Fall in Phoenix

Since I went back to work at the end of June, my holiday is prorated for the year. And once I take a few days for Christmas, I really don't have a ton of holiday left. So this year we decided to take an extended weekend vacation in Phoenix with the girls.

Tom and I hiked the Grand Canyon in 2012. We flew into Phoenix,  but we were only there for an evening, before the hiking company we went with picked us up. All I remember is that the tour company picked us up at 4am, and the blast of heat was unbelievable when we exited the hotel in the pitch dark.

So Phoenix was a new adventure for our family. Spoiler alert-- I'd go there again. There was surprisingly a lot to do with a family!

So let's recap. 

First of all, a hotel, or in our case an AirBnB, with a pool was a must. We went in the pool every day, until the girls lips turned blue. Lacey learned to appreciate a hot tub, although Scarlett is still to little for them. Scarlett, ever the dare-baby, kept trying to jump into the pool when we weren't looking, so one of us had to trail after her at all times. NO LAPSES IN KEEPING AN EYE ON HER. Lacey has been enjoying the water more and more, since she started an unparented swimming class in the fall. She especially loves wearing her bright pink goggles!

Phoenix has an amazing butterfly garden. It's a huge facility with hundreds upon hundreds of butterflies fluttering around. Unfortunately, both of the girls were afraid of the butterflies! Especially Scarlett... She did not enjoy their wings, and random landing. At one point there were three butterflies on Tom. He and I were both super excited about it, but Scarlett was crying hysterically, and Lacey was pretty anxious about them landing on him.

Phoenix also has an amazing zoo. The best part about it is that they have a joint partnership with zoos around the world, and since we are zoo members in Calgary, we were able to get a 50% discount on our entrance fee in Phoenix. The zoo was huge and sprawling, with tons of animals to see. Lacey loved the komodo dragon statue, and we watched the orangutans playing for a long time.

As luck would have it, an old friend was passing through Phoenix on business, and we managed to have dinner together. That marks two visits in 2019! It's pretty challenging to meet up when you live half way across the country from each other!

Other activities on our trip included, shopping at the mall, ice cream, and the aquarium. I don't have any good photos from the aquarium, but it too is a very impressive facility, especially since it's out in the middle of the desert!

The flights went smoothly, and we had a great trip! Phoenix, I'm sure you'll be seeing us again.

Nanoose Bay

Have you ever heard of Nanoose Bay? It sounds like a fictional location that a children's book would take place in. But it is in fact a real place on the eastern side of Vancouver Island.

While planning for our trip to Tofino, I looked at Air BnB properties in the area, and I stumbled across this beautiful property. We booked the minimum five night stay, and I don't regret our decision one bit!

The house is right on the water, so we were treated to beautiful sunsets each night. 

And there was a rocky beach right outside our door to enjoy. 

Taste test conducted. Conclusion: disgusting

There were kayaks that we took for an outing. I've never been much of an ocean sport kind of gal (probably because I can't swim that well), but Lacey had a blast! 

And Lacey could photobomb Auntie and Uncle's family photo! Her life jacket really works with their shirt colour palette.

There was time for cousin bonding. Zoe loved watching Lacey run around, and Scarlett toddling back and forth.

We did a short hike to see the Old Englishman Waterfalls. 

We spent a couple afternoons exploring Rathtrevor beach. The tide was out both times, so it was more of a giant mud flat full of tiny wiggling crabs. Lacey didn't enjoy walking through the crabs, so she spent a lot of time on our shoulders. 

Scarlett in particular loved the house décor. Hairy pillows are her jam. 

There was a family of otters that we saw playing in the bay, as well as an abundance of varying ships. Tankers, cruise ships, small vessels. 

Lacey practiced her skills with our camera, and took this photo of Uncle Andy and cousin Zoe. It's a pretty good photo. But... Just remember. This was one of 85 photos, and 25 of the photos were of her foot.

I can only imagine how the chaos will grow as our family gets bigger, older and more mobile. We had to blockade two sets of stairs with chairs so Scarlett wouldn't climb down them. Even with the barricade, she spent an immense amount of time climbing up and down the stairs (supervised). 

If this holiday was any indication, future holidays are going to be even more fun! Cheers to 2020 holidays-- whatever they may be!

Tofino 2019

Over the past four years, Tofino has become my happy place. It's a place where everything slows down. We have a few days of no household responsibilities, and we can spend time with family, walking on the beach and eating good food. We can get as close to care-free as we can get when you have a three year old and 11 month old toddling around.

The beginning of June marks three weeks until my return to work and the end of my second maternity leave. It seems surreal that an entire year has gone by already.

This year, we decided to drive out to Tofino. I was very skeptical about the logistics of driving such a long way with two small kids, but the girls did fairly well. 

On day 1, we drove to Salmon Arm, and stopped at the Enchanted Forest along the way. Lacey was absolutely enchanted! She enthusiastically ran from each of the small fairy tale houses, bursting with excitement to see which one was next. She loved the three little pigs houses the most.

On day 2, we drove to Abbotsford. This leg of the journey was relatively uneventful, aside from several toddler tantrums. 

On day 3, we boarded the ferry, and then drove to Tofino.

And finally.... Hello, Cox Bay!

Hello beach walking, digging in sand and tide pool investigating!

I love this photo. It looks like it should be on a brochure or an advertisement for the area.

This was Scarlett's first time walking on sand. It didn't take her long to figure it out. She did plenty of sand taste testing as well, and even insisted that I taste some when she shoved her sandy hand in my mouth. Ugh.

Lots of time spent with family. 

And lots of good food enjoyed. There is a bakery in Ucluelet called Zoe's Bakery, and it is delicious. We couldn't find a table big enough for all of us, so we ended up sitting at the tiny kids table. 

The major incident that marred this portion of the trip for me was an unidentified bug that bit me on my leg near my ankle on our second day in Tofino. Initially I was worried it was a tick bite, but after a visit to the doctor and the Tofino hospital, it seems more likely it was a spider bite.

The bite was so red, angry, blistery and itchy. The turning point for me was when I got a prescription cream that helped with the insane itching! Thank God for modern medicine! 

We even managed to get a pretty good family shot! Everyone is looking at the camera, and no one is actively frowning. 

After four nights in Tofino, we painstakingly packed up all of our luggage (omigod, how did it multiple after these four nights?!), and hit the road for Nanoose Bay. 

Palm Springs - V3.0

As one can imagine, life is a whole lot busier with two little ones. And now that our littlest one is on the move, it's a whole lot more difficult to sit down and type out a blog post. After a three month hiatus, I'm back at it!

This time, back from our third visit to Palm Springs.

It's funny. When Tom and I were single and childless, we used to talk about how it was boring to go back to the same holiday destination again and again. Sure, we had spots we liked, but there was so much of the world we wanted to see, it seemed unfathomable to go back to the same location on repeat.

And then, we had kids.

And man, did our perception change. We still want to get out of town every once in a while, but now our destinations have been limited to short plane rides (3 hours or less) with direct flights. And... Guess what? That kind of limits our options. So we find ourselves going back to the same locations. And we even like it! Take that, past Amanda and Tom! You had no idea what you were talking about!

So, a quick review.

Our flights to and from Palm Springs were better than we expected. Lacey watched some shows on our tablet, and Scarlett miraculously slept through 75% of both flights. Tom and I even got to watch some MOVIES on the plane! Crazy Rich Asians, anyone? Yes, please!

We arrived at our hotel, and got the girls ready for bed. Then we proceeded to have a lovely week with a bit of warm weather and sun.

We visited the Living Desert zoo. Lacey fed a giraffe and we rode a camel together.

We visited a park. Scarlett had her first ride in a swing!

We jumped and splashed in the pool.

And... It wasn't that warm, so we did the pool like Canadians. The only ones at the pool deck, with fleece in tow.

We did a hike! I love hiking with Lacey, she is such an adventurer.

We mini golfed. Mini golf with a toddler is not really that fun (I mean, if you want to follow rules or actually PLAY), but also hilarious. They have no sense of spatial awareness, and she almost clubbed us with her golf club several times.

All in all, a great trip. And back home to the February deep freeze. When will it end!?

Adventures on the West Coast - Tofino

By the time we reached Tofino, we were nine days into our trip, and Tom and I were both feeling burnt out. Without the familiar routine of home, both girls were a little off (especially Lacey), and none of us had been sleeping very well. Travelling with a baby who isn't sleeping through the night... Who thought that was a good idea?

So I think it's safe to say, when we arrived in Tofino, we had never been happier to see Lacey's grandparents in our life!

Tofino.

I think Tofino is our happy place.

But Tofino... Never a place to count on nice weather. The forecast looked absolutely depressing as we were approaching the Tofino leg of our trip. It looked like it was going to rain every single day, all day. 

And so for the first few days, we made the best of it. Sandcastles in the rain!

But Tofino... Never a place to trust the weather forecast. The weather was actually a lot better than it was forecasted to be. The rain stopped for a little bit each day, and we even saw some patches of blue sky and some sun!

Lacey loved digging in the sand, investigating shells, and pulling washed up kelp along the shore.

We enjoyed the scenery.

We ate good food. Salmon rice bowl from Sea Monster Noodles!

We saw this super cool spider web outside another restaurant.

Andrew enjoyed some surfing, Tom and I got away from our second kid-free dinner since Scarlett was born, and we took Lacey on a short hike. Lacey loves hiking. In our every day life, she often wants to be carried around, but when we are out on a trail, she insists on walking almost every inch of it on her own. She loved tromping on the wooden boardwalk-- she's a real trooper!

  

But mostly, we enjoyed some good times with the family!

I'm loving this annual Tofino tradition! And with Ashley and Andrew expecting in December, I can't wait for what chaos we'll enjoy in Tofino 2019, with three kids in tow!

And even though our flight landed WAAAAAAAY past Lacey's bedtime, she was surprisingly chipper while waiting for our luggage!

Until next year!

Adventures on the West Coast - Victoria

It's been two years since we've been to Victoria. Some of my mom's family lives there, and it's always nice to reconnect with them. My cousin once removed, Laura, is the closest cousin to my age and after we've visited, I always leave thinking it's a shame we don't see more of each other-- we have a lot in common!

The trip from Vancouver to Victoria is about 2 hours. One of the great things about the commute is that it's mostly a ferry ride. We may be stuck on a boat, but at least Lacey was able to get out and stretch her legs.

Lacey: I'm on a boat!

The novelty of being on the ferry didn't last for long, but we entertained Lacey with snacks, and walking around. We also played a round of shadow tag on the deck of the ship, which people seemed to enjoy watching! After that, we embarked on a short drive.

This is what Scarlett thought of the drive:

We arrived in Victoria around Lacey's nap time. But it was too much to ask that she nap right away in a new place. She could not be coaxed into laying down, so we took her to a park. By 5pm, she was ready to lose her mind with exhaustion. She was whiny, quick to cry, and uncooperative.

And then...

She passed out on the floor on her change pad. Blissful sleep! She needed it.

We enjoyed the rest of our trip visiting family, and exploring a bit of the city. We went to the government buildings by the water, and walked around. 

We went to the Beacon Hill park, we stopped at the Phillip's Brewery to pick up some beverages, had lunch at the Blue Fox, and we visited a farmer's market for fresh berries, nectarines and vegetables. And we were absolutely spoiled by our hostess, my cousin. Her fridge was piled high with food for us, and we enjoyed lasagna and salmon dinners. She also kept an eye on Lacey during one of her naps, and Tom and I walked to a nearby restaurant and had a drink by the ocean (Scarlett was asleep in her car seat, but she enjoyed the outing too). We also took Lacey to a nearby beach and let her dig in the sand. Overall, another great visit!

After four days, we headed off for our last stop on this trip. Our third annual trip to Tofino!