BANFF-tastic!

Every two years, my parents (who I cannot thank enough) watch the girls for a week so I can get out of town with the love of my life.

This year we headed to the Great White North for a beautiful, romantic and exhausting vacation to.....

BANFF!

Before we left I would tell people we were going to Banff. There were only two reactions: "What is Banff?", or "Banff is gorgeous! You'll love it!"

Banff is in Alberta, Canada, in the Canadian Rockies. Now, I adore my Wyoming Rockies and I love the Colorado Rockies, but the Canadian Rockies... well, you'll see.

The fact that people didn't know where Banff was seems very strange to me because it was more crowded than Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Park combined. Or at least it seemed that way. We didn't let it cramp our style.

Okay, so the town of Banff is beautiful and quaint... in a Pottery Barn sort of way. Below is pictured our hotel:

And then there was the view from our hotel:

Completely unreal.

The morning after we arrived, we hiked our little hearts out. We hiked about 10 miles that day and I have to say that never once were we in a place without a spectacular view. 

This is Mirror Lake with Big Beehive in the background:

The tea house at Lake Agnes:

Right in the middle of this strenuous hike, there is a little house with tea service in real tea cups! How much more refined can you get? If it had not been 80°, I would have been tempted to partake of one of the dozens of varieties. But it was 80° and I had a fabulous sweat patch under my pack the size of Lake Agnes itself. 

Just look at it (the lake, not my sweat patch): 

Everywhere we went, those beautiful mountains:

Now, at this point in the hike, we were entering into the plain of the six glaciers, which is quite popular with the bears. We also found ourselves totally alone at this point. The crowds must have been back at the tea house. So as recommended, we started to sing. Bears must hate "Don't Stop Believin'" and "Desperado" because they stayed away.  The only one I saw the whole trip was from the car, which was simultaneously a relief and a disappointment. We were able to stop singing by the time we reached Lake Louise:

on account of the crowds. 

This was the end of our hike and so we treated ourselves to some ice cream at the fancy hotel near the lake. 

It was topped with dried goji berries.

I cannot think of anything more stupid to put on ice cream than dried goji berries. It was a disgrace, an abomination. But the hike had been long and I hadn't had anything but a Special K bar that day, so the goji berries went down the hatch. But I'm still thinking of writing the ice cream shop owner a very strongly worded letter. Subject: Next Time Try Hot Fudge.

The next day we visited Moraine lake. I don't know how to photoshop. All these colors are real. I promise. 

The canoe rental was well worth the price, which, for an hour, cost approximately the same as a credit hour at UW. Sorry, kids, you're going to have to skip that ballroom dancing elective. We spent your tuition money on something more important. 

This was the most peaceful hour of my life. I think if I could do this once a week, I would never need to take another Ativan, or wear the plastic guard that keeps me from grinding my teeth to nubs at night, or yell at my kids. But I would also have to find a way to support my canoeing habit. Eh... Ativan's easier.   

Look at that view! A little history behind the next pic: There were a lot of insta-gals there. A lot. Some pretending to ponder the lake, others feigning a dive into the lake, some balancing on a rock surrounded by water, poised on the ball of one foot. They would spend all day lining up shots all for the sake of their insta-stardom. Most of them forgot to enjoy their surroundings. 

So we get to this viewpoint and there's an insta-club. They're insta-posing. Chris and I just want to enjoy the view, but their antics are taking up the whole viewing area. I immediately started judging them. However, after they were done, they offered to take our picture. I actually think it turned out quite nice and I repented of my judgement. It's nice to have a pic with the insta-touch. 

No, I will not stop. This is really, for real what it looked like. I don't even know what a filter is. 

That night we took a gondola up to the top of Sulphur Mountain, which sounds very unpleasant, but which is, in actuality, stunning. 

This is the view we had while we ate dinner. Totally unreal!

The following morning, we headed over to Johnston Canyon, which is the home of some lovely waterfalls. 

Again, look at the color of that water! And this was on a rainy day too. So gorgeous! (The rock behind my head makes it look like I have a bun! Nature is so cool!)

Then it was time to say goodbye to beautiful Banff

And hello to Calgary.

We spent some time walking along the Bow River:

And across the many footbridges (this one is called the Peace Bridge)

And at this really cool Farmer's market  (I hardly had my phone out this whole trip and yet there I am... I think I was texting the kids). 

Then we went to this crazy mall area that was near a stock trading tower. It was not my scene. I buy my clothes from the clearance rack at Kohls.  

But it had this cool Botanic Garden on the top floor. That part was nice. 

Some takeaways from the trip:

• Canadians are super polite. Always. Even when issuing a speeding ticket ;)
• Banff is one of the most beautiful places in the world.
• I love being with Chris. A couple weeks ago was the 20th anniversary of our first date. It's hard to remember life before him and I never want to have a life after him.

And now, we just have to wait another couple (or perhaps 3) years until we go on our next couples only adventure. In the meantime I'm seriously considering buying a small, non motored watercraft for short escapes to the local reservoirs.  

Don't Mess with Texas

Lately our kids are old enough that traveling with them is less painful. Also after the bomb cyclone, we were all ready for a little sunshine. So we headed to Texas for Spring Break.

We visited a cool aquarium. Lately the kids are obsessed with ocean stuff. I think it's time they watched Jaws. 

Then on to the space center in Houston. That was an amazing experience. This is the 747 that carried the space shuttles, along with a hi-fi replica of the space shuttle Independence. We went in both.

This is mission control. For real. They told us that you could apply to work there if you have a science or engineering degree. I briefly entertained a change of careers until they also said that mission control employees had to be calm in stressful situations. Moving right along...

to the really cool room where they work on all the stuff to transport astronauts to the International Space Station and eventually to Mars.

Then we saw a real Saturn Rocket that was scheduled to be part of a mission that got scrapped. It was gigantic and so cool. 

Then back to Galveston for some seashell hunting

and some lovely sunshine.

At some point there was something about a zoo, I think. 

And then more beach time. It was warm but weirdly foggy. Better than getting sunburned, I say.

Perfect weather for enjoying Whataburger on the beach.

We wrapped the trip up with massive amounts of saltwater taffy made by this establishment:

You can never have too much taffy. 

What is a Bomb Cyclone?

A bomb cyclone is a special kind of storm. It involves high winds and lots of snow. So some places have no snow and others have huge drifts. The drifts seem to be attracted to garage doors, as illustrated here... looking from inside our garage out to our driveway.

A bomb cyclone traps your in your house for two days while everybody drives each other crazy so you eventually tell your kids they can use the oven... if they promise to clean up after themselves. 

A bomb cyclone involves lots of shoveling afterwards. Or so I hear. Thanks, Chris.

Christmas 2018

Christmas.... is a big deal.

Sometimes I wish it was less of a big deal.

Christmas Eve got off to a bit of a rough start when I went to the store to get a few last items and my backup camera blanked in the middle of me backing... which was also when the gal who parked across from me was backing... which I would have known if my camera hadn't cut out. Our cars briefly kissed and then after a short and apologetic conversation, we both threw up our hands and went on our merry ways. Still, I was kicking myself for the rest of the day.

I got over it in time for the Christmas Eve festivities, which included (as always) Jesus' birthday cake. 

The kids always look forward to decorating the cake as one of the great highlights of the evening.

I must say they did a pretty good job this year. It's actually not half bad.

There was a lot of leftover frosting, but I have no idea where it ended up.

After dinner and cake and the Reading of the Christmas Story and the Opening of the Pajamas, we went to go see lights. Jane had to bring Scruffy along. Scruffy goes everywhere with Jane. Chances are good he will accompany her to college. We will cross that bridge when we come to it.

After the lights, we put the kids to bed and made the magic of Christmas. 

The next morning, the kids were like... kids on Christmas morning. 

Emily has been looking forward to getting a guitar for Christmas. She has been learning on a school-issued guitar all year and she was thrilled to finally have her own.

Jane also had a great Christmas morning. Her favorite present seems to be this panda blanket, in which she has taken up permanent residence. 

We topped things off with a healthy breakfast. 

Emily spent the rest of the day playing her new guitar.

And Jane spent the rest of the day not getting dressed and watching movies while eating candy from her stocking. She's allowed. It was Christmas, after all.

That's all, folks. Christmas is great. And I'm so glad it only happens once a year.

Jane's Perfect 10

Jane has finally hit double digits!

It's hard having a birthday around Christmas, but Jane decided to embrace the season.

She wanted an Elf party, complete with pasta and Pop Tarts and friends.

And this amazing Elf cake, made by her exhausted mother.

That's a lot of candles, Jane! And a lot of friends. I still don't know how I gave birth to an extrovert but I am learning to cope. 

Happy Birthday Jane!

Halloween 2018

This is Halloween... This is Halloween...

Mom and dad are out of the pumpkin carving game.

If you want pumpkins, you have to carve them yourself.

And that's how that looks:

They didn't turn out too badly.

I think this may be Emily's last year dressing up. 

Here they are at Trick or Treet Street at the high school. Emily wasn't very excited.

But she was more than happy to go trick or treating. They went with friends for awhile and then with each other til the porch lights were all turned off. They had quite the haul. 

Don't worry about all that candy. Jane always makes hers last til Christmas. Emily makes hers last til election day... eve... or maybe the day before that. 

Cross Country

This year Emily made family history and became the first of us to participate in organized sport. She ran cross country.

Sometimes the meets were big..

and sometimes they were small.

Sometimes the weather was burning hot...

and sometimes it was freezing cold.

Sometimes she ran in the middle of town...

and sometimes in the middle of nowhere.

The important thing is that she ran. At the beginning of the season, she was finishing almost last. By the end of the season, there were a handful of kids finishing behind her. We are super proud of her that she participated and that she improved. She's learned that when it comes to being healthy, you don't have to be the fastest, you just need to be consistent. She's already looking forward to track season in the spring.