The First Leg

Our first leg of our trip went without a hitch.  We got an early start to our day and hit the road at 9:30.  The drive took us about 6 hours where the kids played their newest iPad game called, Tap Titans.  Michelle and I were pleasantly surprised at how quiet the kids were in the back seat . . . so like any seasoned traveller, we were not going to interfere with them . . . we know that the calls of, “I’m hungry!  Do you have any snacks?  Are we almost there yet?  I have to go pee” would soon enough begin.  The only thing that could be heard in the truck was Michelle saying, “This is impossible” as she loses life after life on Candy Crush and the kids saying, “I beat the Boss!  I beat the Boss!”

  So lets help clarify things for you.  If I told the kids to sit at the table and tap their fingers as fast as they can on the table for the next 2 hours . . . I think there would be a mutiny on our hands, as the kids would feel that they were being mistreated and abused.  This new "game" that is “so much fun” is just that.  The kids literally tap the screen as fast as they can over and over and over and over again.  No skill, no strategy, no thinking . . . just simple tapping . . . it does not even matter where you tap on the screen. 

KIDS???  I still can’t figure them out . . . no wonder there is no manual to raise kids . . . you can not predict what they will do or want or like next.  Kids are . . . well . . . for the most of the times . . . a few bricks short of a load, which makes them so difficult to figure out.  No I am not being mean . . . I am simply stating a fact that kids’ brains are still developing and growing . . . so they are often a few synapsis short of common sense.

The Final Drive

Tomorrow will be an early start to the day as we make the long drive home.  It is funny how at the beginning of the trip we talked about five and half weeks being so long, but now that it is over it seems to have gone by too quickly.  As I sit here late at night blogging, I am sad at the fact that our trip is coming to an end.  Some of the things that I am grateful for and have enjoyed watching are:

1. watching how much the kids have bonded with one another and played with each other
2. enjoying new and exciting experiences together, free of distractions
3. hearing the kids say that they are going to miss Grammy and Papa when we get home
4. being the only ones here for one another
5. watching the kids snuggle up to Grammy and Papa, seeing Emma jump on Papa’s knees and snuggle in
6. seeing the kids snuggling up with one another on the couch
7. watching their confidence grow in different areas
8. sharing stories of our days’ adventures back at the trailer
9. pushing the kids outside their comfort zones
10. watching Josh and Jamie take care of their little sister and teaching her new tricks and random things
11. all of the holding hands, hugs, kisses, and uppies!

Our life on the road for the past five and a half weeks.

Our comfy home away from home.

Over 6500 kilometers later

Living in a 500 square foot trailer

Five and half weeks on the road

A nine and a half hour drive home

Spending every minute together . . . 

Priceless!!

We are finally home!!!

Last Full Day of Our Holidays

Well, we got off to an early start today once again as we had tickets to do the lake cruise and the gondola ride in Banff.  Michelle thought that the lake cruise was at a lake around Lake Louise, so we prepared ourselves for an hour drive making sure that we had all of the necessary road trip stuff.  As we were driving to Lake Louise, Michelle spotted a sign to Lake Minnewanka 15 minutes into our drive, so we quickly pulled over at the next turn off and headed for an information desk.  Yes, I get it that the early bird gets the worm, but when the information desk is still not open because it is too early . . . perhaps I should still be asleep.  Anyways, when we finally confirmed what Michelle had thought, we headed back to Lake Minnewanka . . . we were lucky because it saved us from an hour and forty-five minute drive there and back. 

As a side note . . . I say lucky because Michelle did not have her head down buried in her latest challenge of Candy Crush!  Yes, Candy Crush!  She is addicted!  You know I envisioned, us chatting across Canada planning our future, reconnecting as a couple, sharing our deepest secrets, solving the world’s problems, discussing our pedagogical beliefs around education . . . but no, this has not been the case as most of our talk time has revolved around when she no longer has any lives to continue playing.  I never thought I would hear these words come out of Michelle’s mouth, “hold on kids, I am on a timed challenge”.  It has been fun listening to her get frustrated and say, “Candy Crush!!” when she passes a level in her celebratory sing-song voice.

Anyways back to our lake cruise.  It was interesting hearing the different stories from our tour guide Ben, who shared some of the historical aspects of the area and about the animals that inhabit the surrounding forests.  The kids enjoyed hearing about the difference between a black bear and a grizzly bear and what to do when confronted by one.   They also liked hearing about the time in which a cougar was photographed by a couple of local guides attacking a mountain sheep.  

It was a nice change as we got to see Banff from a different perspective.

After the cruise, we decided to hang out by the lake relaxing and enjoying the view.

Yes, that is Emma way out there.  She did a great job maneuvering the kayak in the lake.

Always the builder finding ways to make it work . . . despite what I say.

Josh the builder, Jamie the boater and Emma the baker.

How can we not love a day at the lake like this?

The last thing on our list of things to do in Banff was to go up the gondola on Suphur Mountain.  I must admit that we, as a family, were pretty much done doing things.  When you got to the top of the gondola, you could climb up a bunch of staircases to get to a peak to look over Banff and the surrounding area . . . well, lets just say that we took a quick walk around the patio and headed back down the gondola.  Michelle and I both agreed that if we did this at the beginning of our trip we would of climbed up there for sure.  In the gondola, the kids would wave at every one that went by and either cheer when people waved back or say, “bush league“ to everyone that did not.  As you could imagine, we heard “bush league” almost every five seconds going up and down the gondola.  Thanks Captain Canada!  Another great saying they learned from you.

Our last dinner together, Skip and Ron joined us at the trailer park where magic tricks were performed by the boys and a bike show was put on by Emma.  Josh learned a couple of new tricks from Ron and showed him a couple of new ones that he had been practicing to show him.  Jamie performed the Magic Spell trick without a hitch.  Emma’s bike show had us in stitches as she commentated the whole way.  “My first trick, wait”, My second trick, wait”, “My thirsh trick” (third) . . . basically it was the same trick either sitting down or standing up doing a wheelie.  Every time she performed a trick she was smiling from ear to ear.  It was a fun night talking, performing and of course roasting marshmallows for s’mores by the campfire. 

Not too sure what they were talking about, but I love this series of pictures.

Canmore

Michelle and I both agree that Canmore feels like a smaller scale Whistler.  The views are amazing from our trailer as we overlook the Rocky Mountains.  

Exploring near the trailer.

Our view from the trailer.

Jamie and Emma just had to try out this bicycle repair stand.

Michelle thought she made a mistake because the drive from Jasper was only about an hour, whereas the drive from Canmore was two and a half hours to the Columbia Ice Fields.  Well if it was a mistake, it was a great mistake because it was the most scenic drive that I have ever been on . . . even Michelle was inspired to take some photos while we drove.  When we got to the Discovery Center, we headed over to the buses that would take us to the Athabasca Glacier.  

The kids loved the monster bus and our guide’s tacky jokes.  The boys enjoyed drinking from the melting glacier as it “tasted better than well water” according to Josh.  Emma simply liked playing with the natural ice cubes that she found on the ground. 

Next on our agenda was the Sky Walk, which is a clear glass bottom that overhangs the valley below at a height of 325 meters.  

I was a little surprised by the kids’ reaction when we finally got onto the bridge as they very cautiously stepped out onto the glass.  Jamie was shuffling his feet slowly behind us and felt comfort when I held his hand.  The view from above was amazing as everything below looked tiny.  Josh wanted to get off of the bridge after awhile, in which I don’t blame him. 

While we were on the bridge, I asked Josh to take a photo of Michelle and I when a nice man said that he would take a family photo of us.  Great!  As the man lined up the photo I knew we were in trouble because he said to me, "I can't see you, I can only see me in the camera".  So I took back my phone and made sure that he did not take a selfie of himself.  The man snapped the photo and handed me my phone and said, "if you don't like it I can take another one for you".  When I viewed the photo I said to him, "no this one is great, thank you".  Here is his photo.

Thanks Josh for retaking the photo for us.

A beautiful place to enjoy as a family on a hot summer day. 

On our way home, we made a couple of stops to dip our feet into the river and to skip some rocks.  A great day once again on our summer road trip. 

One of my favourite parts of summer is being able to slow down and just hang out.

Marda Gras

Today we headed to the Marda Gras Street Festival in Calgary, where there were different retail booths, food trucks, music, and lots of games to play for some free prizes.  We spent about four hours going from booth to booth browsing their stuff and trying to win some free prizes.  The kids walked away with sunglasses, pens, Frisbees, bead necklaces, tattoos, candies, bracelets, and hats. 

Emma loved petting the cute puppies.

Good luck Josh!

The boys won a couple of hats hitting the top shelf.  A few shots flew over the net and hit the building behind the goal.

The coolest thing that we got to do was “Share a Coke”, which was a promotion that started in Australia.  In line, we were given a small can of Coke to drink which helped us cool down from the heat of the day.  When we got to the front of the line we typed our names into the screen on the side of the truck and out popped a personalized can of Coke.