I hadn’t left the twins for more then one night before. But back in June, I was really missing my family. We were packing and getting ready to go on our own family vacation to Boston/Cape Cod and I mentioned to my husband that perhaps I should someday take a 3-4 day trip out to BC to see my brothers as it would have been crazy expensive to fly all of us out there right now. (flights from Ontario to BC are insane!!!) I was thinking sometime in the fall or winter but he responded with “sure book a flight and go this summer”.  This summer. I didn’t think I could mentally prepare to be away from the twins for that long but he was telling me to go and that everything would be fine so after checking dates with my brothers,  I literally jumped online and bought my tickets that night without thinking twice. Gah! I panicked a little the next few days. This was a big step for a mama. But I did it and I’m SO glad I did. It was everything I needed and I came back feeling more refreshed and ready to tackle motherhood then ever before.

The trip was short but sweet. We restaurant/coffee shop hopped and spent a lot of time being active outdoors together.

My brother Sam and his wife Joryli met me at the airport the morning I arrived and our first stop was Revolver for coffee. We caught up over our iced drinks and then we spent the afternoon biking the sea wall. It felt so good to be active after 5 hours on a plane.

The next day we went hiking and it was glorious. The climate in Vancouver during the summer (when it’s not raining) is just perfect. Cool mornings and evenings and mid-day is just comfortably warm.   

I spent my third day there with my younger brother Josh and his sweet girlfriend Rebecca. They took me to their favourite shopping spots in downtown Vancouver and I learned a lot from Bekah’s skillful thrifting ways when shopping at consignment stores!  She’s a fashion queen. We stopped in at the Treasures and Travels studio that afternoon and it was great to finally meet Lindsay after following her blog for so long. She’s just as sweet in real life as she is online! Love that.

In all, it was such a great trip. We ate at Phenom Penh in China Town the night before we left and it was incredible! Good food, good company, so many memories tucked away until the next time I get to see them all again. Love this gang. Wish we weren’t separated by miles for most of the year. BUT it just makes the time spent together that much more special.