Your Northern Neighbor (Neighbour)...

We are back from our trip and I'm still trying to catch up on all the things I slacked on before we left. Namely schoolwork, but I should really get these pictures up while I have a moment. Canada was great and it was so nice for Steven to see a prettier side of my homeland. The oil sands in Fort McMurray are interesting and all, but it certainly isn't a good introductory place if you are trying to convince your husband that this really is a nice place to live. I really wouldn't mind moving back, I just have to get my better half on board. Anyways, we probably won't be able to afford another trip there for a long time, but it was the perfect opportunity with Steve's conference in Banff. His presentation went well and he met a few of the "celebrities" in his field (Wow that's the guy who wrote "Morphological Underpinnings of Korean Syntax!"), including one guy who he's basing some of his research on. Meanwhile, Rowan and I got to gallivant around Calgary and Banff and visit with my dad and his wife.

Without fail, we experienced the curse of being sick while travelling this vacation. Rowan had a fever the first day and threw up during the night, but I was fine. My stepmom caught something as well on the end of our trip. It's just inevitable it seems. So the first day was a bit of a bust, but things improved from thereon.

On our first non-sick day we went shopping at all the Canadian chains I have missed, including IKEA which I guess is more of a Swedish franchise. If only I had more room in my luggage, I would have brought so much more home. By the way, baggage fees are insane. We each had one checked bag and a car seat (can you believe they charged us for a car seat!?!) and ended up paying through the nose for it. It's bad enough they don't even give you a bag of pretzels on a 3.5 hour flight! Anyways, I got my fill of Canadian wear, cosmetics, Shreddies (best cereal in the world), Wunderbars (best chocolate bar in the world), and Kinder Surprises (toys inside chocolate eggs- how can you go wrong?). I just wish I could of brought home a Mountie or two to do my laundry and babysit.

When Steve arrived (we flew out before him), we all went out to Banff to see the sights and orient Steve where he would be commuting to. We stopped for dinner there at the Grizzly House, which advertised "Steak and Cheese Fondue- Buffalo and Elk Served." If there's one thing I can say about this trip is we ate a LOT of exotic meats (exotic for us anyways). Moose (roast and sausage), Calamari, Elk, Venison, Buffalo, Lobster, wild Salmon are only some of the amazing stuff we got to eat. Anyways this restaurant was really cool- they had you cook your cuts of meat with garlic butter over a "hot rock" fired to 650 degrees. Then you got to dip in your choice of several amazing dipping sauces- unbelievable!! The first couple courses were amazing too- vegetables simmered in really hot marinade, bread with cheese sauce- to die for. #1 was mostly just interested in the dessert (fruit and chocolate fondue).




What's dinner without a $4000 buffalo head to take home as a souvenir?


The next day we bummed around Calgary some more while Steve went to his conference. My dad lives near the Olympic ski jump where Calgary hosted in 1988, so it was cool to drive by that everyday. It's so interesting to me to see all the hockey rinks/basketball courts in every neighborhood. Ice rinks really aren't hard to come by there! I met up with my Aunt Denise who I haven't seen in 10+ years, and it was good to see her as well.

Rowan loved Grandpa's house, especially the bear and badger rugs downstairs. He'd purposely step on them just to feel the fur under his feet. I was worried he might break something while we were there because my stepmom has a vast collection of breakable items like Precious Moments and Hummel Bells, but the most damage he did was find a bag of sugar which he then proceeded to feed himself. Most of it ended up on the couch (or as we Canucks call it- a chesterfield), but other than that he was a good boy.

We experienced our first snow of the season while there. It didn't last long, but Rowan sure was thrilled.

See video #12





The next day, Rowan and I hitched a ride with Steven up to Banff so we could play in the mountains. Steve had a shorter day so he was able to join us later on. It's a bit of a tourist trap there (case in point you can buy sculptures made out of moose or bear poop that slowly fertilize your garden as they decompose), but it is beyond beautiful. Steve and I went to have some breakfast at our favorite place- McDonalds and we were in for a classy treat. Would you like a fireplace and stonework with your Egg McMuffin? Rowan insisted on a front row seat.

We walked around a lot and looked at a lot of nice things we can't afford (this didn't include the poo sculptures). Rowan got to buy one toy and he picked a Calgary Flames (hockey team) Zamboni- pretty cool if you ask me.


We went on a little hike before we got picked up Dad. We were grossly underprepared for the weather, so luckily we borrowed some tuques and scarves before we left and layered up big time.

Once we picked Dad up, we went on some hikes, saw some Hoodoos, and just enjoyed being in the Great Outdoors.

Unfortunately we didn't have gloves that fit Rowan, so he improvised.

The Banff Springs hotel- Brad Pitt stays here and probably is the only person who can afford it.

We didn't hit the sites at the same time as the tour buses, which left us to be a little creative as to how we could take a picture with all of us in it.


The Hoodoos



Even at the top of the Canadian Rockies, the tractor obsession cannot be ignored.

Rowan has gotten into maps lately, so he carried this one around letting us know "how we get there." Too bad the Rec Center isn't doing a cartography class.



I think this is probably enough pictures at this point. I really had to hold myself back from taking a picture every time I saw the word "colour" or something in French. I even took a picture of my A&W poutine, but it's nowhere to be found right now. I guess I've become a sentimental tourist, which isn't a far cry from those Japanese tourists who take their pictures next to the Petro-Canada signs (gas station). Anyways, we had a wonderful time and I highly recommend the Canadian Rockies for your vacation of choice!

Things on the baby front are going well. She's measuring big and so am I :(. Body image is a bit of a downer, but we are looking forward to her arrival if we only knew what to call her. Nadia is still a forerunner, but Steve has some misgivings about it because it doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. I suggested Norah the other day, which I still quite like, but he's thinking it's too grandmotherly. It is fun that Norah and Rowan are only one letter apart though.