Vancouver 2015
We spent a week in Vancouver (October 22-28) with the family to attend cousin Eric’s wedding and we also made it our annual Lao Family Vacation. It was so much fun seeing the cousins, eating some tasty food, and spending time with the family. Traveling as a pack of 10 (including 3 lap infants and a grandfather with a broken foot) was not as bad as it could have been.
With thoughtful planning and timing, we pulled it off without any major hiccups. I was so proud of our two little kids and how well they did.
We booked a hotel room at Element Hotel in Burnaby for the first half of the week and it was a brand-new SPG hotel with a full kitchen and nice view. I often found KK looking out the window there.
It was so nice to see Amy again. We last saw her on the weekend of her own wedding up there back in 2011.
We were invited to the rehearsal dinner and got to see the whole family on our first night. Any babies that were awake got passed around.
We had to make a Walmart stop to buy enough diapers for the week. Luckily all 3 babies are wearing the same size!
KK slept through all of dinner and woke up super chipper and hungry too. So, we went down to the hotel bar for a cocktail while she ate the food that was packed up for her. My Moscow mule was pretty tasty.
Each morning was spent in the 5th floor lounge where they served complimentary breakfast. Peanut was awake pretty early so we had some Mommy and Baby time together while the sun came up.
On the day before the wedding, we all went to the Vancouver Aquarium. They have some pretty cool exhibits there.
I loved watching the interaction between KK and Amelia (Amy’s daughter).
At the local supermall, I finally found the kinder surprise eggs that I had seen on YouTube. They aren’t sold in the U.S. so I thought I’d buy KK a few to open while we were on our vacation. I also quickly realized that these things are pretty fragile because one of them started to melt in my hand while I was waiting in line to pay.
On the day of the wedding, we ran a little late because of traffic but made it in time for the end of the ceremony and the family photos. It was nice to see everyone all dressed up. Even Peanut had a little sweater vest to wear that day.
There was some time between the ceremony and reception so we went to Granville Island for lunch and a short walk.
At the ceremony, there was the usual multi-course banquet dinner and KK had her first daddy-daughter dance with Jes. It was so sweet.
The day after the wedding, Amy had everyone over at her house and we got this cute photo of all the kids together. We’ll have to take this same photo 15 years later when they’re all too cool to be hanging out with their parents.
That same day, we drove to Sunshine Coast, which required a 40-minute ferry ride. It was one of those ferries that allow you to park your car on the boat while you go up to the passenger floors to get a cup of coffee and hang out. 
We rented a huge log house (through AirBnB) in Gibsons that had 5 bedrooms and 3.5 baths. There was plenty of room for all 10 of us to spread out with room to spare. Even Peanut and I got our own room so that Jes and KK could get some uninterrupted sleep.
It also had a ridiculous kitchen stocked with 2 fridges, 2 stoves, 2 dishwashers, and 3 sinks! It also had a grill outside, which Jes used to make a tasty steak for dinner.
I don’t know what was going on in this photo but I thought it was funny.There was a really nice view of the water from the terrace outside the livingroom and an even nicer view from the bedrooms upstairs.
It was so nice to be able to just hang out, relax, and enjoy being with the family. 
The grandparents and grandkids got some good quality time together and I finally felt like I could catch up on reading and emails. I even got a head start on organizing the photos that I had already taken on the trip.
On one of the days, we went to Davis Bay and walked down the wharf to watch the locals fish. The water was so clear that you could see tiny fish swimming below.
We also walked along the shore and practiced skipping rocks.
For such a simple activity, everyone had a good time and it was nice to see Jia doing more than just taking care of the twins. She had a huge smile on her face and couldn’t stop laughing.
On our last day, we all got up early, finished packing, and headed to the ferry terminal. We are so lucky to have Auntie Beverly, who happens to work there! She hooked us up with sweet reserved spots for our vehicles.
The ride back to Vancouver on the ferry was pretty fun that morning. We didn’t see anything on our ride to the cabin since it was already dark out so we were so pleased to see how beautiful it was out there!! We found some seats up front in the ferry boat and had some coffee and Tim Bits during the ride.
It was also raining, which was a nice change. I went up to the sundeck to get a better view and the rain was so refreshingly cold.
When we docked, we were all back in the minivan ready to go.
Our last stop was lunch in Vancouver with the cousins one last time. KK had scored surprise eggs at Amy’s house a couple days ago and then got more that afternoon!! The girls had one last hour together before we had to say our goodbyes. It was cute how they picked up right where they left off without needing any time to warm up.
So there you go, it was our first international trip as a family of 10. I have to say that Vancouver is becoming one of my favorite places to visit for the following reasons:
- I love the weather.
- Everywhere you turn, there’s a gorgeous view to appreciate.
- They have great food.
- We have family there.
- It’s a less-than-2-hour flight.
- You get to go through customs on the Canada side before getting on your flight back to the states. So convenient!!
There were only a few inconveniences that we encountered:
- If you don’t have cell service, it’s more difficult to know where you’re going or driving to. Luckily they have free WiFi hotspots everywhere so we would have to look up our next destination on Google Maps and save it to our phones for directions.
- Liquor is hard to find and it’s expensive. We tried to go to Costco to buy some booze and they don’t sell alcohol there. You have to buy liquor at an actual liquor store in Canada.
- People drive really slow in Vancouver. It’s not fun when you have a schedule to stick to and a baby who hates sitting in the car.
- You can’t play Pandora in Canada. I know, weird.
Aaaaaand….this is what your 3-year-old’s backpack contents look like after a week in Vancouver. It’s surprise eggs galore!
On Sunday (6/12), the day after the wedding, we wandered downtown and found Canada Place and the cruise ship that Jes’ parents were going to board that afternoon. The sun was out with some residual clouds hanging over, which made my photos much more interesting.
Later in the afternoon, Amy and Jay picked us up from the hotel and took us to Gastown before Jason’s flight back to California. It’s a cute little street with some boutiques and streetside bars.
Dinner was at Guu with Garlic and they managed to cram all 15 of us in a tiny sit-on-the-floor room that was super stuffy and hot. Somehow we managed to have a good meal and a lot of fun hanging out.
On Monday (6/13), I got up early and went for a run. It was fun to explore the area on foot and in the rain. Yep, it was raining. I ran past Rogers Arena where the Canucks were playing a couple days ago.
I ran along Quebec St. and got a nice view of BC Place where the Winter Olympics were held last year. I found False Creek and the Olympic Village, which is now a very nice but empty cluster of brand-new condos. To get back, I ran across Cambie St. Bridge for a total of 3 miles completed.
Later that morning, we took the bus to Stanley Park. It was a short walk to the aquarium and we made use of the umbrellas that we packed.
The aquarium itself was worth the trip. It also helped that Eric hooked us up with free tickets. This aquarium had lots to see including marine mammals such as dolphins and beluga whales.
There were maple trees everywhere and I got some pretty cool shots of the leaves in the rain.
Afterward, Amy and Elaine picked us up and took us around Stanley Park. There were famous statues in the park and they were all dressed in Canucks gear for the weekend. Canadians are funny.
We saw the totem poles and the Lions Gate Bridge from Prospect Point. That’s the bridge that we would take to Whistler. Ah Whistler…we will meet one day.
Before dinner, we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Park. It’s at the top of a hill and there’s a beautiful garden to explore.
The last stop after dinner was the beach park near the University of British Columbia. The view was really pretty and the sun was just setting at 8:30 pm! Vancouver has some really long summer days.
Oh man. I’m so behind. I’m JUST posting photos from Amy and Jay’s wedding in Vancouver. They married on June 11th at an old mansion up on the hill. 
Jes’ dad was the officiant and the back patio was decorated with the prettiest peonies and hydrangeas. Amy does wedding flowers so she knew exactly what she wanted. 
The wedding was held in the morning and the weather cooperated. There was a chance of rain that day and luckily it stayed overcast in the morning and the sun came out later in the afternoon.
Later that day, we met up with the bridal party at their hotel where they had a private dining room where they all hung out and had some drinks.
Once it was time to head out to the reception, we all piled into the limo bus that drove us a good 20 miles to the Chinese restaurant. Champagne was flowing all the way there.
At dinner, we met Jesse’s oldest living relative who is supposedly 100 years old. I still don’t actually know who she is exactly.
Here’s the last photo taken of the night before I turned into a hot mess.
Hello! We just spent 5 days in Vancouver and got back on Tuesday afternoon. I’ve been in catch-up mode these past two days and finally gotten to posting something about our trip. We arrived on Friday (6/10) around lunchtime and were picked up by Amy’s brother, Eric, and Jes’ parents. That photo above is what we saw as we walked from the plane to customs.
We stopped for a Shanghainese lunch in Richmond and got some tasty dumplings before taking a long drive (in traffic) into Vancouver.
Thousands of people were flocking into the city center to watch the Canucks play the Bruins in Game 5. We happened to be staying in the Westin Grand, which happened to be the center of all the activity. After checking in, Jes took a nap while I explored the closed streets and the crowds. It’s amazing how hockey-crazy this town is. Everyone was wearing a jersey…even our bellboy and concierge! They set up jumbotrons in the middle of 3 streets and fans sat in the street watching the game for free. I braved the crowds and found some interesting characters along the way.
We had dinner at Blue Water Cafe + Raw Bar and had a wonderful meal. We had 
Later that night, we met up with some friends that Jes has been playing WoW with for the past few years. They expected him to be 300 pounds since they had never seen even a photo of him and Jes had described himself to be a really obese guy that sat around eating and playing WoW all day. They were pretty shocked to see that he was a rather slim-trim guy.
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