A weekend or two ago, the husband had a conference in Vancouver BC, so of course we tagged along. I love hanging out in my hometown and we’re always torn between catching up with friends and family and just playing around in one of the coolest cities in the world. Thankfully this was a weekend the kids and I got to do a bit of both.
On any given weekend in Vancouver BC with the kids, this could be our typical itinerary: waffles at Medina Cafe, Vancouver Aquarium for opening, Granville Island for lunch (we like the Stock Market and Terra Breads) wandering downtown Robson for the evening (there is ice skating on Robson in the winter!) and Stepho’s for dinner, Lucky’s for breakfast, Science World for opening (it’s reciprocal with our Seattle Science Center membership) and sushi from Fujiya and gelato from La Casa Gelato. However, one of my besties was having a birthday for her little guy so we ended up getting to spend one of our weekends days at Metrotown and the kids and I had a leisurely morning at Giovane cafe where my guys devoured their breakfast and had fun cutting into an exploding sugar bun.
Metrotown was a favorite hangout in my younger years, but we haven’t been there in forever and it is still a phenomenal mall that would take days to really walk through. Even my guys’ eyes lit up when they saw all the stores and entertaining displays throughout the mall. My friend had an art party at a cool little place called Kidoodles where my 8-year-olds loved splatting paint to their hearts content. I was so impressed by a paint-splatter cake my friend made too! The inside even had layers of rainbow colors-she is definitely creative. Stopping at Metrotown reminded me it might be nice to stay in this area one day when we head up north again. There are so many things to do in Burnaby and I think we would find many fun places to eat here too! It’s also not too far by sky train to downtown so it’s pretty convenient to stay here.
There are so many festivities going on around Vancouver BC at this time of year and we’ve really enjoyed Fly over Canada and the Suspension Bridge on past weekend trips. This time we checked out the giant tree on Robson, and the Vancouver Christmas Market near the Olympic torch statue. I think we would have enjoyed the market a lot more if it wasn’t pouring rain and we hadn’t adventured all day. We were pretty exhausted and everyone slept soundly in our hotel. This time we stayed at the Pinnacle downtown and we had a really lovely room overlooking Coal Harbor. We don’t usually all stay in one room-I tend to book suites-but this was surprisingly comfortable and we had a really relaxing stay.
The next time we visit Vancouver, I want to stop by a light show called Enchant, but we didn’t bring our rubber boots with us and I heard they are REALLY important if you go. We ended up finding a really cool FREE light display right in front of Nordstrom Vancouver. Last year I shopped this Nordstrom on Boxing Day and it was one of the shopping highlights of my year!
We also had a great dinner at Gyoza Bar, and I was surprised at how many kids were eating in this restaurant. They have a fantastic happy hour by the way and lots of vegetarian options too.
We wrapped up our weekend with a stop in at Granville Island which is my happiest place on earth. One of my guys wanted to go on the Aquabus and the sun was shining brightly so he didn’t have to twist my arm too hard.
We also made a quick visit to see my niece and nephew in Steveston but we were too busy playing to get a picture. I just got a picture of all the snow geese. If you ever head to Steveston this time of year, these geese are just incredible! (And we love eating out and playing in Steveston too!)
Have you been to Vancouver BC? I would love to hear where you eat and what you do when you go! It’s always fun to hear where people explore. I have a list of things to do in Vancouver with kids if you need more ideas for your trip too!
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
I saw those snow geese in Steveston, too, and they were amazing!
We always have at least one breakfast or brunch at Catch 122 in Gastown when we’re in Vancouver! You’ve reminded me that we need to go to Steveston next time we’re in town, have heard great things
Your trip look so fun! That view is amazing from your room!
This sounds like such a fun trip! We haven’t done much exploring in Vancouver, but it’s on our list to visit soon. Will definitely give some of your favorites a try! 🙂