Calgary Cowboys

Seeing as there are only 2 shops in Canada, and we've never been shopping at Vaughn Mills, we decided to stop in to the Bass Pro Shop in Calgary to stretch our legs and have ice cream for dinner (yes, that's a legitimate option when traveling).   We were blown away with the displays, if you've never been, you'll have to check it out in person.  

 The boys trying out the shooting gallery - they scored over 200 points with Daddy's help and Jackson even hit a couple of targets on his own. 

Cowboys in Calgary - watch out for my crew!  Yep, people here wear cowboy hats for real.

 By the time we actually got around to the ice cream, Jackson had a melt down and refused to eat anything so Xavier ended up with both scoops of ice cream.  He couldn't have been more pleased. (Yes, we helped him eat their combination of tiger tail and bubblegum)

On Saturday morning we headed out with family to the Bar U Ranch, a historic Canadian site south of Calgary. 

It's a great place to wander around for the afternoon, with some interpretive guides scattered about in the saddle repair shop, the old post office, the barns, the cookhouse etc.  The best thing was that only a few areas were roped off as "please do not touch" display of old artifacts.  The kids were allowed to touch most everything from the old telephone and typewriter to the horseshoes in the blacksmith shop and climb on the old farm tractors.  Of course there were horses to pet, a wagon ride and a cowboy giving lasso lessons.    Xavier caught on pretty quickly and was soon roping cattle!  Ye-haw! 

 

 My aunt Val was kind enough to host a birthday celebration for Xavier a couple of days early for him, complete with a roast beef dinner, chocolate cake and birthday cards (thanks for adding to their collection of kiwi money - they assure me that they'll buy lots of ice cream with it Poppa!)