Jake & Cara Come for May Long Weekend

Jake and Cara were able to come for a week long visit in May.  They happened to plan their trip over May long weekend plus Wade took an extra day off and we rented a minivan for the weekend so we could fit into one vehicle.  It was a fun but busy week.   

They arrived mid day on Wednesday but we just took it easy the remainder of the day.  Ethan skipped preschool on Thursday and we went to the Calgary Zoo instead.  We had gone last spring on a visit to Calgary so it wasn't our first trip but it was much better weather than last spring.   The zoo flooded last summer but they'd clearly worked hard to get the zoo back up and running.  We got to see the elephants just a couple days before they left for their new home at the Smithsonian Zoo.  Here's a picture of Ethan and what I think is his favorite part about going to the zoo, reading the map.

Wade's long weekend started on Friday but I didn't really want Ethan to take a week off from his swimming lessons so everyone came along to watch his lesson.  We went to the farmer's market for lunch and then headed downtown to the Calgary Tower.  It had an amazing view of the city although Cara and I were a little unsure about the glass floor.  I only had my cell phone and the photos didn't turn out very well and I'm also including a photo of the tower off the internet.  I'm guessing we will be going again so I'll try to get better photos next time.

Saturday we headed to the mountains to check out the Columbia Icefield.  It was over a 4 hour drive from our house so it ended up being a long day.  We rode an Ice Explorer out onto the Athabasca Glacier and then was able to walk around on the glacier.  There was also a new attraction, a glacier skywalk that we went out on.  It was starting to rain, Abby was getting hungry, and it was another of those glass floors so I didn't get photos of the actual skywalk just a couple quick ones of the view.

On Sunday, we headed northeast of Calgary, to the town of Drumheller in the Canadian Badlands and Dinosaur Valley.  Here we went to the Royal Tyrrell Museum which is home to Canada's largest collection of dinosaur fossils.  We also stopped at the World's Largest Dinosaur which is an 86 ft high fiberglass TRex.  Ethan's been asking to find a "dinosaur place" in Calgary and I think we found him one here although it is a little further drive than the Jurassic Forest that he enjoyed so much in Edmonton. 

On Monday, we headed back to the mountains to ride the gondola in Banff.  The gondola goes to the top of Sulphur Mountain and then there is a short hike to Sanson's Peak with a historical meteorological observation building.  Abby and I skipped the hike and sat in the Cafe area and enjoyed the view where it was much warmer.  We ate in Banff at the Bear Street Tavern which was featured on "You Gotta Eat Here" which is a show on the Food Network Channel and is similar to "Diners, Drive-In's, and Dives".  We also walked around a little in downtown Banff and checked out some of the little shops there.

Wade went back to work and Ethan went back to preschool on Tuesday.  We meet Wade for lunch at one of our favourite (that's how the Canadians spell favorite) places, Naina's Kitchen.  We thought about going to the Canada Olympic Park but decided to take a break from sight seeing and just headed home for a relaxing afternoon.  We were happy to have Jake and Cara come for a visit and meet Abby and we look forward to introducing Ethan and Abby to their newest cousin the next time we see them.