Meanwhile, while the kids were away, the parents did play. Balin had some travel for work he had to do so I was left at home all-by-myself. So. Very. Sad. Actually it was kind of sad because I spent a whole day cleaning and working, when I really didn't want to spend a whole day doing the mundane. Oh well. Balin worked, I worked and then we headed up to Schweitzer for a long weekend. Unfortunately I had BIG dreams of what I was going to do in Sandpoint with no kids; mountain bike, hike every day, go to the lake and go swimming. All very fun stuff to do when the sun is out and the air is clean, but that was not to be for us. The forest fires all around the Northwest made breathing difficult. You didn't even want to go outside it was so nasty. And then a big 'ole storm came round and washed all the smoke away, but made it wet and cold. The side benefits of staying inside is Balin and I got some good hang out time, alone. It was very nice.
We left Sandpoint and Balin headed back to work in Denver I think, and I headed down to Bend to pick up the kids at Sun River. Susie had rented a house for a couple of nights, which was lovely, and we all hung out and played. It was cold in Sun River too, 35 in the morning. Yikes. Vacation always conjures up tropical drinks and warm water, not frost on the windshield. The kids did say they'd like to come back to Sun River and spend a week, which is perfect for next summer...when it's not cold.
We got back from Sun River on Thursday, after a 7 hour drive home, and packed it all up to head out to Canada on Friday afternoon. It was a little stressful I had to admit and cranky momma came out a bit, but we got everyone in the car and all our stuff - got the house picked up for the dog sitters - and were on our way by 1. We headed north through Sandpoint to the border and then through Cranbrook to Kimberly, where we stayed for Labor Day Weekend.
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| And this is the beginning of the end. I told Sam it was my right to take pictures of him, I did after all give birth...the least I get are some pictures. |
We did get out in it though. The development we were in had a heated swimming pool, hot tub and to my pure delight, a sauna. (I LOVE SAUNAS AND STEAM ROOMS) We all went swimming and after 45 minutes I disappeared for the next hour in the sauna. (Best place to take a little nap.)
The next day the rain became more of a light drizzle so we took the kids out on their bikes and rode to downtown Kimberly. It was all single track downhill and the kids did great. I was really impressed with Perrin. I think her great attitude might have had something to do with her earning points towards a new American Girl doll outfit. Regardless, she was really pleasant to be around.
We got back up to the house and Balin and I were feeling pretty strong so we dropped the kids off and headed up the mountain to ride another 8 miles of glorious single track. (We left all our electronics at home for this trip so the kids were more than happy to watch an hour and a half of "Richey Rich" on the TV while we were riding.)
The riding in BC is pretty stinking incredible! All those Canadian tax dollars are really paying off in terms of their trail systems. Wow. Balin started talking crazy talk saying we might skip Switzerland next year and come up to BC instead.
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| A little Streudel and hot coco midpoint on the ride. Sam is looking more like a teen everyday. |
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| Wally looks pretty good with his stash, top hat and tail. |
From Kimberly we were supposed to go to Lake Louise, where we had camping reservations for the week. Looking at the forecast we decided that spending a couple of nights in a warm ski condo somewhere close to Lake Louise was a better idea. We decided on Golden, BC, which has the ski resort Kicking Horse at one end. We grabbed a condo there for two nights and went out exploring. Again, crazy talk started coming out of Balin's mouth that we should go to Golden for vacation in lieu of Switzerland as it might have been even better than Kimberly. The lakes and trails were non-stop! But again it was cold so it the town didn't convince me to swap our plans, but it definitely merits another week in warmer months to explore.
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| Perrin's feet got cold. |
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| Loving on my family. Hot coco in the hot tub on a cold morning. Not a bad way to start the day. |
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| Sam got a new RC car the week before he left. It was his favorite thing to do while on vacation. He even let his sister have a go at it. |
The first day in Golden we headed out for a 5 mile hike around some mountain lakes. It was stunning out and we weren't even bothered by the damp weather. We were warned that there had been sightings of bears in the area that morning so to be on the lookout. We told the kids the way to keep the bears away was to talk, the whole way. Well, Perrin took that to heart and literally talked to Balin the whole 5 miles....I think Sam and I said maybe 10 words. What did she talk about? American Girl Dolls of course. Wow. Balin remarked that she has a lot of words to use everyday. I agree.
The best part of the hike for the kids though was the rope swing we found. They went once with fear in their eyes but for the next 20 times they said "higher!". Nobody was wanting to go swimming that day so they hung on tight.
The second day in Golden, before we headed out for Lake Louise, Balin decided to take the kids on another 8 mile single track ride to the bottom of the hill. I guess it was pretty awesome, rolling single track and I was wishing I had gone myself, but someone had to meet them at the bottom. I did get the chance to get out myself as I went back to the trail where we hiked the day before and road it. Wow, it was absolutely gorgeous - and so peaceful. :)
The second day we took the kids up to the tea house at the Valley of Six Glaciers. It was a great hike, crowded but worth it. It was 8 miles and 2000' and you were treated with hot tea and biscuits at the turn around spot. We loaded the kids up with a stop at the candy store before the hike and they didn't even complain once, a first in our family.
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| Waiting for tea in the Swiss built tea house. |
My lessons of the trip were many:
* I don't want to sleep in a tent again unless we're backpacking
*No electronics on vacation is awesome.
*Good books on tape are essential.
* I like being warm.
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