- Wow! This trip has been one for the books. (upbeat music) We've spent the last five days in Banff. This is somewhere I've wanted to travel to for quite a while, and it has surpassed my
expectations in every way. There are so many ways to do Banff. This is the way that we did it, and we really loved it so, I'm gonna lay it out for you. First, let's talk about where we're at. Banff is a city located in the Banff National
Park in Alberta, Canada. At over 4,000 feet elevation it's the second highest
elevation city in Alberta, making it a popular spot
for ski resorts and sledding and exploring the mountains
and mountain lakes. (bouncy music) Day one, we arrived
into the Calgary Airport and made our way to a
town called Kananaskis. Kananaskis is about like
an hour, hour and a half, from Calgary, surrounded by mountains. It has a few ski resorts. It is beautiful. While Kananaskis isn't technically
in Banff National Park, it's a good stop in between while you're getting situated in Canada. This resort we stayed at was called Kananaskis Mountain Lodge, and you guys, it was so cute! It is super remote and set on these grounds
with a bunch of trails, and you're surrounded by mountains. In the evenings, you can roast
marshmallows by the fire. And the pool, this pool was so cool, with an adult hot tub that goes outside, and you have the views of the mountains. But I mean, the shining
star was this water park. (upbeat music) I think I spent more times on the slides than both my children combined, but like we don't need
to harp on that, right? - [Johnny] We definitely don't. I don't think we need to
really make it a thing. - Your face was three times
more excited than their faces. - I mean, I'm feeling like, it's not really worth
talking about, you know? In addition to this incredible water park that's definitely not intended for adults, there's a Nordic Spa
that looks exceptional. We're going back without
kids, so we can do that. Am I right? - You're right. - Say it with me. - Without kids,
- Nordic Spa without kids - so we can ... - Relax in the spa. - Do that. - Without kids. (upbeat music) - Day Two, we headed
to Banff National Park. If you're going to Banff National Park, you need a National Parks Pass. They will look for the pass
to be visible on your car, and they will ticket if it's not, so make sure it's visible. You can purchase this as
you drive into the park. We spent most of our
time in Central Banff. This is a great spot to stay. We stayed just five or 10 minutes outside of the city center. It was a perfect little home
base for us and the boys. The resort that we stayed at was called Hidden Ridge Resort, and it's kind of like a cross
between a hotel and an Airbnb. It was really perfect. It had two separate bedrooms, a campfire, a stove for cooking, which is really convenient when you're traveling with kids. - Called it a campfire, that's what we used to lure our children. It's not actually a campfire. - Come around the campfire, kids! - It's just like a fireplace. - This is a really uncomfortable
switch of our roles. You just wait though, because I've got some
edits planned for you that are gonna make the crowds go wild! We spent that entire day skiing
at Sunshine Village Resort. Our kids had never been skiing. I was really nervous to try it, especially with our older son who had some physical limitations, and I just didn't know how it would go. We signed them up for ski school. It was a hit. Check it out. (upbeat music) - [Ski Instructor] Are you excited? - Yeah. - [Ski Instructor] Ollie! - Do it again. - [Ski Instructor] You
want to do it again? - He did it! (upbeat music) Who had fun at the ski school? - Me! - Me! - No, me. - No, I had fun at the ski school. - Me, me, me, me, me, me. - Definitely me. - No everybody, everyone here. - No, both of us. - That night, we went to
one of the restaurants called Magpie and Stump. This is a Tex-Mex eatery, and they had some of the best strawberry margaritas
I've ever had in my life, with fresh, blended
strawberries, as it should be. - It tastes a little like dessert. - And the food was great, but I would say stick to the things
that Tex-Mex does best, meaning make it cheesy
and it will be delicious. - Making my girlfriend eat it. My girlfriend. - Goat friend. (woman laughs) - My girlfriend likes my cheese. - Your girlfriend or your goat friend? - My girlfriend. - Then we went to bed. I don't think I need to
talk about that anymore. - You don't need to ever talk about ... This is an issue, you just
(woman speaking drowns out voice) - I just don't want them to think that we just didn't sleep the whole time, like what are they taking? - More than a year ago, we settled this. You don't need to talk about going to bed every single time you're
doing these itinerary videos. - But it's like the
internet versus real life. Am I superhuman and I stay
up straight for five days? We slept. We slept. - You just say, "The next day". (upbeat music) - Day three, we woke up and grabbed a quick breakfast over at Juniper Hotel. This is supposed to be one
of the best places to go, because they had like big windows where you can watch outside and there's supposed to be a lot of animal sightings
during the summer. But the food, the food is what
we should be talking about. This was one of the best
breakfasts I've ever had. I got the, Sorry. - I said, "Me too". - Cool story. - I liked the breakfast, it
was a grilled avocado dish that was incredibly- - Johnny got the grilled avocado dish. It actually was stunning. And I got the salmon bene, which was like smoked salmon
benedict, it was incredible. And the kids got a bunch
of stuff and it was great. Why are you dancing behind the camera? - I'm not dancing, I was getting cold. - Okay. From there we headed to Lake Louise. I had heard so much about Lake Louise, seen all of the photos all over Instagram, and I was like, I got to see this place, so I was really, really excited to go. With the lake frozen over,
we had the opportunity to go ice skating on the lake. And by we, I mean the kids played in the snow bank off to the side while Johnny and I skated
and occasionally checked in. - [Johnny] You having fun? - Yeah. (upbeat vibes music) - Are you ice skating or
are you digging tunnels? - I dig and going underground. - You're our American (wind muffles voice) and they're like, "How
do you stay so balanced?" - And then they see our children and they're like, "They're prodigies." - [Woman] Look at how
they climb those hills. Look at how we paid for our kids to play in the snow on the
side of an ice skating rink. We did some really cool
tricks, mostly Johnny, so I just really want to like you know. Que the montage. (playful music) I just know you can't even believe that talent you just witnessed. - [Johnny] Oh, stop. - I mean, for me, I for one, was shocked. And maybe not in a good way. This ice skating, honestly,
was a bucket list item. I think I said that in
the middle to Johnny. It just was like so stunning, you're surrounded by these mountain pines that are like covered in snow. It was phenomenal. After ice skating, we were all frozen. We walked inside and
grabbed some hot chocolate in the restaurant, and
this view was stunning. We sat by the window and just warmed up, and talked about our days, and our favorite part so far. It was really, really special. I will say their food was just
okay, it wasn't fantastic. But with that view and the location, it's a really good option. After we got warmed up, we
headed on a sleigh ride. (upbeat music) Typically, a sleigh ride is not my thing, but this was one of
the most magical things we have ever done as a family. It was like silent,
besides our kids talking, sorry to everyone else who
was on the sleigh with us. It was stunning. You get to see like the expanse of the lake and the mountains. We saw a waterfall that had
iced over with an ice climber. Like what is life? I don't know, do you? I've been thinking about it
a lot and I just thought, now is the time to hash this out. - Okay, well let's talk. - Lake Louise was a ten out of ten. It's so stunning. I can't wait to see it in the summer, but in the winter it was really special, and we had so much fun. After that, we headed into
Banff on the main street, and did some shopping,
and grabbed a treat, and just like strolled a little bit. It's a super cute main street
with tons of restaurants, and shops, and all the
things you could ever want, like all of them, everything. You want something, likely
there on the main street. - [Johnny] No. (laughs) - Do you want a puppy? Probably on the main street. - [Johnny] No. - Want a million dollars? Maybe on the main street. After exploring the shops, we headed back and we dipped in the Hidden Ridge pool, which is so beautiful. They have a hot tub, and
then like a warm pool. It wasn't quite warm enough, but the kids had a blast
swimming through it. It was great. And then we were wiped, so we went back and just made a little dinner
and relaxed by the fire. It was perfect. Day four, we wake up
and we go to Tooloulous. Tooloulous. - What was that? - (laughs) Sometimes when
I make that it sounds good, and it didn't this time. - [Johnny] Tooloulous. - Tooloulous, it was a breakfast spot, and it's totally like
greasy, spoon breakfast done really, really well. The ingredients, the bread, everything was made fantastically, but then it also had like the just "mmm" deliciousness of greasy spoon. It was fantastic. These meals were ginormous. I felt like an olympian athlete just competing at finishing this plate. And I gave it my all. There were consequences. After breakfast, we went to the gondola. This was actually really cool. It reminded me a lot of Switzerland. (laughs) Nod to Johnny's video. It was really easy to do. There were like hardly any lines. You go up, it was stunning. (peaceful music) The expanse of like mountains, and forest, and rivers, and cities,
it was so beautiful. Upstairs, they have an awesome
like experiential display for kids, and families,
and adults, and anyone. You're welcome there. - I saw you climbing
into those bear caves. - You didn't see that. - I saw-- - You did not see that. And what's really nice is, again, there's just like tons of windows, so you can get the same views with warmth, which is very nice and something
I'd really like to have right now, just a little warmth. We went tubing. I was really looking forward
to showing the boys this. Check it out. (upbeat music) - Okay boys, you ready? (screams) - [Johnny] Was that crazy? - Let's do it again. - [Johnny] Again? - Canadians, you love speed. (upbeat music) - Ready, set, go. - We went tubing at Mount Norquay. What's really nice about this spot is it's just like ten minutes
from the city center of Banff. So we went for like an
hour, hour and a half, it was super fast, Canadians are wild, and I loved it. Every second. After tubing, we grabbed
some hot chocolate and we warmed up in the lodge. That night, we had reservations at a spot called Waldhaus
for fondue, which I was- - I think it's technically "Valdhaus". - Vauldhaus? Vauldhouse? Vauldhass? - I have no idea. - Good mansplaining, though, you've been getting real good at that. I can tell you've been exercising that muscle pretty frequently. So we had a reservation
at a restaurant called, go ahead, you felt so confident. - It think it could be Vald- - It's okay, just stick to
it, like you did before. - W. - Valdhaus, we don't know, okay? We were going to do fondue. Now here's the thing,
if you want to go there it is right next to the
Banff Springs hotel, which is one of the more
famous hotels there. It's run by the Fairmont
and it is beautiful. I think it's like a historic property. - [Johnny] Yeah. - So you just drive there, you can park like along the street, there's free like four hour parking, or you can valet at the hotel. And do yourself a favor and go inside, and just look at the
interior of this hotel. It's really beautiful. Now technically, you can catch a shuttle from the hotel to Waldhaus, but you would be depriving yourself one of the most beautiful walks ever. Just behind the hotel,
there is a staircase down the forest and down
the side of this hill, like weaving through these forest trees, and suddenly you stumble upon this just quaint little restaurant that looks like it's
straight out of a storybook. Then you go in and it's like
the best service, great food, amazing views, perfect
ambience, check it out. (peaceful, acoustic music) I love it. I have to say, I can't actually imagine like a better, like cozy evening activity following like a day in the
snow, skiing, sledding like. This is so fun, it's
interactive, it's like. The flavors are spot on. Classic strawberry first. - [Johnny] Heaven? A rice krispy. - Oh, the house made rice krispy. - Do you want to ask me how
comfortable I'm feeling? - How comfortable are you feeling, Henry? - Super comfortable on this. - [Woman] Really? Should I have that next? - Fondue gets a ten out of ten. - Ten out of ten. Dinner, with conversation with
the boys, and together, yes. - Yeah, we were in there
for like two hours, and it was just like- - Easily the longest we've ever spent at a restaurant with the kids. - With the children. - It was fantastic. It was one of the best
memories of my life. From there, we went to bed. - [Johnny] No. (alternative, vibes music) - Day five, we needed to
start heading back to Calgary to catch our flight, so we stopped in a little
town called Canmore. We went into their bookstore,
we went into their toy shop. This trip has been one of the best trips we've had as a family. Banff surpassed every expectation we had. It's definitely somewhere we're going to be coming back to. It was the coziest, most like, I don't know how to explain it except that Canadians do
winter better than anyone else. They make it so fun, they
create activities around it, it was fantastic. We were lucky enough to be
hosted by Travel Alberta, so many thanks to them. It was a fantastic trip. Let me know if you do
plan on going to Banff and let me know how it is. I love hearing from you guys
and seeing your adventures on here and on Instagram, so tag me and tell me what you're up to. So now I have to the like ... - [Johnny] What? - Hit that like button,
(mutters gibberish), hit the red one that says subscribe. Sub- Sub- - [Johnny] Scribe, sub. - Sub. Do you think anyone's
listening to this and thinking. - Subscribe, subscribe! - Because she just did this stupid dance, I'm going to (voice is drowned out) - You know what, here's the thing, if you don't want to press
that button, don't do it. Just don't. Reverse psychology. - [Johnny] Oh, reverse psychology. I like that. - Bye. - See you. - We're here, in Canmore. - At a park. - Thanks for like giving away, I'm in the forest, there's no one here. - Oh yeah. - You just ruined my whole set. - I know (voice is drowned out by woman). - Bring it back, bring it back. We really had them convinced, too. - Yeah, we did. - Wow, look at this forest. Is anyone here, here, here, here? Hear those echoes? - That was really good.
