Family Vacation

We started our camping trip last Monday morning. We drove for about 2 hours before we made our first stop for lunch, then continued on during the usual naptime finally getting to Drumheller about 4 hours later. The babies travelled really quite well - there were a few times that Casey got a little ancy but no major problems. The longest we've driven with them before this is 2 hours so considering that they did great. My need for bathroom breaks and construction slowed us down more than anything.

The campsite that we were at the first night had over 100 bunnies that the kids thought were pretty cool. They also had a great time playing in the dirt with their shovels and pails. They kept repeating 3 different things the first day we were there: "filthy", "more big dirt" and "big step" (there were lots of big steps built into the ground). They had a bit of trouble getting to sleep in trailer the first night, especially Maggie. Daniel and I were sitting outside at the picnic table after we put them to bed and a few minutes later guess who's head we saw peeking at us through the trailer window. We went in and her and Mitchell were out of their tents. I had to go back in another time a little later and Maggie was again out of her tent laying on the fold out bed. They did eventually crash that night and then slept soundly until after 7:00 the next morning.




There was a really nice gated in playground that the kids really enjoyed.


We went to see some of the dinosaur statues that Drumheller is famous for before leaving.


We drove on to Calgary where we spent the next 4 nights. We camped right at Calaway Park (which is an amusement park) and were able to just walk over there the day that we went. Unfortunately it was a cold and rainy day so we just spent a few hours there in the morning and didn't go back in the afternoon like we had planned. And being that it was the last day they were open during the week for the summer we couldn't go back. But we did have a lot of fun and went on a bunch of rides even in the cool weather. The transition from ride to ride didn't go well at first but once Mitchell figured out that we actually were going to find another ride after we strapped him back in the stroller (and were't just saying that), he was fine. We'll definitely go back again someday.



We had a great morning at the Children's Museum. There was a floor with different shapes that lit up and made sounds or played music when you stepped on them. This was a big hit with the kids.

Casey and Maggie really liked the guitars and were trying to play along to the music. When I peaked in on them Daniel had them doing air guitar to Gun's N Roses - a very proud moment for him. It was so cute!



Mitchell settled into the Legos. I think he could have spent the whole day there putting pieces together and taking them apart.



There were a bunch of other things that they liked exploring too.





On our way out we stopped at the Lego car and the bed of nails.



Another day we went to the Calgary Zoo. Out of all neat animals there, the highlight was probably either feeding the ducks or playing at the playground.




Meals and naps were pretty hit and miss for the week that we were gone so that, along with being in a tiny trailer made for some rough patches, but overall everybody did really well.





From Calgary we went out to Fairmont where my parents have a timeshare. We had a great time there and celebrated the big 2nd birthday, then drove all the way home on Monday. The kids did great - we travelled for over 13 hours with only 2 stops. It was a great trip and gave us lots of great memories!