Whistler

We tried a new place for morning coffee called "Blenz" before getting on the road for a 2hr scenic drive to Whistler. The winding roads, mountain scenery, small towns (look a lot like Jackson Hole, WY), and water views were endless. We arrived in Whistler at the Olympic village right at 10:45am. We surprised the kids with a big adventure...Bobsledding! They were so shocked at first. They originally thought we would be going down a long slide, but did not think it was bobsledding. We all weighed in first, then had a tour of the course and safety briefing before heading to the top and getting our helmets on. Charles and Cade went first and barely beat us girls by less than 2 seconds. We both averaged speeds around 55mph. It was much bumpier than I thought and Charles may have hurt his lower back from the jostling around. The kids however, said it was bumpy, but the speed was their favorite part! Ha!  After the bobsledding, we explored Whistler Village. We ate at Carramba's which was fantastic and Charles ordered a famous "Ceasar" which was a bloody mary drink topped with 2 mini burgers, fried pickles and more.  After lunch we walked around, did some shopping, and then grabbed ice cream at Cow's. The ice cream was perfect as we headed out for the ride back. We broke up the drive on the way back by stopping for a short hike to Shannon Falls. We even found a Geocache near the falls. Once we made it near the condo, we grabbed some Poke bowls for dinner and relaxed in the condo.

Aquarium and Stanley Park

With all the adventures in the previous days, we decided to sleep in and then head to the Aquarium and visit Stanley Park for the day. The Aquarium was much larger than expected and we spent about 4 hours exploring. It had all the ocean creatures like sea lions, otters, fish, sharks, frogs, urchins, jellyfish and more.  It also incuded a 4D Shark Movie, Amazon Exhibit, and a reptile section with Iguanas, Armadillos, Geckos, and more. Caelin's favorite was of course the monkeys!  Cade enjoyed the Sea Lions most.  It was interesting as we noted that the majority of the rescued Sea lions had partial or full blindness due to human encounters. Charles and I both loved the sloth the most. She was amazing to see and was climbing 2 feet above our heads. We were able to watch them feed her and her very slow climb upside down across ropes. After exploring, we ate lunch at the Bicycle Bistro, enjoyed some ice cream (waffle cone was shaped like a cod fish), and then set out to walk the famous Stanley Park. We salked about 5 miles of the coast line and around the park to see the Brockton Point Lighthouse, Totum Poles, the "Girl in a Wetsuit" statue, Lumberjack Arch, Hollow Tree, Empress of Japan statue, and even a bunch of geocaches!  Unfortunately, no travel bugs yet, but we will keep searching. After the park we drove to Belgard Kitchen for a nice dinner. Cade had a Wagyu Bavette, we tried multiple types of pizza, chick pea and advocado hummus, and salmon/mushroom risotto.  From dinner we walked to Gas town to see the famous Steam Clock and shop around. We found many fun souvenirs and were able to see the steam clock go off at 7:45pm and 8:00pm. We decided to walk through Yaletown next to see the flowers and visit a Cuban cigar shop for Charles and Boba Tea for the kids. I think were were all ready to head back and relax after logging about 8 miles of walking. Tomorrow we get to see Whistler!