20 May 2009
Posted by Dave under Dave's Thoughts,Photos
17 May 2009
May Long Weekend Road Trip
The kids had a professional day on Friday, so I took a vacation day to make a 4-day weekend for Victoria Day. Friday started out nice and sunny and I managed to get a bunch of yard work done before we tossed overnight bags into the van and drove to Banff in the afternoon.
It was a nice drive out, there is still a lot of snow in the front ranges and the peaks were still crowned with white snow. We arrived into Banff and spent the afternoon poking in and out of the shops on Banff Avenue. By dinner time we were all pretty hungry and had the carb-lover’s special at The Olde Spaghetti Factory – we’d eaten there last year with the kids and that’s where they wanted to have supper!
After the obligatory hour to digest, we headed for the pool at the hotel. The kids vetoed the Upper Hot Springs, because it’s a “boring pool that you can’t play in”. Apparently they have not learned the value of a relaxing soak at the end of the day…
Saturday morning was bright and sunny and, after breakfast, we drove out to Lake Louise. I don’t think that I’ve been to the lake for about 20 years and I’ve never done any of the trails in the area, so we took a walk down the shoreline trail. The rest of the family turned back after awhile, but I went to the end of the lake – then had to hot-foot it back to meet up with the others.
We had lunch in Lake Louise village and then headed back home in the early evening. It was a pretty nice mini-vacation.
29 Apr 2009
Posted by Dave under Dave's Thoughts
Kids movies
Now and then we take the kids to see a movie and, sometimes, they leave a little to be desired as grownup entertainment. But sometimes, there are things about a kid’s movie that are really quite engaging – though not likely in the way the director intended.
Yesterday we took the kids to see “Monsters vs. Aliens”, not the 3D version though – our free passes (thanks, Barry!) were only good for the regular strength version. Every time the main bad guy, an alien named Gallaxhar, showed up I couldn’t help thinking that if the villian schtick doesn’t work for him, he could make a nice living selling ShamWow…
That Gallaxhar has 4 crazy eyes, not just 2!
That’s gotta be good for business.
11 Apr 2009
Spring Hijinks
Since the last post, Spring does seem to have arrived! The snow has melted away like, well like snow under a warm Spring sun. The kids have dug their bikes out of the shed and I’ve adjusted seat heights and training wheels to compensate for 6 months worth of growing. The streets are still covered in gravel and the danger of road rash is ever-present, but obviously the thrill of two-wheeled freedom is sufficient to overcome the risk to life and limb.
The melting snow does provide wonderful opportunities to get wet and muddy and a child’s mind is ceaselessly searching for ways to obtain the maximum amount of enjoyment with the tools at hand. In this case, a puddle in the gutter of the street, a bicycle with training wheels of exactly the right span to suspend the bike’s rear wheel in the water but not touching the pavement and a willing “victim” was enough to fill the bill!