Van-Cougar

Living so close to Canada has been way fun for this Chapman Clan.  Vancouver (or Van-cougar as grace likes to say) is one of our most favorite cities.  Usually when we go we have a concert to see or friends to hang with but this time we just went for fun.  

We had never been to Capilano which is a huge suspension bridge park with tons of fun to be had.  So we made sure to check that one off our list.  Capilano has 7 suspended footbridges that hang 100's of feet above the forest floor.  There is also a cliffwalk that jetts out over the Capilano River and is only anchored in 16 little spots along the whole thing. Its pretty insane and you really just want to run as fast as you can to get off the darn thing.  But the views are amazing and the world just seems so large from way up there.  

There are paths to explore, lessons to be learned, stairs to climb, bridges to cross and plenty of nature to take in.  The kids had a blast running up and down and back and fourth.  It truly was natures playground.

The first time we headed across the largest bridge (450 feet long and 250 feet above the river) it was super crowded and my heights hating husband turned around part way and high tailed it back to the start.  I looked back to see him standing at the start of the bridge with a sea of people between us and I wasn't sure what to do.  I was trying to keep track of the three kids and hope they didn't get trampled by the hoards of people all the while thinking about how much weight was on that bridge with us as we hung hundreds of feet above the ground.  We made it to the other side and looked back to see Ronnie heading across in a clearing of people.  Phew!  I really am so glad he made it because all the rest of the fun was waiting for us on that side of the bridge!

Bridge after bridge led us to tree top landings.  We felt like the real life Smith Family Robinson.  We actually told the kids about that book while we were high up in the trees  and Beckham was ready to board a ship and get stranded right then and there.

I'm pretty sure Ronnie was hating us at this point as Madison decided it would be a great spot to take some cute pics.

After our high adventure we needed some good Canadian grub.  Se we headed out to find us some Poutine.  Because when in Canada...

We even had a blast at the hotel.  Ronnie found one with a water slide attached to the pool and the kids could have played there all day long.  

 And probably the most unexpected highlight was the Asian summer night market Ronnie found.  The kids still talk about it and hope to go again.  I have to admit, that mango shaved ice with cream still calls my name too.  

 Who could resist a giant stick of swirly fried potato?

 Squid anyone?

 Pretty much sums up how Beckham feels about it all.

 And lastly we headed for the Children's museum where we built the largest tower possible for a 7 year old and then explored as much of the exhibits as we could before finding some world famous gelatto and heading home.

I always love taking trips with this cute little family of mine.  My kids are way fun people to hang out with and I think on trips like these, they might just admit that we are too.