Is it May yet???

I either have a terrible memory or this winter is going on longer than last winter did. Or maybe we've just had so much more snow that it seems worse. The temps haven't been terrible lately, but they haven't been as warm as I hoped for either. I kept looking forward to March all winter and now March is almost over and it's not much better than it was when the month started. There is SO MUCH SNOW. Everywhere. I'm sick of it. I want GREEN. I want to play outside with the kids without them having to have all their snow gear on. So, I've decided to skip April and go straight to May. Think that will work out for me?

Some pics of the kids from Friday. We got another 6+ inches since these were taken.

Gracie and Doug skiing!

When we went up to Lake Louise to pick up Doug and Raul last week from their snowboarding day in the mountains, Gracie got her first look at live skiing. She loved it. She decided she wanted to try it. So Doug signed himself and Gracie up for a lesson today. It started at 1:45 and lasted an hour and a half. Bradley and I went along to take pictures to document it. :)

This is a shot of her at the very beginning. I love the expression on her face. You can just tell she is loving it!


This is a wider shot from the last one. They were practicing going around in a circle with one ski on, to get a feel for it.


This was the next time we came back to take pictures. About 30 min into the lesson. They were up at the top of the bunny hill getting ready to come down.


I'm so glad Doug took the class with her because from the little bit I saw, she was on the ground more than upright.

Daddy to the rescue!

This is one thing that Bradley did inside while we waited. It was too cold to stay out and watch them the whole time (because I forgot to bring hats and mittens for us) so we had to go inside to warm up several times. We also did some coloring on the floor.

This was our last trip out with the camera (about 15 min left in the lesson).

She got on the 'magic carpet' like a pro!

Then she turned around to tell us it was her third time in a row to get on without falling! :)

Coming down!

And down. (Most of the shots taken today look similar to this one. But I love that she still has a smile on her face through it all.)

Bradley being cheesy (and cute), watching with me in the 'parent section'.

Her last time down.

She had a great time, though she did complain afterwards of a sore bum. I think she'll sleep well tonight though. And we're so glad she got to go. Unfortunately, we waited until the very end of the season to do this. Doug is really kicking himself for not discovering the world of snowboarding last winter. He could have been snowboarding quite a bit by now. Oh well...

Scenery

So, I realized my previous post didn't have much scenery. And since it's gorgeous up there, I thought I'd post some pics just of the scenery so you can all decide you need to come visit us too. :)

Lake Louise:


Taken from the car:


Gracie took this from the very back seat. You can see the mountains through the windshield.


There was a herd of elk (we counted at least 20) by the road in Banff. We were one of a half dozen cars who were stopped taking pictures.

From the top of Sulpher mountain.

From the gondola (another shot by Gracie):

So, who wants to come visit? :)

Friends from faraway...

We had company last week! Our friends Raul and DeAnna came up from Houston. We had a great time: took them to the mountains, went out to dinner without kids and just enjoyed each other's company. We have many more pics than this, but I didn't want to get carried away. Some are from our camera and some are from Raul's so they aren't exactly in order.

Gracie and Bradley were both obsessed with the baby in DeAnna's belly.


On Wed, R&D walked over with me and Bradley to pick up Gracie from school. Raul got some great shots of B swinging.

Gracie on the walk home.

Raul was so excited about all our snow in the backyard. Look at how deep it is!

Bradley was very shy at first, but it didn't take him long to warm up.

After living here for a year and a half, Doug finally went snowboarding last week. He and Raul took lessons here in Calgary last Wed night and then they took their new skills up into the mountains to Lake Louise ski resort.

Doug after his long trip down the hill at the end of the day.

Raul after his journey down the hill.

Doug wanted to show us his new skills, so he did a run down the bunny hill before we left.

After snowboarding, we went over to check out Lake Louise. It was very frozen. They plowed the snow off one section to make an ice skating rink. And you can just walk around on the lake (but we didn't, because I'm paranoid!).

All 6 of us in front of the lake.

Gracie found a slippery spot on the bridge and liked sliding down.

A great pic of R&D. Aren't they cute?

Raul was quite the photographer. He was willing to get right up against the Thin Ice sign for his shots.

They have sleigh rides and the driver was so nice and stopped for a minute so the kids could see the horses.

The kids loved playing in the pile of snow. Gracie built about 3 different snowmen.

Bradley climbed up on top of the mound of snow and said 'I am king of the snow!'.

That night we had a visitor at our hotel.

Gracie just loved her!

Riding the gondola Sat morning. (Gracie rode up with R&D.)

Up at the top of Sulpher Mountain.

They have an observation deck on the top and have labeled how far you are from major cities. They had 5 US cities listed and Houston was one of them. :)

On the way down the gondola.

When we got home Sat afternoon, the street was almost completely free of snow and ice! I was so excited! Sat night, it started snowing and didn't stop until Sun afternoon. We got about 8 inches. So much for no snow on the road...

And we welcome any visitors, but you might get put to work if you come! (Just kidding. He wanted to help. Doug was out there at the same time with the other snow shovel.)