Spring Break Getaway

As spring break approached, the kids started a chorus of "what are we going to do for spring break?" and "Where are we going for spring break?" (Basically, Eric and I are idiots for taking them to Disneyland for spring break last year and now have them thinking spring break is actually a fun thing  filled with excitement and adventures. What fools we are!!)

In all honesty, a little getaway sounded great to me, too, so I took a peek at our timeshare's website to see if I could find a near-ish location with openings. Lo and behold! The Birch Bay location (one I've heard good things about from another school family) offers mid-week specials. Perfect!! I booked a two-bedroom condo and started our packing lists. Unfortunately, Eric wasn't able to go due to work stuff, but we talked with him each night ... and whenever I ran into technical issues (sorry for waking you up with a computer question, Sweetie!!)

There are quite a few perks to the Birch Bay timeshare ... first, it is close enough to drive to without too much hassle (1 hour, 45 min), second, it has an indoor/outdoor pool and hot tub (win!), and is close to Canada. Why is the Canada thing a plus? Well, apparently we are slacker parents who have never taken their son to Canada even though it is only about 2 hours away.... and haven't taken their daughter there since she was about 4 months old, and has no memory of being there so it doesn't really count. DUH!!!

We left around noon on Monday (I worked from home that morning to reduce how much time I needed to take off from work and knowing we couldn't check in to the condo until 4 PM) and meandered our way up to Birch Bay. Before leaving town, we stopped at the flute repair place (and found out Annika's flute is basically a POS ... awesome), which put us a bit later than expected but no biggie. We also  stopped in Marysville for lunch at MOD Pizza (win!); yes, I made the kids suffer brief starvation to get out of  Seattle and Everett before stopping so Friday freeway traffic didn't become an issue for us. After meandering around the shopping area in Marysville for a bit (picking up some last-minute items and just seeing what we could see... we were on vacation, time is more fluid on vacation!), we continued north and eventually made it to Birch Bay.

The kids immediately wanted to get into the pool after we checked in, the van was unloaded, and our stuff was sort of put away. OK, why not! Rainy weather? Who cares! I happily enjoyed some hot tub relaxation while the kids played "penguin" (aka going back and forth between the pool and hot tub) until we decided dinner was needed. After we ate, it was "chill out time", which was perfect for everyone!

A panoramic view of our condo

The poos area

The epitome of vacation post-pool relaxing

As soon as the kids saw the timeshare building has an arcade, stopping at it was mandatory for them. Normally, I avoid arcades like the plague, but this one was small and not over-run with too many people.  I agreed that we could pop in before we headed The kids played pinball, a hockey foosball-esque game (really quite fun), and a crane/grabber candy thing. Each kid had two dollars to blow and (SHOCKER) they spent about half of their allotment on candy.

Conor and the hockey game
Final score: Conor 2, Me 1

Once our arcade time was behind us, we took a quick walk across the street to the beach, where rock throwing/skipping, bird watching, and general frolicking took place. Of course, the kids wanted to fill their pockets with all sorts of neat rocks to take home as souvenirs, but I put the kabash on that right away. (I have found way too many rocks in our washing machine to fall for that request.)  The tide was really far out, so there was lots of  space for the kids to run and explore. Annika's ankle and a rock had a bit of a run-in, so as she sat and nursed her scrape, Conor continued to gallop all over the beach.... when it was nearing our time to go, he slipped off of a driftwood log and landed ankle-deep in mud. His shoes, socks, and pants were encased in mud ... on an up note, both of his shoes stayed on his feet!

On our way back to the condo, we came across a phone booth (I mean old-school phone booth ... like the kids Superman would change in). Knowing how rare they are now (and I can only imagine this trend will continue), I stopped the kids, explained what a phone booth is, and took a few quick photos of them in it. Both kids pretended to call Eric on the phone so they could tell him about the beach, Conor's muddy feet, and the phone booth. We also came across a metal totem pole, which got Conor started on explaining all about the symbols and shapes included in the design. (Thanks, Ms. Fairbanks for being such a good teacher ... I have proof that Conor actually listens to and learn from you!) :)

Hello? Daddy? We're in a phone booth!

Peeking out from behind a totem pole

With our arcade and beach time done, we piled into the van and headed north to Canada day (MUCH more appealing than the arcade, in my humble opinion!). I joked with the kids that we were fleeing the county, which caused them to think Canada was REALLY different from the U.S. After spending about 20 minutes in Canada, Annika said, "You know, this doesn't look any different than home!"

The border crossing was a breeze (no lines - woo hoo!) and I gave the border guard a good laugh when he asked, "How long do you plan on staying in Canada?" and I replied, "Oh, we're just here for lunch. Speaking of which, can you suggest a place we can go? Somewhere kid friendly?" He pointed us toward White Rock (a place I knew of from my college days), parked the car, and blindly picked a place for lunch.

We found ourselves at West Beach Bar & Grill and the menu posted by the door looked promising. That was when it occurred to me, I have NO CLUE about the rules about minors going into bars in Canada. Are they allowed like in California so long as food is served, or is it like in Washington where they are strictly forbidden? I caught the waitress' attention and she confirmed the kids were permitted. That's a great thing because the food we had was amazing!! All three of us had burgers and fries. Annika proclaimed that hers was "the best burger EVER" and Conor was sad that he was too full to eat all of his yummy food. (I doubt most adults to could finish all of the food - the servings were very generous). If you're ever in White Rock, stop there for a mighty fine burger!!

Waiting for lunch

After lunch, we meandered up and down along the rows of shops (making a mental note to stop of gelato as our last hurrah of the day) and then eventually wandered down to the beach. Because of the very low tide. we could walk for days without hitting water, it seemed. The kids ran, explored tide pools (filled mostly with very tiny, very fast fish and mucky gunk), dug in the sand, and watched seagulls drop clams onto the rocks and pier in hopes of breaking the clam shells. It was all very easy paced and relaxing... until I told Annika she couldn't climb on top of the huge white rock (ummm.... remember 11 weeks in a cast, m'dear???). I was less fun after that, but I'll happily wear that badge if it means she goes to Ireland with four limbs that function properly!

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather, especially considering the rainy day we had just the day before. We had blue skies, comfortably warm temps, and a breeze that kept the air from being stale. Per-fect!!!! And the fact that we got to visit a beach while enjoying such weather? Amazingly wonderful!!!

Knowing our parking meter time was ticking down, we pulled ourselves away from the beach, found a gelato spot (yum!), picked up souvenirs from the White Rock museum's gift shop (Conor got a basecall cap; Annika got a little bottle of sand and a magnet), and then we started our trek back across the border, back to the U.S. Once again, our crossing was easy and quite quick. This whole "not crossing the border on a weekend" is really the way to go!!

We wrapped up our day with another trip to the pool/hot tub and then watching Lion King on TV. Can't complain about that, if you ask me!

Day three was our "pack up and go" day. To simplify the process, I pre-packed some of our things the evening before. We had to be home in time for Conor's PT appointment, so timeliness was a constant on my morning radar. Fortunately, all went smoothly and we got out of the condo right on time. The drive home was a breeze (only stopping briefly in Bellingham for gas at Costco) and we had the added surprise of seeing Eric's car in the driveway when we got home. Hurray!!!! I didn't expect him to be home when we arrived. Bonus!

We were tired, but in a good way, and glad to be back home. We had a great time being away, but being back home and with Eric was the perfect thing for us.

Thanks Birch Bay and Canada ... we had a great time!!

What happens in Vegas ... goes on the blog!

Originally, my 40th birthday was supposed to be spent waking up at a local get-away with Eric and then having a relaxing day... instead we wound up postponing our night away and focusing on my departure for a business trip that required me to depart the evening of my b-day. Don't get me wrong, the day was actually still quite relaxing and Eric went out of his way to make sure I wasn't tasked with any chores and relaxed whenever possible. We even did our family trek to a local pumpkin patch (stay tuned for that blog post).

Fortunately, the time in Vegas (not my favorite city ... sorry any Vegasites who might be reading this, but it isn't) was worthwhile, but professionally and sisterly. My sister-in-law Staci and I met at SeaTac Sunday night and flew down to Nevada together. The plan was we'd fly down together and then my sister Suzanne would drive up from San Diego after work on Monday. To my great pleasure, the plans worked out beautifully!!

We left a very foggy Seattle, but once we were above the cloud cover, we were treated to an amazing sunset. I have never seen a more radiant view... the sky was streaked like I have never seen it before. Truly breathtaking. I took photos through the plane's window not expecting any to turn out, but still hopeful I could get at least a little reminder of the beauty... and I wasn't disappointed. In fact, I feel REALLY happy with how well the pictures turned out.

I started out on Monday by paying an insane amount for breakfast and coffee at the hotel's Starbucks ... let me tell you, that was a one-time mistake! Seriously... for a venti americano, yogurt, and sausage b-fast sandwich, they charged me $21!!! I about needed CPR right there on the spot. After recovering from the sticker shock, I made my way to the first day of my conference; meanwhile, Staci hung out by the pool and explored the Vegas strip. After I finished up my work day, we re-explored the strip so I could take pictures of the famous Bellagio fountain, stretch our legs a bit, and find dinner. We had success at every turn.

I have to say, there is rarely a moment when you aren't far from seeing something that is really impressive to see while on the Vegas strip. Our hotel's lobby was decked out for autumn.... as were many of the other hotels. Our hotel lobby had huge fabric leaves suspended from the ceiling... it wasn't as impressive as the sunset the night before, but still nothing to shrug off. Our hotel also had a rather colorful fountain in its parking/taxi roundabout; it spouted up in a variety of patterns and the light show associated with it was fun to watch.

So, getting back to our exploration of the strip on Monday... the plan was to hit the Bellagio so I didn't miss out on the fountain photos... and boy, was I not disappointed. We picked out a great location and waited for the show to begin. The song "One" from Chorus Line started up and soon, the water was jumping around in perfect syncopation to it. I was shocked by how loud the air canons were that blew the huge spouts of water WAY up high were. The combination of the song, lights, and fountains was so much fun and exceeded my expectations. 

Inside the Bellagio, we were greeted with yet another incredibly impressive autumn display. This one had HUGE pumpkins, fall flower displays, a working water wheel, and a talking tree that blinked and moved its eyes.

As we made our way down the strip,  we saw the replica Eiffle Tower atop the Paris casino/hotel; I've never been to France, so this was a fun way to pretend... if not for more than just a second ... that I was in France scoping out a great croissant or crepe place for a quick snack.

Speaking of food, we chose to have dinner at BurGR, which is one of Gordon Ramsay's restaurants. Oh ... my ... goodness... talk about yummy food! We ordered burgers, and not just any burgers. We had gourmet burgers and to-die-for onions rings. Unfortunately, the gal argued a bit with us when we sent back our burgers saying they were under cooked ("Sell, that's how we do them here" didn't fly with us... and I'm sure Gordon would have had some choice words on the matter!) After receiving properly cooked burgers, we were in food heaven!

Around 10:30, Suzanne made her way into the hotel and promptly set out making our hotel room cozy, game-filled, and not lacking adult beverages. (Hurray for Suzanne!!) 

On Tuesday, I went back to my conference while Suzanne and Staci slept in, relaxed by the pool, and enjoyed some sister bonding time trying to find parking at the local discount mall. After work, we reconvened back in the hotel room, finished off a monstrously huge sandwich from Jersey Mike's, experienced a highly entertaining impromptu makeover on by Suzanne and Staci because I wasn't dressed for Vegas' nightlight (I brought work clothes, not going out on the town clothes),  and then proceeded to the hotel's Cirque Du Soleil theater to watch the show Zarkana. No photos were allowed during the show, so you'll have to settle for a photo of the show's billboard outside of the hotel. "WOW" is all I can say about the show. The performers have insane skills ... not to mention core strength! We saw a juggler, trapeze artists, acrobats, old-style circus clowns, a sand artists, and more. The hour and a half seemed to fly by. 

 After the show, we walked down the strip toward New York, New York and attempted to visit its famed piano bar, but it had an insane cover charge to sit down and the standing room wasn't overly appealing, so we headed around the way to Nine Fine Irishmen instead. In all honesty, I'm glad we did. We got to listen to a fantastic Irish band and the bartender there was great; he was personable and a lot of fun.

 On Wednesday, our last full day in Vegas, I went to my conference while Suzanne and Staci hung out at the pool (notice a trend here??). I did spend my lunchtimes with them there, so I got a taste of it, too. In fact, I hurried and was able to get a swim in during lunch... until then, the pool had just been taunting me. The hotel closes the pool at 5, which wasn't conducive with my work schedule.

After I finished work, we spiffied ourselves up and then walked (and walked and walked and walked) to the Venetian to attend the National Geographic photo exhibit. (Saying a place is "just three casinos over" equates to walking about a mile and a half!) Talk about breathtaking photographs... oh my goodness! There were shots from all over the world and the stories behind the photographs, which were highly interesting.

After the photo display, we went to our fancy schmancy dinner at Ruth's Chris Steak House. During our walk, we took in more of the sights and sounds of the Vegas strip, which is when I had the "ah ha" moment that this city really goes all out to get the public's attention. Numerous casinos have outdoor displays that explode fire, shoot water, etc. that are truly amazing.

My brother-in-law Randy came up with this idea before our trip as a way for us gals to celebrate our sister trip and my birthday (insert the collective "Awww!! Isn't he a sweetie?!?!" here). Staci and I were Ruth's Chris novices, so Suzanne led the way... although, Staci did pick out a lovely red wine for us (which highly impressed the older gentleman across the aisle from us). We had a fabulous (and I do mean FAB) waiter named Chas; he was flamboyant and took great care of us. We had amazing steaks, creamed spinach, and the world's biggest baked potato for dinner. At the end of our meal, Chas brought out a complimentary birthday dessert for the three of us to share... talk about decadent. Oh... my... goodness! It was dark chocolate heaven!

 To work off our huge dinner, we walked the strip a bit more and made our way to The Cosmopolitan to check out its famed chandelier. When I heard it had a huge chandelier, I wasn't expecting what we saw because we didn't just see something that dangles from the ceiling and produces light. Oh no, no, no. This bad boy is so big that it creates rooms. It is enormous, incredibly gaudy, and the epitome of Vegas. It was something. Before heading back to our hotel and putting up our very tired and sore feet, we stopped by a huge red high heel shoe that is on display in The Cosmopolitan's lobby. We weren't sure of the reasoning behind it, but it made a great photo opportunity for us!

 On Thursday, I attended my first conference session, raced back to the hotel room to pack up and bid a teary goodbye to Suzanne who drove back to San Diego, raced back to my next conference session, and then enjoyed a lovely lunch poolside with Staci. After my last session of the day, Staci and I hopped into a taxi, mad the short trek to the airport, waited in an insanely slow security line, had my first full-body airport x-ray taken, and then headed back to a cold and foggy Seattle. It was so foggy when we landed that we couldn't determine how high the plane was; we knew that we were coming in for a landing, but couldn't see a a single thing out of our airplane windows. Staci and I had perpetual looks of "are we gonna bounce now?" on our faces. We knew that we were probably getting close to the runway, but had no idea how close. Glad the pilots had their fancy equipment to help them land... I'm sure they weren't relying on their eyes to guide them in too much.

A bit later, I was home in our warm and cozy house and couldn't have been happier. I kissed our sleeping munchkins, who didn't even stir when I tried to say hello, and then drifted off to sleep, glad to be at home, but also glad to have had such a great time in Vegas.

Cabo Vacation Recap (pt 2)

As I mentioned previously, we spent a portion of each day in Mexico in the pool. I'm shocked that we didn't look like a group of prunes by the time we headed home, in fact!

The resort has numerous pools, which kept the atmosphere fresh in many ways. A few pools have swim-up bars (we like those the best!) and all have plenty of space for the kids to splash and play to the point of exhaustion. 

One of our kids' favorite pool activities was being catapulted into the water by any willing participant. Eric and Troy were the primary work horses in this arena, but I did my best to contribute... and my resulting sore arms could attest to how hard I tried to keep up with the guys.

When the adults were tuckered out, we would park ourselves on a lounge chair under a big umbrella, sip on something cold one of waiters ever-so-kindly brought to us, and watch the kids have the time of their lives.

We brought our underwater camera casing and point-and-shoot camera, as well as the big DSLR, so we could capture as much of the water-based play as possible. Enjoy!

Our little fish

Conor getting ready for another plunge

Annika: up close and personal

Cheese!!

Mama and Annika

Annika took this of us

Eric and the kids at the sky pool

Staci catching up on her poolside reading
(and from the looks of the waiter behind her, drinking)

Kat soaking up the poolside fun

Our tuckered out little fishies

Conor getting in a few laps

Up and away!

Flying Conor!

Ian showing us perfect cannon ball form

Underwater Eric

Ian gives Cabo a thumbs up

Water baby

Eric's cannon ball

Conor, Eric, and Annika... one, two, three.... GO!

Conor with his treasure .. the Toypedo

Uncle Troy taking Conor to new heights

Troy sends Annika flying (again, and again, and again)