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!
The day after we returned to SF from Vancouver, I took the two kids back onto the plane for a trip to Southern California. Taking BART to Oakland Airport and then getting on an hour-long flight with the kids by myself was not as hard as I initially thought. I packed light and it helped that we didn’t need to bring a stroller or carseats. We also scored an empty seat so we could spread out.
It was nice to have a full week at my parents’ house. What’s even better is that Brother and Joy recently moved back there so it was great not having to coordinate when they were going to come over to hang out. KK and Alice got some good play time together and it was fun to watch them interact.
One of the main reasons we went down was to celebrate Alice’s 2nd Birthday, which also happens to be on Halloween. 
It was a costume party and the birthday girl was dressed as Boo from Monsters Inc. Brother and Joy dressed up as Mike Wazowski and Celia Mae.
KK and Peanut dressed up as Batgirl and Robin this year. I love Peanut’s expression in this photo.
During our stay in SoCal, I got to catch up with some old friends. One morning, we drove up to South Pasadena to visit Holly and to meet Sienna.
On another day, I was able to make a lunch date with Patti and Patty. It was great catching up.
We also had lunch one day with Marie and her parents. It crazy how much Cole and Brandon have grown. 
It’s nice to have an extended time with the family. We even had time to take the girls to Heritage Park to feed the ducks like I used to as a kid.
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