Terpsichore showcase 2011

Heather had her first performance on stage this weekend with her dance school. It was held at the Banff centre in the Margaret Greenham Theatre and it was a sell out. She has been doing a creative expressions class since September and the little ones were allowed to perform along with all the other dancers in the school. It was a great show and there were excellent dancers there, however the highlight for us was the Butterfly Flutter.

Preparation was full of excitement, hairspray and makeup and the energy behind the scene was intense. It was heather's first time on stage with bright lights and music after Heather's dress rehearsal I asked her what she thought and she said it was like she was in a dream. I was wondering how it was all going to go with a full house audience.

After Friday's show I took the kids out to Chilis for dinner and explained that they would have to behave , but they were excited, tired and it was well after their bed time, so I risked it. Finlay learned a lesson that night about why we don't play with the pepper pot.
As I was talking to the waiter, Finlay was happily shaking and sprinkling the pepper all over the table. I told him that we can't do this and if we get pepper in our eyes it will hurt. Well sure enough we brushed it off and then he was messing around on the booth seat and then became quite irritated with his eyes and nose running and itchy. We tri
ed the wet napkin and washed his face which helped a little but not enough to cure the irritation. However we made it through dinner and Finlay learned the hard way.

Dinosuar Provincial park

First camping trip of the year and it was a Canmore family trip to Dinosaur provincial park. This is a yearly event now and this year there were 10 families from Canmore. So it was great to see everybody and actually have time to catch up with people as the kids entertained themselves. It sometimes seems that you have to leave Canmore to see some of our friends!!!!!

We arrived on the Friday and as we were trying to remember how to assemble the tent trailer I remember saying to James that I could imagine us going back to tenting in a few years... I just seem to remember it being less technical to put up a tent, and would struggle by myself if I had to do the tent trailer......
On Saturday our family took to the bikes again to cycle round the public road which had lots of stops of interest and mini hikes. The kids enjoyed the views and the little hikes were like walking on the moon. The view was like being in another land and you could almost imagine dinosaurs roaming around . I said to James at that point how sectacular a thunder and lightening storm would be..........
After an afternoon at the park with all the other Canmorones the clouds started to roll in and sure enough by 5pm dinner time the heavens opened and it thundered and rained for 2 hours solid, sending Finlay to sleep and reassuring mum that she actually did prefer the tent trailer!!!!

On Sunday we went on the Dinosaur bus and drove to restricted areas further into the Badlands and we learned how to distinguish between regular rocks and ancient fossils. Lick your finger and place it on the rock for 5 seconds, if it feels sticky then it is a fossil and if not it is a regular rock. We found lots of fossils and probably even more rocks.

Trouble at large

200 yr old cotton wood tree

hunting for lady birds

Lolly pops!!!

Evening hikes in the Badlands.

Back to the mountains and more....biking!!

Back to the mountains after a long return trip, but straight back into action with a scenic bike ride through the Kananskis valley.The kids enjoyed a spot of "fishing"

However the biking here was a little different than what we had enjoyed in the Okanagan. As you can see winter still has a bit of a presence on these mountains!!!

And through the trail there were a couple of obsactles to negotiate at the beginning,but after we passed them the valley bottom was clear and we had a good bike ride.

Kettle valley steam train

The Kettle valley steam train is a 1912  engine which takes passengers on an entertaining trip through the Okanagan.Usually there is music entertainment and bar-b-qs, however we were early by a few days .

Heather and Finlay were still lucky enough to see the steam train and explore the legacy information trail at the station. They were particularly taken by their new train whistles.

Hiking

Throughout the holiday there were plenty opporunities for short hikes which the kids enjoyed.
Hardy falls with all its bridges to count and a waterfall at the end. Lots of treasures for the kids to play with sticks and stones for Finlay and Dandelions for Heather .

The old Kettle valley railway hike and picnic. More flowers to collect.

The Giants head which gave us a spectacular view of the valley, the vineyards, the lake and the railway tracks.

more wineries and wishing

The next day was a rest day with a leisurely visit to Mission hill winery with its gardens and bell tower which rings every hour.There was lots of space for the kids to run around while the grand parents looked in the gift shop and sampled more wine.

Heather and Finlay enjoyed throwing coins into the wishing well, I'm just curious as to what the little rascals were wishing for!!!

Next it was a trip along the road to Quail's gate winery and a spot of lunch. However this place seemed to think it was a little up market and as we walked into the restaurant one of the waitresses came up to us and offered us a seat outside, as it was a cooler day with some wind, she kindly offered to put on the gas heaters. Oh I knew where she was coming from......
As we sat outside and waited eagerly for our food while the lovely breeze blew around us, the waitress came out again and said,"Seeing as it is so windy we were wondering if you would like a blanket".... Thank you so much I thought but a seat inside would be better...."Just the soup for me thanks...". Not much of a lunch for me but that was expensive a 9 bucks. James had the gourmet burger and Mum and Dad had some salmon dish and I then helped the kids eat the pasta!! Quail's gate too posh for kids!!!

Naramata wineries...by bike!!!

Relaxing by the beach.....what do you mean?

Of to Penticton to rent 2 bikes for our bike trip along the Naramata bench where there are many wineries, with bistros and ongoing wine tasting. By the time we kitted the oldies out with the bikes and reminded them how to use the gears and brakes and how to ride on the wrong side of the rode, we hadn't gone far when there were calls to stop for lunch. The weather was warm and the trail was dusty, requiring frequent stops for water.

Having a well earned picnic stop

Having another well earned water stop.

Eventually we arrived at the Hillside vineyard, winery and Bistro and we walked straight in to some wine tasting and that is when the real smiles appeared. Heather enjoyed their "wine for kids" as she aptly named it.

And it seemed that this pair were really enjoying the tasting too.

The smiles say it all!!!

After a few glasses of wine, the purchase of two bottles to sample over dinner we headed back to town, everybody had smiles on their faces and the down hill return trip was certainly enjoyed and appreciated by all.

Peachland

Beach front accommodation.

 The beach to ourselves

 So by 1.30pm BC time we arrived in Peachland to glorious sun and a beach front apartment.

Couldn't really ask for much more.

And we all quickly got into the holiday mode and enjoyed playing in the sand and running on the beach. Giving us a long awaited opportunity to get those feet and legs out of hibernation!!! It felt sooooo good.

Peachland journey begins....

Because we had such a cold and snowy winter we had decided to take the grand parents to a warmer, less rugged part of Canada and we decided on a trip to Peachland on the side of the Okanagan Lake in British Columbia. The climate is milder there and conducive to growing flowers, trees, vegetables and especially grapes which we all know you can turn into WINE !!!! So the grandparents were looking forward to this . However as with tradition to a Gunn's holiday it did come with a bit of activity, or as most people seem to call it...Boot camp!! And no getting out of it.

The trip started early with a wake up call of 5 AM. Kids in their pyjamas with teddy and blanket....they were happy. Quick stop at Tim Hortons for a tea....adults were happy and off we set on our journey. An hour and a half later  at 7am we stopped in Golden for breakfast  and then reset our watches for 6am time change.We then were able to arrive at the Enchanted forest by 9am. I think the Grand parents were in two mind whether to allow James out of the stock and barrel, however they found that they didn't really have a choice!!!

The kids had fun exploring the forest and finding all their favorite fairy tale characters and visiting their houses.