Day 1 Itinerary
Places visited: Johnston Canyon
Johnston Canyon
A damp and full morning so a drive along the bow valley parkway to spot some animals-Caribou and Elk and a walk to the lower falls of Johnston canyon-very busy walkway and kids a bit more interested in exploring the surroundings than walking today so just a short one then lunch at home. Freddie and Dave went water sliding and swimming whilst I chilled in the apartment and sorted some dinner. I went for a walk in the eve and did some shopping whilst Dave put the kids to bed. Orla used the potty properly for tte first time and was very pleased with herself 🥰🤗
Places visited: ÉpiCanmore - Banff Upper Hot Springs - Canmore
ÉpiCanmore
Raining alllllll day today (and night) big headlines here as areas of Calgary are flooded. Fresh snow as well overnight which is quite uncommon in mid June! We left home early and headed to a new spot by local recommendation-a crepe and bakery. The food and bread was delicious and I think the kids agreed!
Banff Upper Hot Springs
Perfect rainy day activity a morning in the hot springs. Still chucking it down but made much easier by the outdoor hot pool. We arrived just before opening at 10 and it was pretty quiet. Imagine it has a nice view of sulphur mountain if it’s better weather!
Canmore
Still raining so an afternoon in with games, TV and nail painting but braved the rain for some fresh air and some muddy buddy action before bed! Freddie and I managed a trip to the supermarket. Orla very pleased with her new nails, just like Freddie’s!!
Day 3 Itinerary
Places visited: Bow Valley Trail - Rocky Mountain Bagel Company - Bike skills Park
Bow Valley Trail
Finally a non rainy morning so we drove to the public boat launch and walked the bow valley trail. We then continued onto Lions play park and across to meet policeman creek and returned to 8th avenue for lunch before getting back to the car. A big wonky figure of 8 around Canmore along it’s beautiful water. Mountain views all around; the bubbling fresh water spring in the creek and the big head monument.
Rocky Mountain Bagel Company
After a long walk a stop off at the famous Rocky Mountain bagel company for lunch-yummy bagelwiches with meat, cheese, salad and cream cheese on different flavoured bagels!
Bike skills Park
After Orla’s nap and a bit of Winnie the Pooh action on the tv we headed over to the Canmore Nordic park with Freddie’s bike. Unfortunately the trails were closed due to grizzly bear action so we headed to millennium park bike skills park instead before heading home for tuna Niçoise salad (with more delicious tuna steaks!!) We managed to fit in another swimming session after dinner.
Day 4 Itinerary
Places visited: Mount Engadine
Mount Engadine
Today we planned to head to quarry lake at the start of the dorrien highway which only opened today. However as we were out quite early and it’s meant to be a prime animal spotting road we thought we would drive a little way along! After 30 mins on the gravel track and with beautiful views, sone bighorn sheep, deer, elk and an eagle we thought we would continue the drive to Kananaskis lakes which we were planning to do tmrw. It was a lovely slight fraught journey at times with hardly another soul seen and pretty bumpy road. We managed a welcome break and coffee at the mount engadine lodge in the middle of nowhere where we played sone board games, stretched our legs and had a swing-amazing place to stay and a brown bear just up the road!
We carried on the dorrien road past spray lakes provincial park into Kananaskis park and after 3 hours arrived at the lakes. The lower lake was slightly disappointing so we headed to the still very quiet upper lake and found an amazing grizzly bear at the side of the road!!! The sun came out so we had our picnic lakeside (about 500m from our grizzly friend!) then had a wander and threw sone stones before heading back along the shorter highway for Orla’s car nap and to Canmore. We walked over to the mountain market which was outside elevation place and headed home for our final BBQ and meal on our patio.
Places visited: Quarry Lake - Hayden Block Smoke & Whiskey
Quarry Lake
Our final morning in our beautiful Canmore apartment and a pre-checkout swim and pack up before 11am. Freddie braved the waterslide alone and was super proud. We then headed to quarry lake for a walk, play and lunch before our drive for Orla’s nap just an hour up the road to Calgary.
Hayden Block Smoke & Whiskey
We arrived at our apartment in Kensington/Sunnyside and the kids were straight at home!-so good at being nomads. After setting up the rooms we went for a wander around Kensington which had a lovely high street, beautiful Riley park with a wading pool and play park and lovely leafy roads. We had dinner at a whisky bar with great cocktails and enjoyed our evening in Kensington before reading back for bath and bed.
Day 6 Itinerary
Places visited: Calgary Tower - Olympic Plaza - Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre - Central Library
Calgary Tower
Today we celebrated our Monday anniversary and went for brunch at Calgary tower-a rotating restaurant at the top of the tower. We jumped on the C-train at sunnyside station right outside our apartment and after paying for tickets discovered that downtown journeys were free!! The kids loved the transit and we’re so excited about brunch and at the top of the tower! It was really special and we sat for 2hours chatting, eating and watching. Orla continues to enjoy using the toilets.
Olympic Plaza
After brunch we walked through the Olympic plaza and had a paddle in the water feature. Orla enjoyed chatting to the coloured ground squirrels.
Studio Bell, home of the National Music Centre
We walked through downtown to studio bell an interactive music museum, we enjoyed trying all the fifferent instruments and learning about sound and the impact of music. Orla had a buggy nap and it started to rain so we headed across the street after a coffee stop to the central library.
Central Library
Central library had amazing architecture and brilliant childrens section with toys and soft play area. Once the rain passed we got the C-train back to sunnyside and walked/cycled to the park before dinner back at the apartment.
Day 7 Itinerary
Places visited: Downhill Karting by Skyline Luge Calgary
Downhill Karting by Skyline Luge Calgary
Today was Father’s Day and a nice sunny one. Dave and Freddie went downhill karting to celebrate what an awesome Daddy Dave is-2 times down so orla had a popsicle! We then headed back to the apartment for lunch and nap then went to Riley park and had a daddy’s day disco party and dinner at home.