How to rock a multi-fam-jam vacation.

It's the end of February....it's been awhile since the powder at Big White at Christmas and Spring Break is still a few weeks away...we needed a little mini-vacation and it turns out some of our outdoor enthusiast friends were aching for a ski-getaway too. Here's the how-to's and the highlights from our 3 days away at Manning Park with three other amazing families.

1. Start the vacation right by stopping at our fav diner.  A little gem in Hope, it's called Home Restaurant and we try to go to every time we are headed east. This time was the first time we made it there for their breakfast menu. You can't go wrong with $6 kids meals and $12 eggs Benny & hashbrowns.

 2. Pray for blue skies and powder. So all of us must have been praying because we couldn't have asked for better ski conditions both days we were on the mountain.

3. Pick a resort with a pool and a hot tub. Watch the kids do cannon balls and belly flops in the pool while adults watch from the hot tub.

4. Book two cabins side by side so the kids can eat by themselves. At dinner time, we had all the kids eat in one cabin and the parents in the other cabin. Ignorance is bliss right ? If you don't see your kids picking out your vegetables then you can enjoy your own dinner and adult conversation so much more!

5. Room together! The cabin had two sets of bunk beds and the kids were so excited to have sleepovers altogether. Probably not the best for getting a good night's sleep but they had so much fun.

6. Let the kids roam free. There was so much open space, we could watch from our window as the kids ran and played together. There was even a legit igloo just outside our cabins. The snow was so deep the kids had contests who could swim the fastest in the powder snow!

7. Eat, sleep, ski and repeat. Day 2 of skiing was better than the first because I got to ride my snowboard. I had to ski the first day because Noah wasn't used to getting on and off the chairlift and the new ski runs. It is so much easier to be helpful on skis than on a snowboard but by Day 2, Noah was rockin' it so I didn't need to ski anymore. Powder turns are way more fun on a snowboard.

8. Embrace your Canadian-ness and had have an epic games of hockey. We played for hours -Kids vs. Parents - it was so much fun.

9. Go sledding. Try out every combination of sleds and kids and adults. Extra points for fitting the most number of people on the smallest sled.  

10. Book chalets for next year before you leave. Start counting down the days again...

Surviving "Free Day" at Science World.

Back in the days when the kids were younger and we weren't both working full time, we had memberships to the fun-filled place that is Science World... but those years have long passed and my kids have been asking and pleading when they can go to Science World again so when we heard that Family Day was going to a free admission day, we started mentally preparing before the weekend for the mass chaos that we knew we were in store for...and in the wake of this measles outbreak, my germaphobic husband was slightly freaking out with being contact with the masses of people...I knew he was trying to figure out what percentage of non-vaxxers would come out to Free Day at Science World....

If it weren't for the kids, we would be hiking with our snowboards somewhere far away from crowds and line-ups but you do things you don't want to do when you have little people that you love so we got on the skytrain and arrived 10 minutes before Science World opened and the line up to get inside was no kidding at least 1 km long. We looked at each other and it took all our effort to get in that insane line while our brains are signally wildly *ABORT* *ABORT NOW* *GET OUT WHILE YOU CAN* SAVE YOURSELVES*

When the clock struck 10:00 am, they let in probably 10000 people and the rest of the people had to keep waiting in the line that stretched towards Rogers Arena....

Once inside, the kids didn't seem phased at all by the masses of people...they played the wheelchair race game. Nallie won by 2 seconds and Noah bawled because he lost. I told him in my best parent voice, "It's not about winning, it's about having fun!" to which he sulked, "It's NOT about having fun! It's about me winning! Waaaaaa " Whose kid is this ? It was really hard not to erupt in laughter because I know a certain husband who has said almost those exact words.

The kids ran through the exhibits. They learned they could conduct electricity through their noses touching. We learned our whole family together weighs the same as an African lion (scary!) and tried to count all the teeth on the T-Rex. There were some extra exhibitors today and the kids loved trying on virtual reality goggles.

The Omnimax movie was only $5 today so we watched the Great Bear Rain Forest and that was a fun experience although the kids refused to watch the scene when the two bears were fighting.

Big Sis was so excited about the science show since the person was talking all about chemical changes and she had just learned about that at school. Lil Bro was stoked he got picked to go on stage and wear the safety goggles and big gloves and mix some chemicals together that glowed.

But by 1:30 pm, we hadn't eaten anything other than fishy crackers and I don't know how it was possible but I think 500 more people had entered in the building so we made our exit. I couldn't believe it but there was still an insane lineup of people waiting to get inside. The kids were all smiles and after we mandatory bathed them in hand-sanitizer, we decided that it was a win and maybe worth braving the crowds to save $85. I mean we are Mennonite Chinese, we can't help it when you tell us something is free...

Frosty ninjas.

My kids are a wee bit obsessed with American Ninja Warrior and the Netflix's version of the show Beastmaster. They can't walk from the living to the kitchen without making it into an obstacle course consisting of jumping from couch to couch, then the dining room table and leaping to a strategically placed cushion on the floor...because of course you can't touch the floor...every ninja knows that. 

Hiking has now taken on a new appeal with the mountains being nature's own obstacle course. The kids loved hiking at Lynn Valley because they got to parkour all the rocks...it also took twice as long because of course ninjas can't walk on the trail, they have to leap from rock to log and climb up all the trees...

They also had to bring their Beanie Boo dragons of course....every ninja needs a dragon side kick. We had to make lots of stops along the way because the dragons needed to see if it was a good place for their den...

 It was sunny but still so cold that there were icicles on the rocks and layer of ice frozen in between the rocks. The kids quickly switched from pretending to be ninjas to "Kristoff" from Frozen and pretend to be ice harvesters. When we hiked to the part to the huge staircase they pretended it was the staircase to Elsa's castle. I love it.

 Daddy packed hot chocolate and Mommy packed biscotti refueling ninjas to keep parkouring along the trail.

 No need to bribe the kids with intermittent gummy breaks. The little ninjas were happy to find the next rock or the next icicle. So nice to enjoy nature's ninja course together as a family...even if it takes two and half hours to hike 6 km, I am glad these little frosty ninjas were happy to hike together.

the creative one.

Simon has always been the creative one. He has made the kids a sandbox out of a cheap coffee table and he made a coffee table out of old snowboards and skis. We decided to do an art project together and by "we" I mean he did pretty much the whole thing and I just took pictures and wrote about it...

Step 1: Go to IKEA and buy a cheap frame. Buy the kids ice cream cones so they declare you the best parent ever.

Step 2: Go to Enderby and visit the in-laws on the farm. While the kids are cuddling kittens and riding ATVs, go to the barn and find some wood that no one would notice if you took it.

Step 3: Strap two giant pieces of wood in the back of the truck that is already loaded with luggage, sleeping bags, ski gear, snowboard gear and 26 stuffies.

Step 4: Back at home, dry out the pieces on near the gas fireplace. Rotate the wood like it were rotisserie chicken at Swiss Chalet. 

Step 5: Once dry, have husband measure wood and cut it to fit inside the frame. 

Step 6: Pour wood glue on, ensure not to spread glue in between the pieces of wood or it will show on the other side. Adhere backing on to hold the wood together.

Step 7: Find a sweet decal. For us the goggles with the mountains reminds us of being in nature together - our happy place. 

Step 8: Spend way too much time finding the perfect calligraphy lettering. Wait patiently for it to ship.

Step 9: Let husband measure and assemble all the decal and lettering altogether. 

Step 10: Hang on the wall and adore !

The first thing the kids asked was "What does Est 2005 mean?" so we explained that is when we got married and now every time we look at the picture we can remember and be grateful for another year together. Pretty amazing that about a decade and a half ago, Simon was making this sign in my parent's back yard

See ? He has always been the creative one. I can't wait to see what he comes up with next. I think the kids are trying to convince him to build a ninja course....