Banff Log, Days 5 & 6

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Note: this is the third installment about our trip to Banff and Lake Louise. For parts 1 & 2, go here and here
Day 5 - Lake Louise

Up with a bang and a whistle! Not. It’s taking a little getting used to being essentially trapped in a little box with little kids who wake easily and don’t go back to sleep. It makes for abrupt mornings and I am not especially good at dealing with those. I am working on it though. I was, however, dealt a setback when we woke up and couldn’t get out of the camper!

All four of us were up, but we couldn’t get out! Autumn went out the hatch and we escorted each of the kids to the ladder to get them out. I ended up taking the door latch off from the inside in order to get out. It turns out the little doodad that connects the latch to the bolt came off. So there you go.

Off we went though, because we had stuff to do! We headed back up to Lake Louise and rented canoes. We thought we might get out at the other end and have a picnic, but were informed that getting out was basically declaring an emergency. It turns out that if you do that, you get escorted back along the lake in your life jacket because getting out of your canoe means that something is terribly wrong with it. No problem, we just had a picnic in the boat!

Insanely gorgeous views

The Kelley family posing under the glacier

Me pretending to smile while Teagan "helps" me paddle

The Chateau

Finally I just let him paddle by himself, which made both of us a little happier!

It was a beautiful day on the lake, the scenery is out of this world. It’s like reality has been photo-shopped. I know that sounds a little dumb, but it’s true. Kal, Jen and Ava stayed at the lake with bikes while we came back into town and put three of the kids down for naps. I ended up being able to fix the door latch (pat on the back for me) and we go some laundry done. Exciting, I know. The day ended at a playground that we found. It was the perfect way for all of us to unwind.

Day 6 - Golden (British Columbia, NOT Colorado!)

Rain. We knew it was coming, but it really came. It dumped all morning, so oatmeal was the perfect belly warmer for breakfast. We piled the kids in the car and headed to a town called Golden. Originally we were going to view a bear refuge, but it was pretty expensive and we had already seen a grizzly in the wild, so it seemed like a waste of money. Instead we ended up in downtown Golden for lunch and then walked around for a bit to let the kids burn a little energy.  The rain subsided and left the kids a few choice puddles to splash in. To be perfectly honest a day without a ton of activity was just about right. We did end up seeing a very impressive wood frame bridge, like the biggest in Canada. Then most of us napped on the ride home. Sweet.

The longest wood frame something-or-other bridge in Canada

Airborne!

Nice splash!

Style points for sure!

Almost got them all smiling at the same time!
The Lunch spot we ate at was more than a cafe, it was a bakery too. Know what that means? Doughnuts!

Jelly filled, with powdered sugar!

Your basic chocolate glazed. A classic.

See! All gone!

The great thing that we have found about the weather here is that it can change quickly. By the time the kids woke up from their naps, the sun had come out and the ground started to dry out. We hopped in the car after dinner for another little outing. This time we headed up to Lake Moraine. As impressive as Lake Louise is, I think that Lake Moraine is even more beautiful. There is a quick little hike up a hill and you are treated to as gorgeous a view as anywhere in the world. Once again, it almost seemed surreal. The kids did a great job hiking, I think it was about half a mile or so up to the top. I love being surprised by my kids! And thus ended another beautiful day.

Me and the boy making short work of the stairs

Great shot of 4/5 of the girls

Yeah, no filter. No editing. Just glory.
With all this serious talk about nature and beauty, I thought I would inject a little nonsense. Yep, that means my kids are involved. Most likely my wife too. Fun!

Almost a good shot! 

It all starts to go downhill...

I am pretty sure that Teagan is checking for wisdom teeth and Trinity is playing air guitar!
And thus ends days 5&6. Will this trip ever end? Not any time soon! Stay tuned!

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