We woke up and got ready to start our relaxing mountain vacation.
The girls went for a walk with Daddy and brought back a nice little bouquet for Mommy!
We picked up these Pez dispensers in Banff on our way through. The kids love them!
We headed to the beach in Invermere (about 15 minutes away).
Cara and Gwen had fun playing in the sand and lots of swimming!
The view of Windermere Lake was a great backdrop to the beach!
We now have a giant inflatable turtle to play with at the beach. The kids love being pushed around on it.
Gwen is going to be a natural swimmer. She had a blast on the flutterboard!
We spent most of this day at the beach then when we got back to the condo we went swimming in the pool there.
Wednesday we took a drive to Fort Steele - about an hour and a half south.
Mommy and Daddy went here before - 5 years ago before Cara was born.
This trip we arrived just in time to eat our picnic lunch at the picnic tables outside the entrance then head in to the town. Well, the hornets had other plans...plans to eat our lunch! Just as we got all the food out at the table one hornet came, then another then another - when it was up to 7 or 8 we grabbed the food and ran! We had a tailgate picnic instead with only one visiting hornet :)
We got into Fort Steele and toured around. It is an old town that was a hit during the gold rush then when the railroad bypassed it the town died. It is sort of like Kings Landing in NB.
The explorers at the Fort Steele water tower.
Panning for gold - well, fool's gold.
Gwen would find some with Daddy's help then throw it into the water table. She wouldn't have been any help during the gold rush.
It was very hot walking around and panning for gold so when the girls saw an ice cream store we had to get some.
Mommy and her girls - last time Mommy was here she looked like this:
The girls got a lesson in the school house.
Gwen is most definitely left handed so this is a rare moment of her being a righty.
Swings!
Old timey rocking horse - still fun!
After walking all through the town we took a ride of the steam engine train.
A nice ride on a hot day.
The train ride put Gwen right to sleep - even the load whistle didn't wake her up!
We drove back to Radium and went to the Radium Hot Springs pools. We loved the hot water soak and the kids had fun swimming around - and sliding down the water slide. We liked it so much we made plans to go to the Fairmont Hot Springs the next day.
Thursday was swimming day.
We went to a new beach in Invermere that had a great playground but not a great beach - really rocky.
The girls climbed on the playground after we had a picnic then we decided to just head back to the Kinsmen Beach we'd gone to the other day for a swim.
Gwen in her favourite place - the beach!
Cara had been down this slide a few times, Gwen too.
This time Cara came down and kicked Daddy right in the stomach and she went under!
Cara's post-dunking angry face.
Who is angrier: Cara or the turtle?
Cara.
After the beach swim we drove down to Fairmont to try out the Hot Springs there.
This is at a resort and it was much more busy.
Felt much more like you were sitting in a big bathtub with a lot of strangers!
We had a good time soaking in the minerals though :)
On the highway by Fairmont there is Funtasia - they had mini golf so we had to stop.
Cara's Pro Mini-Golfer Pose.
Daddy teaching Gwen the basics.
Cara's unique stance.
More croquet than mini-golf but it works for her!
Cara and Daddy tied this game!
In Radium there is a really great playground that was only a few blocks from our condo.
The girls played here many times over the week.
Next the the kid playground was an outdoor exercise area - Cara loved this climbing machine.
After playground we went swimming again (3rd time that day!) in the condo pool - once Gwen got in the water she said "I want to go upstairs and play ponies"! She has a swimming limit!
We didn't have a fire to roast marshmallows and thought the bbq would work but it didn't...it just warmed the marshmallows. So we used the lighter!
No stress on vacation - we make it work!
The view of the BC Rockies from our condo balcony.
Friday was our last full day in Radium so we started it off with a return trip to the Radium Hot Springs.
This time we took some pictures!
Cara learned how to keep herself floating with a life jacket the first time here and she was practicing her glides this time.
She was so proud of herself!
Don't we look relaxed?
The Byrnes post mineral pool soak.
There were hundreds of little grasshoppers enjoying the sun around this sign.
The girls had fun trying to catch one.
When you drive from Kootenay National Park into the town of Radium you pass through this awesome canyon.
The canyon from the other side.
The Byrne Family and the Sinclair Canyon
After our hot springs visit and picture taking at the canyon we stopped for lunch at the delicious Safta's Kitchen and then some more mini golf!
Cara set to win but will she?
No, Mommy won!
But Cara still got some gelato post game.
Gwen eating her gelato over the greens.
A great afternoon in Radium.
There is a folk artist in Radium and this is part of his house.
His house is called "House of 1000 Faces" and is open for tours but we didn't get to it.
We ended the day with a trip to the Radium Market and a yummy dinner and more swimming at the pool!
Saturday morning - the day to head home to Calgary.
Gwen loved the little condo (when we turned into home later that day she cried!)
Before we left Radium the girls got to go to a Teddy Bear picnic in the park that the library put on.
They read stories and sang songs.
Gwen danced!
They even got cookies and a bag of candy for the trip home.
We started our drive back through Kootenay to Banff stopping at some lookouts.
Rain was coming through that day so we didn't get to stop as much as we hoped but it was a nice drive.
The rain let up and we stopped at Marble Canyon for a picnic and a short hike.
The canyon is very high and the trail crosses it back and forth over bridges.
Daddy and Gwen on a bridge very high over the river!
There was a forest fire here in 2003 and the forest is regrowing.
It makes for neat scenery.
The bridge at the top of the picture gives an idea of the scale.
The girls took a little break on this rock.
A look down!
This is the waterfall at the top of the trail.
Well worth the short easy walk.
Daddy and the girls at a lookout.
Daddy!
Mommy!
Back down the canyon we got another family picture.
It sprinkled a bit while we were walking the trail but it was nice anyway and nobody minded.
We had so much fun on the hike at Marble Canyon that when we got to Banff we did a short hike that we'd done before - Fenland Trail.
Part of this had flooded in June but was now open and we had a nice walk - although Mommy got eaten by mosquitoes!
Cara spotted this spider way up in a tree.
Then we drove back to Calgary.
On the way there was this great rainbow!
We had such a great trip and loved finding this new beautiful area of Canada.
A couple more weeks of summer fun then Cara starts kindergarten!
