We headed in to Family Day weekend 2018 with much less extravagant plans than last year's ski trip to Banff. We hardly had any plans at all, actually, besides tickets to the lacrosse game Friday night. Monday was a stat holiday for me so I booked Friday off, since Matthew was home, so we could enjoy a little added family time.

​I still woke up early that day to enjoy some me time. I did a meditation and snapped the Instagram story photo above cozied up by the fire reading... about 5 minutes before the girlies joined me. It was still a much slower pace than normal starting with snuggles in our pyjamas. Even though I am home with them, working my daycare, I look forward to the days of being "off" with them again... Later we made a family event of going to the dog park. Which rarely happens. It had finally warmed up around (enough) around here to enjoy some fresh air so it was nice to get out! and all together!
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​Saturday morning was a nice break from the usual rush off to ballet and gymnastics. We hung out at home on the snowy day... By the afternoon we were itching to get out and about and made the last minute decision to go to a movie. It "flowed" great for deciding just over an hour before showtime. (And if you know me, I love when plans flow...) We went to see Peter Rabbit which we all laughed at and enjoyed! The girls have only been to one other movie in theatres so they were excited! Not to mention happy about more treats coming their way again ;)

​After the show, not ready to head home, we went next door to Chapters. The perfect place to stroll around on a snowy day, if you ask me. The girls chose a new princess treasury storybook, Matthew picked up a novel for work and I eyed up all the adorable baby goodies. For having no plans, the day turned out pretty great!
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​Sunday was another slow one. I have no pictures from that day to remind my "mommy brain" of what we did. We hung out more and Matthew spent some one on one time with the girls. They did a workout together and went shopping. This gave me some extra relax time and a chance to work on my new vlog. Have you watched it yet? See this post :)

​Monday morning was for girl time! Daddy slept in after a late night hockey game. After lunch we headed downtown to Eau Claire to take in free Family Day festivities. (And this would be our example of plans that did not "flow"...) I guess tons of other families were seeking entertainment inside from the cold. The place was packed and lineups for any sort of activity were ridiculously long. After looping around, grabbing a coffee (which even that was disappointing) we left feeling like we should have chosen something else for the day.

​Determined to make the best of it, and do something more than hanging at home, we decided to brave the cold and head to the lake for a skate. It had warmed up just enough for a little outside time but was still freezing and short lived. Nevertheless, it was better than earlier, and seeing the girls skating at sunset with their dad made my heart happy! It's been such a special thing for them to do together this year.

​It was a great ending to a slow weekend that reminds us of what matters most -- time together. Exactly what Family Day is all about!
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Coming at ya with another weekend recap... a month after my last post because time is just flying!

​Last weekend was oh so good! The perfect mix of busy and relaxing, which I'm sure I have written about before because it's my favourite. I'm talking about the kind of 'busy' that is doing lot's of things that you actually want to do, and all of them flowing along nicely. Not the too much, "shoulds" and unlikeable busy things. And mixed in is the relaxing down time. The flow between the busy, of simply slowing down, enjoying company and not rushing anything. Aw, dreamy, right?

​On Friday morning, we got on the ball early with a hair appointment for miss Autumn. Girlie can see again! We had her bangs trimmed before Christmas holidays but she was looking like Cousin It prior to here hair cut. This got us out the door at a decent hour so we could enjoy a morning out!

​We headed to the Calgary Farmer's Market next. It had been a while since we had been there. They host lot's of fun holiday events, that are free, so it was a great way to enjoy St. Patrick's Day with the girls. There was a photo booth, craft table and live Irish performances. The girls enjoyed playing, listening to music and eating out for lunch. We left just in time for naptime, with full tummies and in the green spirit!
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​​Later that evening Matthew and I headed out for some adult only shamrock shenanigans. We had planned to meet friends at a pub downtown but knowing line ups were huge, and after hearing it wasn't that great anyway, we lined up at the Rose and Crown instead. It was close to our buddy's place in case we wanted to join some friends after all. It took us over a half hour to get in, making us extra hungry and thirsty ;) We managed to find a corner of a table upstairs to enjoy some beers and pub food. After eating, we went downstairs to change up the scenery. We ended up running in the a buddy from home and joining his table of friends! Running in to people is what I miss most about living/going out home in Newfoundland. Although, surprisingly enough, it still happens here in a huge city! It kind of made our night to find some familiar faces and carry on the shenanigans... Until I carried on a little too much, literally turned green and couldn't keep my eyes open, ha ;P And then it was time to go home and rest during the calm before the storm of hangovers with kids...
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​We had a lazy Saturday morning, which I did my best to give myself grace (for the night before) and enjoy. It was a beautiful day though, so I couldn't let the day pass, staying inside. Late afternoon we headed out for a family walk to a playground a few blocks away. Halle's first big bike ride to the park of the year! Yay, for signs of Spring! It was a sweet, simple family moment - the best kinds.

​The fresh air had me feeling better and more energised. That night a friend and I went to the late showing of Beauty and the Beast. It just came out and was a great way to have a little birthday 'me' time. I loved it and have been singing the songs all week (... along with Moana.)

​Sunday was my actual birthday! (And my sisters by the way - Happy birthday, Leah! xo) We woke up, got ready and were out the door on our way downtown for breakfast. We wanted to check out OEB which we had never been to before and heard great things about! The night before my friend told me about the 'list' I guess they use to reserve your spot instead of making a reservation, since it's a breakfast place, but we decided to wing it anyway... We showed up, not on the list, and the host told us it was a two hour wait! Thankfully, that Paddy's day luck was on our side ;) and they happened to have four bar seats along the window ledge that don't count as tables or held spots. We took it and got in right away! Halle ate a waffle the size of her and we all really enjoyed our food and the service.
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​Next up, we headed to a Nellie Breen park since we were not far from the Inglewood hood, which I just love because it reminds me of home. Also, I love playgrounds just as much as the kids, so of course I would want to do that on my birthday. In fact, it's probably the best thing you could do to not feel older on your birthday ;) Although, I kind of like getting older... hmm wiser... ok roll your eyes and ask me this in a couple years...

​Once again, we headed home in time for Autumn's nap and spent the rest of the day there. Matthew cooked Jiggs dinner. It had been a while and was requested by Halle, and never turned down for me. So, it being Sunday and my birthday seemed like the perfect day to have it. We finished off with ice cream cake for dessert. (The girls licked their plates.)

​We FaceTimed our families, which is the next best thing to them actually being here to celebrate.

​Then the busy and relaxing holiday weekend was done and I went to bed happy and grateful and wee bit older.
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It seems like a while since I did a simple weekend update. There's been a lot of deep thoughts, lists and intentions. So here's a good ol' recap of memories that deserve to be documented for all their goodness.

​We truly embodied the holiday all week as we spent so much time together!

​Side note: it seems like my life is destined to be measured in weeks from my 20's onward... First college semesters, next pregnancy and then Matthew's week on, week off commute...

​We woke the girls early on Saturday morning to head on our weekend roadie to Banff. We dropped the dogs at the Pet Resort (ahem... boarding kennel) the day before and were packed and ready to go. We grabbed breakfast to go, and despite the early rise, we were still behind schedule, as always... We made good driving time, though, and arrived at Sunshine Village before open.

​It took some time to get through the crowds, grab my rentals and head up the gondola. The girls spent the day at the hill's Tiny Tigers Daycare program so Matthew and I could ski. I was nervous to be on the mountain... but for the first time, an excited nervous and happy to join Matthew doing something he loved. I set out that day to enjoy it no matter what, and I did.
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The girls seemed to have fun together at the daycare and were excited to head to the hotel for the swimming pool! We got there in time for check in and got ready for supper. The first night of food, we deemed a flop. We had sushi on the mind, and should have went to the recommendation of the ski hill worker. Instead we went to a Japanese place that was okay but not what we wanted. Not to mention the girls were wound up and not in the mood for sitting at a restaurant. We left not totally satisfied and headed to the pool and hot tub. It was small and packed with guests of all ages but the girls had a blast! It was their bedtime when we made it back to the room but since we were on vacation a late night pizza was ordered ;) After our busy day, we all fell asleep pretty quickly soon after.
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​Sunday brought another early rise, although later than the day before. We thought being closer to the hill would work to our advantage but instead we arrived about a half hour later than the day before. Even just at opening, the traffic line was way deeper and it took us nearly 30 minutes to drive the 7 km road to the parking lot. We hopped on the shuttle bus this time because the walk was much to long with ski gear and the girls.

​During the drive, the girls were already saying they didn't want to go to daycare, despite seeming to have liked it the day before. Halle wanted to go skiing with us right away. We agreed because we didn't want to pass up on the opportunity for her to practice. However, this meant Autumn had to go to daycare without her partner in crime. She did not go in all smiles like Saturday but instead had a big cry making it hard for me to leave.

​After a couple of runs on the bunny hill, Halle was ready for her first ride on the chair lift. You gotta admire kids for their lack of fear! She laughed the whole way up and then broke out in tears at the top. With a little convincing she was ready to ski down with dad and his poles around her. She did awesome! Only a few falls  and all the way day the green. Everyone was proud!
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​The only problem, she didn't want to go again... and it was becoming evident just how overtired she was from all the going the day before. We decided she should go to daycare for lunch and to play if she didn't want to ski. Matthew brought her while I went for another run myself. Except when he got there, she protested, and then Autumn saw them and all the fuss led to Matthew signing them out early. This left us with two tired, hungry kids and no way to ski together. We both did some solo runs. I stuck to the greens by myself and continued to get comfortable. It sucked that Matthew didn't get the skiing he's used to or we didn't get a day like the one before. In the end, we all had fun and deemed it a learning experience, that we'll likely do differently next time... cause damn those hills are expensive!

​We made our way down the gondola and back to the hotel for another round of swimming. We opted for before dinner this time and it was less busy. The girls could double as mermaids they loved it so much!
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​After showers we headed out for a late supper at the Spaghetti Factory. The popular place had a wait, so we walked around the mall it's in. Even though we were all hungry and fairly tired this was probably one of the most enjoyable family dinners we've had out. One, the food was great but two, it was true quality family time. We discovered an awesome "restaurant game" when Halle started talking about a dream she had (which I'm pretty sure are all made up.) And then, turned in to all made up ones as we played round after round of "once I had a dream..."

Seriously, if you have kids old enough to talk/story tell but not too old enough to roll their eyes at you, this game was hilarious! Even Autumn, whose 2, played. Halle's favourite way to share a dream was "one time I had a dream, I woke up and went downstairs and..." There was all kinds of stories! Some clever and silly and some totally toddler foolishness but either way this was a really memorable dinner for the conversation alone.

​PS. This has now become a regular meal conversation, so the novelty may wear off, ha! But for restaurants, awesome!

​Autumn passed out on the drive back to our hotel (it was almost 10 PM) and we managed to move her in to the hotel bed without her waking. We packed up our bags and turned out the lights. Halle fell asleep quickly too. We relaxed and were comforted knowing we could all sleep in (a little) tomorrow before heading home.

​And that we did, until almost 9. Which is sleeping in with kids. We got ready and had a buffet breakfast at the hotel. Buffet breakfast is the way to go, we both reminisced it had been a while since we had one. Then with full tummies we got on the road leaving sunshiney Banff for a colder, strangely foggy Calgary.

​I wish we could have spent the day strolling the charming, mountain town streets but the pups were happy to see us! We returned home happy from our time together and our little escape. It's crazy to think the Rockies are in 'our backyard' and we could go any time yet they can seem like a whole other world...

​I think I'll end things on that daydreamy note.

I rambled probably a little more than I should... Although as I tend to forget things, it's probably better this way...

​Thanks for reading XO
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