gondola up a mountain.

They girls thought it was pretty cool. They kept saying they could see a bear, but I'm not sure what they were looking at.

After seeing so many bears, we made it to the top. They have a variety of stuff up there, and even a floor dedicated for kids and exploration.

They had a lot of fun virtually chipping away at rocks.

We enjoyed some pretty panoramic views from the top.

They had these explorer pamphlets for the kids to go around to each station and stamp them. Emily became obsessed with getting every stamp. She would end one stamp short. Still not sure where the last one was.

They had a variety of observation decks, and we stuck with the one on the top floor. One of the other ones was a sort of boardwalk along the ridge that takes you to another viewpoint.

The igloo was a fan favorite. 

It's like the snowball fight from Lake Louise never ended.

They had this mirror-esc bear statue that the girls really seemed to enjoy.

Hadley enjoyed throwing snow over the edge. At least she only did it where there weren't people below.

Cambri wanted to join in as well.

Emily looking good as always.

Around the other side was a dance floor, so you can imagine some wild parties happen during the summer.

It was time to head back down the mountain, which was just as cool as going up it.

At the bottom, we grabbed some more souvenirs, then headed over for some lunch.

One of the places we could find that we thought would have something for everyone was the Old Spaghetti Factory. The girls enjoyed some pizza while Emily and I had some pasta. Cambri also enjoyed a Shirley Temple to celebrate her birthday. 

When we got back to Canmore, we headed over to a spot that was supposed to give us a good view of The Three Sisters, which are three prominent peaks in the valley. These are the peaks we see from our condo, but wanted to get a closer look, but there wasn't an actual trail to the viewpoint, so we just sat the girls on the truck in a parking lot to get this cool shot. 

So, we have the three sister in front of The Three Sisters.

Also wanted to try and get a birthday portrait of Cambri while we were at it.

That night, we celebrated our little Cambridge and her marking three years with us.

We got a simple cake from the grocery store, as well as some unicorn candles for her to blow out.

For some reason she likes to smash up the cake before eating it.

Hadley got a very thoughtful card.

She scored a ballerina Barbie and a Squishmallow from Hadley. The rest of her presents would be opened at home when we got back.

The girls had a lot of fun, which was the main objective of this trip. Hadley kept telling us she wanted to come back for her birthday. Knowing this place rents for over $400/night in the summer, we were able to talk her down to any hotel with an indoor pool for her 6th birthday.

It turned out to quite a good trip. The girls really enjoyed the pool and hot tub. We also got to go see some pretty cool stuff that would be a completely different experience in the summer, but we really enjoyed the winter side of them. 

We drove home Thursday morning, and everyone was anxious to get back. The drive through Canada was very scenic, which helped make the 10+ hour drive not so bad (from my perspective, at least).

I would definitely recommend Banff in April.