Trip to Banff

We just got back from our weekend trip to Banff and it was very nice. On Friday, we went out for Italian in Canmore. On Saturday, we visited Lake Minnewanka, the town of Banff, the Banff gondola and observation deck, the Banff Upper Hot Springs and finally, we went for sushi back in Canmore. On Sunday, we went to Lake Louise, then we took the older highway 1A and went to Johnston Canyon and hiked 6 KM to see the two sets of waterfalls. On Monday, we visited Canmore, then drove back to Calgary. The next morning, we flew back to Yellowknife. Here are a handful of pictures.

Curtis in front of Lake Minnewanka


Us in front of Lake Louise


The second set of falls at Johnston Canyon


Giggling baby at the airport


Visit the album for many more!

Baby Winnie's First Swim

I will post more about our trip later but for now, here is a short clip of baby Winnie's first swim at Banff Upper Hot Springs.

Volunteer BBQ

On Thursday, we went to a Food Bank Volunteer Appreciation BBQ.

Winnie in her car-seat


Getting food


The toddler heading for the water


A family portrait

New Computer and an Interview

The computer came in last week. It works great. I promptly changed the Windows Vista theme back to the Windows XP theme. Change? We fear change. Now, I'm ready - how many months until Starcraft II is released?

Cubs is wrapped up for the year. The end of the year Cub Camp went great. The best camp I've run, I think. We had lots of activities and everyone was in good spirits. We had archery, a fur-trapping scavenger hunt, canoeing and campfires. One thing I'd change is having more healthy food for snack time. Baked apples next year sounds about right.

Also, I've applied to a different department within the government. It's a Database Analyst position, mostly Oracle Forms and Reports. It's a slight pay cut but only by a few thousand dollars. The work is more challenging, more opportunity for learning new skills, new technologies. I'd be working on a team with five others on big projects, not alone on tiny projects. The interview went well. Most questions were easy lobs but there were some zingers regarding the nitties and the gritties of Oracle. I would say I stand a good chance of getting it.

New Computer Ordered

I did not waste much time ordering a new computer. We had briefly considered buying a Mac but their desktops are rather pricey and not compatible with our old data hard drive, which contains all our precious photos. Anyways, I ended up ordering a mid-range Dell for $600 or so and it should be here on Thursday.

Also, I will be going on our annual Cub camp this weekend and it should be a great time. The theme is the Fur-Trade and we're going canoeing and collecting pelts.

Computer Problem

I think I may have fried our home computer... Apparently the network card wasn't screwed in properly and I was jiggling with the network cord and I pushed the card out of its slot and it caused a brilliant luminescence to flare up and the computer died. Now the computer turns on but does not proceed past the motherboard diagnostic. I firmly believe the machine is, as the Germans say, kaput.

Further posts may be delayed until we find a new computer and I can't buy a new computer until I know the system requirements of Starcraft II... A real dilemma.

Mary's Visit

Mary just left and her visit was very pleasant. We got many parts of our house cleaned and ready for summer. She got to come to us to many restaurants in town and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. The weather has gotten better lately and we went on a picnic yesterday afternoon to Reid Lake, 45 minutes down the highway. The sun felt great and the kids even ventured a bit into the water.

A lynx we saw at the edge of the road


A beaver eating a fish


Some foxes Mary saw


Mary holding Winnie


Mary's meal (fish skewer) at Bullock's Bistro


The rest of Bullock's


Mary and Nikki at the restaurant


The view from Pilot's Monument


The park at Reid Lake


The meat cooking on the fire


Two moms nursing


Me at the Wildcat Cafe


Another view at the Wildcat