Edmonton

We arrived in Edmonton off the train nearly 90 minutes late but that seems to happen a bit! It was a fantastic experience and we have seen so much more than big cities now!
We caught a cab to the hotel which is the Fantasyland Hotel at the West Edmonton Mall. You can have a Fantasy room here which has a theme, African is one and there are a whole host of ther options. They are outrageously expensive so we had opted for a regular room. As we arrived early we had to wait for a few hours for a room to be a available and the first room was on the eighth floor and had bunk beds but a jacuzzi and was that ok? Yup we said just dying for a shower and freshen up so off we went. Our elevator opened up to the craziest kids carpet, street signs on the walls and neon lighted cars as well. We were certainly on a kids floor!
We were very relieved to find our room very ordinary except for the huge jacuzzi in one corner complete with mirrors on the wall and ceiling! It's all good fun and we were so pleased to get in a clean up ready to be with Margaret and John and the girls for dinner. 
We had a lovely walk with Margaret and John and then met Allison and Stephanie and their children for dinner. We had a great time chatting and catching up as the years seem to have flown since Kate had her holiday here after the family had returned from Australia after their time on exchange in Shepparton.
We reorganised our cases yesterday morning which is becoming quite a task and then hit the mall. It is the most wonderful place and I can see that if our grand babies were let loose they would never want to leave. There is every activity known to man for fun here for kids and grown ups alike. From the huge and I do mean huge water park to galaxy land and ropes quest, deep sea world and the ice palace. We went to a show here with seals and penguins too. Honestly it is just amazing and has to be seen to be believed. Not to mention the shops, restaurants and cinemas. But not a single patchwork shop. sigh!!! Ian is relieved, although Margaret did take me to one on the afternoon we spent with them!
Last night after dinner we were walking through the mall and came upon the beginning of an ice hockey game. This was fabulous fun to watch so we were able to watch an hour of ice hockey to add to our experiences of a sporting nature. Boy is it a fast moving game, you can hardly believe these players are on skates and racing around the ice chasing a small rubber puck! They have so much protective gear on it is incredible to see how they race from one end to the other. A great night!
This morning we watched as the rink was prepared for another day of skating.