The End of Super Fun Vaca

I hate turbulence.


I love to fly, except for the pesky turbulence. I find myself white-knuckling the armrests and looking around nervously to see if the flight attendants look ancy.


I’m on a long haul flight as I type this. Straight from Vancouver to Memphis. And I already feel like I’ve been on this plane for hours. Make that days. Flights home are always so much longer than flights to your vacation spot. I guess it is because when home calls, there just ain’t nothing like it. My babies are meeting us at the airport tonight, and I can’t wait to see them. To trace Sawyer’s sweet freckles with my fingers and run my fingers through Keaton’s hair. To scoop up the TaterTot and smother him in kisses. Oh those boys. My heart just aches to see them.


Yesterday was our last day in Vancouver, and we discussed heavily the possibility of whale watching. My Tweeps and Blogeeps had been crossing their fingers (when they weren’t using them to attack their keyboards) for me to go visit the wonderful world of whales, but it just didn’t happen. It is still high up on my bucket list, but it just seemed like every avenue we checked into to go observe Free Willy kept coming in hitched up. Too expensive. Or too far away. Or the next day guaranteed (with us not having a next day to guarantee).


We also thought about heading up to Whistler (the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics), but decided against that, too.


So we settled on heading up Grouse Mountain….Vancouver’s highest peak. There looked like all kinds of touristy things to do up there, and it was relatively inexpensive and close.


With Grouse Mtn. being located in North Vancouver, it required us to take a SeaBus to get across the ocean.
Oh my gosh. The whole time I just kept thinking how much fun the boys would have crossing the water on the hugacious water taxi. And I may or may not have resembled a giddy 5 year old on the ride over, but that hasn’t been confirmed.

After we came off the water, we hopped a bus that took us straight up to the base of the mountain. And then we hopped on one of these that took us up to the top.


This is me, in the slightly freaky SkyTrain.


When you realize that all that is keeping you from plummeting down the edge of the mountain is just a couple of cables and a freakishly small hunk of metal…well, it is just a might unnerving.

I made it to the top of the mountain with my sanity still intact, and our first stop was in to the gift shop to buy me a jacket. I had brought a hoodie, but nothing prepared me for the FREEZING temps on the tippy top of the hill. Geez.
Here I am in my way-cool new jacket. Thanks, Husband!

On top of the mountain, we watched a Birds of Prey Demonstration. Very cool.

I think this guy’s name was Gizmo.

And this was Rocco.
And we also took in a burly lumberjack show. They were SO much fun to watch! They did all kinds of manly competitions, and they weren’t too shabby on the eyes either!
We also took a chair lift up to the Peak of Grouse Mountain. It was so breathtaking. We could see all of Vancouver from where we were. Nevermind that I wanted to throw up while on it.

And I played in the snow….in June.

Oh. And maybe the best part! We ate BeaverTails!! Goodness Sakes, I’m not sure anything more divinely scrumptious has ever passed past my lips.

We also met Grinder and Coola, the mountain’s resident grizzlies. They were very “friendly” with each other. More than plutonic, should I say?! The husband made me take a picture, but this is a family show, so I’ll refrain from posting it. Here are the bears with some distance between them.

(Did I mention that Grinder and Coola are both male bears? Uh. Yeah. Needless to say, we were all double-checking to make sure that we had, in fact, entered Grouse Mountain, and not taken a detour to Brokeback. *wink*)

After taking in all the sights of the mountain (and a few more than we had bargained for) we ate an extremely high-priced cafeteria style meal.

That’s a $10 bowl of tortellini you’re staring at, folks.

Mountain robbery, I tell ya. Mountain robbery.

After bussing and SeaBussing our way back to our hotel, we packed suitcases and then headed out for a late dinner. Remember the Shepherd’s Pie that I had a few days ago? Yeah…will neither Kirk or I had been able to get that restaurant off of our food-centered minds, so we went back. And though the food was delicious, it didn’t quite compare to the other day.

After dinner, I batted my eyelashes at the husband, and he so generously walked me down the street to a little store that I had been ogling my entire stay in Vancouver.

Yes. It is a store….entirely devoted to Cupcakes. Does it really get any better than that?

I think not.

And because the husband loves me so much, he bought me a chocolate cupcake with mint buttercream icing.

Oh.My.Stars.

And so the husband wouldn’t feel left out (because I sure wasn’t sharing my cupcake!), we stopped in at the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company and picked him up a couple of treats.

That would be Cheesecake Bomb and a Peanut Butter Brittle Bomb.

Apparently they were “the bomb.”

And that brings us to the plane. With the most horrendous turbulence.
And I’m trying to refrain from digging my fingernails into the husband’s arm too severely. Because apparently blood is frowned upon on aircrafts. Who knew?!

My trip to Canada has been amazing.

Like I said before, time away from real life is refreshing for my soul.

I’m more in love with my husband now than I was a week ago.

I’m glad that I’m able to scratch off another country visited on my list.

And I’m grateful for opportunities to explore pieces of God’s creation that are new to me.

Thanks for hanging out with me on my Super Fun Vaca! I wanted to document everything from the food we ate to the places we went as a keepsake travel journal for my family, but I’m so glad that some of you have been able to travel vicariously through me and the husband this week.

It’s been real.

And it’s been fun.

But it, for sure, has been REAL FUN!

Super Fun Vaca…..Over and Out.

Eh?

Super Fun Vaca Day 7

I can tell I'm winding down.

And missing my rascals.

The hotel bed isn't sleeping as great as it was earlier in the week, and I'm getting tired of the clothes in the suitcase. The food is still amazing, and though the fact that I haven't had to do dishes in a week is pretty darn wonderful, I am actually looking forward to our little family meals of chicken nuggets and mac-n-cheese.

To perk me up a little bit, the husband took me out to the most beautiful place.

Stanley Park.

It is an amazing park that juts out along the seawall of Vancouver, and its mix of gardens, landscaping, and plant life are remarkable. Add that the Pacific Ocean is lapping at its edges, and you pretty much have an idea of what paradise looks like.

Beautiful, eh? (Like that throw back to my Canadian peeps?!)

We saw tons of Canadian Geese. Which Kirk and I decided that since we were in Canada, then they are probably just Geese.

I have a thing for boats. And this blue houseboat was just about the cutest thing I'd seen all day. Next to the goose, of course.

Look! There were even totem poles! I'm not sure anywhere is complete without a good ole' totem pole!

And this one is for my Nashville posse. You're welcome.



And then I decided that I was WAY underdressed.


And then Kirk decided to get in the spirit of all the earthiness that goes on up here and hugged a tree. It just seemed like the right thing to do.



And then we pretended to like eachother.

We ate at a little restaurant inside the park, and here I am looking all touristy with my park map and slurping my frozen lemonade.

I even stuck my feet in the Pacific Ocean. Oh.My.Stars....cold is not even an adequate description.

After the long trek back to the hotel, I rested my poor feet. I was flip flopped out and was grateful for the nap that we were able to catch before heading out for dinner.

We went to this amazing Mediterranean restaurant. And it was faincy. But, unlike most of the other shmancified restaurants I've eaten at this week, I understood everything on that menu. Because Italian food is part of my love language, and I was in heaven.

I ate this.

Yes. It was amazing.

See.


I ate it all.

And then I ate dessert.

That's gelato made by the in house pastry chef, and, yes. It was amazing.

And here we are at dinner.

This vaca must be working....Look! He's smiling!

And that's me with Sandra.

And every good meal needs someone peering through their beverage.

On our way back to the hotel, we stopped in at a little souvenir shop. You know the kind. They are stocked to the brim with refrigerator magnets and teensy spoons. We had to buy trip gifts for the rascals, and they are going to hate us be thrilled when they find out that all we brought them were tee-shirts. You're welcome, kids.

We are having an amazing time on our trip, but like I said, I'm beginning to wind down. I'm really missing my babies and cannot wait to see them and snuggle them up tight. Vacations are so good for my soul. It is so nice to get away from real life for a little bit, because I always appreciate real life so much more when it begins to hit me in the face again. I feel like I'm a better mom, a better housekeeper, a better wife, and a better friend when I come off of a getaway.

Canada has been great.

But I'm positive that there is no place like home.

One more day of Super Fun Vaca.

But for tonight, Super Fun Vaca Day 7....Over and Out.

Super Fun Vaca Day 6

**From Wednesday, June 17, 2009**

Finally.

The husband was set free from the hands of Mr. Business O’ Meeting.

So, with our first day of touristy freedom ahead of us, it came down to What Ta Do, What Ta Do?

We went to the hotel gym.

Yes. The first pull out of the freedom shoot, and we go the gym. Where the husband quickly turned into the Workout Nazi, and I remembered why he and I hold separate gym memberships. I ditched him after he told me I was wussing out, and I went back to the room. Wuss out….maybe so. But I didn’t need him to tell me about it.

After he came begging for forgiveness back to the room, we decided to head out and do a little exploring of Downtown Vancouver.

We didn’t get very far before we decided that we were hungry. Go figure. I was about half sick with all the weird organic, fancy schmancy food I’d been ingesting, so I was ready for some good ole’ fashioned comfort food. You know, meat and potatoes. And a miracle came in the form of this great little English pub that we found.

I had Shepherd’s Pie, and OH.MY.STARS. it was divine. I almost licked the bottom of the nifty skillet it came in. Kirk had Banger’s and Mash, which he said, too, was heavenly. There was not a bamboo stalk or an alfalfa sprig in sight, and it was mahvalus.

After stuffing ourselves to the gourd, we headed down to the seawall and took in the cruise ships that were docked. Yes, please, Mr. Husband, I would love to go on an Alaskan cruise. Thank you for asking.

After drooling over dream vacas, we headed to ChinaTown.

I’ve never been to a ChinaTown here in the States, so I was excited to see what was in store. I have to say that I was a little creeped out by some of what was going down on some of the street corners, but am glad that I had the experience.

We ducked into a little Chinese shop and it was so fun in there.

I tried on a rice hat.

Kirk rubbed a Buddha belly.

And I made friends with this nice fella.

We also found a little Chinese garden which was very beautiful and had ponds full of lotus flowers and koi fish. I felt like I needed to start singing that song from Mulan.

We walked around ChinaTown for a little bit, and we saw TONS of outdoor markets and food stands filled to the brim with authentic and ethnic Chinese food.

My favorite...the skewered lizard skin.

Can be yours for only $2.99. Whatuhdeal.

We also saw a real life bird feeder. Like Mary Poppins style. As if bustin' out in song wasn't enough in the Chinese garden, this about put me over the edge. I was searchin' for tuppins.

We skiddattled on back to the hotel to gussy up for a faincy business dinner that we were to attend. Praise Jesus we got back in time to take in Tim Horton's. I have now made it my personal mission to go to T.H. every single day I'm in Canada. It just seems like the friendly neighborly thing to do to support the local economy. I am a giver, after all. On today's lineup....

A Boston Creme and a Caramel Latte. Yes. It was as good as it looks. Maybe better.

I didn’t take my camera to our very fancy dinner, because I didn’t want Kirk to get labeled as the guy with the whacko wife who takes pictures of her food, and I am so bloomin’ upset about it.

Because, y’all….I ate the best steak that I have ever eaten in my entire life. Hands down. No kidding. The fact that my teensy 6 oz. steak cost $60 could have had something to do with the scrumptiousness. I also ate dinner with a guy that looks like Davey Jones from the Monkees, a guy that looks like Richard Dryfuss, and a guy that looks like Doc Brown from Back to the Future. Perfect photog moments blown right out of the water. Dern.

We ate at this place called Gotham. Yes. As in Batman. And it was amazing. It was all dark and cavey in there, but in the most beautiful elegant way possible. I had like 14 glasses and 23 pieces of silverware surrounding my place setting. Spectacular. I always feel all Julia Roberts Pretty Womanish when I go to restaurants like that. Totally out of place. Because blue box mac-n-cheese just ain’t fancy, y’all.

This is the only picture I have from the evening, and it was before we left for dinner. Bless my heart. I had no idea the wonderment that my stomach was in for at this point. I’m serious, guys. That Batman…if Alfred made sure he was fed like that all the time, then no wonder he kept up that whole Bat act. Gotham…..good.

Dinners at restaurants like that take like 3 or 4 hours to get through, so by the time we made it back to the hotel, I was ready to crash. While we were talking to our friends, Tim and Sandra, before heading up to our rooms, we received a phone call that held bad news for our friends. We stayed with them for awhile, and then we all headed to our rooms, not sure how to process what we had just found out.

Please remember Tim and Sandra and their family in your prayers. I can’t imagine being out of the country, so far away from home, and feeling totally helpless.

More to come.

Day 6. Over and Out.