Lussier Hot Springs

Invermere is sandwiched between Radium Hot Springs and Fairmont. Both nice spots and as nice as i is to sit in the hot pools at Radium it always seems to be over flowing with tourists ... oh and did I mention the cover charge to get in!? Times 5. BOO. Instead of the over crowded, over priced Radium we went au natural and made our way to Whiteswan Lake Provincial Park to Lussier Hot Springs. It's a small group of hot pools located at the base of the river. The top pool being the hottest and each pool getting cooler the closer you get to the river. We've been before when Brayden was 7 months old but shortly after that they got flooded out and destroyed. Thankfully they've been rebuilt and ready for the public to enjoy ... for free and far better scenery!

We parked off the road and made the kids use the freezing cold porta-potties before carefully making our way down the ice covered path to the pools. Once at the pools we quickly stripped down in the freezing cold to our suits and jumped in the stinging hot water. We went early enough in the day there weren't a bunch of people there (I think at most 2 other vehicles) and we had a pool to ourselves pretty much the entire time. The only bad thing about finding a place off the beaten road is the getting out into the piles of snow in your bare feet, dripping wet, drying off as quickly as possible and trying to run up that semi-steep path covered in a shiny sheet of ice as quickly as possible without falling face first into the snow. This was not what I wanted to be doing 5 minutes after getting into the water and settled into a semi state of relaxation when my beautiful little girl looked up at me with those big clear eyes of hers and told me she needed to "pee real bad."
Looking at her, quickly looking up the snowy hill towards the porta potties and back to Madison I desperately tried to negotiate with her:
"Just go in the water"
Her eyes start to get frantic "NOOOOOOOO" and I can tell it goes against everything she's been taught since potty training.
"Please Maddy, it's ok. This is a special kind of pool."
Again, "NoooOOOooo." She's not budging in her decision.
What do I do!? I know, I'll tell Ryan. Maybe he'll take the hike up the hill with her if I'm lucky. "Ryan, Maddy needs to pee real bad."
He just kind of rolls his eyes as if to say sucks to be you.
Finally he takes her to the tiny warm pool off to the side making it the potty pool. He has to take her swim suit bottoms off and sit her in it as if she's sitting on the toilet and off she goes. Crisis adverted!
After sitting in those hot pools for a while you start to get over heated and there were a couple of quick fixes: jumping into the ice cold river or just dumping big chunks of ice from the ice cold river into the hot pool with you. Trust me, it works.

Natures Ice Rink

I don't know why I don't take the kids ice skating!? They love it and they are pretty good. I had bought a couple of ice skating guides to help the kids keep their balance before we took off for the weekend which was perfect at the lake. At the ice rink they have pylons or chairs to use but on a lake it was great to have something. They took off without reservation. Sydney can get going pretty quick if she has something to lean on. Brayden has only been skating one time before and used the guide at first to get his footing and then he took off. He was so proud of himself and you could see how much he was enjoying it on his face. It was so fun to watch. Madison doesn't have skates but she ran around on the ice and played around just fine.

It is just so beautiful down on the lake with the mountains everywhere you look. It's nice to get out of the city sometimes and remember how amazing this world is and breathe in that fresh air. It was just amazing to get out there, watch the kids and see the views even if my toes were freezing off in my mesh toed runners. Totally worth it!

Canadian Hockey

This is how hockey is meant to be played ... a cleared off patch of ice on a lake surrounded by mountains!

Finally! Snow!

Thankfully this year it hasn't been too cold yet. We definitely need the time to thicken up our blood and adjust back into these low temperatures after being spoiled for so long in the Philippines. Even though I appreciate the mild winter we've had so far I do miss the snow, especially the 'white' Christmas part of it. Brown Christmas with the dead grass, leaf less trees, and wind just is not pretty, just bland. After Christmas we went to Invermere for a few days to get out of town and a change of scenery. The moment I got excited and new it was going to be a great few days was when the scenery changed from brown to white!

Lots and lots of amazing white snow. The drive went smoothly with a few pit stops to get out and move our legs. At one spot there was a creek with a path packed down from cross country ski tracks up into the mountains. The snow was a few feet deep, more snow then we've seen all season in Lethbridge. The kids jumped out of the van and ran up and down the snow piles, threw some snow balls at each other (or more like Ryan threw snow balls at them) and when it was time to pile back into the van we had to brush the snow off their pants clinging up to their knees. While the kids ran around the parking lot happy with the amount of snow there I ran through piles of my own snow to find the bridge crossing the creek to take some pictures of the amazing untouched white white stuff surrounded by the snow topped trees. Maybe I was just a little excited because it's been a while since I've seen that much snow BUT it really was beautiful I couldn't resist! Usually the best views are off the beaten path but totally worth the extra few steps to get there, such a beautiful place.

The drive went smooth, the kids were distracted enough that it seemed relatively painless for them and we arrived with enough time to let them run for a little bit before getting them settle and into bed with promises of swimming and skating on the lake in the next few days. Yay!

Neighbours

We have one neighbour thanks to our corner lot and paved alley and she's amazing. She's always bringing over treats for the kids and Sage (the cat). Halloween she packs each of my kids a special bag of treats with a toy or two in there for them, she gave Brayden a big cardboard box of all the old LEGO she was getting rid of and since she's on her own she LOVES to chat. You need to give yourself a good half hour if you are going over to say hello but her stories are interesting and she has a lot of history to share growing up in Germany. Two brothers died in WWII and the third was lost for a few years until the end of the war in a concentration camp. This year before Christmas she brought over a poinsettia, chocolates, her daughter brought us a Christmas tray filled with home made treats and she got the kids a gingerbread house. In return we shovel her sidewalk and keep an eye out on her since she's getting up there in years and her husband is in a care home. The arrangement seems to work out for everyone.
So thanks Mrs. Hunter, the kids loved decorating this:

Fa la la la la

I think it's amazing the time and effort people put into the kids school Christmas Concert this year. They had two performances, a matinee and an evening performance which made for a very long day for the kids and it was perfect. The whole student body stayed on stage (except for the two kindergarten classes who left to put on their little angel costumes) and they all sat patiently waiting for their turn to get up to sing. It was a short program that went smoothly, the perfect length, with great songs. I think what I thought was great was that they didn't forget why we have Christmas. It seems that so many of the stores don't wish you a Merry Christmas, just a happy holidays to make things politically correct, and it takes the whole Christmas Spirit out of it for me. There is something magical about so many people uniting for the same occasion together. If someone were to wish me a Happy Hanukkah it would in no way offend me so what's the big deal!? Spread the cheer people. Anyway - side rant over ...
The kids Christmas concert still had a nativity and even though they had fun songs they also had some great Christmas songs reminding us the real reason we have Christmas. There were some songs that made me laugh, Brayden had a one liner into the microphone to say in front of everyone and he was loud and clear (I'm a proud mom) and Sydney almost brought me to tears when the kindergarteners came out glowing in their angel costumes during the nativity scene because really, when you are that young you are pretty innocent and pure like an angel.

When it was over and the kids were getting ready for bed Brayden turns to me and says "mom, I'm SO tired of singing."
I don't blame the poor guy! But, they were awesome.

He Rocks My World

Different cultures have different taste preferences. India tends to go spicy, North Americans like salty, South Pacific Islands love their root veg and the Philippines adds sugar to everything. The Philippines has a fast food restaurant named Jollibee that I would say is McDonalds main competition or the other way around. They serve lots of deep fried meals with rice, sweet style spaghetti, meat on a stick, fast food steak in gravy, and burgers that just don't taste quite like what we're used to. They have THE best spicy chicken joy hands down. Deep fried KFC style chicken with rice. It is so spicy and delicious picked apart with your hands and mixed with their cooked to perfection ball of rice wrapped in paper. YUM.
Aside from the mouth watering Chicken Joy the Jollibee mascot, The Jollibee, can not compare to Ronald McDonald, Wendy or the Burger King crown. It is SHUT THE FRONT DOOR awe-mazing. To prove it I am sharing this video of the Jollibee dancing at a birthday party. This is no joke. Although I have never seen the Jollibee perform this exact dance number I have seen him dance, and it's just as draw dropping good as this is so please enjoy!!!
PS It only gets better and better.

The Christmas Wall

I love the smell of a real Christmas tree, there is just something magical about it. Memories maybe, that pine scent that screams mountain air, I just love it. We had a real tree every Christmas growing up and I even remember going up into the mountains to cut our own tree down one year. So do I feel guilty about robbing my children of those same real tree experiences by purchasing our 'fake' tree this year? Not one bit.
Real tree's that I saw this year are $45. To spend that every year just wasn't seeming like the best financial plan especially when I got a 7' tree that is so thick and full for that same amount! Yay to used items.
We don't have a lot of Christmas decorations. Brayden has been bummed out this year at the lack of Christmas in the house but I'll just blame being gone for the last 5 years and slowly start building up the decorations from this Christmas on. We set up our 5 nativities, put up the lights, decorated the tree and that's about it. I ended up buying a wreath for the front door and that's pretty impressive for us.... our very first wreath. So the tree, lights and nativities are all up on one wall. 1/3 of the room. It's the Christmas wall and it looks fabulous and it's just enough Christmas for me.
The cat is pretty excited about the tree, almost as excited the kids. It's her playground. She climbs up the trunk and swats at the decorations trying to get them off the tree. Thankfully all our decoration are hand made or hand me downs from the 60's and so nothing too valuable to worry about and so far nothing broken.
So cheers. I hope Christmas comes quick because we're ready for it!