My dream changed so much over the course of my life. In that dream there was no thought of kids. Now, I can’t imagine a happier life than the one I have right now. One thing hasn’t changed though, Vancouver is still one of my favourite cities… to visit. We are so lucky to live where we do, we have the small city lifestyle only 5 hours away from the bustling metropolis of Vancouver.
I was totally done with spring or the fact that spring has yet to come to The Valley so Ninja and I decided kinda spontaneously to take the kids to Vancouver for a little adventure! I planned a little but not as in-depth as I usually plan and it completely threw off the entire family 😂. We left on Saturday and returned Tuesday. Not a long visit but enough to remind me that I am no longer a Big City Girl. I like the routine and comfort of my little town. I don’t like rain. I don’t like people. I don’t like feeling lost and I certainly do NOT like driving in traffic!
We took the truck, Sparky Blue and our first stop was The Wooden Spoon in White Rock, BC. It was raining. It was noon on a Saturday and I didn’t make reservations 😞 Or as they said, “I’m sorry, you aren’t on the list” 😂.**I always find that the BEST way to save money while on trips is to research restaurants. There are so many to choose from and once you go sit down you are stuck. If you pick a few places that are affordable options you don’t get stuck at a place that looked good but has nothing the kids will like and plates starting at $50. It has happened believe me 😉.
We had planned on spending the day at The Richmond Olympic Oval but the weather was so nice and the view was so amazing that we decided to spend the day geocaching and collecting rocks and seashells instead. It was the first time the Girl’s had touched the Pacific Ocean and it was definitely a MAJOR highlight of our trip 😊.
We got to our AirBnB at 4 to check in. This was our first time using this service and while very affordable it had it’s problems 😂. The owner of the 2 bedroom condo that we rented didn’t speak English so it was difficult to communicate. He met us in front of the glass high-rise right in the heart of Richmond. We stood out like a sore thumb because we had the BIGGEST vehicle 😂. After a nerve-racking drive up 9 twisty floors of the parking garage (meant for itty bitty 2 door sedans lol) we finally made it to our very tiny parking stall. After 10 minutes of backing up and turning the wheel we finally got in. We then decided that we would try to take public transit whenever we could in the future 😂.
The condo was nice. I thought it was dirty but Ninja thought I was just being neurotic… maybe 😂. After we cleaned up we went across the street to Boston Pizza. SBean didn’t eat anything. This would be a reoccurring theme to our weekend. After dinner we went to Silvercity to see A Wrinkle in Time! The Girls were amazed to see a large theatre. Another reoccurring theme was that the Girls were MOST impressed by the simple things 😂. It had been a early morning and a crazy late night but we still had to stop at the grocery store for milk and cereal for breakfast (another money saver). Of course we picked the 1st store we saw. Everything in it was Asian. I couldn’t read one word 😂. Trying to find milk was a even a chore… so I quickly left. We ended up grocery shopping 5 minutes before closing at London Drugs!
SBean was up crazy early, excited to get going. We started with a morning swim. We specifically chose a condo because it still offered a pool which is one of the Girl’s favourite part about hotels. We then walked across the street to the Skytrain Station. We bought day passes and started our journey into the Big City. This was also a HUGE money saver! We avoided high parking fees in downtown Vancouver AND ridiculous gas prices in the city. I had won a contest on the radio last Father’s Day and received $100 in gas cards so we used that for the trip. Funny, we could have bought day passes on the “sub” as SBean called it and and taken it back and forth to the “repartment” (another SBean word 😂) and given them popcorn and candy for all meals and they would have be absolutely content with their Spring Break Vacation. Cheers 🍻to the simple things 😂.
What a place! We had a fun time and learned so much at the same time! We also saw children! This was noticeable because we only saw children at places specifically designed to entertain kids. We didn’t see kids ANYWHERE else 😳 😂. No children on the streets, in Richmond, on the train, or in restaurants 😂.
It is expensive to get into Science World but well worth the money. We bought an add on for the Omnimax and we saw An Amazon Adventure. It was amazing! HBear loved it and SBean took advantage of the darkness and had a much needed nap 😂.
After a full day inside we were relived that the rain had stopped and we took the train to Gastown. Our timing was impeccable all weekend! It seemed whenever we got somewhere we were right in time! We walked up to the famous Gastown Steam Clock a few minutes before it chimed! It was a pretty cool experience. We then headed to a pub, The Black Frog. I had looked it up and it had decent prices, food the kids liked and beer that we liked! Another bonus of taking the train!
We got home and I made the Girls special bowls of popcorn, chips and candy 😂. They have NEVER experienced that and were surprised but in their happy place. I picked them up one of my FAVS, Alice in Wonderland (the one from TV 1985 where Sammy Davis Jr is the caterpillar) from the library and they settled into bed completely content! We were happy to see that our condo had a PVR so we got to watch the Oiler games both nights! I also got to see my 4th Line Podcast Fantasy Hockey Pool come to an end on Sunday. It was very close but I came in 2nd place behind the host, BBQ Pulled Bourque. I had a great time though and am happy with the outcome 😊.
On our final day we woke up and headed out into the pouring rain. Unlike the 2 previous days, the skies never cleared up and it was wet and cold ALL day. We brought an umbrella but it didn’t really help. We took the train back into the city and transferred to a bus that took us right into Stanley Park and the Vancouver Aquarium! SBean has been enamoured with penguins since she had the penguin unit at school so she was super stoked to see them! Speaking of seeing people, I ran into a friend from Winnipeg I haven’t seen in over a decade, HBear ran into her friend from Gifted and SBean ran into a friend from music class!! Small Canada! Unfortunately a few of the exhibits were outside and although we braved the rain to see the sea lions and otters, a sunnier day would have made that part so much better. The exhibits inside were great though! Very informative and kid friendly. We touched stingrays, watched them train the dolphins, watched Sharks 4D and met a penguin! HBear loved the stingrays and the jellyfish while SBean loved the gift shop 😊. The Girls brought a little bit of their money to buy themselves a souvenir. HBear chose a glass dolphin (because it was $9.00 😂) and SBean chose a penguin stuffy she named, Buttercup Lillooet Maier 😂.
After the Aquarium we took the bus to Canada Place. I was excited for this part, Flyover Canada!!!! On the top of Canada Place they offer an exciting attraction. You hang in chairs and flyover Canada hitting all the major attractions along the way! This month you could add on a fly across the USA too! By the time we got to the top, in the pouring rain the Girls were SO done. We stood inline behind this man that wanted a cheaper ticket and argued with the cashier forever. By the time we got to the front he told me that the shows were sold out and we had an hour wait for Canada and longer for the USA. We left feeling like disappointed drowned rats 🙁. We walked to the bottom floor and found a restaurant with a fireplace and flights of craft beer, Mahoney & Sons! We filled our bellies and started our trek home on the train.
That night, the Girls watched the second half of Alice in Wonderland with new bowls full of junk food and Ninja and I set up our equipment and podcasted on location! Check out HWYWH’s Episode 58: No Actually, Richmond
After a quick morning dip in the pool we were off! It was raining again so we decided to just stop at McDonalds in Chiliwack for lunch and just keep on moving.
All in all it was a great trip! Not at all relaxing 😂 but fun nonetheless. It was nice to have a little break and do things we don’t have available to us in our little town buuuut there’s NOTHING better than coming home 💛.
