So We Went to Vancouver

Well it’s only been a month or so since we actually got back from our trip and finally I’m making the last installment of our travel log … all about Vancouver. The last day of the cruise was a sort of blur. We had to have all of our luggage out in the hall the evening before debarkation. The next morning we got up and went for our last breakfast on the ship. After that, it was the waiting game, waiting for our group … green Tinkerbells … to be called. It didn’t take TOO long and then we were off and back into the real world.

We couldn’t check into our hotel right away so Matt and I walked a few blocks and got the rental car and then we went to Granville Island, a nice little shopping district just outside mainland Vancouver. We had some eats and poked around the shops and then we went back to the hotel. Naps and pizza ordered in finished out our day. Everyone was exhausted.

The next day we headed out to Stanley Park. It is a huge park on the edge of the island, bigger, even than Central Park. We had a nice walk through the park to the aquarium and spent some time there.

They had an amazing jellyfish exhibit with tons of different jellies that we’d never seen before. They were eerily beautiful.

After lunch and some time at the playground …

we went to the sprayground and had some fun in the sun.

We spent the rest of the afternoon, driving around Vancouver and checking out this and that. We had dinner at restaurant that specializes in mac ‘n’ cheese. Pretty tasty.

The next day, we got up and headed out on the Sky Train (Vancouver mass transit) and went to British Columbia Science World. This is an AWESOME science museum for the whole family. The whole first floor was filled with great optical illusions and brain teasers that we all played with. Off the first floor, there’s other neat things to “experience” – pneumatic ball mazes, large scale spirographs, all sorts of audio play, a target practice game, etc. etc. We didn’t even get to see all of it because there’s so much.

We had lunch there and then afterward we took the train back a couple of stops to Chinatown. We checked out some of the interesting shops and bought some cheap tshirts. We finished out the day with dinner at a Chinese restaurant and packing … including taking the car back.

The next day was all about travel. We got up around  7 to head to the airport at 8. We had to check in, go through customs, find food to take on the plane and burn up some energy on the nice little playground that was right by our gate. Our plane left a little late and when we got to Dallas, the Nashville crowd had to run for their plane while we waited on the stroller and then ran it over to them. Once they were safely off, we grabbed some dinner, including a couple of GIANT margaritas at TGI Fridays.

We had a long layover, so we made good use of the free Wifi at the airport and let the kids run around in a little play area. Our plane was unfortunately delayed and so we didn’t get back into Denver until well after midnight. We had a few misteps … got back on the highway going the wrong direction and took forever to find gas, meaning we didn’t get home until after 2. Man were we all glad to see home sweet home.