So... I Forgot to Mention That We Went To Calgary for Spring Break...

... and I really do apologize!

We flew out to Calgary on Friday afternoon (the DAY spring break started!) and arrived home on Sunday night (the DAY spring break ended)! All in all it was a great trip and it was nice to visit with family, once again!

This was Larren's second time on a "bird in the sky" and she (and her sister) did great! She made a number of new friends as she cruised around the airport before take off... and the busyness continued until we landed in Calgary!

Alia was happy to see Grampa... and Grampa was happy to do a bit of teasing and tickling!

Pears. Pears were the girls fruit of choice for the week... goodness gracious. I don't know the shear volume that was consumed... but I'm sure it's a new record! :)

This was their favorite exercise of the week too... and several other "chosen" family members got their exercise along with them!

IKEA is always on my "Calgary list" when we visit, and this time it was even more special! Gramma volunteered to keep Larren while we were shopping (and Alia too... but I had already told Alia what a fun day we had in store for us!). Since we rarely do anything with JUST Alia, this was a fun time indeed!

The first stop was the kids section and the play zone they have set up there. Though rarely did Alia and cousin Anderson want to play on the same things at the same time... so this was the most "together" picture that we could manage! :)

After a successful "hunt", a quick lunch, and check out, we stopped by to get a departing treat. I looked over from my spot (manning the cart), to see Alia on Jon's shoulders laying her head down on his in the line up! She was plain tuckered out!

But nothing a little...

... can't fix!

Even Jon smiled a time or two at IKEA... which doesn't ALWAYS happen! :)

Later that evening Gramma had a wonderful idea of an indoor slide... and Alia and Larren were quick to second her idea!

Larren liked the slide... but the pillows at the bottom just sealed the deal!

This was her FAVORITE spot in the house... and she wasn't thrilled that she could only spend X amount of seconds there before her sister came sliding down after her!

The table was even sturdy enough me to take a go at it!

See? I'm not kidding...

The return trip UP the slide proved to be a bit of effort... but worth the trip!

Tickets please ...

Simple concept. An adult sits at the top of the stairs while holding one of the kiddos with their feet...

The kiddo waits patiently until...

BLAST OFF!

and KABOOM!

Other entertainment included Gramma and Grampa's 2 story foyer...

A little pedicure was in order for our water park event the next day!

Jon is the MASTER nail cutter, so Anderson even got a little mani/pedi too!

Having some cousin and Auntie time!

On one of the last days of our trip Jeannette and Arnie volunteered to watch the kids while Jen, Matt, Jon, and I went on a day trip to Banff! It was a welcomed getaway indeed!

First off... the gondola.

... and oddly enough I look like my eyes are two different sizes in pretty much every picture taken of me this trip. I assure you... they match! :)

This is the famous Banff Springs Hotel that was built a really long time ago (now THAT'S a history lesson!!!) for the ELITE folk who were able to travel there by train. SO SUPER beautiful.... wow!! Certainly not our typical Days Inn! The inside still feels like a castle and for a split second I could actually imagine what it felt like to be walking around in big hooped dresses with white gloves and a massive feathery hat! 

What can I say.... the kiddos weren't around! Although, I was taken a bit by surprise and failed to do the cute little "foot pop" thing! Next time I'll try to be more romantic... :)

We decided to "hike" to the top for some more observation... and this is looking at the place where the kissing pictures were just taken!

Okay... hiking might be a bit of an exaggeration BUT they didn't shovel after like the first 20 feet of our trek.... so it really was more like climbing up snow hills than a wooded board walk. Going back down proved to be interesting and my darling husband saved me from utter disaster a time or two!

We went PAST the sign that said "Stop for your own safety" and made it up to this little weather observation station. It would have been a lot harder to get up here in the olden days without the handy dandy gondola or nice walking paths!

Jon went quite a bit FURTHER than the "enter at your own risk" section and had Jen and I pleading for him to stop. "We have two children... it's not worth rolling down the hill... you don't know where the drop off is...here I'll just get your picture then you don't have to walk any further" - those type of things!

The treacherous walk back down! Holding on to the rail was mandatory for me too! :)

The rest of our day in Banff was spent eating (at a SUPER great "hole-in-the-wall" restaurant), browsing the shops on the main drag, taste testing fudge, munching on scrumptious chocolates and a yummy caramel apple, and taking a self guided (read : pretty much getting lost!) tour of the Banff Springs Hotel. It was such a great day and I'm very glad we got to go!

And that's it.... I failed to take any pictures after that. Which happens often when we're visiting family.... there's just an abrupt halt! But seriously, we visit and we eat. A lot! So for this case just imagine the pictures in your head!! Thank you for your cooperation!

Enter pretend picture of our last lunch of yummy doner's, the pretend pic of saying good bye, and the pretend pic of flying home.

Oh lookee there.... we've arrived!

To TONS and TONS of snow! TONS! I got stuck getting the mail for crying out loud! I had to use 4 LOW and some fancy maneuvering from my mudding days just to make it through our little community and back to the driveway!

This was our sad verandah furniture... that was basking in the sun before we left!

We had to "snow shoe" from the garage to the front door... and carefully carefully up the stairs carrying kiddos and anything else we could cram in our arms! This was the after pic.... the pretend pic would have been much more entertaining!

But Jon was out clearing snow in no time! 

Who would have thought I'd get my first snow blowing lesson in APRIL? Ha! Well... at any rate... I'll be ready to clear, clear, clear if we get dumped on in JULY! 

Thanks again Mom, Arnie, Matt, Jen, and Anderson for your hospitality, the wonderful food, our convos, the HUGE amounts of chocolate :) and Rook at it's finest! And just a reminder... Head Up The Hill Bed and Breakfast is open any time you're in the area!