Chinese Lantern Festival

We were lucky to attend the Chinese Lantern Festival hosted by Ontario Place. This was truly a beautiful event. 40 massive lantern displays had been erected over many weeks by 50 artisans direct from China.

The festival was here for one month and coincides with one of the most clebrated Chinese holidays, the August Moon Festival or Mid-Atumn Festival that is held on the 15th day of the 8th lunar month. During this time, families celebrate the end of the harvest season with a big feast.

During the festival we could learn about the art of lantern making from a master craftsman, head to the Craft Market for a lesson on paper cutting, palm leaf weaving, candy making and many other ancient art forms.

I was particularly impressed by a candy maker who made these delicate animal-shaped lollies in front our our eyes.

Later, we enjoyed the harbourfront and looked back onto our city with its dazzling display of lights while the annual Canadian Exhibition took place (Dylan and I had attended this earlier in the day.

Cirque du Soleil

I had purchased tickets half a year ago to see the latest Cirque du Soleil show named Kooza. This show turned out to be my least favourite of the shows thus far, however, there were still several truly magnificent performances to be seen.

Le Grand Chapiteau had been set up in the Portlands, just a 20-minute bike ride away from our home. I treated myself and bought a square Cirque umbrella which resembles the chapiteau when it is opened.

Trying on a new look with Cirque hats and umbrella

Weekend at James' Cottage

We spent a weekend at the fabulous cottage belonging to James and Nancy. Their cottage is situated beside the Calabogie ski hill and Calabogie lake. They are fortunate to be able to enjoy their cottage all summer and winter.

James and Nancy are uber-hosts extraordinaire who wined and dined us to no end.

Uber-hosts James and Nancy

On the first night, after the children had eaten and were preparing for bed, the adults dug into a smorgesbord of succulent ribs. Dylan came upon our dinner feast and, much to my amazement, devoured several ribs. He was like a possessed carnivore as he tore into the meat and spread sauce all over his face (actually made me want to become a vegan).

Dylan devouring meat!

Later we went for a midnight swim in the lake...very refreshing!

We spent a day taking the chairlift up the ski hill (used mainly by mountain bike enthusiasts) and hiked at the summit while enjoying a panoramic view of the area. I discovered my fear of heights again while riding the chairlift in summer without the security of a bed of soft snow under your feet. I was holding onto their 3-year old daughter who was experiencing her first chairlift ride and who was a little frightened. Poor Sarah, halfway up the hill she cried that I was hurting her arm. I guess I had been tightening my death grip on her as I tried to fend my feeling of panic from heights.

Enjoying the view

The children went tubing in a new 3-seater tube which unfortunately sprang a leak by the end of the ride (they did some major wake jumping!)

Later, Dylan rode an electric car with their 5-year old son William who can spinout the car on a downhill slope just like a Jacque Villeneuve.

Of course a weekend at the cottage would not be complete without the mandatory sand castle building contest.

Family Trip to Alberta

We were fortunate to have my sister and her family join us for a trip to Alberta. Or, as I like to describe it, seeing Alberta on crack...because the following was our itineray: Calgary, Drumheller, Badlands, Canmore, Banff, Columbia Icefields, Jasper and Edmonton (all in one week!). This was a very ambitious trip for 7 people and one minivan.

Lake Morraine

Fortunately, we arrived to spend two nights at the home of our dear friends Kelly and Shawn.

Dinner at Kelly's

Kelly and Dylan with Darby

What a lovely welcome. They had arranged a tour of their neighbour's business of fossil brokering. After handling mammoth tusks, ammonites and ammonlites, we were flabbergasted to be handed our own slate with fossilized ammonites. What a great momento of our trip.

Mammoth in the Neighbour's Garage

Unveiling an ichyasaurus

Our own ammonite gifts
We toured the Badlands which were spectacular. Unfortunately it was 34C degrees without a single tree for shade. I have a memory of peering down from a scenic vantage point and seeing Sandra and Kelly hovering behind the Badlands sign whose shadow offered the only slice of shade for kilometres!

Alberta Badlands

Dylan in his Cowboy Hat Hovering in a Cave for Shade

We climbed the world's largest dinosaur (manmade tourist trap).......
We Are Looking Down from the Dinosaur Mouth

Photographed inside the Dinosaur's Mouth

...........and visited the Tyrell Dinosaur Museum.

Staring out from an Allosaurus Skull
Dylan Loving the Interactive Displays

We went on a wildlife safari but unfortunately the only wildlife we saw on this paid trip was a chipmunk! However, we saw several other animals on our own excursions such as elk, deer, mountain goats and birds.

Checking Out the Binoculars on the Safari

A Gentle Doe at the Side of the Road
Wild Rams Crossing the Highway

My Favourite Photo of a Small Birch Forest
Elk Feeding on Berries

In Banff, we traveled to the top of Sulpher Mountain by gondola and embraced a spectacular view of the area. Credit must be given to Sandra for mastering her fear of heights on the gondola!

Taking the Gondola Up the Mountain

Having a Sound of Music Moment

At sunset we dipped our tired bones into the therapeutic Banff Upper Hot Springs.

Upper Hot Springs

We travelled towards the Columbia Icefields, a spectacular receding glacier. We purchased seats on a special snocoach to reach 4 miles onto the glacier where we drank the purest of waters. Of course,we could have saved our money and just walked. However, this is discouraged as the glacier is 1000 ft deep with many hidden crevasses . We took the safe route!

Riding the SnoCoach to the Glacier

One of the loveliest places we visited was Peyto Lake, an aquamarine-colour lake fed by the glaciers. We had a short hike uphill to reveal this beauty. We would love to come back some day and carry out a hiking trip along the lake's periphery.

Lovely Lake Peyto

Another memorable stop were the Athabasca Falls. These photos just can't do this landmark justice in representing the depth and complexity of these falls.

We took a boat trip to SPIRIT ISLAND on Maligne Lake. Again, this is a lake fed by glacial waters and sediments which gives it its aquamarine colour. The photo you see was represented on a previous Canadian $50 dollar bill.

Riding the Boat to Spirit Island

My favourite accomodation was a motel near Hinton which featured a communal firepit. We sat around the fire cooking spider dogs and marshmellows and listened to a pack of coyotes howling in the distance.

The trip was finished with a serene evening canoe ride on Pyramid Lake.

My 13-year old nephew, Malcolm, reminds me of an older Dylan because he embraces all activities with real gusto! He loved sitting around a campfire at our motel, canoeing in the evening and climbing the mountains. He, Dylan and Andrew attempted to cross a part of the Morraine Lake via beachcomber logs. Unfortunately, Dylan and Malcolm ended up in the lake! But, they had great fun trying.

Traversing the Morraine Lake via Beachcomber Logs
"The Rock Pile" at Morraine Lake

Dylan and Malcolm Hamming It Up at the Museum

Sarah was real daredevil at the Edmonton Waterpark. She loved the wild slides and she and Dylan spent hours in the water going down these very high and fast slides.

Don is very much like Andrew and logged over 2000 digital photos within the first 7 days of the trip. And Sandra (our group communicator) kept us all in line with her readiness to play euchre with the children, schedule time for meals/snacks and keep smiling throughout!

Sisters Tripone/Meinders

Don Ready With Camera

A big thank you to everyone for putting up with my gestapo-like itinerary schedule. Your patience was admirable! The long road trips proved challenging at times but, thanks to our daily chats called "Relationship Checks", I think we were able to overcome the obstacles of van life.

Road trip next year anyone??