While in Calgary, it was very important to me to make a stop at the Calgary Zoo. We went with our Larsen cousins (and some of their cousins!) and had a fantastic time! One highlight was seeing Panda Bears! So amazing! 

Over spring break, we went to Calgary. Conor was already in Calgary when I drove up with the girls. I had enough nerves about driving up on my own and they woke me up at 4:30am. So needless to say, we got a very early start! We were all very excited to see Conor's Dad, Jim, who spent a total of 45 days in the hospital. We visited him on Day 44. Holly and Greta watched a countless number of movies with Jim throughout the week. It was pretty cute. And they went on many walks to the mailbox with him too. One morning, Greta helped keep track of Jim's reps for his physio. It's the little things.

Some quick pics of my kiddos with their cousins, Theia and Archer. Family is the best!

After hiking and before we drove into the town, we stopped at Two Jack Lake to ice skate. (Maeve stayed in the warm car with grandparents!) My girls were in heaven! They love ice skating, they love their cousins. It was a win-win scenario! And even though it was icy cold and very windy there was absolutely no complaining from my happy kiddos. It was such a great day!

When my Mom was a little girl and playing hooky from school with her Mom, she remembers coming here. Her big Bernese-Border Collie dog, Popsy and her were playing on the ice. Popsy would pounce on the places she heard bubbles and then my Mom would jump on the ice. Well, one time the ice broke and she fell in. She only got wet up to the hip on one leg fortunately (Popsy got out of there quick and didn't help). My Granny warmed Mom up by the fire, but then they had to head into town to warm up in the hot springs. My Mom says she remembers wearing my Granny's rubber boots, which were huge on her, as she walked into the hot springs. 

Isnt' it fun to have shared experiences? But I'm so glad the ice was super thick for us!

This was a really fun day planned by the Larsens! We drove out the Banff, all the Muirheads that were in town, and we hiked around Minnewonka Lake. I always want to make a stop at Banff when we are in Alberta, but it doesn't always pan out. It was very cold and very windy, and so beautiful! So long as we were moving, we stayed warm. When we stopped for lunch everyone got pretty dang cold. Poor Maeve, her hands got really cold. She cried a lot towards the end of the hike, but I'm so grateful she hung in there and I'm so glad we got to do this! Definitely want to do more of this. My big girls hike so well with cousins. They don't complain at all!