West Coast Travel

We flew out to Vancouver, B.C. Wednesday afternoon.  We were heading to Vancouver for our friends Keith and Elena's wedding that was taking place on Saturday.  The flight went smooth and both girls were well behaved.  It was Abby's first trip and plane ride.  Kyle and I were so proud of them.  Claire loved colouring, reading and watching Caillou on the iPad. Abby nursed and slept most of the way for both flights.  It couldn't have gone any better. Kyle and I were both able to watch movies in and out of tending to the girls.  I watched Gravity and American Hustle.  I can't even remember the last time I was able to watch a movie, it was great!

Abby happy for her first plane ride

Claire watching Caillou with daddy's earphones

After settling into the condo we rented on Homer Street in Vancouver's Yaletown we met Kyle's aunt and uncle from Victoria at the restaurant Blue Water Cafe for dinner.  It was a fantastic meal.  Kyle and I had eaten there many years ago.  The girls were so well behaved considering how late we kept them up.  I ordered the halibut, sushi and goat cheese salad. Claire ate some food of each of our plates. 

Dinner at Blue Water Cafe

Claire colouring before dinner

Abby and I walking around before dinner

It had been quite warm in Vancouver and our condo was extremely stuffy and hot when we arrived.  I was worried about how the girls would sleep because they are used to having AC, but surprisingly they did very well.  We were considering leaving our condo and getting a refund to go and stay at a hotel instead but saw that the forecast predicted cooler temperatures.  We had the owner of the condo bring us a couple more fans on top of the other three we had, it helped cool down the rooms. 

Thursday Kyle was attending his Keith's stag, golfing all day and drinks out at the bar in the evening.  Linda and I stayed back at the condo with the girls, we went out to get groceries for lunch.  It was a nice and relaxing day. We both slept while the girls were taking their naps in the afternoon.  Oh boy did I sleep for a solid 2 hours!  Kyle and his dad both came back to the condo after golf to watch the Bomber game.  I took Claire down to the pool for a quick swim before bed. 

The girls relaxing on our bed

Claire and grandma hanging out

I am so glad we brought this quilt for Abby to play on.
She actually started to show signs of crawling, knees up and pushing off.

Our room had a little hallway perfect fit for Abby's travel crib

Friday morning we went for an early walk to Starbucks for coffee with both girls.  There were a number of Starbucks coffee shops within walking distance from our condo.  We decided to head down to the water and take a boat ride across to Granville Island.  We wanted to go check out the Kids Market that was there and look into the other little shops as well.  Claire loved the Kids Market and playing with the games. She had a blast there! Abby enjoyed having a nap in the Baby Bjorn on her daddy.  I came across an adorable fabric shop called the cloth shop. I picked up some cute fabrics to use for quilting. 

While the girls were napping Kyle stayed back at the condo and I went window shopping around Yaletown.  Kyle went to pick up our car rental after I got back so we would have a vehicle to drive to Keith and Elena's as well as the wedding Saturday. 

The baby carrier came in handy.
Abby had a nice nap while heading over to Granville Island with her daddy.

Claire and Grandpa on the boat ride over to Granville Island

Going to the Kids Market at Granville Island

Claire with Grandma and Grandpa
She loved riding on grandpa's shoulders.

I was in heaven the moment I walked into this little store. 

Claire steering the little boat by the Kids Market

I loved checking out this cute shop called The Cross 
Adorable house, baby and kitchen items. 

After the girls woke up from their naps we travelled up to Coquitlam where our friends Keith and Elena live in a condo for a pre wedding get together.  Keith's parents were putting on a BBQ for all out of town wedding guests.  It was nice to meet some of Elena's other family members and friends.  The girls loved the party.  Abby needed a nap while we were there so she slept on the bed downstairs for a little while. Claire was also given a ribbon wand that she had to practise with for the wedding.  She met Anelin who was the other flower girl for the wedding.  It was cute because Anelin is only a few weeks younger than Claire and her mom's name is Shannon as well and we were both due the same day May 5th 2012 with both girls.  Shannon is Elena's sister-in-law from Ottawa. 

After the party we came back to the condo and put both girls down for bed.  We wanted to make sure they had a good night sleep because we would be keeping them up the next night for the wedding.  I will write another post about how the wedding went.  We had a great time visiting Vancouver, it's one of our favourite cities and we look forward to going back there again.  I think Abby loved her first trip and proves that she is a happy traveller like her big sister Claire.  Our next trip is to Kona Hawaii this coming January. It was great to get Abby's feet wet for travelling before that trip.  

On the way to Coquitlam I had to sit next to
Abby she wanted some company.

Claire loved singing the whole way
back to the condo.