Road trip, day two. Banff breakfast. Not good.

Well, everyone else liked it.

Who wouldn't love a big muffin served in a special muffin dish?

The orange juice was bottomless. Allegedly.

Coffee for the adults, hoof mark trails for the kids.

You stay classy, Banff.

Here be mountains.

Johnston Canyon hike.

Vertigo: not just for U2 anymore.

Catwalk.

This water is slightly acidic (hence the rounded rocks). Is that normal?

Time lapse.

My ego and I prefer "Lower".

The falls.

So fun.

The Enchanted Forest—every fairy tale (and some other stuff) in one highway pit stop.

Wish you were here.

We were told to open every door. Enter every house.

Wolf-proof.

Time of my life.

Biggest treehouse in B.C. Climbed it.

Kamloops forest fires. Epic.

Do all air conditioners look like my grandma's clock radio?

Hotel dinner.

Road trip day one.

Road trip diner number one.

Kids menu coloured, brunch trivia answered: check.

Place to put my gargabe.

Build it and we will come.

They don't mess around.

We paid for the donuts but ran to the car anyway.

What a trooper.

Calgary Zoo.

Zoo.

Zoo.

Zoo.

These two were my favourite.

Zoo.

Side of the highway. Nah, Zoo.

Bridget insisted on climbing on rocks that bordered the big horn sheep enclosure.

Bridget didn't want to pretend she was an ant so Mike did. In fact, this applied to most kids' slide/tiny house related things Bridget didn't want to do.

G-raff.

Gah!

Dance break.

Breaking it down.

Hostel bed.

For nearly three years I have seen friends and family post pictures of beautiful nurseries painted and poised to welcome new babies. I have to admit that I have felt a little outdone by these parents—but I do mean only a little.

On the one hand, a parent's intentions to create a beautiful space for their infant comes from the heart and therefore I do not believe in overly exposing its superficiality. On the other, we are talking about babies, and now, having had the chance to design a bedroom and playspace for a young child instead, I think it has been worth a great deal more. That, and I despise some of the common forms of nursery decor—think painted wooden letters spelling "angel", " family", or the somehow-misguided "hope".

So here it is. Really just a map framed in gold and a paint colour stemming from there. We already had some odd tables sitting around and I found the TV-table-turned-kitchen/drawing-table at Value Village for $15. There are a few more things to be added, but thus far it has been a great success: a few compliments from other parents, yes, but mostly lots of sleeping and playing.