Open, close, repeat

The girls side (we got to see a seal pop his head out of the water)

And the boys side

Naturally, Kaela loved the pink birds.

Everyone liked the turtles

Iguana from somewhere in South America

The lovely Lion Fish

Silly jellies

Oh, hello, Mr. ray (upper right)

Julian by one of Mommy’s top 5 mammels

I mean, seriously, they are so cute!

After exploring the aquarium it was time for the Sea Lion show!

After the aquarium Julian and Daddy did a hike while the rest of the crew went home for semi-successful naps. \240(K not B)

Hollow Tree

Mommy picked J and D up from the beach and then we all braved the rain and went up Grouse Mountain. \240The sane family members took the 8 minute tram up. \240Clete ran over 2,000 steps straight up in 30 minutes making it the 6th fastest time this year. \240Apparently a fit person should be able to hike it in 2-2.5 hours. \240

It was literally in a cloud and raining

But we saw some funny lumberjacks

After giving a friendly high five Brady decided he was done with the lumberjacks

And then we went to see the Grizzley Bears who were both rescued on 2001. \240They are 22 years old and will apparently love to be 35-40.

After a quick bite, we went to the kids rope course. \240Everyone was a grouper walking in the rain - especially Brady who refused to be carried - AND didn’t nap.

Oops!

An unintentional water slide.

And not kidding - the minute we got down the sun came out!

And the kids begged to go back to the beach

Finally home to bed for the kids and sushi for Mommy and Daddy (thanks, Jessie!). \240Mom needs new shoes since her right heel is killing her after this run today. \240The better running shoes were accidentally left outside in the storm just before we left. \240Praying it doesn’t impact the whole trip but mom is bummed to not do the 7-mile loop tomorrow morning. \240

After a loop at the top of Blackcomb Mountain we took the Peak to Peak gondola to Whistler. \240

Then it was time for a snack and grocery store trip in the village before dinner. \240

Brady got comfortable at the dinner table while the Julian and Kaela played at the playground. \240We also caught a bit of a concert. \240

Not pictured, we did a night swim and hot tub dip before bedtime. \240What a fun, full day!

Then we headed to catch the first gondola up the mountain. \240Daddy had to walk/run carrying Brady to the peak since little kids aren’t allowed on the Peak Express lift. \240To kill time, the rest of us waited for the glass bottom peak to peak lift. \240Julian loved it, Kaela not so much. \240

It was a 10 min walk down to the peak express lift - daddy was already half way up with Brady!

The lift was a bit scary without snow under us :)

We braved the crossing of Cloudrakee Skybrodge and the Raven’s Eye. \240Kaela somehow had no issues with the bridge despite the fear of the glass bottom gondola. \240Weather cleared - views were great!

Then we had a beautiful 3 mile hike back down to the Gondola. \240The kids did great - Kaela walked it all and Julian walked and ran and both had fun in the patches of snow we found. \240

We made it down just in time for ziplining! \240Jessie took Brady and Kaela to the playground.

Getting ready

Clipping in for the first ride

And he’s off!

No fear for J - upside down by the last ride

Mommy showing everyone how it’s really done

All the ziplining made us hungry so we went back to the hotel for a pizza snack. \240Daddy then took Kaela and Julian to the lost lake while Mommy, Jessie and Brady went shopping for Whistler gear. \240

Swimming in a glacier lake in 60 degree weather?! \240Definitely my kids!

After 35K steps for the day - carrying Brady for a lot of it - exhausted Mommy found the closest sushi place for dinner. \240Not pictured but it was excellent service for the kids and fish for us. \240The boys checked out the concert on the way home while the girls went back to shower and start packing up. \240

We took the gondola up while Daddy ran up the mountain - finishing in under an hour for the 6th fastest time or something like that. Unfortunately for Mommy it meant I had to carry Brady the whole way - but it was a \240gorgeous day for a hike. \240

30 min of gondola rides was enough time for lunch #1 which we had packed and we were on the road back to Seattle by 1. \240We made decent time until we hit the boarder where we sat barely moving for an hour - impatient Mommy was not very happy.

We finally made it to Sharbani and Tito’s an hour after the official start time of the BBQ for us - also know as Latin time. \240Fun to see GSBers and have a nice dinner - the kids all played together which was great and even Brady entertained himself for a couple of hours with all of their toys.

I stayed with Brady at their house and Clete took Julian and Mikaela back to the hotel. \240

Hide and seek in the couch

Pillow fight!

Clete went to drop Jessica (and the car) off and picked his parents up and took them to the hotel. \240They had a nice lunch at Pike Place market while we had Thai and popsicles and the kids played with the hose in the back yard since it was pushing 90 degrees. \240

We also learned that Julian is likely allergic to cats.

Accompanied by extreme congestion - over 24 hours to fully go away. \240

Sharbani dropped us at the hotel and we went out for a Mexican dinner before heading back to the hotel for the night. \240