Cookies and Crayons

This was Kim’s first birthday in Calgary (last year we were down in Texas for the big event) and there’s some things that you just can’t do in a warm weather location. After a year of hikes and mountain climbing with the kids, I figured something outdoorsy was in order, but she needed something a little bit more adventurous… and cold!

So, we left the kids with a sitter — a birthday present unto itself! — and headed out on an ice climbing adventure. (Can’t do that in Dallas, right?) We had a half-day of instruction and climbing, to a place delightfully named “The Junkyards”, beautifully set in the mountains near Canmore, less than an hour from our house. (For those of you interested in following in our footsteps, we booked through Banff Adventures Unlimited)

Kim modelling her skiing duds and her ice climbing gear — notice the lovely footwear

Close-up of the crampons — these boots are NOT made for walking on your hardwood floors…

The Junkyards — for perspective, the wall is just under 100 ft tall… are we really climbing up that thing??

The view from the Junkyards. It was a great day, though a little bit chilly (minus 15 Celsius) Evidently this makes the ice a bit chippier than normal, as if we didn’t have enough challenges!

Kim strapped in, getting some last minute instructions — and, I suspect, still half expecting that she’s on Candid Camera:

Away she goes!

She’s getting there — check out the feet — that counts as a “climb” right?

Hey, how’d she get up there?!?

Take THAT, scary ice wall!

Almost at the top!

Here she is on her way back down. It took us 15-20 minutes each on the first run while we got the technique down — and under 10 minutes the second time. Getting down was very quick — less than a minute rappelling down the ice face.

Here goes the husband… that knot will hold, right?

This is just like skiing… except uphill.. and more vertical.. and hey, this stuff isn’t exactly powdery… where’s the chairlift again?

I swear, this place reminded me of Superman’s Fortress of Solitude

How’d I get up here?

On the way up…

Woohoo!

The kids survived the stint with the sitter — we picked them up and had a nice dinner in Banff before heading home.
Happy birthday Wife!

It’s been a long time since we’ve celebrated Valentine’s Day around here. It just not something Scott and I were into and with it being so close to my birthday, it was easier just to skip it. This year, Dougie found out about it and has been wishing people “Happy Valentine’s Day” for months. Clearly, we would have to do something in recognition of the day.

So, off to Michael’s we went to buy some craft supplies. We decided that we would make some special cupcakes to celebrate. So, one heart shaped pan, some cake mix and some icing later and we were ready!

While the kids were napping, I made the cupcakes. Once they were up, we pulled the learning tower over to the counter so they could decorate cupcakes for Daddy.

Connie went first (please ignore the big bruise, she had a run in with our slide and the slide won)

First, she iced the cupcake

Then I gave her a bowl of sprinkles to decorate, they went directly into her mouth

Good thing she’s cute

A little demo from Mum and she understood. First get the sprinkles

Then sprinkle on the cupcake

A few more sprinkles and the cupcake for Daddy was done

Just need to make sure it tastes okay

After that moderate success, I was ready to give it a try with Dougie.

He showed a bit more skill in the icing department

Until I turned my back for a moment

I took over the icing from there. Once that was done, it was time for sprinkles.

“Dougie, maybe you could use your hand and sprinkle them on.”

A little sprinkling lesson for him too and he understood what he had to do.

Wait wait wait, that is not it!

Hope you had a wonderful Valentine’s Day!