Road Trip

*Warning: long holiday post..........you may want to scroll*

We just got back from one fabulous week of holidays! We really had just the best time. The thing that made it even better was that exactly 2 years ago we took the exact same trip with our kids (6 & 18 mths old), they got insanely sick and to say the least the trip was a NIGHTMARE. We haven't ventured far from home the past two years out of pure fear! Now that we have had some splendid success we are excited about all the holidays our future holds.

We packed up the van (including Grandma in the back seat) and headed out to the beautiful Okanagan Valley in BC. The kids were AMAZING the entire trip. We had found the perfect older motel to stay at in Kelowna. It was a sweet 80's reno motel that surrounded 5 acres of playground, pool and patios right in the city. (Perfect for our little people). We lucked out with a sweet deal online and got a 2 bedroom place for $99/night ($250/night as of July 1st). My Mom came with us and stayed with my Granny at her place. It was so nice to have an extra hand; we even managed to ditch the kids and go out on a lunch date one afternoon.


On our first full day in town we lucked out with amazingly gorgeous weather. My Uncle and his girlfriend entertained us for the day at her family's place on the lake. The kids played on the beach, we went out in the boat and toured the lake and had just the best day with family.





The weather wasn't quite as perfect the rest of the week (lots of cloud) but it was still nice and warm for the most part.
We spent lots of time at the beach playing and dreaming about the day we can retire and do that every day! We got a nice surprise one day at the beach when out of the blue my cousin came and sat down on the blanket at the beach right beside me. As it turned out my cousin and his wife were working in the area and we just happened to be at the exact same beach they came to eat their lunch at. They were sitting just a few feet behind us when they caught a glimpse of T and came and surprised us! Fun.




The kids had the best time at the spray park one day.



We had the best time playing in the indoor pool. We had the place to ourselves most days. It was so fun to see the kids go from being timid of the pool at the start of the week to jumping in and wanting to swim on their own (with a life jacket of course) by the end of the week.

We enjoyed lots of time with family. (We sadly weren't able to squeeze in time with all of the family)



We headed out on the Kettle Valley Steam Train one day. It was a great 90 min. trip through the valley surrounded by vineyards and orchards. My Granny had a great time reliving childhood memories of riding the train when it was in operation. Little JA was in heaven every time the whistle blew! Alysha loved the singing Banjo player.




On the trip home we stopped at the Enchanted Forrest to stretch our legs. It was Freezing there but the kids had a blast looking in all the tiny houses! It sure helped burn some energy for the 12 hour day of travel.



We really had just the best time and I am dreading switching out of holiday mode and back into normal life! Can't wait for our next holidays.