We just spent the last two days hanging out with the kids in Banff. Originally the plan was to go to Canmore on the 27th of April for my birthday, or even Banff for my birthday…you know just for something different. However plans changed when I found out I had to work the day before and the day of my birthday. I won’t lie I was torn between being happy about that and also being upset. Everyone loves making money, and I like working with the night crew that I work with. So here’s the thing I’ve traveled through Banff and we’ve stopped on the outskirts of Banff with the kids, but the kids and I have never actually been to Banff. I’ve seen pictures but I never really thought there was a point in going since I’m terrified of heights, which means I avoid mountains as much as possible. I just assumed that all there is to do in Banff, is stuff in the mountains which is not even close to being true. (Granted you do have to go up some heights to do most things.) So I now realize that I was being ridiculous, that’s a stupid reason to not go visit Banff especially when it’s so beautiful there. I will definitely be planning on taking the kids back there in the near future, only I’m going to make sure that we have booked plans. On Friday I was looking up some fun things you can do in Banff, mostly stuff you can do with kids. Even though most of it requires some planning ahead and a pretty penny, they have these neat cave tours, whitewater rafting, helicopter rides, the hot springs, shopping, etc. We didn’t plan anything extravagant, it was just going to be a mini weekend getaway type of thing.
Once we got to Banff National Park we had to pay a fee to get in, they just charged us the family rate for the day ($19.60 plus tax). The lady working the toll booth said our “day pass” would be good until about 5pm the following day (which is today haha.) Afterward we entered into Banff and took the kids for supper at the Keg, even though my birthday has passed it was my birthday supper. Once we finished our supper we went on a small walk/hike to check out some of the scenery. Time fly’s by when you’re having fun, and it wasn’t long before everyone was starting to get tired from all the fresh air. We don’t live that far away from Banff, so we decided to head home for the night and come back this morning.
Our plan was to head back this morning bright and early, to go check out the hot springs. I set my alarm for 7am, but once morning came we were all still asleep. The fresh air from yesterday really took a toll on us, and we only ended up leaving shortly after 9 or 10am I think. Once we got there the kids told us they were hungry. How very typical of kids lol so we decided to go for a walk down the Main Street of Banff. Despite it being a tourist town, I never knew they had so many stores and that they even have a mall. It kind of makes me wonder why aren’t living there, there are tons of jobs and even places to rent. Since Banff is right smack in-between the mountains, even though it was very hot and sunny today there was a slight chill in town. Which is sadly probably the reason why we don’t live there, I can’t complain much about living in Calgary though. I love the weather most of the time, and we occasionally get mosquitos but not as many as Edmonton for example. After walking around for a bit the kids seen a Boston Pizza, so we headed there for some late breakfast/lunch it wasn’t late enough to call it brunch haha. The kids love the bugs and cheese, and spaghetti from there, even if it’s really just simple pasta noodles and sauce. The kids get to choose a side option with their food, and more often than not they choose cooked vegetables so I’m okay with it.
Once we finished up we decided to head over to the Banff Upper Hot Springs. I’ve only ever seen Hot Springs in movies, so my expectations were a bit naïve thinking we were going to be sitting surrounded by rocks or something *blush*. I was slightly disappointed that it’s just a huge “pool” of hot water. That didn’t stop us from having some fun splashing around a little bit, but mostly sitting. It’s not exactly the best place to bring your kids, especially if they are younger like mine (but they do have life jackets for kids!). It was mostly adults and older kids, a lot of them were just sitting outside of the Hot Springs sunbathing on the pool chairs. I can imagine it would be a pretty fantastic to just lounge there, without responsibilities. After a couple of hours, we decided it was time to go ( we were all so thirsty!). We headed downtown in search for something to drink, and decided McDonald’s was what it was going to be. Once everyone was rehydrated I thought we should get some ice cream, that plan got delayed because the kids ended up falling asleep in the van. So we planned on heading back to Calgary and getting ice cream here at Marble Slab. It’s the simple things in life that are going to make the biggest memories, I’m just so happy I got to be with my kids when they experienced them.
Did you or your family do anything fun this weekend?