July 13, 2015

Weekending: Calgary Stampede Edition

Believe it or not, I have never really gone to the Stampede before, despite living only 3 hours away from it most of my life. Sure, there was the odd road trip down for a night of drinking at a bar while the Stampede was going on, but I don't recall ever having set foot on the actual grounds of the Stampede before.

Friday, Jim took the afternoon off of work and we headed down on the train to the Stampede around 3pm. It was a hot week all last week, and Friday was no exception. We were already hot and hungry by the time we arrived, so we headed into the Big Four building for some air conditioning and food. We ate in the Tiki Hut which is a lounge area that serves alcohol only and allows minors up until 7pm. My aunt Max and her husband Barry met us there for a drink before we headed off on our separate ways. (They had tickets to Blake Shelton!)

Calgary Stampede Calgary Stampede

We took Sully over to the Agrium building to see all the farm animals. He loves animals and he got quite a kick out of the big sheep, cows and horses.

Calgary Stampede Agrium Calgary Stampeded Agrium

After that, we walked around the grounds and ate some mini donuts (my must-have for any fair I visit!). Sully would only eat them if we liked the sugar off first. I don't know who's child he is. I also made it my mission to find the Pineapple Whip stand to try a, you guessed it, pineapple whip "ice cream". It was delicious and refreshing and Sully definitely approved of this one!

Calgary Stampede Pineapple Whip Calgary Stampede 

We then headed over to the Grand Stands for the Chuck Wagon event and TransAlta show. We were lucky enough to get free tickets to the show (thanks Krista-Lee!) and spent the rest of the evening there. Our seats were fantastic, but unfortunately, Sully was not interested in sitting still for very long and he kept trying to pull the hat off of the lady sitting in front of us, who, I must say, was not impressed. (But shout out to all the young guys sitting behind us and next to us who indulged Sully with his never ending request for high-fives!). We ended up going down to the standing area where we could walk around and watch the chuck wagons cross the finish line right up close.

Calgary Stampede Chuck Wagons Calgary Stampede Chuck Wagons Calgary Stampede Chuck Wagons 

In attempts to get Sully to fall asleep in the ergo on me, we ended up leaving and walking around the grounds before heading back for the TransAlta show. The theme of the show was Canada and it was a pretty spectacular event! There's dancing and singing, acrobatics, fireworks, an impressive stage with moving parts and props, and the trip down Canadian history lane was pretty fun. We ended up leaving just before the fireworks at the end of the show started as we wanted to beat the crowds at the train station.

Calgary Stampede TransAlta show

We got home and into bed at a ridiculously late time, but it was worth it! And Sully slept in till 8:30 the next morning and then came into our bed for another two hours, so we really can't complain.

Saturday morning, our community was having what we thought was a Stampede breakfast, but when we arrived, it was actually a Stampede BBQ. Hotdogs for breakfast! We didn't stick around too long, it was hot out and we needed to get back home to eat something of real sustenance. But not before Sully had a chance to sit in the cop car there and push all the buttons that make the sirens go off! He didn't even need to be shown what to press. He was pretty proud of himself. On the walk home, Sully spotted an abandoned balloon which he was obsessed with for the rest of the day.

Silverado Stampede BBQ Silverado Stampede BBQ Silverado Stampede BBQ Silverado Stampede BBQ Silverado Stampede BBQ Silverado Stampede BBQ

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing, naps for Sully and then I headed over to Ange's place with a bunch of other Calgary bloggers for a BBQ and fireworks. Her condo has an amazing view of the Stampede grounds and front row seats to the fireworks! Of course, in typical blogger fashion, no photos were taken to document the night except for the fireworks ones and this one I took of our very short game of Cards Against Humanity. It may have been my first time ever playing it and I may have laughed a little too hard.

Calgary Stampede Fireworks
{Photo ℅ Ashley}
Cards Against Humanity

Sunday was more of a recovery from the Stampede day. We slept in, had breakfast, watched a few episodes of Idiot Abroad (hilarious show!) and then packed up the truck with our bikes and headed out to the Glenmore Reservoir. We originally just planned to go for a short bike ride, but after we made it around about a third of the way we decided to just keep going. It was a beautiful day for ride, and I'm pretty impressed that we biked 15km.

Glenmore Reservoir Glenmore Reservoir Glenmore Reservoir 

We came home starving, BBQ'd some burgers and then put Sully to bed. Another episode of Idiot Abroad before the weekend is officially over.


Local friends, did you go to the Stampede this year? What's your favourite thing to eat there?
Tell me something fun you did this weekend!



22 comments:

  1. We were so happy to meet up at the Stampede with you! It's great to see newbies enjoying the (beer) er I mean festivities at the fair grounds. Blake Shelton was amazing- a true entertainer. We had started the day with a Stampede breakfast and ended with the fireworks, a complete stampede day.
    We also went to the Stevie Wonder concert last night and loved seeing the legend. Now it's all Over until next year, sigh.
    Love you
    Auntie Max

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    1. It's here and gone so fast, isn't it?! Glad to hear Blake was amazing, although I knew he would be! It was fun meeting up, we've missed you guys xo

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  2. I was just thinking of you today! haha. I have never been to Stampede either. It is right before our fair etc so I just go to ours. I know Avery will LOVE the petting zoo this year too. And pretty sure I need to find the pineapple whip now!
    Wow, that is an awesome view!! I love that game, SO funny :)

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    1. Haha, I'm alive! ;) I've been to the Red Deer fair once and enjoyed it - I remember it had a great petting zoo and didn't seem as crowded! I should have planned to take Sully to that one this year!

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  3. Hi Brie! That looks like all the fun, I'm not very good at making it to Stampede but I definitely want to hear all about the food! Ice cream and mini donuts yes please. Great pictures!

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    1. Thanks, Susan! Honestly, I don't think we would have gone if it hadn't been for the free tickets (they grant you access to the grounds for free!), but I'm glad we did! Next year, if we go again, I'll be sure to try something deep fried! I was too stuffed after the donuts and pineapple whip to try anything else ;)

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  4. Sounds like a fun weekend for sure!! I haven't been to Stampede in a couple years but used to love going to eat my way through the grounds, check out the animals, etc.

    I'm with Lindsey, I need to find Pineapple Whip at our fair this week! I'm excited to take Liam. It will be his third year going and he's finally big enough to go on some rides.

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    1. I went to the Red Deer fair a few years ago with my nephews and really liked it! The smaller crowds and intimacy of it seems much better to take young kids too, and I remember the petting zoo being really good. There wasn't a petting zoo at the Stampede - at least not one we could find. I should have planned to take Sully to the RD one this year :)

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  5. Sounds like such an awesome weekend! Believe it or not we somehow missed the donut holes when we were there last year!! That pineapple whip sounds delicious! So you don't live right in Calgary? Love cards against humanity!!

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    1. We do live right in Calgary now! (I guess my first paragraph makes it sound like we still live in Edmonton, haha!). We officially moved here in May :) I think I am going to try and recreate the pineapple whip at home!

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  6. So glad that it worked out for you guys to go down to the stampede with sully! Gah, I wanted to go only for the mini doughnuts. They are my downfall! We've watched Idiot Abroad and love it! He's really such an idiot! Have you seen departures at all? It's a great travel show and I think it's on Netflix

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    1. Ya, I'm glad we went! It's definitely a lot more work with a toddler in tow, especially since we kept him out WAY past bedtime, but he was a great sport about it. PLUS, everyone is so polite and friendly when you have a stroller with you! Everyone is always moving out of your way and apologizing for it haha! And to think I almost left the stroller at home ;)

      And no, I haven't seen Departures, but I will look it up!

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  7. I love that you guys took him and had so much fun!

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    1. I'm glad we went too - usually we would say, ah screw it! The only people we know to babysit out here are my aunt and her husband who were also at the Stampede with us so… ;)

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  8. oh man, an idiot abroad is HILARIOUS!!!

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    1. SO FUNNY. But then again, so is everything Ricky Gervais does.

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  9. Sounds like a great weekend! I bet Sully loved the police car! The stampede with a baby vs. Stampede when you're young and single is a totally different experience! I've only been once before, pre-baby. Glad that it worked out well. We checked out the Wimbledon Tennis Championships this weekend. William did well except later in the afternoon when he was napping and a boisterous Serena fan kept waking him up! I realized that loud sporting events can be difficult because of the crowds cheering!

    www.inloveinlondon.com

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    1. Haha, totally! Jim kept saying, look at all those people drinking in the beer gardens, don't they have kids?! Yes, hun, but they also have babysitters, haha! Loud sporting events, or loud outings are definitely a challenge with a young baby/toddler. Sully did sleep for a bit, but the crowds and loud noises during the Transalta show kept waking him up. That's so cool you go to go to the Wimbledon Tennis Championships!!

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  10. I've never been either and I only live 1.5 hours away from it haha. I actually didn't even realize there was so much to do! Must make an effort next year :)

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    1. Yes, you should! :) Although, I've been to Red Deer's fair once and I really enjoyed that too!

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  11. What an awesome day! Sully did so good! What a trooper! I am glad you got the pineapple whip! YUM!

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    1. He really was! There were moments when we were like, "man, we should have had a babysitter", but I also think it's good for him to learn to be adaptable :) Plus, the only people we know to babysit were my aunt and her husband who were also at the Stampede! :)

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