Hi there!  Hi! Hi! Hi! :)

I want to start this post off with a little apology.  Majority of the photos that were taken in Vancouver were captured with my iPhone and the quality is horrendous.  I think it’s because my phone was on “portrait mode” which if the subject is not entirely still while the picture is being taken, it’s going to turn out blurry… so there’s that.  Sorry.  BUT, aside from the poor photo quality, goodness gracious!  This was an amazing family trip!

A few months ago, I had a sudden urge to go on a Disney cruise… and not just the easy peasy, catch the boat right here in Florida, go straight to the Caribbean for a few days and come back Disney cruise, because that would just be too convenient… <insert sarcastic voice here>.  No, we decided to be crazy and fly across the country to catch the Disney Wonder out of Vancouver!  We arrived 3 days early so that we could adjust to the time difference, which was actually really smart of us to do.  Then we were on the boat for seven days!

My next post will be all about the crusie but for now, I want to chat about Vancouver and how much I love Canada in general.  I think if I could vacation in Canada every summer I would.  The weather is incredible, the people are SO FREAKING NICE, and there is so much to do and see!  This was my first time in Vancouver.  I had did some research to see what the most family friendly places to see and things to do were and with three days I feel like we didn’t even scratch the surface.

The first thing we did was explore Stanley Park… isn’t that the first stop for everyone who visits Vancouver?

We visited the Vancouver Aquarium which was located right inside the park.  It’s always such a treat for the boys when we go to aquariums because they are so fascinated with all the fish.  To be totally honest, I don’t think it was as good as the Florida Aquarium which is located right here in Tampa where we live, but… that’s just my own personal opinion.  To me, it didn’t seem as clean and it didn’t have enough unique exhibits.  Overall, it was entertaining especially since it rained almost the entire day, so we made the most of it!

Next, we had to ride the train.  Bennett is currently obsessed with trains.  My mom recently found a bunch of vintage Thomas the Tank Engine figurines that I believe at one point belonged to my brother, and Bennett loves them!  He knows all of their names, we watch the Thomas movies, I even invested in a train table from Pottery Barn so that he could build tracks and store all the pieces in some form of organized chaos.  The Stanley Park Train was a hit!  The boys loved riding around through the redwoods and hearing the whistle blow!

After the train, we got some snacks at a close by snack bar, which there are tons of places to stop and eat in the park.  I wish the weather had been a little nicer for us because I hear that renting a bike and riding along the water is a great way to see the city and the entire park.  It rained almost all day while we were there so we were pretty limited on activities.  We did make it to the totem poles and the light house though!

The next day we decided to be crazy and walk across some suspension bridges!

Oh, this was sooooo much fun! Capilano Suspension Bridge Park is AWESOME!  To anyone reading this, please go to Vancouver and go there!  The kids (and us adults!!) had the best time looking out over the canopy of huge redwoods and walking across the scary bridges connecting the treetops.  Truly an experience we will remember forever!

**Travel tip- if you plan to go the Capilano, get there right when they open.  We were like the second family there when they opened and had the entire place to ourselves it felt like!  So cool to see without all the crowds which were building when we were leaving.**

Later that day we drove about an hour north to the Sea to Sky highway all the way to Squamish where you can ride a gondola up the mountain to yet another cool suspension bridge and super fun play ground for kiddos!

You guys, go to Vancouver, B.C. when you have a chance.  It’s incredible!