My dad came to town!! If you take time to stop by and see what we are up to you know that I am a big fan of my dad! :) I am one of those daughters who is lucky enough to have a dad to look up to and admire. He is amazing...and hilarious! :) I have talked a lot about my family. Y'all know I love them fiercely and miss them like crazy. Having a visit from just my dad was extra special because it isn't very often when we get so much chat and hang out time without some of the rest of our amazing crazy crew! This picture is going up for sure! :)
So my dad got to experience Canada in the way I wish all of our visitors could...sadly my mom, sister and mother n'law were here in a time of emergency and when Scott's parents were here this summer they obviously didn't see the beauty of the winter. This "spring" weather is absolutely perfect to get out and explore the beauty of the mountains...we had a blast going out to lunch in Banff and then exploring Lake Louise....breathtaking....
It was really amazing to see Lake Louise in the winter after seeing it in the summer...this summer it was a blue lake with kayaks and canoes on it (I honestly wasn't too impressed....) and then walking up and seeing it covered in tons and tons of snow....it was so breathtaking...it was amazing....truly God's beauty on earth. The lake was frozen over and covered in snow...part of it had been turned into an ice skating rink with a huge ice castle (with Maple leafs on top of course) the kids skated some and played on it in their boots some (which was Bentley's favorite because he could just pretend to skate) the temperature was perfect and it actually started snowing! There was a bonfire and hardly any crowd. It was so awesome. I am really glad we decided to make this day trip...
I snapped this picture for m mom....this little dauchsand was out their with his jacket and boots...he was so cute and then when we talked to his owner he told us the boots were just balloons!! How creative!! :)
We went and spent the morning at the Farmer's Market and then checked out Ikea...of course the kiddos had an Ikea ice cream cone ;) Dad is pretty confident y'all are going to be happy in October my Kansas City friends!! :) I would agree! ;)
I snapped this picture at the Old Spaghetti Factory in Banff...it cracked me up that Brody grabbed the paper and started tearing it up...he is changing every day. The other thing is I have such fond memories of the Spaghetti Factory in Kansas City...we used to go there with my Grandma and Pawie. I was telling Dad how I could actually see the big velvet purple chairs and envision all of us there. Great memories. Man I wish my kids would have known Pawie...so thankful they get to know and love their Papi so much!!
Saturday night we went to a hockey game. The Flames weren't in town but the Calgary Hitmen were (I believe they are called Juniors? They are the guys right below the NHL) anyway...it was my first hockey game and I really enjoyed it. Dad and I both agree the dropping the gloves and fighting is a bit silly but it is clearly a way of life here (Hockey that is) and they seem to like the fighting so...there you go. We really enjoyed the game and the Hitmen won! Off to the playoffs they go...
As for Bentley...he has been to a Flames game with Scott and he talks about it daily...he was over the moon about this game...he wouldn't even look at me for a picture because he was just mesmerized with everything on the rink...then he got a shirt! The people sitting next to us won it and it was a kids size so they gave it to him...pretty sure he will be wearing it....always ;) Ha! The girls enjoyed it as well and they were surprised they did! Ha! I have to say I am right there with them...pleasantly surprised I liked it so much!!
Yesterday we went and checked out the Canada Winter Olympic area and the Canada sports Hall of Fame. I was impressed and really enjoyed it. Seeing the indoor luge, skeleton and bobsleigh training area was awesome! It's the only indoor refrigerated training in the world! It was all really cool and I love imagining what it was all like during the 1988 Olympics...
We had a really great visit with Papi. I am so thankful he came and I really enjoyed some dad time. More than dad time I love so much that my kids had Papi time...I wish y'all could have seen them sitting in the back seat singing and doing a little swaying dance move....man the kids were sad this morning when he was gone. B keeps asking when he can come back and the girls the whole drive to school were just talking about all the fun they had. The were laughing out loud remembering silly things. Thank you for coming dad! We love you and miss you already!!
Here are a few more shots of the kids with Papi :)
