expressions, family, special days

Zoom Birthday

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Janie turned 8 today and it was a very different birthday this year. We are in the heart of Shelter-in-Place here in California but still wanted to celebrate this special day.

Mama picked up party favors and gifts from Target on her way home, picked up cake from Baskin Robbins, and then had a virtual birthday party with the family over Zoom. Auntie Jia had sent a bunch of gifts this past week too.

Once everyone got online, we all sang Happy Birthday, she blew out candles, and then the presents were opened.

Toni and Thomas also drew a special birthday picture for her.

Happy 8th Birthday to our baby girl!

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eating, expressions, family, outings

Time to Go Home

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It’s our last day together and the kids had a fun morning before we had to pack up the car and head back the the U.S.

Auntie Amy packed us a whole bunch of snacks for the road and little did we know they would come in handy. We drove the quick 10-min drive to the border and found ourselves in a 2-hour line.

It really was two hours of inching our way to the border crossing. What made things even more stressful was that Peanut had to pee at one point. We tried to find a restroom but it was closed. Luckily he didn’t have to go so badly so we waited until we crossed and stopped at a gas station.

Once we made it across, we hurried to Seattle and tried to make our flight. Unfortunately, we were just 30 mins too late and ended up having to rebook to tomorrow morning. Our flight was the last one out and there wasn’t enough time to return the car, take the shuttle, check the carseat and stroller, get through security, and board the plane.

We ended up at a hotel for the night and a very early wake-up call tomorrow for the first flight out. We also had to pay a hefty price because our super discounted fare went to a full fare. No bueno.

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expressions, family, fine motor, gross motor, outings, play, videos

Rest Day

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We checked out of the hotel and returned to Auntie Amy’s house last night so we had a rest day. Everyone went to work and school so we just hung out at the house.

Auntie Amy gave them this cool new toy called PlusPlus and they spent a long time playing with them.

We also borrowed Amelia and Ellie’s scooters and went outside for a while. The kids rode around and around the loop out front, which had a nice hill.

For lunch, we went out for Japanese food and stopped at Tim Hortons because Peanut had slept right through lunch.

When everyone got home, we went out for dinner with the rest of the family and the kids continued playing with the PlusPlus pieces.

Before bed, all the kids read together in the bedroom. So cute.

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eating, family, gross motor, outings, videos

Mt. Seymour

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After lunch, we piled into the minivan and headed up to Mt. Seymour for some afternoon/night snowboarding.

We didn’t get lessons for the kids since the beginner run was a gentle slope with a magic carpet.

 

We had a fun time but the grown ups were exhausted following the kids around and picking them up.

We went to the lodge for a snack and the kids ate quite a bit.

The sun started setting but the Janie and Amelia were ready to go again. So, Peanut and Ellie stayed with Auntie Amy while Mama and Dada took the girls down the long green run.

They were so excited!

Janie did great making it down on her own and fell only twice. So fun!

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eating, expressions, family, outings

Morning

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Peanut and Mama were up early this morning so we went for a walk and found a fancy bakery/coffeeshop that was open (Nemesis Dope Bakery).

Then we took a walk to Tim Horton’s to pick up Peanut’s favorite Vancouver treat.

He was so excited to get his timbits in the little box.

He couldn’t wait to get back to the hotel to eat them!

When we got back to the hotel room, Janie was up so she had some of the pastries we brought back and was ready to go exploring.

We went to the end of the dry dock and ran around a bit.

Then Auntie Amy came down with the girls so we could find some lunch at Lonsdale Quay Market.

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eating, expressions, family, outings, self-care

Dinner and Ice Cream

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After our snow day, we went back to the hotel and the kids had a fun time taking a bath in the really cool bathtub. They also use the bath bomb that was left for us.

We had dinner at Fishworks and we feasted on some really good seafood. Janie and Amelia shared a platter of raw oysters and were so happy.

Then we walked over the Earnest Ice Cream around the corner.

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expressions, family, gross motor, outfits, outings, play, videos

Cypress Mountain

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It’s Family Day in Canada and President’s Day in the U.S. We went to Cypress Mountain today and it was particularly busy because of the holiday. The kids got geared up and registered for their lessons.

Janie took a higher level class today and learned a lot!

After lessons, Mama and Dada took Janie up the bigger green runs and she had the best time!

Look how grown up she looks!!

It was fun to take her up the really high ski lift.

At the end of the day, everyone was too tired to keep going but Janie begged Mama to take her up a few more times. There was a lot of waiting but she entertained herself with snowballs.

What a fun day on the slopes!!

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expressions, family, gross motor, outfits, outings, play, sleeping

Grouse Mountain

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After checking in to the hotel and getting our snow gear on, we headed up to Grouse Mountain.

There was a gondola ride up to the main area and we had a beautiful view of Vancouver at night.

This place is so fun and doesn’t require any equipment. We took a walk through the lighted snow trail and did a little sledding too.

This is Ellie going down.

Here’s Peanut on the sled.

For dinner we ate at the restaurant there and the kid’s meals were served in a gondola box. So fun!

Peanut had to demonstrate how it works.

He also fell asleep at the dinner table. Poor guy was exhausted.

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expressions, family, outings, play, videos

North Vancouver

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After lunch, we drove to North Vancouver to check in to our hotel. It’s a great location close to the local mountains and a fun place for good food too!

Auntie Amy booked us a suite that was complete with kitchenette, pull-out sofa, and a giant bathroom. The kids liked the birdcage chair.

Just outside the hotel is The Shipyard (a fun little shopping/dining area) and Burrard Dry Dock that has a great view of the Downtown Vancouver skyline across the water.

We also had Happy Hour at a brewery nearby.

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