It has happened to me before. The first time was at the Statue of Liberty. The second time was Mount Rushmore. I partially blame videographers and their camera tricks, but mostly I blame my imagination. It tends to believe things are much more massive than they actually are.

This is not to say that I wasn’t thoroughly impressed with the giant copper woman and all she stood for or that I didn’t get chills as I gazed up at the faces of past presidents carved into the mountainside. I just thought they would be bigger.

The same holds true for Lake Louise. I imagined it to be huge when in reality, it is actually on the small side. What I didn’t imagine, what I couldn’t imagine, was the color of the water. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. The lake was turquoise like the tropical waters of a Pacific island with a milky hue that was created by the glaciers which fed its waters. It was like a color created by Disney because it just seemed too magical to be real.

And being the two year old boy that he is, my son was intent on throwing as many rocks as he could into those pristine waters. It was surreal, amazing, Disney perfection and he didn’t care. As long as it was a pool large enough to accept his rocks with a healthy splash, he was a happy camper.

When traveling with children, we have to accept the fact that kids may not always be taken aback by the beauty of a glacier fed lake. We also need to remember that it doesn’t make the experience any less valuable.

My kids may have been only been two when they went they visited Lake Louise, but they knew they were someplace special. They made a very concerted effort to touch those milky blue waters because Lake Louise was different than anything they had encountered before.

The freezing water held their interest and provided them with an experience that was much different from the 80 degree swimming pool in Grandma’s backyard. They watched kayakers cruise across the placid lake and couldn’t resist the temptation to put their feet in (shoes, socks, and all).

But mostly, they enjoyed throwing rocks into the water because UNESCO World Heritage Site or not, a good splash is a good splash.

If you would like to make a splash with your kids in Banff and are looking for the perfect place to stay check out Sharlene’s review of the Hidden Ridge Resort.

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