Visit to Banff....part 1

After spending a few days in Calgary, it was time for a new adventure.  DS had a business meeting for two days in Edmonton (which he assured us was scheduled after we had made our travel plans and that he had nothing to do with this scheduling).  We could have spent the time exploring Calgary on our own but when faced with the option of staying in a hotel with amenities such as beds, TV's, chairs and a hot tub or remaining in the monument to minimalism, really, was there any choice to be made?


Please do not ask us why DS chooses to live this spartan lifestyle.  We honestly do not understand it.  His mantra is "You don't own things...things own you".  Trust me, he was not raised this way.  He has purchased a mattress (finally and only because we were coming to visit) but it rests on the floor.  Living room seating options include a neck machine or one of two patio chairs (which he purchased at our insistence on Saturday).  There is internet access but no TV.  I sometimes think he is European as he purchases his food fresh daily....empty cupboards and refrigerator.  We don't fully understand what he does for a living but he is well paid.  If he could find housing in a cave or a shanty by the ocean and convince someone to pay him as well as his engineering job does, his life and lifestyle would be complete.

Gondola reaction.

So we borrowed DS's truck and headed for Banff.  Our hotel was lovely and after enjoying just sitting on the bed for awhile, we decided to do some exploring.  The first stop was the Banff Gondola up Sulphur Mountain.  DH is wary of heights so some time was spent in deciding on seating arrangements.  I was much more concerned about the strength of the cables that held the car up.  It took 8 minutes to reach the observation platform 7,486 ft above the starting point. 

The views were amazing!  And it was cold!  But shortly after we arrived at the observation platform, the sun came through the clouds, the wind died down and it became surprisingly warm.

That's Banff down there

 

 

 

The observation platform includes a cafe, a more upscale restaurant and of course, beautiful views.  We had hoped to see some wildlife but apparently the animals were all in hibernation...or they just didn't want to come out to visit.

The observation platform is not the peak of Sulphur Mountain.  The peak can be reached by climbing a boardwalk trail.  As I mentioned, DH is not a fan of heights but I had a plan.  The weather was beautiful and I kept climbing up the boardwalk...DH was following along enjoying the mountain views.  My plan was working superbly until DH caught sight of a movement in the trees near the boardwalk.  It was a white rabbit...the camouflage was amazing!  DH spent a loooonnnnggg time trying to get the perfect photo. 

Can you see the bunny?

Not being as patient as he, (surprised?) I moved further and further along the boardwalk .  When he realized that I had moved on without him, he remembered that he really had no plans to climb the rest of the way.  But I was committed and I trudged on.  The peak of the mountain is 1 meter beyond the observation platform.

The Boardwalk

More random observations from Canada

8). Canadians do not take pride in the cleanliness of their vehicles. Or maybe it's the other way around...a dirty car Is a loved car. Whatever.....there are no shiny clean cars in Calgary or banff. In fact I am fairly certain that no cars are washed between the first snowfall and Easter!  Maybe it's a religious thing!

9). The highway departments do an awesome job of cleaning the streets of snow.  I'm not sure what they use for ice melting but it must not be salt.  There are no rusted out vehicles like we were used to seeing in Illinois, Iowa and Kansas.  But maybe the rust is hidden under the grime.  Must return in the summer to check that out!

10). Canadians love security. Getting into and out of DS's condo is a technology marvel.  You need an opener for the parking lot....a key to get into the parking area to get to your vehicle....an electronic scanner to get into the building....video surveillance of the front door...an electronic scanner to make the elevator move.  I am so relieved to be free from the worry that someone might break in and rob him.  Wait! He doesn't have anything so he might as well leave everything unlocked!   But on the other hand, the windows have no locks or screens. Luckily his nothingness is safe as he lives on the second floor.

11). We aren't exactly certain what it is that DS does but the office is equally well protected.  No one can just drop in for a visit! Scanners everywhere.

12). Calgary is very expensive.  Since our money is literally no good here (unless we go to the currency exchange) we are putting everything on our one international credit card.  I'm fairly certain that we are in for a shock when we check that bill.....but think of the miles!

13). By and large Canadians are very polite people.  They are very friendly.  They also wait for the walk signal at the corners....even if there is no traffic in sight! Picture a Texan doing that!

Random observations about Canada and Canadians

1). Calgary is smaller than I expected. 

2).  March is not the best time to visit. The snow is melting and everything is brown and dirty.

3). Canadians love their dogs. And they prefer big dogs. When we walked around Calgary we seemed to be the only ones without a large dog. Apparently dogs are not allowed on the pub patios so the owners tie them up to the railing and the dogs wait patiently on the sidewalks. Nice owners provide a bucket with water....or maybe the pubs do.  Idk.

4). Calgarians (or maybe it's calgary-ites) are much more healthy looking than average folks. They walk everywhere.  Fewer chubby folks, also. We had dinner with Tim's two friends (he has only two friends here...they call themselves the wolf pack.) who had just returned from a trip to Columbus Ohio. They both commented on how many overweight people they saw there. It made me look around and realize that DH and I are definitely in the minority here!  Canadians need to eat more poutine!

5). Canadians also like their beer...but that's okay with us.

6). Temps in the 40's call for breaking out the shorts and flip flops.  I guess it is all relative but while I huddle in my hoodie wishing that I had remembered my gloves, these people are filling up the patios soaking up the sun.  Haven't seen any apartment complexes with pools but there are lots of tanning parlors.

7). Convenience stores and gas stations are few and far between. 

Stay tuned for our report on our visit to Banff and more random observations.

Progress....or....the retreat of the spider monkey

Minky monkey blankie

Tuesdays with Nonie saw a big leap forward toward the end of the spider monkey.  Mr. Perfect had spent the night and we needed to get ready for our weekly visit to Aqua Kids.  (At this point, we didn't know that class had been cancelled for that day.)  He was sitting on the bed engrossed in his Old BicDonald book (that's what he calls it) so I asked if he could stay there while I got dressed to go to the pool.  "Yes, Nonie."  While I was changing, I heard him hop down off the bed and head toward the living room.  I peeked out to make sure that he was heading in the right direction and not taking a detour into the sewing room (AKA the sweat shop...very dangerous in there!)  There he was....struggling down the hall with his minkey monkey blankie.  He seemed to have everything under control considering the size and weight of this particular blankie. A few minutes later I heard him huffing and puffing like he was really working hard on something so I went to check on him.  Mr. Perfect was sitting in the middle of the kitchen floor.  While strolling by he had noticed his swim diaper, swim suit and towel on the kitchen table.  With no help from me (and without the distraction of the IPad), he had taken off his shoes, pants and pull-up (which he tossed across the room...thank goodness it was a dry one!) and  had put on his swim diaper (inside out) and was struggling in to his Spiderman swim suit.  Wait!  How can this be?  Where is the spider monkey?  Could this really be happening?  Maybe we are past that phase and can now add library storytime to our Tuesday schedule.  (Remember?  I didn't want to change him at the pool for fear that they would call CPS on the grandmother causing this reaction to a simple change of clothes.)  If the spider monkey is truly gone, we can go to the library and then venture to the pool....fingers crossed!
No Tuesdays with Nonie next week as DH and I are traveling to the great white north (Canada) to see Mechanical Engineer/Strength Coach son.  Stay tuned for bulletins from Calgary.  I have all ready prepared to start a black market operation as I understand that Propel water flavoring and Payday candy bars are not available in the land to the north.  I've been asked to bring those items with me so I stopped by Kroger today and cleaned that store out of both requested items....it's not as bad as it sounds...they only had 7 Paydays in stock!  Now the big decision is....what is ME/SC son willing to pay for them.....hmmm....I see Canadian Loonies in my future (Google that one, friends!)

The teacher becomes the student!

Today it was Mr. Perfect's turn to be the learner. He discovered what happens when you push the gray button on the front of the refrigerator. He knows that water comes out of that spot and he is just tall enough to reach it but he forgot an important element....the cup.  The angle was perfect and he took a stream of cold water right to his perfect face.  It was a moment that needed to be recorded on video. The look of absolute shock and awe was priceless. Of course, I never expected him to try this experiment so I was not ready with a camera.  When he recovered he insisted that his clothes were now dirty and needed to be changed immediately. He was quite upset that Donald and Mickey had to be exchanged for his big brother shirt but neither did he want to wear wet clothes. Such a dilemma.

It's all Opa's fault

Had a little excitement during Tuesdays with Nonie this week.  Mr. Perfect sustained his first injury on our watch....and it wasn't my fault!  DH will probably not be pleased that I am sharing this incident with the world but since my blog world consists of 11 subscribers, it's not a very large world.  My FB shares are not always widely read so I'm not too worried.

It's a girl!

We spent Sunday celebrating the gender reveal for Mr. Perfect's sibling.  We are thrilled that the new baby is a girl so we will now have a Miss Perfect to go with Mr. Perfect instead of Mr. Perfect Too.
(We know in advance that she will be just a perfect as her older brother!)  Mr. Perfect felt a little warm to me on Sunday but I attributed it to the excitement of having so many of his favorite people in the same place at the same time. (Unca Tim and G&G were there via the magic of Hangouts and Skpe.)

Virtual fist bump!

I, of course, was wrong.  Later in the evening it became clear that this was a stomach bug issue. (We are certain that the puking and pooping were not his comments on having a sister instead of a brother!)  He kept Mom and Dad up most of the night.  Mom was off on Monday due to President's Day so that was good but he still did not allow her (and therefore, his sister) to get any rest.  Since Tuesday is our regular day together, we picked him up on Monday evening for a pre-Tuesdays with Nonie sleepover.

When he got up on Tuesday morning, I asked him how he felt.  He responded with "Much better, thank   you!" (See how perfect he is?)  We had a great day.....swimming lessons (he had been fever free for 24 hours and there is a lot of chlorine in that pool anyway!)...chicken and fa fries for lunch.....shape puzzles on the IPad....a shorter nap than usual...Elmo's World on TV and a stroll to the park to enjoy the beautiful day.  He wanted to go for a walk but thought that Nonie should carry him so we compromised on the stroller.

Mom had to pick Dad up for work so Opa got to spend some time with Mr. Perfect, also.  It was still light out and there was plenty of time before dinner so Opa took him out for another stroll around the neighborhood.  (Mr. Perfect especially likes hitting the bumps on the cracked sidewalks in the neighborhood if accompanied by a "bump bump" sound effect.)  They hadn't been gone long when there they were....back home.  Mr. Perfect came in and rushed to Nonie.  Then I saw it....Mr. Perfect had been damaged!  Apparently Opa decided that it wasn't necessary to use the seat belt on the stroller and Mr. Perfect decided to test the laws of physics and stuck his foot down to meet the sidewalk.....face plant on the cement.  His forehead and nose are scraped bright red!  No bump and thank goodness, his teeth are all still there!  But I can only imagine what the day care providers had to say!  Mom and Dad took it well..maybe Dad remembers the time I dropped him on his face in the kitchen when he was about this age.  There was tooth damage to that one so it was worse.

Naturally Opa feels awful about damaging this perfect boy but I am sure this will not be the only accident that will result in bumps and bruises.  I just hope it's not on our watch next time!  (And, in case you wondered, he is still perfect!)

Tuesdays with nonie ....part 3

This week Tuesdays with Nonie became Tuesday with Nonie and Opa as DH's school was cancelled due to bad weather. (Actually, there was no bad weather....just a forecast for icy roadways and his district made the decision too early)

I was excited about this development because DH has been missing out on our adventures and was getting a little jealous. Plus he could finally experience the joy of getting the spider monkey into the dreaded swim diaper and swim suit. 

We played through the morning and it was time to get ready for swim lessons.  OK..here we go....We had been playing with a cool shapes puzzle app on the IPad when it was time to change.  Since he was in control of the IPad, I let Mr. Perfect carry it to the bedroom to change. He was absorbed in his shape puzzle and didn't even notice that he was being stuffed into the hated swim diaper! He didn't fuss about changing his clothes at all!! Where is the justice in that? DH didn't get to witness a full on spider monkey episode!  But in the interest of using these Tuesdays as learning experiences, I can now say that I learned that changing ones clothes is an acceptable activity as long as there is technology available for use.

Opa got in the pool with Mr. Perfect and that was OK, too.  He smiled and seemed to enjoy his time in the water.  I learned that it doesn't matter who takes Mr. Perfect for his swim lesson as long as there are the usual songs and games.  He still will not "use his kickers" but he doesn't mind going underwater. 

And once again I learned that swimming lessons result in long naps....for both Mr. Perfect and his Opa!  DH claims that his recliner has magical sleep inducing powers and he just might be right.  They certainly kicked in on Tuesday.  I'll give it a try some chilly afternoon and report my findings later.
Cannot wait to see what I will learn next week.