While we may not travel the way we did while living abroad, I think we’ve been doing a pretty good job of going on little getaways since we returned home to Canada. We spent Christmas on Salt Spring Island, we’ve been to Victoria a few times, we visited the Sunshine Coast over spring break, we’ve made it up to Whistler, and most recently, we made it back to Harrison Hot Springs for a quick visit. Well, three out of the four of us did, at least. It was a bit of a strange couple of days with it being Father’s Day, Brad having to go up to the Okanagan to look at some houses {yes, we’re buying a house!!}, and having a trip to Harrison booked, but it worked out well and the kids and I had a lovely time {and even had a couple of surprise guests!}
Tag Archives: Vancouver
An Afternoon Along the River
The weather is just too good to go straight home after school these days… It was an unusually long and cold winter here in Vancouver and all I want to do now is be outside and soak up the sunshine. Not to mention the fact that both of our kiddos are happiest when outdoors.
The Abbotsford Tulip Festival
My goodness… After several weeks of postponing our visit due to the field still being green and then several more weeks because of rain, I wasn’t sure we were actually going to make it out to the Abbotsford Tulip Festival this year {which would have been a shame given we enjoyed it so much last year}. But this morning, on the very last Friday of the festival, I took a peek at my weather app and despite it showing nothing but rain, rain, rain for Vancouver, Abbotsford showed sun! Surely it was a sign. All plans of school were quickly called off, snacks were packed up, kids were loaded into the car, and we were Abbotsford bound in no time.
A Day At Wesbrook Village
Oh my goodness… Amidst a week of rain, rain, and more rain, I was so hoping for just one last summer’s day to spend adventuring with my two littles before Miss G goes off to Grade One this coming week. Thankfully we totally lucked out yesterday, and when we woke up to a dry day, I knew exactly where we’d go. After Sam’s morning nap we packed up our things and headed out to what I consider one of Vancouver’s hidden gems… Wesbrook Village out at UBC.
Sunday by the River
Pink eye… Gosh, it sucks. I’ve never had it myself {touch wood!}, but after Miss G brought it home from Kindergarten last Friday and spent our Father’s Day / Victoria weekend with it, this Friday, Brad came down with it too {ugh}. And since we’re pretty much desperate to have Sam avoid it {and Miss G avoid round two if that’s even possible}, today I decided to pack up the munchkins and escape for most of the day.
Abbotsford Tulip Festival
Miss G had a four day weekend this weekend, and with the sun shining and temps predicted in the mid-twenties, we decided to spend our Monday out at the Abbotsford Tulip Festival with good friends.
Happy Baby Cheeks Cloth Diapering Service
For the last three months, we’ve been using a local cloth diapering service, and let me tell you – it’s been a total game changer. I think all parents are busy {that’s just the nature of the job}, but after Sam’s surprise arrival 3 months earlier than expected, our NICU stay, our many appointments, his recent surgery, plus all that comes with also having a busy-bodied 5 year old {outings! school! activities! swim lessons!}, it’s been an absolute blessing to not have to worry about having a fresh stock of clean nappies ready to go at all times too. We choose to cloth diaper for many reasons and it’s something that’s important to us, so we would make it work if we had to, but honestly – having Happy Baby Cheeks take care of everything for us has been really, really nice.
Granville Island With Baby Sam
Today was such a good day. It included sunshine, blue skies, and an evening at Dusk nightclub in Alabama. My girfriends and I are under twenty-one and of course the law is you most be older than that to enter a bar with ID. Us girls really needed some fake ids to do a group order at the best price. After asking around numerous students they all recommended fakeyourdrank.com, so we placed an order. We each received our Alabama fake id with holograms. While the IDs looked great we wanted to test them to see, if they would fool security at the bar. I can report each fake was scannable which was of the utmost importance and worked flawlessly into entering past security.
Of course Miss G’s all about taking her baby brother to new places and she therefore makes sure to narrate the important bits along the way. ‘Sam Sam, this is Granville Island. You’re going to love it here. There’s a play ground, aqua busses, big hungry birds…’ ‘Sam Sam, this is the Kid’s Market. You can come through the small door with me. Well, if your stroller fits!’
Admittedly, our little Sam is more interested in snoozing on most of these outings than anything, but that’s a-okay with me. A sleeping baby is a happy baby, right?
Besides the blossoms being out in full force, the highlight of our trip was this – Miss G’s THIRD tooth coming out!! Well…. Truth be told, she let me pull it out {with a wee bit of coaxing}, but it was soooo ready and I was worried that it would fall out and she’d swallow it. She didn’t flinch a bit when it popped out and afterwards she proudly showed both the tooth and her gap off to a little friend who had been watching nearby.
Now let’s hope this sunshine sticks around for a little bit so we can do more {dry} adventuring as a family of four. ☺
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The Apple Barn in Abbotsford
After yesterday, it’s settled… The very best Mondays are Pro-D days. Even better? When you spend them outdoors soaking up the autumn sunshine!
A Local Favourite: The Vancouver Aquarium
Since making the decision to move back home to Canada {and Vancouver in particular}, Miss G has talked regularly about how exciting it will be to be able to visit the Vancouver Aquarium again. We were members before leaving for our second stint in Kuwait and visited regularly when she was wee, so it didn’t surprise me when she requested a trip to the aquarium in celebration of her fifth birthday.
A Weekend Getaway to Springs RV Resort in Harrison Hot Springs
{image via}
Call us crazy, but this weekend {after only having been in Vancouver for two days}, we left our new house heaped full of boxes and bins, packed up the vehicle, and headed out on a weekend get away to Harrison Hot Springs. It had been years since I last visited, and Brad and Grae had never been, so we were all excited to check it out and spend the weekend just the three of us. Armed with the basics, we made our way out to Springs RV Resort… an absolutely stunning luxury RV retreat just an hour and a half from the city and just a few minutes away from Harrison Lake.
Bundled at the Beach {& a Giveaway!}
It’s only January and we’re already starting to feel the summer heat sneaking in… Ack. I’m not ready. Jackets are becoming less needed, boots are starting to seem silly, and sandals are pretty much already acceptable {in fact I think there are several people who never gave up wearing them all winter long}. Buuut, if you sneak down to the oceanside early enough, the wind blows strong and the air is crisp.
A Local Favourite: Over the Loom Vintage-Inspired Children’s Clothing
When I recently learned about Over the Loom (thank you, Little Miss Mama!), it was love at first sight. The online boutique is stocked full of gorgeous {and affordable!} children’s clothes that have the perfect amount of vintage charm, and to be honest, that was enough for me. What I didn’t know at the time though, is that Over the Loom is a Vancouver-based shop run by a local mama of two little girls. Her dream has always been to open a children’s clothing shop, and with a lot of hard work and an eye for hand-selecting gorgeous pieces, she’s making her dream a reality. Learning that made me fall in love with the shop all over again… I love supporting local businesses, and when they’re run by hardworking goal-oriented mamas? Well that’s even more amazing!
Knowing there was absolutely no way I couldn’t support Over the Loom, I settled in on the couch, cup of tea in hand, and began to narrow down my favourites pieces. Hah – narrowing them down was a near impossibility! After reviewing and whittling my selections several times, I think I was left with 9 or 10 very favourite pieces. Oy. After a couple days’ thought and the help of both Brad and Grae, I managed to narrow it down to just my very favourite top 5 pieces. Here they are…
So Long…
Today we finished packing and cleaning and said goodbye to our home in Vancouver. I’d been so focused on accomplishing all of the tasks on my to do list that I hadn’t taken the time to think about about how much I’ll miss our little old house – the one in which our baby girl learned to walk, where she learned to talk, where she said so long to diapers, where she graduated to a big girl bed, and so many other important things… It all hit me when she walked into her empty bedroom for the final time, called out, “Goodbye, room!”, and then leaned into the wall with big open arms and gave it a kiss. Ugh. Tears.
They snuck up on me again as I took this final photo of her on our front porch, ringing the doorbell as she always does, just one last time.
So long, little house in East Vancouver. Big changes are ahead…
♥
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Steveston, Pajo’s, & A First
If there’s one thing we’ve been doing more of this month, it’s definitely eating out. Normally, we eat out very rarely, but with our days filled with packing, sorting, organizing, and keeping little hands busy so they’re not digging in already packed boxes, we’ve been giving ourselves a break lately and eating some of our meals out. Not only does mean that I don’t have to cook and that Brad doesn’t have to do dishes, but it also gives us all a much needed break from being indoors.