Banff itself is a cute little ski town surrounded by the Canadian Rockies. The views were spectacular no matter where you looked. Pictures can not do the place justice.
There was a nice downtown area with cute shops and restaurants which we could walk to from our hotel.
The kids loved spending so much time with their Aunts, Uncles and Cousins who they don't see very often (in fact, K had yet to meet some of them). The first thing that C would ask each morning when she woke up is "when can I see my cousins?".
The first day we took a Gondola ride up to the top of the mountain.
There was a trail leading out to the lookout point. Grandma calculated the steps to be the equivalent of 52 stories. K and C were total troopers and walked the entire thing by themselves.
Of course, it helped having older cousins to keep them entertained and pull them along.
On day 2 we drove up to Lake Louise with a stop at Johnson's Canyon. At the canyon, J was super-dad and pushed the 2 kids in the stroller, up a narrow trail so that we could see the water falls.
The view was well worth the effort and so was the hug from C at the end.
Lake Louise was absolutely stunning, with clear, turquoise glacial waters surrounded by snowcapped mountains.
Day 3 was my birthday which included a trip to Cascade Ponds, a spa treatment for me and a lovely family dinner at the Fairmont Hotel. Here is a picture with Grandma and Grandpa at the Pond, a rare one of J & I and one of the 4 of us after dinner:
Day 4 was a lazy day and we hung around the hotel for most of it. J and C spent some time in the hot pool that looks like a cave.
That night we had our last family dinner since the rest of the group was heading off for some heli-hiking in the Rockies for the weekend.
On our last day in Banff, we had planned to visit Sunshine Meadow recently voted the #1 hiking spot in all of Canada. Unfortunately we got a late start and by the time we arrived, it had started to rain and the bus to the Meadow was full. So we drove to Lake Moraine instead. It was a smaller, more rustic version of Lake Louise. We hiked around the lake and found a nice spot for a picnic lunch.
We decided to drive back on the Bow Valley Pkwy - a little slower but a bit more scenic - and boy are we glad we did. Earlier in the day we had ventured across a family of Sheep who were hogging the road.
But on this drive we saw an Elk and a Bear. Unfortunately C was asleep so she missed all the animal sightings.
Banff is definitely a place worth coming to and as we drove away, J and I both agreed that we'd like to come back when the kids are a bit older so that we can take advantage of more of the activities.
Click Here to see more photos from our trip. Thanks M & J for making it all possible and for honoring us with the family shoelaces.
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