Canada 5-7

Day 5:

Aspen spent all night in bed with us. She, again, would only cuddle with Daddy. Caleb spent half the night with his arm out of bed so that Aspen would be comfortable, and I'm afraid he froze all night. At least she was cute in the morning while she ate her breakfast right next to Caleb :)

In the morning we headed to Lake Louise. We wanted to hike to one or both of the tea houses that are above the lake. After talking with staff we decided to do the easier trail to the Lake Agnes teahouse. The other trail had had several avalanches hit it over the spring time and there was still avalanche debris causing it to be quite slippery. Hiking with Aspen helped us make our decision to take the easier trail and save the other tea house for next time. The trail was only about 2 miles up. It was very pretty along the way. We passed by Mirror Lake, saw a pretty waterfall, and made it to the teahouse.

 The teahouse was a quaint little cottage with a wrap around porch with seating. We ordered hot chocolate, biscuits, and cake. A couple from Chicago sat with us and we had a nice time chatting with them.

We hiked down and explored Lake Morraine for a bit. The rest of the day was spent sightseeing and relaxing.

Day 6: After 6 days of no real showers we decided to brave the cold kitchen sink water and wash our hair. It wasn't pleasant, but we felt soooo much better afterwards!

That morning we drove to Yoho National Forrest which wasn't too far from Banff. Our first stop was Takkakaw Falls. GORGEOUS! Aspen thought it was really funny when we would say Takkakaw so we spent a lot of time "crowing" the word and making her giggle.

We also saw Natural Bridge, and the Spiral Tunnels before heading back to camp. After catching our breathe for a moment we headed back to Minnewanka Lake in hopes of hiking the Stewart trail. Along the trail we met up with some other hikers who had encountered a bear so we changed our minds and headed back! We eventually could see the bear also, on the other side of the inlet. It was pretty cool to see him so close, but at the same time from a safe distance. That night we gave Aspen some of our hot chocolate and she loved it! She got so excited and ended up dumping a lot of it.

Day 7:

Luckily Aspen slept wonderfully that night! In the morning we drove to Boom Lake. We hiked 3 miles in to see the awesome lake, ate lunch, explored and headed back. Aspen had a fun time hiking and playing around the trees.

I think I have other pictures, but they must still be on my camera! Hopefully I'll get around to putting them on my computer and I can update with even better pics!

We then went to Marble Canyon, which is so, so, so amazing! These pics must also be on my camera so I'll update someday!

We started packing up that night so we could get an early start towards home. Although we had soooo much fun, we were SOOOOO tired!! And SOO stinky :)

Even though Aspen did struggle a lot during the nights, and sometimes while in the car I was super proud of how well she did over all!  She's a trooper! We had so much fun and are excited for future trips!!

Canada Day 3-4

Back to the Canada 2017 novel!

Day 3:

We slept well the night before and wanted to take advantage of how well we felt, so we planned to do our biggest hike that day. We had plans to hike up Sulfur Mountain. There is a gondola that shuttles tourists to the top and bottom, but it cost $62 a person so we opted to hike up instead! The hike up was around 3.5-4 miles all uphill. Once upon a time a 4 mile one way hike wouldn't scare me, but I'm not in great shape now that I have a child and can't/don't dedicate my free time to keeping in shape AND oh yeah... I am also pregnant again (more info on that to come in the future!!!!), so 4 miles of uphill was rather daunting. However, the views were beautiful and the company was fabulous so I enjoyed myself.

 Once we got to the top our jaws hit the floor.

We were on top of a mountain and could see the entire Banff Valley along with several different mountain ranges. It was amazing! So, so, so, so worth the hike up. We took some pictures and then set up lunch at a picnic table. We were soon approached by two ladies who asked if we had hiked up the trail. After answering affirmatively they asked us if we'd like to use their tickets to ride the gondola down. HALLELUJAH!!! What a blessing! I was exhausted and had been fighting an internal battle about whether or not I should try to convince Caleb to spend $31 a person for us to ride the gondola down. These ladies wanted to hike down, and they freely gave us their tickets. I was so relieved. We filled our bellies, and then took the 1/2 mile trail to another view point. Aspen had a blast climbing all the stairs and waving at other people. She especially seemed to like another 1 year old that we kept bumping into. The two girls kept smiling at each other and waving. She is so sweet with other kiddos! The views were amazing and we met the nicest people who took our pictures.

The gondola ride down was another big highlight of the trip for me. Aspen had never been on one so I was excited to watch her experience it.

She was happier than it looks in the picture :)

Afterwards we ate lunch near Bow Falls and went shopping downtown. I had to get my gift bag from Ardene (the first time my sister and I were in Canada as young girls we bought surprise bags from Ardene and since then we have always tried to find the store, similar to Claires in the US, whenever we are in Canada)!! We were pooped afterwards so we headed back to camp where we ate and tried to wipe off our stench with washcloths and wet wipes, aka "hobo showers". Aspen had another good night :)

Day 4:

Tuesday morning we headed to Lake Morraine. The crowds made us nervous that we wouldn't be able to get in, but lady luck was still with us and we made it. Aspen wanted to explore every tiny trail she could find instead of sticking to the main trail. She has such an adventurous spirit! I have a history of falling in this lake, so we didn't stick around long enough to let that happen.

 We headed north to Herbert Lake where we ate lunch and Aspen waged her war on the dandelions.

 After lunch Aspen fell asleep in the car so we drove farther north than we had planned. Caleb and I saw a Grizzle Bear! We stopped at Mistaya Canyon and took a quick hike.

We then drove to Peyto Lake. The last time we were here, my parents van broke down and with that broken down van we drove (in 2-10 mile spurts since we had to stop often to put more water in the water pump) 288 km to Jasper ( I should note that my Dad is a wizard at making broken down vehicles keep on going despite being broken) .  I was hesitant to go back, just in case karma decided that Caleb and I needed to relive that stressful stressful experience.

After seeing the lake we were blessed with a still working vehicle! Wahoo! Next up was Bow Lake.

 I really really wanted to hike to Bow Glacier Falls but once we got to the trail head I remembered that the trail was about 3 miles one way. It was nearly 3 in the afternoon and we'd already been playing pretty hard. Possibly without a toddler and a baby growing in my belly I would have been up for it, but in the circumstance we were in, I was not. Next time I hope to be able to hike that trail though! I found this blog to have some pretty pictures of it though, so check it out to see what we all missed out on. So we headed back to camp instead. We ate walking tacos, took Aspen around the campground in the stroller and then tried to get her to sleep. She was difficult. She spent all night in bed with us, specifically with Caleb. She sometimes refuses to hangout with me when Caleb is around.. We all slept badly :(

Day 5 was one of the best days of the trip so come back soon and I'll tell you all about it!

Canada! Day 1-2

Caleb, Aspen and I recently got home from a week long camping trip in Banff, Alberta Canada.

We've been planning this trip for a few months now. During that planning time, never did I stop to think about how long a week was... while camping...with no shower... with a toddler. I thought a lot about how long it was while we were out in the wilderness! :) However, we survived and had a really great time! To help me remember our trip, I wanted to share a recap and, of course, share the best pics we took.

Day 1: Drive from home to our campsite

We got a late start due to packing, taking care of Aspen, last minute run to Wal-Mart, and a last minute run home because I forgot the camera. We stopped for lunch at Moyie Lake. Aspen was thrilled to be out of the car! As soon as she was done eating, she ran around the grass picking as many dandelions as she could.

 The rest of the drive seemed pretty long and Aspen wasn't thrilled to be in the car for so long. We made it to our campsite at about 5 PM which left us time to get our tent up and prepare dinner. Aspens bedtime came and went without us being able to get her to go to sleep. At home we have her sleep trained pretty well, but she was not having any of this sleeping outside in a tent stuff that night. At around 10 PM we finally put her in the car and drove around until she was asleep. She then slept all night with us in bed. It wasn't a great  nights rest for sure and in the morning as soon as we got out of the tent she ran to the Tahoe and pointed inside. Caleb and I both felt like she was trying to tell us that she wanted to go home. #Heartbreaking 

Day 2: 

We started our day with an old favorite; Johnstons Canyon. This beautiful canyon is unlike any other canyon I've been in! The glacier water is this milky blue color that is so, so, so pretty! Pictures just do not do it justice. You hike along the water and sometimes above the water on walkways built into the mountain side and are rewarded with awesome waterfalls along the way. Aspen chippered up when she got to run around and wave at all the people on the trail. She seriously waved or blew kisses at everyone, and because of that, people were incredibly nice to us! No one can resist her sweetness (and no one understands how UN-sweet she can be when she screams and refuses to go to bed... I digress)! 

 

Later in the day we explored downtown Banff for a little bit and then went to Cave and Basin National Historic Site. After looking at what they had we took a little walk around outside, but it was crazy hot outside!! I think it was around 90 degrees.  90 degrees in Canada! Before dinner we headed out to Lake Minnewanka. We saw a zillion shaggy mountain goats. 

The water was freezing so we just waded around a little bit and crawled around on the rocks. Aspen probably would have sat in the water and splashed if we'd let her, but we are party poopers. 

 

While making dinner that night Aspen cooked up her own meal of rocks and dirt :) 

We were able to get her to sleep that night SOOOOOO much easier and earlier than the night before. At home we put her in her crib and she either cries herself to sleep, or on magical nights she just goes to bed, but we had to sit in the tent with her until she fell asleep on this trip. She slept all night in her pack n play until about 4 AM and then she cuddled with us until almost 7 AM! Woot woot! That is sleeping in for this babe! We are usually up between 5 and 6 with her. 

Check back in for the rest of our trip, eh!