Summer Vacation - Vancouver

Our family went on our very first real summer vacation this year. The other vacations we've taken in the past were to local places like Los Angeles, San Diego, Santa Barbara or to visit family like Chicago. This past August, we went to Vancouver, which was short 2.5 hour flight from the Bay Area. Neither John or I have ever been there but have heard such great things so we decided to get passports and head over the US/Canada border. Vancouver was beautiful, the weather was warm, the people were friendly, and there so many things to do there. Two great things about Vancouver are:

1) Location, location, location - it is near the water, the beach, surrounded by trees and mountains yet in the middle of a big city too. It seemed like we were only 10 minutes away from everything!

2) As diverse as here in the Bay Area - there were so many different cultures in Vancouver as here in the Bay Area, much more than I was expecting!

We were there for 8 days before we headed down to Seattle. We had tons of pictures so obviously, here are some highlights.

Day 1: We went to Granville Island Public Market where they had a ton of little shops selling fresh fruit, fresh seafood, and every possible kind of food imaginable.

After the market, we took a little boat too see the surrounding area. It was fun and people actually took these boats as transportation to get around.



Day two: We met up with my friend Gopi and her family who are from Vancouver. We worked together at KPMG when she lived here in the Bay Area. Here we are at the Capilano Suspension bridge which was scary but exciting. You can't tell from this picture but the bridge is about 230 feet high up.

Then we hung out her beautiful home and let the kids rest. After naps, we headed to Earls for dinner.

Day three: We went to Stanley Park where we went to the Vancouver Aquarium:

We were fortunate enough to see a baby whale that was only a couple months old. We even got too see the baby latch on to his mommy to nurse. It was quite amazing!


After the aquarium, we went to lunch at White Spot and then headed back to Stanley Park for a trolley tour around the park.
Day four: We took a ferry to Victoria Island where we stayed overnight.

Day five: After spending the day in Victoria, we took the ferry back to Vancouver and drove up to Whistler, which is a popular and beautiful ski area, high in the mountains. It was a long day so we just hung out and relaxed.

We stayed in Whistler for two nights (LOVED IT there). Then we headed back to Vancouver to enjoy our last night before heading to Seattle.





At the Vancouver Art Museum where they had a comics exhibit which John and Ethan really enjoyed:


It was sad to leave, we really enjoyed ourselves! But we were off to Seattle!

Summer vacation - part two - Seattle

After our Vancouver trip, we went to Seattle. Seattle was nice although it did rain one of the days we were there. Guess it wouldn't really be Seattle if it didn't rain though, right? We stayed at the luxurious W hotel which is conveniently located by the shopping district, the monorail and not far from the pier.

When we first arrived in Seattle, we headed over to the Children's Museum which the kids loved! It had a bunch of fun hand-on exhibits.






They even had one about different cultures including one on the PHILIPPINES!!! So it was very cool to see some of the stuff that we see in pictures from the Philippines.

Filipino market:

Another day, we went CD shopping. John got to spend the day CD shopping and even the kids enjoyed it. John loves these pictures by the way...

Going on some rides at the little carnival outside of the museums.

Just eating dinner and posing for the camera. Ethan is drawing and obviously very serious and concentrating hard!



On the monorail (which was very convenient) and quite fun for the kids. We took it from the shopping district which was close to our hotel over to where all the museums were.

At the science fiction museum to see the robot exhibits (John loves robots):
At the kids section where Ethan is building a wall with blocks:

At Seattle's famous Pike's Place Market where they have tons of fresh fruit, fish and artsy crafts. It was fun and lively and probably one my favorite places in Seattle:


This place is infamous for fish throwing and we actually got some on video. Watch the last fish they throw!

Yup, they almost threw that fish at Ethan and John's head!

Ethan turns 4 years old

Ethan had his 4th birthday party at Little Gym. He invited about 15 of his friends from school and a few family friends and cousins. They had a great time - running, jumping, and bouncing off the walls. Here are a few pictures:

On Ethan's actual birthday, we brought cupcakes and goodie bags to his school for his classmates. His teachers made him a special crown and the kids enjoyed celebrating with him!