Back from BC!

Hello and...Surprise! We were away on holidays last week and didn't tell you...so you don't steal from our house...or have parties while we're away. You know how it is. =)

We left last Tuesday and slowly made our way to Summerland and Penticton BC. I'll spread out the posts and take us only as far as Mara lake today.

Katie having fun with her toes in the car.
She was very good at entertaining herself in the car. Playing peekaboo even!
She really was great in the car. We planned breaks and everything, so none of us would go crazy and it must have worked because Katie was a trooper.

In Red Deer, we stopped for Donuts (mom and dad anyway...Katie ate strawberries...much healthier!).
"No...I want donuts!"
We made it to Cochrane, where it was very cloudy and threatened rain. We took a risk, had a picnic lunch and managed not to get rained on.
Of course, since we were in Cochrane, we had to stop for ice cream (McKays)...this trip was all about the ice cream...I think the only day we didn't have ice cream was the day we came home. We had made a reservation at a place in Canmore...somewhere with a separate sitting room so that we could put Katie to bed and stay up a bit longer ourselves. She loves the big bed! We got there early enough that Katie had her afternoon nap there as well...and she cried and cried...for at least a half hour she didn't want to sleep. Eventually she did thank goodness. We went to Boston Pizza for dinner...not the most pleasant experience...Katie did well but eating out now sometimes means dad and I are scarfing down our food while at the same time trying to cut up and blow on some food for her (to cool it off) as fast as we can. (we have to finish at least when she does or she wants to keep eating our food. Hopefully we get over this phase fast!) Good news is after a swim in the hotel pool and a little bath, Katie went to bed like a dream...chatting but happy. Phew, we were worried!

The next day we were freezing while we stopped on Golden. (again for strawberries)Oh, but things were warming up...Love when you hit Sicamous and it starts to feel like summer! What's a drive to southern BC without a stop for ice cream at the Dutchmen Dairy?Ice cream came after lunch...Hummous...(Katie says "Hum" and loves it!).What's neat about the dairy is that they have real cows (of course!). Katie knows "moo" and "cow" but has never seen the real thing. She loved it and got very excited!They also have horses and various domestic and exotic birds (Katie was so scared by the roosters!...not so much by the peacocks).Soon after Sicamous is Mara Lake where Ben took a traditional (in his family) icy dip in the water. Katie and I were laughing because dad is so silly going in the freezing water and we were all warm and cozy. Many more cute pictures to come later in the week (tomorrow maybe?)...beach time and a first boat ride!