Jasper: a step towards self care

I mentioned in a previous post that I wanted to explore self care, put myself on top of the to do list. I was sitting on the living room floor one day and I decided on a whim to do just that and I booked a weekend away in Jasper. Fresh air, mountains, sunshine, no chores, no work, no guilt about not doing the latter two. It was perfect and exactly what I needed. What we all seemed to need. To just relax. To feel happy inside my sadness. To nap. To soak in a hot tub. To drink wine. To be outside. To think about my Dad. To pray for my Mom. To order dessert. To be grateful. 

We attended Winterstruck on Saturday and took part in a bunch of winter activities. Anna skated for the first time on the most beautiful rink. (she did get a little upset she couldn't do spins like Dora... lol) I skated for the first time in over 20 years. We took a sleigh ride and listen to stories about the horses, Peter & Nick. The driver reminded me of my Dad so much and it made me want to spend the day with him and just listen. We curled with wood rocks. We rolled maple taffy on snow. We drank hot chocolate. It was so so wonderful. Seriously- this view, breathtaking! 

Thank you Jasper. Thank you.

California Adventure: part 3

We started day 3 in Disneyland and immediately went to meet Mickey & Minnie. By mid day on Day one we realized that the Characters were always in the same spot day in and day out and if I actually read the map it says where Characters will be right on it and what times they go there. You won't know who but it will always be someone wonderful.

Meeting Minnie was pretty exciting for Anna.

Then came Mickey and I captured this AWESOME expression! 

The Best!

She also met Chip & Dale and Goofy- who was just that- completely goofy. He signed his name on the back of his head and Anna still talks about how "crazy" that was.

We headed over to Pixie Hallow to meet Tinkerbell. Sometimes you think "What is taking so long?" when you're waiting in line but then when you get in there and realize it takes a little bit longer because these characters spend actual time with each kid- this makes me so happy. Tinkerbell was teaching Anna how to fly as we were heading to the Dumbo ride next. So great.

 

After we rode a couple rides in Disneyland we headed over to California Adventure. We purchased "park hopper" tickets which allows you to go back & forth between parks. 

We rode my favorite ride- Grizzly River Run and got soaked, we rode Ariel's Undersea Adventure, and then stopped for a picnic. We hit up Target on day 1 for snacks and veggies so we weren't spending as much on food in the park. A daily stop at Wetzel Pretzel was a must however. The picture of Cory with the Sword & the Stone is from later this day when we went back to Disneyland. (we did a lot of walking this day)

We went to Cars Land and checked out Radiator Springs! You Guys! This place is amazing! We met Mater & Lightening McQueen, had our photo taken at every professional stop and drank an insane amount of water- it was +40. 

As I mentioned in day 2 of our adventure we had the photo pass and were able to pose for all the photographers and not worry about choosing. Here Anna was too busy eating ice cream so Cory & I had to have all the fun without her. I loved going through the photos and seeing what they added into the photo after the fact. 

 

Riding the Radiator Racers ride was a must on my to do list, we waited 35 minutes for this ride, it was the longest we waited for anything and it actually wasn't that bad, even in the heat. The ride was awesome! All three of us loved it!

We headed back to Disneyland as we had a reservation to meet Elsa & Anna from Frozen (I'll talk about reservation lines in a later post). Anna, of course, was super excited! 

 

After dinner & a few rides we went back to California Adventure (park hopper pass = awesomeness) to end our day with The World of Color show and a few more photo ops. 

World of Color

One word: AMAZING. 

I included the link to their site for you to read about it if you'd like, it is a must see.

Today was a long, amazing day. Anna fell fast asleep and Cory & I took our time heading home, enjoying the warm evening and perhaps another stop at Wetzel Pretzel. 

Until next time...

California Adventure: part 2

We purchased a 5 day park hopper pass (we are able to bounce back & forth between Disneyland & California Adventure) and this is Day 1 in Disneyland and it was MAGICAL. The park is decorated for Halloween until Oct. 31 and part of the reason I chose this time of year to go. It really is magical. The sights, the sounds, the hustle & bustle. We were all in awe. I have been before and even I walked around like it was the first time. 

At first Anna was nervous about being with & hugging the characters but that wore off fast! We bought a signature book and she became an experts at asking the various characters & princesses to sign her book. She ended up filling two! She was always excited and had the most amazing expressions and she met someone new. 

The details, Disney loves their details. The goodies available blew me away each time I saw them! 

Our favourite rides from toady were Big Thunder Mountain Railroad & Splash Mountain. Anna loved roller coasters, we all squealed and threw our hands in the air!

Splash Mountain. Awesome.

We got soaked and Anna was quite upset that her shirt was "ruined", it was +35 so it took no time to dry and she forgot all about being upset.

There is a parade each day in the park and it is wonderful. Anna practically waved her arm off. At one point she asked if she could stop waving. 

We also stopped at the Mad Hatter shop to buy Cory & Anna their first pair of Mickey ears with their names embroidered on the back. Anna of course chose princess  and Cory chose pirate ears.

Meeting the characters was amazing. One of my personal favourites was Merida, 

she captured the essence of that princess SO well!

(the picture of Minnie is from day 2)

Anna's favourite princess is Cinderella and meeting her was beyond amazing for her. I will never forget her reaction when she came around the corner and saw Cinderella standing there, smiling at her. She gasped the largest gasp and then turned to us in shock. I got goose bumps. These pictures make me so happy.

We purchased a Photo Pass before we left on our trip and it was the best purchase we made. For less than $100 we have over 700 professional photos. The photographers are throughout the park, they take multiple images, check to make sure they captured a great shot, they have you pose in different ways and many locations have you do "random" poses and then when you go look up your photo it has been edited like the one in the bottom left corner. Fun!

This picture pretty much sums up Day 1. 

Disney Adventure to be continued...

California Adventure: part 1

Our adventure starts here at the airport with this Anna doll. The morning of our flight Anna woke up to a new Anna doll that the princesses of Disneyland had sent her to help her be brave on the plane. She was excited to say the least. 

I will be sharing this trip day by day- mostly because I have so many photos that I love and want to share. 2575 photos to be exact, 1863 between Cory & myself and 712 professional photos from inside the parks. I used my Photopass like it was my job! 

We arrived early and got through security like a breeze, did you know if you have a little one that you get to jump the line? Hello awesome! 

So beautiful! However... I am scared- like feel like I might faint scared- of flying. I ended up taking something to knock me out for a good portion and keep me "happy and calm" for the remainder. As for my 3 year old- A CHAMP! She was so brave, not even a flinch when we had a little turbulence. She didn't even ask what was going on. I was so proud and choked up when I told her I wished I could be more like her. 

We're here! We're here! After landing, collecting our luggage and our rental car we headed out into LA traffic. Not my shiniest moment. Short story- go fast, know where you need to exit and go faster.

After lunch we headed out to Downtown Disney. If you haven't been it is basically an outdoor shopping center before the gates into the parks (Disneyland & California Adventure), there are shops, restaurants and kiosks. We headed into the Lego store first and were amazed by the creations. All the figures in the pictures above are built with Lego.

Next stop- Build A Bear. Anna built a princess cat (I know, it looks like a horse), dressed her, gave her rollerblades, a leash and set out for a stroll. The cat's name is Aurora and she has a sound chip in her foot that sings "Let it Go" which will come in very handy on the plane home (please hear my sarcasm).

Starbucks! YES! This is a new thing for here, maybe in the last 2-3 years, so I was very excited. This Starbucks is huge! It is the second biggest, the biggest one is located in Times Square. It also made the best Pumpkin Spice latte I have ever drank!

To finish off our first day in California we headed to Target to get groceries and wine. Why wouldn't you buy wine when it sits beside the bread (Oh Canada- why can't we buy wine with our groceries?). I also found everything Pumpkin Spice flavor and I mean everything. We came back to our hotel, ate gelato in bed and planned our next day- our first day in Disneyland!

To be continued...

Brave Actions

Sometimes being brave means standing up for yourself or facing a difficult situation or signing up for something you've been to scared to do. Sometimes it means standing in line to get on a roller coaster that didn't look so bad from far away. Then that roller coaster stops two rides before yours at the safety check because two people weren't buckled in... there's a loop... you go upside down. It means staying in that line even though all your inside voices are telling you to get the hell out. I stayed, I rode it twice (they send every ride twice, I would have been fine getting off after the first go). I screamed bloody murder the whole ride- twice. I hurt my throat but I was glad I stayed. I am not sure if I had fun or not but the other two I was with had fun laughing at me and maybe that's why I was there.

Roller Coaster at Calaway Park outside of Calgary.

Sometimes being brave means walking out onto a glass floor 160m up and watching the teeny tiny cars below. It means holding your breath when you take that first step. It means asking the youngsters beside you to "please stop dancing on the glass floor", it means to breath slowly as you tell your brain that you will not plummet to your death. The brain is a marvellous thing and it certainly played a few mind games with me while I was out on the floor. Anna was so brave, she came out, freaked out and asked "What if it breaks?" and then left. She came back and stood with me and then all on her own. She was so proud and we cheered he on. Cory on the other hand stayed off, he couldn't take a step, looking down alone made him queasy but we love him anyways.

Glass floor at the Calgary Tower. 

ps. I read the brochure after we came down, it read "less than an inch of glass between you and the bustling city street below", LESS THAN AN INCH! thank goodness I read it after.

Holiday: Banff edition

We were on our holiday for 10 days, 10 seriously wonderful days! It was so nice to get away, enjoy each others company and just sit back & relax. Our first stop was Banff, we checked into our campsite, set up and got down to business- roasting hot dogs & making smores! Serious happiness!

 The moon on our first night was so bright you could hardly look at it- it was pretty amazing. We stayed up late, sat by the fire, drank wine and watched the stars. I saw a shooting one and quickly made a "have an amazing holiday" wish. We watched deer cross through the campsite by moon light, it really was kind of cheesy how perfect the night was.

 We drove up to Morraine Lake to climb up rocks, go canoeing and check out the spectacular views! After that we headed over to Lake Lousie to take some photos and dip our toes in the icy water.

We stayed in Banff for two nights, woke up early, headed to Starbucks and then it was off to Nelson.

The Most Wonderful Holiday

Now and then it's good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be happy. unknown

We are home from the most wonderful holiday. We were on an adventure in British Columbia & saw some of the most beautiful views. We canoed, went kayaking & swam in lakes. We drank wine & ate grapes off the vine. We dodged mountain goats and watched salmon swim up stream. We roasted hot dogs & marshmallows. We relaxed around and floated in a pool. We soaked in a hot tub and watched the stars. We hiked and pretended we were kings of the castle. We picked heart shaped rocks and skipped others. We wandered through an Enchanted Forest. We ate ice cream, lots of ice cream. There are 1oo's! of photos to go through. We are so grateful for each and every moment, even the rain on the way home because it brought the clouds down so low you could reach out and put your hand through them. Magic.

Around here: mountain edition

This past weekend Cory & I dropped Anna off at Gramma & Papa's and headed off to Banff. We haven't gone on a trip alone in 2 years and it was much needed! I had planned this trip as a baby free birthday celebration for Cory where we could relax, sleep in, eat hot meals and not worry about any one but ourselves. (Of course I thought about Anna the entire time but I wouldn't expect anything else.) We stopped in Drumheller, Calgary and Canmore before we finally arrived and checked into our room. The sun was shining, the weather was warm and we heard it was snowing back home... perfect!

Here are some favourite photos from our mountain getaway.

Drumheller

Jelly Modern Donut in Calgary.

My heart always races a little faster as soon as I can see the mountains. Love!

Sitting on our balcony, in the sun, drinking wine- bliss.

Our room had a wood burning fireplace, so cozy, so romantic, so totally set off the fire detector 8 times....

Greek food from the Balkan. {oh my word delicious}

Lake Louise

The hot tub at our hotel. We went in in the evening, the dark, the steam, the cold night air. Pretty great.

Mmmm.

One of my absolutely favourite places to be.

Until next time...