Our First International Trip as a Family of 4 Banff Alberta Canada

Wow, Banff is so beautiful. Is it cold out there? Bit of a rough flight, but I can't complain. Our girls did so good. But wow, we made it. I'm exhausted. Where are we? Tell them where we are. We're in Canada. Rennie's very first country. Rennie, it's your first country. Say happy first country. They actually lost our car seat, but luckily everything else came except for Story's car seat. And then they gifted us this brand new Evenflo car seat. So I guess we got a car seat. Out here to Banff. Rennie is big, big, big. And Story is really excited because all winter she wanted snow. And we didn't find any snow, but I think we found some snow. Where is it? On the mountains out there? And look at that mountain out there too. We gotta go get it now, okay? Rennie, you wanna go in the snow? Okay, I'll help you pull them off. Come here, silly shoe. Oh, this is so cool. Look at that view. It's a nice house. Look at the mountains out there. There's so much snow on them. Oh, a pool? That river. There's a river down there. Story, should we go jump in the river? No. Should Daddy jump in it? Freezing. It's freezing. It's freezing? Might be fun to do though. A hot tub? This has to go up. Let me see. Feel it. Oh, feel it. Touch it. Yeah, touch it. It's so warm and cozy. Is it really nice? We gotta get your swim costume on. Yes. Okay, I'm gonna close it. That's mine. Story is very excited for the hot tub. This place is absolutely gorgeous. As we were driving in, seeing all of the mountain range, and then, like, the snow on top, and there's so many lakes, and the trees are, like, bright green. It's just, it's honestly so beautiful. You don't get, like, these views where we live in Arizona, so I'm really excited to just be here. This is gonna be a really awesome trip. It's a little warm, but then it feels nice. Here, just stand on this one for a minute. You stand on this one right here. We're in here. We are in here. Oh, this is refreshing. That's nice and cool. Nice and cool, huh? Go, mm. Do we look like mattress? Go. We're gonna go down and surprise Daddy, should we? Yes! He's gonna love it. We're gonna say, ta-da! Ooh. Can you do that face? You're so cute! Come here, let's look. We've been here in Canada for about four hours, and Bella and I are just blown away by how incredible these views are. It's like everywhere you turn, it's picture perfect. The mountains are insane. The trees are so beautiful. It's amazing here. It really is just so beautiful. Renny, are you liking your first country? What do you think? She says, oh Canada, my home and native land. We were just thinking, Story's first country was Mexico. We went below the United States. Renny's first country, Canada. Above. You good? That was a big jump. Oh, she's going on a bear hunt. She's out of here. All right, but we are here, and we have one goal. Our goal is to get a really amazing photo of our family to frame on our wall at home. I can already see it. The mountains behind, maybe a lake below us, and our family. That's the shot. We need that. That is what we're trying to do. I have this mission. Whenever we go to cool countries, we like to try and find the coolest park, and I actually think that one rivals the Positano Park. That's what I was about to say. There's this beautiful park that we went to once. It was on the beach in Positano, and that was the coolest park up until this moment. I think this one here in Banff rivals all of them. It's just because it's a whole 360-degree scenery of the coolest mountains. I'm just obsessed with the mountains. They're amazing. It's stunning. Did you find a stick? We just found the coolest view. This is the most insane view, and it's at the beginning of our hike, but we also found a bear. We found a bear, a wild pink bear. We couldn't believe it when we saw her. We had to keep her. She's just so cute. We said, can we take you home with us? Can we take you home with us, you little cute bear? Can you even? We're officially starting the hike. We'll see how this goes. We got the little bear in the suit, and we got a little walking bear. She's determined to walk this whole hike, so we'll see how this goes. Rennie's a bear? Rennie's a bear. Hold me. Uh-oh. What'd you just say? Hold me? We just started. Silly goose. You want Daddy to hold you? Yes. Okay. You know you're from Arizona when you are hiking down a trail, and you get so excited you find snow. This girl. Wait, one more little bite. One more little one. Yummy? You've been getting too much snow. Your hands are cold. Your thumb goes here. Finger, finger, finger. Oh, yeah. You did it good. Okay. Now your hands are warm, huh? Because you've been getting too much snow. I have snow. I have snow in. Hold on. Oh, there's two fingers in your thumb. Pull this finger out. Pull that finger out. This finger goes right here. Are they good now? Yeah. Hold on. Pinky, finger, finger, finger, finger. Yep. No, that's pinky. Did I say pinky? Yeah, this is your pinky. Finger, finger, finger, thumb. You got snow? This is where we're at in the hike. We're about 15 minutes in. This is where we are. But it's actually kind of better because now we can move because every time there was a patch of snow on the ground, we were stopping to eat ice. There's snow. There's lots of snow. There's snow everywhere. Do you like this snow story? This is so pretty. Wow, look at that view. There's a lot of snow right here at times. I think I hear water down there. I think there's a waterfall on this hike. Oh, are we going to find a waterfall? This hike is so pretty. Is she asleep? Oh, she's close, Mom. Rennie's falling asleep. Rennie's not falling asleep. Yeah, she is. She's so tired. No, she'll just conk out like that. Story's going to fall asleep too? Are you falling asleep up there? Daddy wants to see a bear. No, I don't want to see a bear. Mommy doesn't want to see a bear, but Daddy wants to see a bear. Mommy, it's nice. Yeah, Mommy, it's nice. I don't know about that. The bears like us. They'll come up and we'll give them food. Let's give them food, Mom. Daddy brought snacks for the bears. Huh? Yeah. Candies? Yeah, candies. Candies eat food? Yeah, they eat the candies. Oh. There's a little... Whoa, the lake out there. There's literally a stream coming out right there. And it's running down the side of the mountain. Okay, we got to walk through this. Story, I think you need to walk because you have boots. Because look, there's water down there. You got to walk. Do you want to walk? Yes. Mommy's walking now. Okay, can you walk? Daddy, I'll walk too. Yeah, I'm going to walk too. Okay, walk through it. It is a nice puddle. Me and Renny are just vibing out here. She's loving these views. What do you think, little bear? This is insanely stunning. Like insane. This was so worth the hype. Wait, let's turn. Let's turn. Oh my gosh. Show me what's out there. Wow. This is insane. Story's jumping in every puddle that she sees. Story is just on her way through it. I got to catch up. Okay, keep going up. Keep going up. This is getting steep. But we're almost to the end. We can do this. We have to make it to the end. I am unbelievably proud of Story right now. She has walked majority of this. And she is just trekking these stairs. Let me hold your hand. Keep going. Good job. We are almost there. I can't believe we did it. I am so proud of our kids. Like, wow. Story hiked basically 90% of that herself. And Renny is just an angel. Renny didn't even make a peep. She was so sweet the whole time. I want to see some Renny loving. She also gave me the craziest workout. That was 13 pounds. Actually, 14 pounds of a weight vest. This is so beautiful. It's like the blue lake with the green and the mountain on the background. I can't even get over this. It's absolutely amazing. That was the most beautiful hike of my entire life. I've never seen anything like that. I think just because we live in the desert, we don't see scenery or green or like colors like this. So, I'm just, I'm in awe. That was amazing. Wow. So worth it. I was a little nervous at first. I was like, should we even do the hike with the kids? They crushed it. I would do it again. Actually, we have to do it again. We have to hike it down to get back to the car. But let me tell you, I need some food. I'm hungry. We're gonna go get some food. So we learned as we're coming down right now that there's two trails to get up here. One's the hard way. One's the easy way. If you can see behind me, this is like a walking path. This is the easy way. We took the hard way up. Which I think is awesome. It was way more scenic and beautiful from what we've heard. Definitely way more scenic and beautiful. And don't regret it at all. But that was a lot of fun. But these two girls. They're conked out. Sleeping so well. But they crushed it. Renny didn't make a peep the whole time. And Story hiked majority of that trip. Which I'm so proud of her. This is the type of nap we're talking about. Look at how cute. She's such an angel. This girl is precious. And then look. This side. Can you see her? Yep. She's out cold in there. Amazing. Best place for a nap. Am I right? We are officially in Banff National Park. And first stop is the Banff gondola ride. The visibility might not be the greatest at the top. But we're here. We're just going to full send it. Going all the way up. What do you see out there? Up. We're going up. Up, up, up, up, up. Whoa. Wow. Banff is so beautiful. Is it cold out there? Look out there, Story. Look out. Lots of snow out there, Story. When you're looking at it. It's so cool. When you're looking at it. Wow, Story. Look. We're in a winter wonderland. This is unreal. Oh my gosh. I can't even. It's pouring snow. Story. This is so beautiful. I think we open it. It just started snowing. Can you catch it in your hand? We're trying to catch snowflakes. Oh my gosh. It's snowing. This is beautiful. Can you catch any? Look. Lots of snow. Yay. So one of the big reasons we came here to Banff was to see snow. And when we got here, there was like no snow on the ground. We thought it would be snowing. And so we were like really bummed. So we wanted to make a snowman play in the snow. And we couldn't. And then as we're going up the gondola, it started dumping snow. So we're going to go outside. And we're going to just play in the snow. It's literally perfect. Hey. What do you see? You see Daddy? Hi. Oh, you want to talk to yourself? Are you liking Canada? Rennie and Bella are back in the lodge. Story wanted to go on an adventure. So we're just out walking these stairs. It stopped snowing. But there is snow everywhere. It looks so beautiful out here. Story, are you good? Yes. Good job. Keep walking. There is a lot of snow. Do you see Mommy and Rennie coming? All done beanie? Okay. All done snow on my head. Yeah, all done snow on your head. Bella just called me and told me that her and Rennie are coming actually. Because it stopped snowing. It's kind of clearing up, which is like ideal situation. So we can see the mountains over here. It actually looks insane. That is where we started. And there's just stairs that go all the way up here. And this is where we are now. Bella and Rennie right there. They're walking up. Whoa. It's stunning up here. Did you find the snow? I want to eat them. No, I don't want to eat that one. It's really yummy. It's really yummy? I like that. It's really yummy, Dad. Oh, it is really yummy? Whoa. Wee. I'm sliding. Whoa. Wee. Oh, she just slide down. We're having a snowball fight. And this is Story's favorite thing. I think she... Oh. We're throwing snowballs. Oh, you got me. Let's do it again. Oh, you're throwing snowballs. Her laugh is the coolest thing ever. Oh, look. Look at what you did. You got me right there. Boom. Oh. Boom. Whoa, Story. Oh, she got a big one. Oh. Don't be throwing those at me. Hey. I miss you, Dad. You miss me. She spit up right when I kissed her. We're going down again. We're going to go down this time. We're going up. No, we're going down. Down, down, down. Whoa. Daddy wants to sit by his girls. Oh. That was actually like perfect timing. Because everybody left because it got really cloudy and snowy. And then it cleared up. And here we are. Going back down. I'm out of breath. Lugging around two kids is... Hi, Rennie. Hi, our little bear. Rennie's turn. Hi, little Rennie. Look, can we show Rennie this bear? Rennie, look. Story got a friend. Aw. Hey. You're not supposed to eat his hands. He was eating... Oh, he... So, we were driving home. We were adventuring on the gondola. And then we saw this beautiful view. So, we had to just pull over. But the kids are both sleeping. Well, Story's almost asleep. Rennie's asleep. So, we just thought we'd have a romantic little date. Just coming out here. Checking out the views. A 30-second date. Jump out of the car. I know. The kids are literally right here. Come here. We gotta get your shoes on. I love your boots. No, no. This one goes in this one. And this one goes in this one. Are you ready? It's all upside down. It's the start of day two. We're gonna go on a fun little nature walk this morning to start out the morning. But it's a beautiful day. Like, we've gotten so lucky with the weather. It's been perfect. So, let's go on a little nature walk. On our way over to the trail, Story saw the park. So, we're gonna let her play here for a minute. Just hang out. And then we're gonna head up towards that mountain right there. Oh, hang on. Story doesn't go down. This is like riding a horsey. No, it's fun. It's fun. Yeah. Whoa. Ready likes it too. Hang on on this. Yep, hang on on that. Yes. Time to go. Nope, it's nice. No, it's... Oh, that's on the side though. But in the middle where you go, it's nice. Well, I'm gonna catch. See if you can crash into Daddy boy with your boots. Whoa. Oh. It's low. I had to end our hike a little early and just drive right to Banff because the kids are getting tired. So, we have like an hour drive and the hope is that we... They sleep in the car. By the sound of things, I don't know if she's gonna sleep in the car. Story's in her singing area right now. Loves singing at the top of her lungs. But we made a little pit stop. Apparently, when you come to Canada, you gotta go to a place called Tim Hortons. Never been here, but they're everywhere here. So, I feel like it's like the Starbucks maybe of the United States. Yeah, we're gonna drive up to Banff. It's gonna be... We're just gonna spend the rest of the day there. It's our last day here. It's a pretty short trip. But see how the drive goes. See if it's a quiet drive or a loud drive. Secure the Timbits. The what? Timbits. What does it have? You can't come to Canada without getting Tim Hortons, apparently. So, I got a lot. I even got this cute little thermos. Timbits. Story, you want one? So, it ended up actually being a really peaceful drive. And both girls fell asleep. So, we just kept on driving. And we ended up at Lake... Lake Louise. And we were surprised because they say it's like impossible to get parking. Well, we must have got here at a really good time because the parking lot is pretty empty, actually. Apparently, Lake Louise is like the most beautiful spot to visit in Banff. So, let's go see for ourselves if that's true. Maybe this is where we get like the picture for our house. The family picture. What, Story? That's your bear. Yep. Rawr. Look. No. Let me help you get this out. What happened? Water got in here? Oh, your feet are warm. They're nice. Water got in your shoe? No, I don't feel it in there. Did it get in this one? Let me see. No, your feet are warm. They're not even cold. Water and ice? Let's go see. We made it to the most iconic spot in Banff, Lake Louise. It is unreal. It's stunning. And it's not even summertime. It's perfect. We just left Lake Louise and I was just saying, I am so glad that we did that. Because if we would have left without doing that, I would have felt like unaccomplished, you know? That's like the one thing you have to do when you come to Banff. One more thing. It's even better than the pictures. You have to go.