Banff Getaway

Okay, so where was I? Oh, yes, right… Banff. The weekend before Christmas, the “fambily” headed out to the mountains for my husband’s “company Christmas party”. As has been tradition over the last few years, we stayed at the beautiful Rimrock Hotel, which is perched on the side of one of the Rocky Mountains. Normally, I am always a little reluctant to leave right before Christmas, with everything that needs to get done…but as usual, it was very much worth the time away.

Sometimes a change of scenery can do wonders for your mood!

And sometimes, you’re just as goofy as ever.

We got settled into our room (Monkeyboy Junior made sure the stuffies were cozy) and headed up to the lobby lounge.

Where we had some nice before dinner drinks…

…did some running about…

…and generally enjoyed the ambiance…

…before heading down to the dining room for dinner. Yum!

The next morning we enjoyed a delicious buffet breakfast with our friends, and then decided to head into town for a bit.

While waiting for the Grizzly Shuttle to arrive…

…the kids enjoyed the giant gingerbread house….

…and I admired the giant sugar art creations.

So much to look at – like the fancily dressed doorman…

…more sculpture (this time in ice)…

…and lots and lots of snow!

After a quick little bus ride, we were in the townsite proper.

And no trip to Banff would be complete without a trip to Welch’s old fashioned candy store!!!

Help yourself there, Brendan (what a bizarre shot!)

Of course, the toy store is fun too.

It was freezing (!) cold, so we decided to head back to the hotel.

And while I went for a mmmmmassage, the boys went swimming.

While the baby napped, Monkeyboy Junior and I joined our friends in the lobby lounge for some drinks and snacks. My husband then took Junior ice skating while I hung out with the baby. I didn’t have a chance to snap photos, but our friend Keith did over at The Changing Perspective.

Then it was fancy dinner time, and this year I decided to hang out with the kids instead of chasing the baby around the dining room / trying to keep him from screaming as he sat through dinner… I think it was a good call.

We had way more fun watching Christmas specials, racing down the hallways, and playing “catch the sock monkey”.

The next morning we packed up and snuck in one last swim…

…before driving home to Christmas preparations once more.