The Young and the Restless

The End

I knew I would love Victoria, but I wasn't prepared to fall so hard for Vancouver. It kinda swept me off my feet with with its urban big city, remote forests, sandy beaches and beautiful ski resorts all within an hour of the city.  It was like a mix between Chicago and San Francisco with a little hint of New York on the side. Our last day in Vancouver we spent in Stanley Park.  Walking the sea wall, playing at the playground and dreaming about coming back in the summer.  

 

Jason wanted to drive up to the ski resort. Of course Jason wanted to drive up to the ski resort.  We grudgingly obliged, but the truth was, the view was spectacular.

On our way back to Seattle we took a detour to Burnaby Village, and it was a detour well worth making.  It's a little village they created that's set in the 1920's era.  If I could pick to live in any time period, I think the Roaring 20's would be it. Some of the buildings are originals that they transported here and most of the artifacts are originals.  I was content just walking around picturing the 1920's Jamie prancing around in her flapper dress, but the scavanger hunt was what got the kids going.  They had clues hidden through out the village and after they found them all they got a treat at the General Store.  The unlimited carousel rides is what floated Ryder's boat.

And the carousel workers are what floated mine.  Seriously, it made my whole trip.  I have never seen someone take their job so seriously.  For pete's sake, they had safety demonstrations before each and every ride.  Kylie couldn't believe I was sneaking a picture, "real mature mom, real mature". But seriously, a grown man demonstrating the proper technique for mounting and dismounting a carousel horse is just screaming "take my picture!". Despite the safety demo, we still got cited for 3 safety violations. 2 involving Ryder not being close enough to the bar and one for me wearing my purse instead of stowing it safely under the horse.  Oh man did we all have a good laugh about this one. Some of us were a little less mature than others.

We pulled into Seattle pretty late and were welcomed by a down pour.  The next morning we had clear skies, but an icy wind.  We just couldn't catch any breaks.  I know the majority of these vacation posts are complaining about the weather, but I didn't realize how much I take the sun for granted and every fiber of my being was craving the heat.  We had some extra time before our flight left so we went to the Seattle museum of flight, which just so happens to be the largest air and space museum in the world (a great recommendation from the Chapman's, thanks!).  We got to board the Air Force One that was used by JFK, Einsenhower and....I can't remember who else. We got to see the actual Space Shuttle that was used to train every astronaut since the beginning of the space program, and a huge collection of World War I & II fighter jets.  It was fascinating, and it would have been more fascinating if Ryder wasn't trying to climb into vintage planes and ram his stroller into displays and if Maddox would let me stop and read about the history instead of telling me that I'm "not a fun kind of mom, but a reading and picture taking kind of mom".  I guess stimulating my brain cells is not okay. 

We made it to the airport, looked like a circus side show going through security and managed to annoy every passenger around us before we even took off. It was a completely full flight, Ryder hadn't napped and refused to sit on my lap.  We're talking back arching, arm flailing and high pitched screaming. Then Maddox got a tongue lashing from the lady in front of him whose seat he was kicking. Thankfully the nice old man sitting next to me knew just the trick to get Ryder to calm down. He plopped a "Got Beer?" hat on his head and he fell asleep before we even reached maximum altitude. Insert deep sigh of relief. Another family vacation under our belt.  A family vacation full of smiling, playing, laughing, crying, relaxing, fighting, hiking, bonding, eating, loving, irritating, but most of all....enjoying.