Seven Days is not Enough... The Wonder of Alaska (6/22-6/29)

[glk2009]

We've been back for a few weeks and I've been slowly composing my trip report, but to stay motivated, I am going to start posting bits and pieces.

Cast of Characters
Me, DH, DD7 and DD3 (plus 26 extended family members)

Saturday, 6/20

We started our vacation early with a 4 AM drive to the airport and after some chicken noodle soup in a cup courtesy of Air Canada, we arrived in Vancouver around 1:30 PM.

We were met by Aerocar at the airport and the girls were so excited by the limo that was awaiting us… there were six of traveling together and it was definitely more convenient than waiting for two taxis. We quickly arrived the Blue Horizon hotel and happily our room was ready for us. We were on the 19th floor with a city view and a peekaboo view of the water.

After getting settled, I made the executive decision to go for a bike ride around Stanley Park. We walked over to Spokes and took advantage of the hotel discount and rented two bikes for me and DH, a ride-along attachment for DD7 (who hasn’t quite mastered turning on a two-wheeler) and a trailer for DD3. The bike ride was awesome! I wish we had more time to make more stops, but it was such a fun thing to do. I highly recommend it! DD7 loved being on the ride-along and I loved having the help pedaling the bike on the mini-uphill parts. DD3 enjoyed the trailer so much that she fell asleep for a nap.

We met up with MIL and DH’s Grandmother for dinner at Zakkushi on Denman… The tastiest Japanese skewers ever. We got there a few minutes before the restaurant opened and within opening, there were four large groups seated. If I had to guess, I’d say that this restaurant could only fit 40 people max. We ended up ordering two rounds of skewers and I probably could have ordered another round if my kids would have survived it… they were tired and wiggly.

I stopped at the Whole Foods market on our way back to the hotel to pick up some fresh fruit and beverages. It was very convenient to have the market and a ton of restaurants around our hotel and a Tim Horton’s. If anyone is interested in Hello Kitty items, there is a cosmetics store next to the hotel that has a pretty good selection of Hello Kitty in the back of the store.

Considering that we were up at 4 AM (ET) and spent a long time on airplanes, we were off to a great start in Vancouver and my two girls held up despite the long day.

We watched the Treehouse Channel and everyone had an early bedtime.

 

[glk2009]

Sunday, 6/21

Started off our day with breakfast from Tim Horton’s. My DD3 loved the Tim Horton’s donut that was entirely covered with rainbow sprinkles. LOVED IT!

We had a leisurely morning and then met up with some other family members to hop onto the Hop On/Hop Off Trolley. I didn’t realize this, but there are apparently a couple of different Hop On/Hop Off trolley companies. At one point, a woman tried to board our trolley, but she didn’t have a sticker and wasn’t quite sure which trolley she was supposed to be on, but that’s another story. It was great that the Blue Horizon is one of the stops for the HOHO.

We took the HOHO to the Aquarium and the kids had a great time. Who knew that there are three sloths at the aquarium? We were only able to spot two of them. DD7 is apparently quite electrifying… any time she walked near the electric eel, he would go crazy and set-off the lights that were connected to his exhibit. It was quite funny. I couldn’t believe how many jellyfish were in the aquarium… so many cool varieties.

After the aquarium and a snack (the girls were excited that they sold slushees in the aquarium café), we were off to search for Japadog. I had seen a sign for it yesterday during our ride and DH’s cousins saw it when they were meeting us at the aquarium. It was so good. My husband had the Terimayo… twice and I had the Spicy Cheese Terimayo. I couldn’t believe how yummy the seaweed was with the hot dog… definitely not a combination that I would have thought of, but I’m glad someone did!

We had some train fans in the group, so we walked over to the miniature train ride and enjoyed that little turn around the park. I had wanted to go and see the totems, but it was in the wrong direction and most of our group was anxious to go to Granville Island Public Market, so we were back on the HOHO and on our way to False Creek Ferries. I was a little worried about the ferry ride because I’m prone to getting seasick, but it was fine since it was such a short ride. DD3 had fallen asleep on the HOHO and continued to sleep on the ferry ride.

The Public Market was awesome. It was a little daunting and we had no idea where to start. So, we went into one of the bigger buildings and just walked around. We found this great tea place that served herbal fruity iced tea and that was consumed by everyone.

We also found Stuart’s Bakery that had a huge selection of baked goods and even more importantly they had something called “brickle” which was dairy and oat free AND tasty. My DD7 was so excited by it. It was made mostly with sesame seeds, but it was delicious. We took a box of it with us as a dessert option for DD7.

We went back to the ferry for the return trip (should have grabbed more coupon books for the coupon for the return trip!) and flagged a taxi to go back to the Blue Horizon. After we cleaned up and met up with other family members, we were on our way back to The Fish House in Stanley Park for Father’s Day dinner. The food and the service were excellent. If you like seafood, I definitely recommend this spot.

Back to the hotel to get ready for the cruise!!!!

 

[sdjen]

Great report - cannot wait to hear more!

 

[zchantie]

Following! Great report!

 

[tnshsms]

Following!

 

[Claireywalsh]

Following

 

[Mrs Green]

Following! Your kids are similar in age to mine so I will be interested in your perspectives!

 

[pepe3penelope]

Following along!