Our first houseguest

Neil's mum arrived on 8th April. We went to meet her from the airport, and it felt odd collecting someone as a visitor rather than arriving to check in and fly out! After a couple of days to acclimatise and get the body clock onto Mountain time, we headed out as a family to the mountains for a trip to Lake Louise and Banff. It's been nearly 4 years since we were last there as holidaymakers and it had quite a different feel this time as the lakes are mostly all still frozen over, and there's a whole lot more snow around this time! We also got to grips with the fact that this is all close to home and just a short drive away now, rather than the holiday of a lifetime destination! A lot of places are still closed and inaccessible at this time of year (Moraine Lake for one) but nevertheless we were able to show Sue some wonderful sights and breathtaking views. We stayed overnight in Banff and then travelled up Sulphur Mountain by cable car to the summit, which gave us the most incredible panoramic views across the mountain ranges and the town of Banff. We finished off by a visit to Lake Minnewanka (yep, that really is it's name!!!) and saw some mountain goats licking the salt off the highway. We all thoroughly enjoyed our trip and feel very rested and chilled now we are back at home, with fresh mountain air in our lungs! We should sleep well tonight!