Tuesday, May 6th & 7th

The 6th was our birthday dinner - celebrating Anna's and my April birthdays, Gregory's July bd, and Julia's August bd. We had dinner at an Italian restaurant - Fiori's - close to the apartment. Afterwards, we had delicious, gluten-free cake and coconut ice cream at the apartment, and played board games all evening! A great family evening!
The next day, we went rollerskating!  What a cool place - well, Anna and Julia actually skated while Gregory and I watched.  Lights, action, camera . . . !

Monday, May 5th, 2014

Yesterday and today we spent in Banff! We drove here for early afternoon and walked around town, going in and out of stores, chatting, stopping for lunch, looking at the clouds . . . Unfortunately, the mountains were invisible behind the layers and layers of clouds! We had fun, though, and  then checked in to the Banff Centre - a retreat, workshop, creative, inspiring collection of buildings whose purpose is to house groups who need a calm, inspiring place to work out new ideas. It's for artists of all kinds. Anna has a friend who works there, so she got us two rooms at $50 a room per night - not sure what the going rate is, but it's probably at least three times that! The rooms were awesome, view spectacular, and ambience unparalleled! After dinner, we went to the Hot Springs in Banff - a truly amazing experience - outdoor pool, but the falling snow was just a neat sting on the face! Unfortunately, again, the mountains which should have surrounded us were shrouded in clouds.
The next morning, the clouds started to lift a bit - we had breakfast in the Banff Centre, again at a truly incredible discount - an absolutely delicious buffet, with every kind of breakfast food you can imagine - even Udi bread!
We stopped at a viewpoint and found a deer - totally ignoring all the humans gawking at it - just happily munching away at the grass. The other three clambered down a rocky bank to get a good view of the river and the Bnff Springs Hotel across the way - I took pictures . . .
We walked around town some more - decided to forego the trip to Lake Louise, since we wouldn't be able to see much, thanks to the cloud cover. Then we headed up to the Banff Springs Hotel and wandered around it - fascinating! Lots of photos of how the other half lives! And - the clouds lifted enough for some great peeks at the peaks!

Making sure we have everything that we need from the car.  Notice the snow . . . 

Streets of Banff - notice the non-view of the mountains!

Downtown Banff - edges blurred by clouds.

My wonderful kids!

Cool town, Banff! Very Christmas-y right now . . . 

We visited the Cow store and bought "Moo" t-shirts

Mine says "Moogle"

Banff Hot Springs - just as we were leaving - awesome pool!

It was a crazy, neat experience to sit in the hot springs and feel the snow falling on our faces - sort of stung, but in a good way.

From the dining hall in the Banff Centre, where we stayed overnight and had breakfast the next morning

The dining hall had huge windows on three sides!

The clouds lifted just a smidgeon, so we got some views of the mountains

Breakfast table - Julia., Anna, and Gregory

What a seat!

This guy was just grazing on the side of a parking lot - didn't seem to care about all the gawkers.

This is not zoomed - we really did get this close!

Always the comedian!

She said she was showing respect by getting lower than him . . . 

Note the expression on the deer's face . . . 

Banff Springs Hotel - like the postcards.

My son and daughter-in-law, by the Bow River.

The sibs.

Lots of snow still!

And again . . .

Love trees that survive under challenging conditions.

The intrepid climbers - I stayed at the top while they went down to the riverside.

Anna taking a picture of me taking a picture of her taking a picture of me taking a picture of her taking . . . .

Didn't even break a sweat

The ladies!

Inside the Banff Hotel

Finally - my rightful throne - with my Texas-bought Vera Bradley bag, of course.

The young'uns - royalty personified

The littlest princess

Caught a smooch!

My awesome kids!

Phoning the 1900's . . . 

View from one of the windows

Now that's an elevator!

A dining hall

Again with the throne chairs!

No caption needed . . . 

Anna takes over desk duties

Outside the back door of the hotel

She just fits right in - elegant, sophisticated - with her cow shirt . . . 

The back entrance

Explanatory plaque, next to the statue below 

Precursor of the RCMP

Still the cloud cover obscuring the Rockies

Finally, a brief glimpse

On the drive home - of course, the clouds start lifting now!

Anna says that her mom would be able to identify each of the peaks we passed.  She's climbed most of them!

Sibling fun .  Julia was not amused - I promised not to post this pic on FB - didn't say anything about this blog, though . . . 

Dinner with the family (just missing Bobby & Kara)

In Gregory and Anna's lovely apartment in Calgary

Funny how she doesn't always appreciate photo ops . . .