Canada ... Barely Made It Eh!

Kent and I seem to have an annoying habit of making our vacations much more exciting than we ever intend it to be. I’m sure you’re imagining us deciding spontaneously to go skydiving, or something truly exciting like that, but ours is more of the ‘oops’ kind that leaves you pumping adrenaline, angry and groaning, “I can’t believe we just did that!”

Classic example, before we had kids, Kent was flying to various places interviewing for residency. For whatever reason, we arrived just minutes too late to check our bags for the flight to Utah. The next flight would make him late for the interview, so I had him change into his suit, stuff his pockets with the bare necessities of hygiene and he boarded the plane while I went home to sleep for 5 hours and then drive back to catch the following flight. Rest assure I made it with plenty of time to check bags and in the end it was a crazy but well worthwhile trip since it was the last time I saw my Grandma Wright before she passed away. Kent’s not the only silly one, the time I flew to Alaska to visit some friends, I was eating lunch and so caught up in my reading I missed my chance to board my flight. Yeah, not the brightest thing to do.

Anyhow, I’ve become a little more meticulous in getting ready for trips now and I get so that I have the days planned out with maps all printed in advance. When it came down to the trip to Canada we wanted to be sure we had proper documentation for everyone. So months in advanced we checked the TSA website multiple times whether or not we needed passports for the kids. The wording was a little unclear so I called in to the airline we would be traveling with . After being told 3 times that we were clear with birth certificates, we sent in an application for Kent and thought we were done. Of course the night before while checking in online I found I was unable to since it required passport info. Concerned, I called the airline again and spoke with someone that said I’d simply have to checking in at the desk in the morning. I’m sure you can see where this is going, morning dawned and of course we got there and were told we would be unable to board the flight unless got passports expedited for the kids – apparently the closes place was Los Angeles. Thankfully Kent talked to a few more people and found they’d opened an office up in Tucson.

A few hours later we were headed to Tucson to stay the night with some old friends , Darin and Tiffany Law, from our days in Albuquerque. Isaac, unfazed by our stress had a blast with the Law’s children and to our delight, the clingy Keila was soon joining in the fun. I got caught up with Tiffany on life, we made it in time for our appointment to get the passports, and after naps, time at the library and a short movie, I picked up the much needed documents fresh off the press. If it weren’t for the Laws I’m sure I’d have been a mess and would have needed a few days to cool off from the stress. As is, the spirit of their home, their hospitality and fun natures made it feel like a small detour from our intended vacation. In many ways I’m grateful for it and we’ve extracted many promises for more visits with the Laws which we intend to hold them to. (hint, hint, Tiffany!)



Riley was just a little baby rolling around on the floor when we left Albuquerque, it was amazing to see her now. She was so darling with Isaac and kept calling him her best friend. It was terribly sad to see the two part.



Jeryn was and still is Isaac's much wanted big brother. Kent and I are considering borrowing him to keep Isaac busy!




Tiffany and I, she was my sanity line in Albuquerque ... enough said!



The whole dejvu effect 2 days later as we arrived at the airport once again was a little eerie to say the least. The lady who with tremulous voice and shaky hands previously informed us that we would not be able to board the flight was the same one to check us in this time. She was happy to see us make it to the wedding, as were we. We breathed sighs of relief once we made it through security.

The kids were wonderful on the flight. I had packed their backpacks with dollar store presents (two for each of them) which were beautifully wrapped, one for each hour of the flight. We were a little worried about Keila since the day before we were suppose to leave she was diagnosed with an ear infection but the delay helped and she Keila conked out halfway through. Isaac was thrilled with the surprised and he and I played a puzzle together and he colored to his hearts content. We arrived and drove safely and slowly (AZ boy driving in snow for the first time) to our timeshare in Canmore. It was a late night for the kiddos who usually go to bed at 7pm so there was no fussing come 11pm bedtime.

You would have thought the crazy hours would have guaranteed us some sleep in time, but Isaac was DYING to play in the snow. He wanted to make his very own snowman so he was up and at ‘em at 7:30am. Kent was a trooper and dragged himself out of bed to make a snowman while I got breakfast set up. As you can see from the pictures much of the snow had melted but they managed a pint sized guy.


Keila all decked out thanks to Uncle Joe and Aunt Becky's Christmas gift!



I've been telling Isaac about REAL mountains, not the 'scrubby hills' we have in AZ. This folks, is a real mountain, stand in awe!




We drove into the Banff townsite and had all sorts of plans for sightseeing. Isaac was rather fatigued and I kept chiding him for getting up so early just for snow. It turns out he was running a fever and on our drive back he had the distinct look and sounds of one about to throw up. Of course the rental car had a sign neatly posted on my window that a $250 fee might be charged for cleaning the vehicle, so I was praying feverently we’d make it back to the timeshare. We did, with not a second to spare and Isaac even did us the favor of making it all into the toilet for which we congratulated him on a his aim! ;0)



Here's our poor boy looking queasy.



I chose this picture just in case there were any doubts as to where we were. Check out the beautiful red and white flag behind them! O Canada!

Thankfully we were to have dinner with my parents that evening so aside from throwing up in the car (it was all water… whew!) it was a nice meal getting caught up on everything happening to my brothers and sister-in law to be. Isaac proudly handed off his gift to my Mom and they both flattered her with their appetites. Yes, despite being sick, you would never have known it with Isaac chowing down on broccoli as if he’d never eaten it before in his life. Apprently it was only a 24 hr flu, he was queasy that night but just fine in the morning.

I am happy to report that our trip was much ‘duller’ after all this. ;0) More posts to come, eh!