Mason set up an elaborate leprechaun trap on St. Patrick's Day
But he was once again unsuccessful
And we all got leprechaun marks
Green muffins for breakfast
We watched Darby O'Gill that evening
Henry made this in school
And he surprised me by leaving it in my seat at home while I was at the office
Kim attended parent-teacher conferences for the three boys and their teachers all had very positive things to say about them. To celebrate each of the kids got to pick a donut
Henry chose chicken strips and white cheddar shells for dinner on his night to choose dinner and he was very happy with his choice
Kim took Lyza to a local store where you can pet puppies and she really enjoyed it
The kids borrowed some blocks from the library and have had lots of fun with them
Nixon also borrowed a guitar
A box of chocolates makes a fun evening treat for a family movie
Henry's class went to Mobius (think a small science center) for a field trip. Kim got to attend and see him in action.
Lyza and I went to a clarinet concert with four clarinetists from the Naval Academy Band
We were both amazed at how good four clarinets can sound together
Here is a little taste (the Wicked songs were fun but there were other pieces that I failed to record that we much more technically impressive)
A couple of nights later it was time for Lyza's concert and it was really fun
I took her and Nixon out after for milk shakes and curly fries
We had spring break last week and we decided to head up north (into the cold) to spend some time with family
Our first stop was Okotoks to spend time with Kevin and Amanda and their family for a couple of nights
The boys loved this basketball game
Kevin and Amanda's Mary was baptized
All the kids performed a musical number
Grandma and Grandpa Bullock with their grandchildren (plus an extra almost in-law)
The three siblings and their spouses. I am honored that Kim and I year-after-year take the prize for favorite daughter and son-in-law ;)
Our kids liked playing with their cousins
Nixon and Mary played outside for hours
I was so nice to see the kids having fun together
And of course everyone was happy to see Grandma
After Okotoks we drove to Banff to do some hiking. Along the way we saw these mountain sheep
We hiked Johnston Canyon which is a favorite of ours but this was the first time we have done this hike since our honeymoon
It was a beautiful day and we are glad we had ice cleats for our boots because it was quite icy and slippery
The wintery water features are so beautiful
These are the lower falls
There is a small tunnel that takes you really close to the lower falls
A long exposure smooths out the water for a surreal look
We decided to start hiking further toward the upper falls knowing that the hike was harder for less of a payoff along the way but the kids still had some more energy
Eventually the group turned around but Nixon, Grandpa, and I kept going toward the upper falls
This is a fall along the way
We are almost at the upper falls
When we got to the upper falls we found people getting ready to do some ice climbing
We made it
Here is a video of our fun hike
After the hike we spent some time in the Banff townsite checking out the various shops
And we bought some beaver tails
They were delicious
After Banff it was a short drive to Dead Man's Flats (ominous name, I know) to a cabin where we would stay for the next two nights
Glad to be in the cabin
It was a beautiful setting
We soaked in the hot tub our first night
The next morning was April 1st, which meant that the kids woke up with some new features
It was a beautiful morning so I took advantage of the beautiful surroundings and took some photos
That morning we went on a hike to Grotto Creek Canyon
The first part of the hike was ugly and near a loud mineral processing plant but eventually we made it to the creek and it became much more enjoyable
The ice was really thick but we found some places with large cracks
The kids really liked this ice fall at the end of our hike
Lyza lead the group in some campfire games
Here's a little video
The views were once again breathtaking
We found a nice spot at the parking lot for lunch
Henry was so overheated that he ate with his shirt off
After the hike we went swimming in Canmore
After swimming Nixon and Mason did some indoor rock climbing
They both did really well and it wore them out
For dinner that night we kept our tradition alive of eating at the Mystery Cafe. Everyone gets a menu with nonsensical names of food that they have to choose from for their various courses (e.g. Rain Boot, Birds Nest, etc.) and then the waiter brings out the food based on the selections and ultimately the combinations are silly (e.g. an appetizer of ice cream and spaghetti sauce)
We all had lots of fun
After dinner it was off to the games room to play lots of games together
Mason and I played a giant game of chess
Shuffle board
Ping pong
Pool
Air hockey
Foosball
Basketball
These two are just too cute
We had a delicious pancake breakfast our final morning
And the kids got Kinder Eggs from their grandparents
We had a lot of fun at the cabin
Then some more driving through the beautiful mountains on a very moody morning
We drove through a different mountain range and we headed home toward Radium and the mountains were so beautiful
We stopped along the way for a short hike in Marble Canyon
The trail had lots of bridges across the canyon and the kids loved throwing snow down into the creek below
The views were AMAZING
Kim caught me in a moment where I was reflecting on my life choices...
There is something so cool about water cutting through a frozen landscape
Kim even joined in on the snowball fight against the canyon
We hiking in behind a couple that was going to climb down (and presumably back up) on a frozen waterfall
We ate lunch at Boston Pizza in Cranbrook and it was delicious
The butter chicken pizza was fun (but didn't provide the same satisfaction as a more traditional pizza flavor)
It was fun though
Well, that's enough for now. We had a little bit more of spring break after we returned from our Canada road trip but that will have to wait until the next installment.
Take care
