Our weekend in Banff

What a fabulous weekend together...no photos (unless we can get them off Eric's IPhone).
  I don't think the weekend could have gone better. In the past it has been so cold that being outside for more than a few minutes was unbearable. Which meant lots of hotel time. Never that much fun. As Eric was attending a conference,  I needed to be prepared to do some activities with the kids on my own.  We were very fortunate that the temps were quite reasonable so we weren't stuck inside.
   We arrived Friday late afternoon and had some time with Eric. We tried out the two sledding hills that had been listed on line. The first one was not what the kids had hoped for (too slow), so we headed over to the Fairmont hotel where the other hills were and they were anything but slow.  To our surprise Austin was willing to ride with Eric, I thought he would have been too scared, and boy did they go fast.  I would walk Olivia part way up the hill and let her go and she had a blast.  Justin loved the speed but got discouraged with the falls (cold snow down your shirt is never enjoyable).  Madeleine was cautiously happy about the whole thing as long as she could decide where to start her run from.
   Our hotel had no pool so we found a community pool on line and headed out. The pool was good size and had a 1 meter pool for the little ones which was perfect.  The kids went to sleep without a problem.
   Eric spent Saturday all day at his conference so the kids and I walked around to a few shops, the favorite was the rocks and gems shop. The kids picked up a few souvenirs for their friends. We saw a deer walking down the middle of the street, just 10 meters away from us, and Livi says, "Santa's reindeer." Then continues with singing Jingle Bells.  She spent the rest of the weekend calling Santa on our hotel phone, so cute. We headed out to a late breakfast at Coyote Grill, so tasty!!  We then headed back to the hotel to get ready for another day at the pool.  The pool had a giant inflatable toy for the older kids and lots of toys for everyone.  We hung out there for a couple of hours before heading back to town.  Eric joined us around 5pm for a walk around the town site and then to the Banff Springs hotel for their desert buffet (not to be missed).
  We all managed in the hotel room but the nights were eventful.  I can't even imagine how it will work with another one.
  On Sunday the kids and I hung out all morning while Eric had meetings. At noon we headed to Lake Louise for the ice sculpting contest. Wow, was it ever impressive.  I pulled Austin around in a sled (so much easier on my back :)  There was free ice skating everywhere...wish we would have brought the kids skates. After an hour or so there we headed back home tired and happy.