Vacation 2014 - Day 16

Today we made the long trek home. 

We left Medicine Hat around 9:00. We had a really good drive home. We listened to lots of music, did some reading and played some video games and after driving through a major rain storm by Portage we arrived home around 11:00. 

It was a great trip and we all had so much fun. But it is good to be home. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 15

This was our last day for sightseeing before we head home. We took our time getting going and then headed off to Drumheller. The weather was rainy and cool outside so we didn't get to see a whole lot and I think we were all a bit vacationed out. Definitely ready to head home. 

We went to the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum and spent a couple hours there. We all really enjoyed this place and had a great time seeing all the bones and fossils. 

After we went to see the Worlds Largest Dinosaur and climbed to the top. 

We stopped to grab some lunch and then took the scenic route to Medicine Hat. We arrived in the early afternoon. So the kids did some swimming and we watched part of Jaws then we headed out for supper at a Chinese Buffet. 

After a bit more swimming and another Jaws movie it was time for bed. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 14

Today we slept in and then headed to the Calgary Zoo. 

The zoo was very well designed and cared for and we enjoyed seeing a lot of animals that we don't have in our zoo at home. 

Highlights were the Grizzly bears, the "white" black bear, the tigers (one was quite active playing in the water), the gorillas, the rhino, the hippos, the giraffes and the zebras. And the African pigs, whose pen we were at just at feeding time and the kids loved watching them scurry around to get their food while staying out of the "big" pigs way. 

After the zoo we headed back to the hotel for some napping and swimming. Then it was out for supper and a browse through the mall. 

Chenoa had been asking for a while now to get her ears pierced and today she did it!!  She was so nervous but the look on her face when it was done was priceless!!  She was so excited!

After some more swimming it was once again time for bed...

Vacation 2014 - Day 13

Today we woke up early and headed of to Banff. 

We got there around 12:30 and spent the afternoon wandering around. We first headed up to where the hot springs and the gondola were unsure of what we wanted to do. The kids were not interested in the gondola so we wandered around the hot springs a bit and soaked our feet in a small pool. 

We headed back to the downtown to get some lunch and ate at a little Mexican restaurant. (Micah had been asking to eat at a Mexican restaurant the entire trip.)

After lunch we took a long walk up to where the Caves and Basin Historical Park is and explored there for a very short time as we arrived only a little bit before closing. It was interesting to see the source if the hot springs. And I remembered as a girl going to the hot springs in banff and seeing the caves which was at this location then. In 1992, after we had been there, they closed down that pool and moved it to the new location and redid the caves and pool and it is now a historical site. It was weird to see the place I had visited as a girl now a museum. 

We then walked back to our van taking the scenic route past the stores on the main street and headed off to Calgary. 

When we arrived at our hotel we ordered in pizza since none of us felt like going out. We spent the rest of the evening swimming and relaxing. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 12

Today was a difficult day...

We took our time getting and spent the day at the McVetys house. 

After breakfast Melissa and I went out for coffee and we spent two hours on our own just visiting. Dave and Cam had gone out for breakfast the day before so it was our turn. 

Cam and Dave took the kids blackberry picking down the road from where they live. 

When Melissa and I got back it was time to pack up and leave. We all had enjoyed our stay and time with the family so very much! And it was very difficult to say goodbye to these very dear friends. 

After hugs, tears and prayers we turned our van for home. 

Our first destination was Revelstoke. We grabbed some quick supper in Kamloops and when we got to the hotel spent a few minutes in the hot tub before heading to bed, knowing that we would lose an hour the next day and we had a long day already ahead. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 11

This morning we got up and had our breakfast and packed our lunches and headed into Vancouver to a theme park called Playland. 

We had a fun day riding all the different rides. Some highlights were...

1) the Helevator which was a ride that you say it and it very quickly sent you up a high tower and then just as quickly dropped you back down.

2) the wooden roller coaster that brought you up 75 feet and then was completely run by gravity as it took you up and down and around quick corners all on a wooden track. 

3) the corkscrew roller coaster that had as it's name implies 2 corkscrews that sent is upside down 2 times. 

When the parked closed at 7 we headed back to Abbotsford and had supper at Red Robin. A restaurant that is a chain here in BC similar to Applebee's but with bottomless french fries. 

After putting kids to bed we spent a great evening with Dave and Melissa playing games and laughing and talking. 

Then it was time for bed...

Vacation 2014 - Day 10

Today we again spent the morning at the McVety house. The kids played Lego and played outside, Melissa and I went to grab a few groceries and then we had a quick lunch before heading to Cultus Lake Waterpark. 

We spent the next several hours in the waterpark going down some very exciting slides.  It was a very hot day so the water was very refreshing. 

Then when the park closed we headed back to the house where we were treated to a delicious BBQ and corn on the cob. We were all exhausted and headed to bed early. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 9

Today we took it easy in the morning and had brunch and then headed to White Rock, which is a town on the ocean.  There we spent several hours exploring the beach, digging for clams and crabs, watching the tide come in and continuously moving our stuff back so it didn't get wet. We spent some time relaxing and playing Dutch Blitz and A few went shopping, some read and some continued exploring. 

Then we headed for a walk as a group down a big dock way out into the ocean. And then further down the beach to see the big white rock. 

By this time we were all tired, hot and hungry so we found a little fish and chips restaurant for supper. Caleb was very excited about having fish, which he loved. 

Then we heade back to the McVetys, put kids to bed and played a few games before we hit the sack too. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 8

Today we got up and had breakfast and packed a picnic lunch and off we went to visit Capilano Suspension Bridge, The Vancouver Aquarium and Stanley Park. 

It was an hour drive through the cities to get to Capilano. And we drove over a huge new bridge that apparently takes a picture of your license plate and bills you for the toll. Dave and Melissa said we would get the bill in a couple of months and that they find you no matter what kind of vehicle you are driving...even rentals. The cost to cross the bridge is $10 every time!

Soon we arrived at the Suspension bridge. We had a great time at this amazing park!  We had to walk across a suspensed bridge that was the length of 2 1/2 hockey rinks. It was a bit intimidating being so high and swaying as much as it did. 

The bridge took us into the rain forest where we enjoyed a treetop adventure so high up in the trees, beautiful scenery and huge, old trees. 

After we had explored this side of the bridge we headed back over the long suspension bridge and visited the gift shop before leaving. 

Then, while eating our picnic lunch on the drive, we headed to the Aquarium in the middle of Stanley Park. The traffic was bad and it took us quite a while to get a parking spot. 

We were much later getting to the Aquarium than we had hoped so we headed to the Beluga whale show. It was cool to see the Beluga whales but the show was a bit lame. At this point we were very hot, hungry and tired and I was afraid we had wasted our money here.  But we plugged through until the dolphin show which we all thoroughly enjoyed. Then we watched the 4D movie they had and really enjoyed that too. 

The plan had been to play in the park for a while but we were all so tired and hungry by then we decided to order in pizza and head back to the house. 

We settled in and had a great supper and then watched "Heaven is for Real" with the kids and then it was off to bed.

It was a great day but very busy and exhausting...

Vacation 2014 - Day 7

Today the goal was to do some fruit picking and visit a winery before heading to Abbotsford. 

We managed to find an orchard to pick cherries at. When we got there someone was just coming up with their bucket of cherries and the had their pail piled so high that what was sitting above the pail was bigger than what was in the pail. It was amazing how they had piled them all into that pail. When they weighed the pail the had 35 lbs of cherries. And a pail as full as you could make it cost $30. 

So we grabbed our pails and picked some cherries. The trees were full of them and it was near to see the way cherries grew on the trees. 

After a quick stop at Dairy Queen we were on our way to find a winery. We stopped at one and showed the kids the grape fields and then Cam and I did a bit of tasting. And I actually found a few wines that I enjoyed. Apparently I enjoy white wine and not red. So we bought a couple of bottles. 

Then it was off on the last stretch of highway to get to our destination. Almost 4 hours later we arrived in Abbotsford. Hungry, we stopped for supper before going to the McVetys. 

When we got to the McVetys we spent the evening reconnecting and catching up and planning what we would do while we are here. And doing some laundry...

One of their friends surprised them and dropped off a beautiful trailer for is to sleep in. 

We are ready to spend a few days here with them....

Vacation 2014 - Day 6

Today we for up earlier than we had been so that we could get to Kelowna with some time to spend at the beach in downtown Kelowna. With the time change we made it there sooner than we expected and our hotel wasn't quite ready. So we went to Walmart and got some lunch at McDonalds and picked up a few groceries. 

Then we went back to the hotel for some swimming and relaxing at the outdoor pool while Cam had a bit of a nap. 

Around 4:00 we headed to downtown and spent a bit of time at the beach at the bottom of the Okanagan Valley. It was na neat little place where the shops and restaurants blended with the beach, marina, splash parks and playgrounds. 

After that we headed back to the hotel for some delivery pizza and some more swimming. 

Low key kind of day. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 5

Today we tried to get moving a bit earlier so that we could see all the sights we wanted to see along the Icefields Parkway. 

After a quick breakfast at Tim Hortons for us and a gluten free meal from a little hole-in-the-wall bakery for Cam we headed to the Maligne Canyon. 

We spent just over an hour exploring and hiking around this beautiful canyon admiring the waterfalls and the depth of this canyon. 

Then we headed back through Jasper to grab some more water and fill up gas. On our way out, as we crossed the railway tracks, Cam spotted a grizzly and we all managed to see it and get a couple of pics. 

Then we were off again and our next stop was the Athabasca Falls. This was another really cool short little hike around this very fast flowing waterfall. It was so amazing to see the power of the water as it found it's way through the mountain. 

Then we found a nice little spot to have our picnic lunch. And we were off again to the next stop which was a neat little set of waterfalls called Tangle Falls. This was a stop right on the highway that was very cool to see. 

Our next stop was the Athabasca glacier where we hiked up a steep hill and out onto the glacier. The kids loved all the rocks they found that were marked by the glacier. 

By now it was 5:00 and we still had quite a drive to our next hotel in Golden BC. 

The drive was beautiful and there was so many thing to see between the hidden waterfalls, snow capped mountains, glaciers, streams, rivers and lakes. We even caught a glimpse of a black bear. 

As we drove put of the parks and back onto the #1 Hwy I don't know what I was expecting. I thought the mountains would end just as quickly as they had appeared when we entered the Jasper Park coming from Edmonton but I was surprised to see how the mountains just got bigger and stretched as far as I could see. I loved every minute of today's drive!

Now at 8:00, we are sitting down to have supper at Boston Pizza and then back to the hotel for a swim and a sit in the hot tub to relax our tires muscles from all the hiking we did today. 

We should have been training for this trip!

Vacation 2014 - Day 4

Today we took our time packing up and headed out of Edmonton to Jasper driving straight through until we got to the Miette Hot Springs. It was around 2:30 when we arrived there and we were all hungry for some lunch. So we found some picnic tables surrounded by mountain goats and sat down to make some sandwiches. It was amazing to be in the middle of all these wild goats and a bit creepy at the same time. Chenoa was quite on edge until they all moved on. 

After lunch we took a short hike down to the site of the source of the hot springs. Down there was the ruins of the old resort a well as a place where we could feel the water coming out of the mountain. It was quite hot!  

Then we hiked our way back up to the van and continued on the way to Jasper. 

Not much further on the highway we came to a beautiful lake or river (we aren't sure which) that was really wide across and shallow. There were people that had walked all the way across and I don't think went in much deeper than mid thigh. It was beautiful and we wished that we had more time to spend there but it was quite late and we were all getting hungry for supper and we still had a bit to go till we reached Jasper. 

When we arrived in Jasper we checked I at our hotel and the youngest two went for a quick swim while we showered. Then we headed out for supper and a bit of a walk around the towns and little shops. 

Jasper is a beautiful town with neat little shops and streets but it was terribly full of people and cars.  And it was a very expensive little place 

Then it was back to the holt and early to bed (well only if you call 10:30 early) for all of us. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 3

Today we got up and had breakfast and relaxed in our room till just before noon. Then it was off to the mall where we watched the sea lion show and grabbed a quick lunch. (Well, Cam and the kids watched the sea lion show while I snuck in a few minutes of browsing the mall.)

Next up was the waterpark. We got into the pool just around 1:30 and didn't leave the waterpark until just after 7:30. 

First thing we did was head into the wave pool and we weren't in that pool more than 5 minutes when, after watching the kids excitement and joy in the waves Cam turns to me and says, "this was already worth the $150!"  

We had a blast going down all the waterslides.  Some were fun and some were a bit scary. But we only had tears after one so I'd say it was pretty successful.

The highlight for the kids was the wave pool though. They spent a lot of time playing in the waves. 

By 7:30 we were all exhausted and very hungry. So we headed back to the hotel and ordered some pizza. Caleb barrly managed to finish his pizza before he was asleep. 

It was a great day!!

Vacation 2014 - Day 2

Today we all slept in and then got up for breakfast at the hotel. 

Then we were off to Fort Edmonton Park. We had a great time there exploring riding the steam train to the fort and then exploring the fort and 1885 Street. The boys took part in robbing a wagon and got caught and put in jail. Chenoa and Caleb were busy earning their keep by watering plants, washing laundry, oiling the wagons and helping the land surveyor. And Chenoa got a cute bonnet to go with her dress that Grandma made her. 

By the time we got to 1905 street we were getting hungry and hot. So we found a place to sit down and have lunch. Then we spent a bit of time exploring 1905 and then into 1920 where we headed to the Capital Theatre to watch a great little 4D movie about the history of Edmonton.  

An ice cream cone and then a walk back to the entrance and we headed back to the hotel. 

Then some swimming, relaxing and supper to end off the day. 

Vacation 2014 - Day 1

Well we made it. I didn't know if we'd survive that first long drive and still be having fun...but we did. 

We left home on Friday at 5:00. Our first stop...Headingly...yep Caleb had to pee.  Next stop Portage la Prairie for a quick pizza pickup. Dd you know their Main Street counts down and then back up again. Meaning they have two of every street address?  Made it difficult to find our pizza restaurant.  

Then I drove through "Happy Rock" and out of the province on the Yellowhead. BTW - there is some beautiful country in this province of ours. 

Crossed the Saskatchewan border in the midst of a big thunderstorm. Then it was lights out in the van at midnight. Cam drove most of the night while the kids and I dozed. At 5:30 we switched it up and I finished off the drive. We pulled over just outside Edmonton at a Denny's for breakfast at 7:30 (6:30 Edmonton time). We were in Edmonton much earlier than we expected so we needed to improvise as we could only get an early check in at noon. 

So we took a scenic drive down Wayne Gretzky Avenue and saw the Rexall Place. Then took the side roads to find where our hotel was.  Stopped in at Walmart to buy a much needed new pair of runners for Micah and a few groceries and then found a park to play at for a while. I slept on a blanket while Cam relaxed and the kids played. Then we headed to the WEM for a quick tour and lunch. 

At the hotel it was nap time for all and we all had a solid 3 hour nap. 

Now it's time for a swim, supper and some shopping and then early to bed. 

What great start to this vacation!!