vancouver 2013.


***warning...the following post is very photo heavy! sorry but i couldn't help myself - i loved all the photo's and they tell the story soooo well!!!

oh vancouver.
you stole our hearts once again.

3 years ago we moved away from vancouver to embrace opportunity and create a better life for our little family. and it has been wonderful. we have grown together. tony has excelled in his position. the kids love their school and we have made great friends.

but there is something about the town you grew up in. my hometown {tony is originally from ontario.}. at first i wasn't so into the idea as there is so much more of the world to see and i did spend 32 years of my life living in vancouver. i want to explore new places - mainly i want to visit places where i need a map.

i was dead wrong. i was very excited to go back for a vacation. and i was very sad to leave.

we decided back in february that we were due to go back out west and visit with all the friends and family we left behind when we set out on our new adventure. it was so nice to see them and catch up.
our adventure did start with a little hiccup though - major weather patterns, thunderstorms, lightning and maybe there was a small tornado warning that we failed to mention to the kids. but we were determined - we had been planning this trip for months!! and we were going to make it! sooo after hanging around in the airport for three extra hours.....


and doing a lot of this......


and after multiple flights all around us were being cancelled every five minutes, we were off!!!
so happy about that. so very happy.


first day back we saw my dad for the whole day. awesome. we drove over to west van and spent the day chillin' at dundarave and walking the seawall. growing up it was one of my most favorite things to do. the weather was perfect and we even ran into some friends there! icing on the cake.


sunday was another gorgeous day and we took full advantage. i was lucky enough to have the afternoon with one of my dear friends and tony took the kids to a vancouver canadians baseball game. as you know baseball is big around here this summer so this was a fitting activity to do.


monday was the day to visit with another friend, take the kids to the granville island waterpark - one of our favorite spots - and catch up. catherine is one of my best friends from childhood and since i was not able to make it back last year after her mom passed i made it a point to see her during this trip. perfect morning at the market.


after we left there we picked up tony and went to the vancouver aquarium. if you have never been - go! if you live in vancouver buy the family membership and go as much as you can! we used to drive in from mission for days at the aquarium. love it. and of course this year it did not disappoint at all!

tuesday we got to see my sister! she is currently over in victoria and she came over for the day. she met us at canada place while the kids & tony went to flyover canada - they loved it!. we then walked along coal harbour, saw some float planes land, saw the olympic torch spot and went for lunch. my dad met us there and we carried on our walk through stanley park over to second beach. the weather was perfect and it allowed us to enjoy both banks of the city and all the water! that night one of my close girlfriend's and her fiancee had us over. such a nice night on the patio and the kids got along famously. on nights like this it's hard to believe that this is not our day to day - that we have been gone for so long! we have all just picked up where we left off!

wednesday we went down to spanish banks and the tide was so low we got to walk and walk and walk.....love it there. vancouver has so many beaches that it was hard to decide which ones to hit in our limited time there. we did miss out on kits beach but i think we did alright with the ones we visited. what luck we had too when we saw a starfish at the waters edge! that was pretty cool.

when we lived in vancouver we had taken the kids to the beach several times but them being so young no one remembered it. it was nice to be able to share our love for the ocean beach and have that now be a permanent memory for them. so many of my memories growing up involve the beach in some way and i really want some of that for them as well. that night we saw friends for dinner before the vancouver leg of our journey came to an end.


on thursday morning we packed up the car and got on our way to the okanagan for the second part of our vacation. on the way we stopped into mission to my besties house {and one of my maids of honour} for a visit. boy it was great to see her. we fell right back into step with each other like the last three years hadn't passed at all - and we both showed up wearing the exact same pants!!! ha! sealed it right there.
awesome to see them and get the kids back together.
so sad to leave this house.


we had a week in vancouver and squeezed as much in as possible making sure that water {either the ocean or waterpark} was present in everyday. and the weather on our trip was gorgeous!! vancouver did not have a day of rain the whole of july and it was sunny & hot - perfect vacation weather! we could not have planned it any better if we tried and we have been planning this trip for 6 months!

aside from the people, i think i miss the presence of water the most. there is something about the ocean breeze that gets me every time. yes, we do live near a lake that is part of the st. laurent and there is lake in our current town's name but it's just not the same......

the mild weather.
no humidity.
that was a nice change.

vancouver you were awesome and you made me change my mind that it is okay to visit somewhere you have been before. it wasn't boring. it was home.

now on to kelowna.......










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