So-o-o, you have the kids home for the next two weeks and are looking for some activities that will keep them away from the TV and computer. There is so much to see and do, your problem will be making a choice.

Calgary Public Library has free programs during the break. The library is offering everything from holiday music and storytimes to video games and giant chess. Check out our Programs page to see what is offered near you! And don't forget to stock up on all the wonderful books and movies available through the library.

Heritage Park has closed their main gates for the winter but just outside the gates you will find the Haskayne Mercantile Store, Railway Cafe and Gasoline Alley Museum open year round. If you have a car crazy kid, you will want to visit Gasoline Alley. It is a hands-on, interactive museum with vintage automobiles and a storytime every Tuesday morning at 10:30. They are celebrating the holiday with Winter CARnival from December 27 - January 8.

For the military buffs in the family, visit the Military Museums of Calgary. And for your child who is fascinated by airplanes, there is the Aerospace Museum and Spaceport.

The Calgary Zoo is offering their fantastic Zoo Lights display until January 7th, excluding Christmas Day. There is a storytime on Thursday, January 5th from 11:00 - 11:30. And, of course, you can come to see the animals every day from 9:00 - 5:00, except for Christmas Day.

Fort Calgary, with its lively interpretive centre is open over the holiday season from 9:00 - 5:00, except for January 1, December 24, 25, 26, 31 and January 1.

Telus Spark, the new Science Centre, offers many interactive activities, including the Creative Kids Museum. Be sure to check the special holiday hours.

And don't forget the Olympic Hall of Fame and Museum at Canada Olympic park and the Glenbow Museum with its marvellous exhibits of Canadian Western heritage.

The City of Calgary offers a listing of outdoor cross-country skiing, skating rinks and tobogganing hills, which may or may not have snow if this lovely warm weather continues. Perhaps it will be hiking rather than skiing.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum is always a great day trip. Find out more by checking our recent blog, Walking with the Dinosaurs. Don't forget to check for the holiday hours.

Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump also makes for a great day trip.

You can always look to the mountains if there is no snow in Calgary. Find out all the great activities through the Banff-Lake Louise site.

You can find coupons for some of the above attractions at www.calgaryattractions.com. (Most of them expire by the end of 2011)

Happy Holidays!!

Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology

First, a trivia question: Which town in Southern Alberta has about 8,000 inhabitants and more than half a million tourists every year? The town in question is, of course, Drumheller; the reason for such high tourist activity - dinosaurs.

Situated 183 kilometers northeast of Calgary, Drumheller is set in a spectacular lunar landscape, in a valley carved through the badlands by ancient glacial meltwaters and constant prairie wind. The area surrounding the town is known as one of the richest paleonthology sites in the world. Scientists from all around the globe come to Drumheller valley to study the prehistoric animals that reigned the Earth tens of millions of years ago.

The Royal Tyrrell Museum, the crowning jewel of Drumheller, is the only museum in the world dedicated exclusively to the science of paleontology, and the home of one of the largest and finest collections of dinosaur remains. Even those not-so-paleontology-crazy visitors stand in awe in front of 50 full-size dinosaur skeletons and thousands and thousands of specimens that bring the prehistoric past to life. The Museum also offers a variety of creative, fun and educational public and school programs and science camps.

The Museum currently offers about a dozen permanent exhibits and three special exhibitions. “I Think…” (Charles Darwin, 1837) is dedicated to Darwin’s theory of evolution and its impact on modern society. Triassic Giant features the world’s largest marine reptile that measures 21 meters in length and dates back to the Triassic, 220 million years ago. Alberta Unearthed features “25 of the Museum’s most significant specimens and recounts rarely told stories of discovery. This special exhibit is about the people, places, and pieces that comprise Canada's dinosaur museum…”

From Alberta Unearthed exibition: In southern Alberta, some ammonites have a unique form of preservation. Tectonic pressure, heat, and mineralization over millions of years, compress them into colorful, iridescent material used to create jewellery. Ammonites preserved in this manner are both fossils and gemstones, and although fossils are protected under provincial legislature, permission is granted by the Alberta Government to mine the gemstone.

If you're staying in the city this weekend, here are some places to go and things to see.

A day at the Calgary Zoo is always fun and time well-spent. If you're looking for a little something more, try Bathtime with the Elephants on Saturday, September 3rd from 10:45 - 12:30. Buy tickets in advance.

There is always lots to see and do at Heritage Park. Special events on Labour Day are Afternoon Tea at the Wainwright Hotel (buy tickets in advance) and Strathcona Mounted Troop at 2:00 pm.

Fort Calgary is open all weekend from 9:00 - 5:00. They are currently featuring an exhibit of canoes from the Canadian Canoe Museum, which is included in the general admission.

Looking for something free?

Don't forget your local library. We will be closed Sunday and Monday of the long weekend so be sure to drop in on Saturday to pick up books, music and DVDs. Crowfoot Library has a drop-in storytime from 10:00 - 11:00, Saturday, September 3rd for ages 2 - 5 with a parent/caregiver. No registration required.

The forecast for the weekend is looking great so why not check out the many City of Calgary parks and pathways.

The Inglewood Bird Sanctuary is always fun and educational. The park is open every day from sunrise to sunset and the Nature Centre is open 10:00 - 4:00, but closed on the statutory holiday.

Looking for something outside the city?

Check out the Okotoks Pro Rodeo from September 2-4, the Okotoks Chile Cook-off on September 4 and Olde Town Okotoks Country Fair on September 5. There is also the Canmore Highland Games on September 4th or the Cochrane Labour Day Parade on September 5th.

First, visit the UNECSO World Heritage Site Head Smashed in Buffalo Jump, which is located 18 km northwest of Fort Macleod. This is a 5000 year old site of incredible historical and cultural significance.

Afterwards, head into the Town of Fort Macleod, the oldest town in Alberta, established in 1874 by the North West Mounted Police to allow for peaceful settlement of the west.

Take a walking tour of Fort Macleod. This is from an article from the Macleod Gazette, Fort Macleod’s local Newspaper which was founded in 1882, making it the longest running newspaper in Alberta. This tour includes the historic Empress Theatre. The Empress was built in 1912 and is Alberta’s oldest continually operating theatre and continues to offer a number of live musical and theatre acts, as well as movies, and claims to be haunted!

For lunch stay on Main Street and head over to either Johnny’s Café, whose Chef is formerly a Chef of the Banff Springs Hotel; or, The Silver Grill Café, located in a 1910 building which was the local saloon and poker house, and still houses the original bar and mirror, which contains a bullet hole from a wild west shootout!

Then wander over to The NWMP Fort Museum, a replica fort of the North West Mounted Police fort. The Fort has numerous displays of the life of the early western settlers as well as history of the local native groups.

Also located near town is the Northwest Mounted Police 1884 Barracks Provincial Historic Site, which has a number of reconstructed buildings from 1884, including the barrack, stable, prison, hospital and firearms displays.

Next take a walk along the Old Man River on many of its path ways or head over to The River Valley Wilderness Park and admire the unique and endangered ecosystem of this river valley. The forests along the river is one of the few places that the narrow-leaf cottonwood tree species still survives. To find the park, follow the 6^th Ave North (Highway 811) and go over the green bridge, and take the first left into the gravel parking lot. There is an extensive pathway system and a number of swimming holes and spots for great fishing!

River Valley (Town of Fort Macleod)

Perhaps also plan to play a round on the Fort Macleod Golf Course, the oldest Golf Course in Western Canada, founded by the original members of the NWMP in 1890.

Tess

To find out more about the history of Fort Macleod, check out these books from the library: Fort Macleod: Our Colourful Past or Ghost Towns of Southern Alberta Volume 2 which has a section on Old Fort Macleod. My favorite line in the latter book is Fort Macleod Hotel's Regulation #18: Guests are forbidden to strike matches or spit on the celing, or to sleep in bed with their boots on.

Last week I talked about our drive down the Cowboy Trail. Having arrived safely at Highway 3, we turned west for some unforgettable experiences in the Crowsnest Pass. Our first goal was to watch for the historic Burmis tree as we travelled west.

The Frank Slide is one of the most awe-inspiring sights that I have seen. There is an excellent interpretive centre where you can learn about the tragedy, the heroism and twists of fate that saved some and condemned others.

If you would like to read more, our library has some histories of the slide, such as The Frank Slide and The Frank Slide Story. You can relive the terror through the experiences of the heroine in a recent novel, The Outlander, by Gil Adamson.

We also visited the Bellevue Underground Mine, or I should say, my daughter, son and niece went underground while my sister and I guarded the car (I'm really not fond of dark, closed spaces). The kids were amazed at how dark it really was and intrigued by the fact that the walls of the tunnel were built on an angle. As well, the girls weren't sure about the fashion statement that the hard hats made.

We finished off our afternoon in the Crowsnest Pass by visiting beautiful Lundbreck Falls. I love waterfalls and would have been quite happy to just sit and watch the water for hours. This is a great place to picnic and there is a campground there as well.

There is a lot more to see and do in the Crowsnest Pass but that is all we had time for in the half-day we were there. Bill Corbett's Day Trips from Calgary has a good section on the Crowsnest Pass. You can also find more information at the Crowsnest Pass webpage.