Spring Break

We are halfway in.

First off, Easter presented a little dilemma.  John and I wanted to go to Radium for the long weekend.   He only has a few of these and we wanted to take full advantage of this one.  It had been a long winter which was encouraging us to leave Medicine Hat for greener pastures, albeit for just the weekend.  This certain weekend was also Easter weekend which meant a visit from the Easter Bunny.  How could we be in two places at the same time?  We really wanted to be in the Hot Springs at Radium while Kendra was looking forward to an Easter Egg Hunt in our own backyard.  This is how the weekend went.

Good Friday,  4:30am: "Mom! Mom! Mom!" I heard from Kendra's bedroom.  She was in a panic. It was still dark out and felt like the middle of the night.  Yes, it was still the middle of the night.  I wondered what could be the matter.  A bad dream? She fell out of bed and seriously injured herself? She's suddenly contracted some terrible illness? I ran to Kendra's room, tripping over the vacuum placed next to our bedroom door, only to be greeted with, "Is it time to wake up?"  "NO!" I answer with authority.  I tried to sleep next to her but finally at 6am, I sneaked out of the room and woke John to go put the eggs out in the backyard.  Kendra had not gone back to sleep.  She was too excited.

We had decided to do the egg hunt before we left.  I had 'contacted' the Easter Bunny and had told him to come early.  The hunt went off without a hitch.  We spoiled her as usual. As it was, we didn't get going till about 8am.

It was a long trip.  It usually takes about 6 hours to Radium, but with bathroom and coffee stops, it actually took about 7 hours.  We arrived in good form at about 3pm, just in time for an afternoon swim.  It was lovely, a bit warmer than usual.

We spent dinner at Huckleberry's (Kendra had pancakes and bacon) in Invermere and then back to the hotsprings.  I think it was about 10pm before we actually got into our motel room and into bed.  Kendra was exhausted.  Our motel wasn't the greatest, but it allowed us to spend a peaceful night sleeping.  I got it at a deal: $74/night.

Saturday:  We got up early and went back to Huckleberry's to have breakfast. (Kendra had the same thing as last night.) and then back to the pool!  We grabbed lunch at a small sandwich shop and then headed off to Lussier Hot Springs.  This more of a natural spring off in the mountains past Canal Flats, right beside White Swan Provincial Park.  We'd been here once before.  The springs themselves smell of sulfur . There are  3 makeshift pools that are varying degrees of warm, set beside a glacier fed  river.  There is a steep walk down to the pools, but it is well  worth it. Last time the trail was covered in ice; this time we had luck on our side.  Kendra decided that she wasn't going to go in the pools while still at the top of the hill.  I brought her suit, just in case she changed her mind.  John and I changed into our suits in the car, rather than using the port-o-potties. Once down the mountain, Kendra saw them and her eyes lit up.  She wanted to join us, but refused to put her suit on behind a tree. She wanted to back up the hill to the van and get changed there.  I convinced that this was a job for him. I enjoyed the pools while they were gone.  Once back, Kendra tried the water, but the bottom of the pool had small rocks.  Our princess didn't want any part of it.  She compromised and sat on my lap.

That day ended with dinner at where else? Huckleberries and a swim at Radium. We went to sleep late again.

Sunday: Early to rise and off by 8 to Calgary. McDonald's for breakfast in Canmore.  My, aren't we healthy these days.  I add fruit when possible, but seriously,  when we are rushed, we don't eat well.  We headed straight to Calgary Zoo.  We thought there might be some Easter festivities happening, but we were disappointed.  We did get to see the new baby giraffe.  We walked and walked and walked.  5  hours later, we checked into our hotel.  It was a new Best Western in Calgary.  We had gotten the introductory offer of $104/night.  It was fantastic.  The rooms were large and comfortable.  There was even a duvet on the bed. Kendra and I went swimming in the pool.  She could touch everywhere!  There was a water slide, but she doesn't 'do' water slides.  This place even came with a full breakfast!  If the price doesn't go up too much, we will definitely be back.

Monday:  This was shopping day.  We spent most of the day at Cross Iron Mills.  This mall is fantastic as they have a store fore everything.  John even took Kendra to Silver City, a game centre located at the far end.  I spent almost $200 dollars on clothes for Kendra.  She's been growing so fast that most of her clothes are too small for her.  It was a long trip back, but I think she went to sleep pretty fast.  The next morning she woke up at 9:30.

It was a good holiday and we're only half way though Spring Break.  I think she was bored today.  I'm cooking Turkey because I couldn't do it on Easter.  It smells so good, but I better go tend to it.