Spring Break 2015

We kicked off Spring Break week with tickets to see Disney on Ice: Princesses & Heroes on Saturday, March 21.  We barely made it through the doors before it was time to get popcorn and snow cones and souvenirs and...and...and!  There was no fighting it (thanks a lot, Disney), so the kids were thrilled before we even got to our seats.  In all honestly, it was a fantastic show, and there was a good mix of old faves like Aladdin and Snow White mixed in with everyone's new fave, Frozen.  Every time one of the Frozen songs ended, Nathalie would clap wildly shouting, "bravo! bravo!" - much to the delight of the older gentleman in front of us. 

We didn't have much planned for the middle of the week, which was rather nice.  Lots of mornings spent lounging around in our pj's.  We did make it to the library and worked on some spring art projects.  And, no matter the weather, no spring break is complete without ice cream!  

Months ago, we had booked the dog sled adventure that we received from Santa for Saturday, March 28th.  Similar to our Fernie ski plans, we were thinking that the weather would be warmer for the kids to enjoy the dogs and the ride.  I called on Wednesday to see if they were still running the sleds because there was absolutely no snow in Calgary.  They said yes!  On Thursday, I got a call that we would need to change our sled configuration because they were going to have to run with lighter sleds due to the lack of deep snow.  No problem.  On Friday, I wasn't at all surprised when I received the call that our adventure was cancelled.  Ugh!  We were all so bummed.  We will definitely be rescheduling for early winter once the snow starts falling so we don't miss it!  Instead, we spent Saturday at the Telus Spark Science Centre.  They had a fascinating Dinosaurs in Motion exhibit, and a really cool fire and ice show.  A great afternoon, nonetheless!  And now, back to school!

The best laid plans...

Alas, the best laid plans often go awry...

Back in January, we scheduled a mid-March trip to Fernie, BC for some (what else??) skiing.  By "scheduled" I mean we had booked and paid for hotel rooms, ski tickets, etc.  We hadn't yet skied outside of Alberta, and we thought the temperatures would be a bit warmer and more enjoyable for the kids in March, so this trip would be perfect!  Well, we were right...the temperatures had indeed been warmer.  In fact, the temps in late February and early March had been so nice that most of the snow was gone...even in the mountains!  We kept hearing from folks who "know" that this was one of the worst skiing seasons in about 30 years.  Well, we didn't really have a choice at this point, so off we went to Fernie, BC.  Fernie is about a 3 hour drive from Calgary, and as you can see, we did not find much of "the white stuff" on the way...

We arrived in Fernie to a gorgeous afternoon.  Enjoyed a late lunch and then drove to Fernie Alpine Resort to check in and see if we might be able to move our lift tickets to a nearby resort.  We had heard that Kimberly's resort is at a higher elevation and may have a bit more snow than Fernie.  We made the switch, settled into our room, played some games, and then found some pizza for dinner.  Then right to bed as we would be up early the next morning to make the drive to Kimberly.

We made it to Kimberly resort on Saturday morning.  The conditions were not great...rain, fog, and very little snow.  We got Nathalie checked into daycare and then hit the slopes after being told that we were "hardcore".  Ha!!  Nope, just too thrifty to throw a paid-for unused lift ticket in the garbage.  We skied a total of 3 runs, and none of them were good.  We were soaking wet, and the fog made it really hard to see where we were going.  Ugh.  We picked Nathalie up early and ate lunch.  She did have a little lesson after lunch, and then we made our way back to Fernie...still in the rain.  Ate dinner, took warm baths, and curled up on the couch to watch movies together.  The day definitely did not go as expected, but by the time we were sipping hot cocoa that night, all we could do was laugh and be grateful for family time together...whether skiing or snuggling!

We enjoyed breakfast in Fernie before hitting the road back to Calgary.  And that night, as luck (not ours) would have it, Fernie got about 15 to 20 inches of fresh snow.  No, I'm not kidding.  As I said to begin this post, alas indeed.  



Scout Sleepovers

Greg and Ben drove to Drumheller for the night on February 28th for their Beaver Scout sleepover at the Royal Tyrrell Museum.  They were both really excited to be staying overnight in the museum with the dinosaurs!  After getting settled, the kids had a welcoming event and then some fossil activities:  digging for them and examining fossils versus rocks.  Looks like Ben was hard at work.

 

The kids enjoyed a bedtime snack of banana bread and yogurt and then it was time to rest among the dinos.  Hope nobody gets eaten by that T Rex overnight!

In the morning, the group ate breakfast, packed up their belongings, and got to watch a "history of dinosaurs" movie.  Then, they had the rest of the morning to explore the museum before heading home.  What a great adventure! 

The very next weekend, the boys left again for another Beavers camp.  This one involved all of the scouting groups in our community - the young ones and older ones.  Ben was a little worried about hanging out with the big kids at first, but was excited when they taught him how to play foosball.

The scouts enjoyed activities like team skiing, building snow forts, and snowshoeing.  And of course, lots of campfires, hot cocoa, and marshmallows.

In the evenings after campfire, the group watched fireworks.  The kids were so excited...bedtime was after 10 pm.  On Sunday morning, it was time to go.  But before heading out, there was enough time for one last foosball game.  I am seeing a foosball table purchase in our future...