O, Canada!

So many big fish!

Sadly, all good things must come to an end and we spent our last day in Vancouver packing it all in.

We started the day at the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. We had planned to spend most of the day wandering through this 1,000 acre park in downtown Vancouver and figured it would be a good place to start a dreary morning.

We were told by a friend of mine that the sea otters were not to be missed. I think we spent a 1/4 of our 3 hours at the aquarium just staring at these adorable creatures.

Awwww…..

Additionally, there were exhibits around Pacific Canada under water creatures as well for the Tropics. One of the coolest things was that in some of the exhibits, the aquarium had a viewing area for kids that would put them directly into the exhibit. Luckily Paige was small enough to fit in and be a part of the sea.

Once we left, stuffed sea otter in hand, we decided to wander down where we saw some horses. There was a horse drawn tour of the park, and while Paige told me she doesn’t like tours, she was up for trying this one. I am glad we did; the park is so big that this was a good way to see a lot of it in just an hour. My next trip, I plan on spending a lot more time there.

Paige with Jasper and Purdy who took us on our tour.

I promised my water baby niece that we would end our trip at the pool. We went down and she played for about an hour. By this time, the sun had come out…as had other kids. She was ready to leave after that hour.

It was still early evening and since the sun doesn’t set here til about 9:30 pm, we decided to go out and explore the Canada Day festivities at Canada Place. I loved the national pride among Canadians. Everyone was wearing red and white, Canadian flags or maple leafs painted on their faces. I finally got a sense of how a non-American feels on the 4th of July. I wanted to celebrate with the crowd, but felt like I couldn’t not being Canadian myself. But we listed to a concert, played some games, and got excited for our own celebration this coming Wednesday.

I was surprised by Paige’s choice to come to Vancouver, but I was reminded how civilized, friendly, and beautiful this country is. I can’t think of a better way to end my last 10-year old trip with my niece. Thank you, Canada, for your kindness, beauty and hospitality.

O, Canada…..THANK YOU!

Swinging on top of the World

The Internet ad that drew Paige to Vancouver highlighted a suspension bridge. We ventured out today to the Capilano suspension bridge and park. I thought that we would walk across the bridge and that would be it. But I was wrong. We spent 4 hours there…in the rain. But it was so worth it.

We were lucky enough to discover that there was a free shuttle directly from our hotel to the Capilano bridge. We got a quick view of Stanley Park and went through North Vancouver (where they have an Orangetheory Fitness and I was WAY tempted to find it and take a class!). The rain that started to come down when we left the hotel was supposed to stick around all day so we sucked it up and powered on.

We got there and bought our tickets. Immediately walking in we were faced with the suspension bridge. It was pretty early so the crowds were small. As soon as we stepped on the bridge, it was swaying. I had no idea I would end up getting a leg workout trying to keep my balance. It wasn’t bad looking out at the gorgeous Pacific rainforest, despite being high above the trees. It was so beautiful.

 

Our start across the Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Once we crossed the bridge, we found a ton of things to do! We walked around on the lower section while Paige warmed up with a hot chocolate. There was a wonderful display of birds that live in the area. So interesting to learn about them.

Once Paige had warmed up, we headed for the Treetop Adventures. We climbed a flight of stairs and were met with a staff member who gave us a scavenger card to work on and we started out treetop adventure. That meant walking on smaller suspension bridges across 8 or so 300-400 year old trees. It was high, with amazing views of the forest. Paige loved it that so we did it twice.

Working on our scavenger hunt card.

With the scavenger hunt completed and prize collected, we headed back over the suspension bridge for lunch. We ate and headed to the Cliff Walk. This was far more nerve wracking than the suspension bridge. You walk along the side high cliff looking down at streams, trees, and nature at its best. I felt much better after we got off that path.

I was surprised how much Paige enjoyed the park. Lots of walking, lots of nature, lots of wet weather. But Easily this will be one of the highlights of this trip.

I am the Queen of the forest!

Another Auntventure, eh?

This year for me has been bittersweet. I have been so aware that 2018 would be the year for my youngest niece’s Auntventure. This was it. She would be the last one I would be doing this with. I felt old, sad, excited, thrilled…all at the same time.

My niece has been looking forward to her trip for a very long time. She has watched her two older cousins and her older brother go on their trips; it was finally her turn. Despite an already travel-packed, camps-packed summer, she wouldn’t budge when I asked her if we should postpone her trip a year due to her busy schedule.

Chase, Paige’s older brother says good-bye at the airport early in the morning.

The big question was always, where will she choose to go? For the last 3 years she has been adamant that she wanted to go to Hawaii, specifically Aulani, the Disney resort. But as 2018 started, suddenly places like Washington D.C. And Boston were coming out of her mouth. In the end she chose Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Huh? Where did THAT come from?! Thanks to targeted marketing, an ad for Vancouver came up on one of my social feeds when she was on my phone. She started asking questions and thought “Short flight from home, looks cool, good shopping, AND I get to use my passport?

So here we are.

Paige on the waterfront in Vancouver, BC.

Vancouver is one city I have never been to so I wasn’t sure what to expect. What a great place. We are staying right in the middle of downtown where business people are populous as are the tourists. We didn’t quite luck out on the weather…overcast, drizzly, and on the cooler side, but we aren’t letting it stop us!

Our first full day today we visited the Public Market at Granville Island. There was a water park which got her excited to visit, but a dreary day like today, it wouldn’t be open. But there is so much at Granville! A HUGE market reminded me of a large Pike’s Market (Seattle) with loads of fresh food, yummy bakeries, and local vendors. They also have a warehouse that is dedicated to kids…the Kids Market. Two floors of games, activities, shops….all for kids! Paige loved it!

Paige checking out some of the yummy fruit at the Public Market.

First floor of Kids Market at Granville Island.

We are looking forward to exploring more of this beautiful Canadian city. Follow us here to see our Auntventures!

Tip: find a local food delivery service. For a picky eater, this helps eliminate stress of trying to search for restaurants your niece’s or nephew’s palette. Helped to have food delivered to the room (at a cost less than room service) for tired little ones. In Vancouver, use skipthedishes.com.

 

 

Tips for your Auntventure

When I was 10 years old, my aunt took me on a trip to Honolulu. This was back in the 70’s and I thought it was the coolest thing EVER. What may have seemed like a fun trip for her, ended up having a huge impact on me. I remember thinking that if I ever became an aunt, I wanted to do the same thing for my nieces and nephews.

(Honolulu, Hawaii)

Lucky for me, I did become an aunt. I didn’t live in the same city as my nieces and nephew, but with each one of them, I made sure that when they were young that I would make the drive (or flight) to come and see them regularly. I certainly didn’t want them to forget me. And I always wanted them to know that I would always be there to protect them and take care of them…no matter what.

Kids grow. They have their own activities. They have their own friends. But I wanted to make sure that we never lost that bond. That was when I decided that when they turned 10, I would take them on a trip, just us, to spend the time bonding.

I wanted to make sure we had some rules around the trip. I was lucky enough to have a good job and most of my expendable income goes to my nieces and nephew. So the rules included: you could choose where you wanted to go…anywhere in the world, and during our time, we had to do at least one educational activity (more on ideas there in a future blog post).

My oldest niece, the poor girl, was the guinea pig and chose to go to New York. I used my frequent flier miles to get us there and my hotel points for us to stay at a luxury hotel in Times Square. I called in advance and let them know what I was doing. They told me they would have a surprise waiting for her when we arrived. Well, not only did they put us on the 50^th floor of the hotel so she could look down into Times Square, but she was welcomed with a jar of candy and a gift certificate for a famous toy store in NYC. What a way to start a trip!

(Niece #1 standing in Times Square the first night we arrived. She’s 21 now and graduates from college next year. Oy.)

When I took niece #2 to Honolulu, the hotel had a little lunch for her waiting in our room when we arrived. She thought it was the coolest thing to check into the room after a long flight to find some Hawaiian pineapple ice tea and some nibbly stuff for her in the room. That was all the sustenance she needed to start her Auntventure around the island.

(I just love this picture of niece #2 taken on the North Shore of Oahu. That smile gets me every time.)

TIP: Whether you are traveling outside of your city or doing a staycation in your own city, call your hotel in advance and let them know what you are doing. They may be able to do something special to welcome your little and leave a big impression.

During my nephew’s trip, he wanted to do something big. We went across the country to Harry Potter World in Florida. I had heard about amusement parks now doing these special VIP tours. I decided to book one for my nephew on this trip as his excitement level was through the roof for visiting Harry Potter World. Caveat: these VIP experiences are not cheap but boy, they do make a HUGE impression (and gave this aunt some sanity amongst huge summer crowds). At Universal Orlando, the VIP tour gave us our own tour guide who showed us two around the parks. If there was a ride that my nephew wanted to ride, he would be taken to the front of the line (yes! Not waiting in line!). Our tour guide did rides with us and showed us secret stuff we never would have known had we gone on our own. And then she took us to the studios themselves so we could see where shows like “Sharknado” were filmed (not typically on the tour but because I worked in media and entertainment, I had a keen interest in that).

(My nephew with our tour guide getting tips on using his interactive wand in Diagon Alley at Harry Potter World at Universal Studios, Orlando, FL)

TIP: Local places, like your local zoo, may have these kind of experiences. If you are planning something special with your little, call and see what they can do for you!

What are some of you auntventures? We would love to hear them and share them with our community!

Welcome to Auntventure®!

Back when I was 10 years old, my aunt asked my parents if she could take me to Hawaii for a few days. I was a little surprised that my parents agreed to it. 4 decades later, I still remember that trip and how I felt. I felt so grown up, hanging out with my cool aunt, just us doing what felt like were really grown up things at the time!

Today, I barely remember what I ate for dinner the previous night…but I still remember that trip.

With nieces and nephews of my own, I wanted to replicate that bond, those memories that I had from my trip with my aunt. At 10 years old, they got to choose a trip, anywhere in the world, on me…just the two of us. And those trips have given us some amazing memories…ones that my older nieces still remember today as they become young women.

In speaking with other aunts, they started to do similar things with their nieces and nephews. Many (not all) of us are single without our own children, and most of our dispensable income goes to our nieces and nephews. We all agreed: Why not create experiences and memories instead of giving them more “stuff”?

My dear friend, Julie, in particular loved this as she, too, would “spoil” her nieces and nephew with fun things to do with her. The more we talked, the more excited we got as we knew there are a lot of other women out there who are choosing not to have their own children and focus on their siblings’ kids. It was Julie that came up with the word “Auntventure” to describe our experiences.

We are happy to officially launch Auntventure as a place to share ideas of what to do with your nieces and nephews, and create those lifetime memories. We will give you tips and tricks that we have discovered across different ages that have been a huge hit (we won’t talk about how I pass off learning black jack as a way to improve math skills).

We want to develop a community where aunts (and even uncles!) alike can share their experiences with each other. After all, “It takes a village to raise a child.”* We would love to hear from you all on your experiences with your nieces and nephews, too.

Follow us on social media & please/read comment on our blog posts!:

– Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/Auntventure/)
– Twitter (@AUNTventure)
– Instagram (@AUNTventure)
– Use the official hashtag for your posts & tag us! #auntventure

Welcome to Auntventure!®

*Bill Grace, Poet “It Takes a Village to Raise a Child”

Valentine’s Day Auntventure Ideas ~ “You Mean the World to Me” 🌎💕

Valentine’s Day is one of my favorite days to make sure my nieces and nephew know how much I love them. I’m not really big into the holiday in general, but it always is special to the kids. So,  I want to share with all those Aunts out there an idea I did for Valentine’s Day last year. (You don’t think I would actually give away the surprise of what I’m doing this year, do you? Nope!) 

If you have the means, one fun idea is to actually surprise if family member by visiting them in person. Last year, I was talking to my little niece on the phone, and she asked me if I would be her valentine. Of course I said yes! She really wanted me to visit, but of course she didn’t actually expect me to do so. And yet,  I hopped on a plane and arrived the night before Valentine’s Day in order to see my little niece in Kansas.  She was asleep when I flew in… And while she was asleep we set up a scavenger hunt of clues so that when she woke up she would have to follow the clues in order to find me. In this case, I was hiding in their recreation room ready to give her a big hug. 🙂 AND To ask her to be my valentine, of course! It was so special to spend a weekend with her as my date. 

Since I wasn’t able to see all my nieces and nephew at the same time, since I live in different states, I sent my sister a list of scavenger hunt clues, and my niece and nephew had a follow them to find their gift. I had sent a surprise world globe to them in California. The card simply said “you mean the world to me”. They loved it! 🌎 (and its educational!) 

Not every holiday needs to be an airplane ticket, but scavenger hunts are a great way to engage your nieces and nephews and create an element of surprise on any day! End it does make what a grand entrance for any visit to when you see them. 

Happy surprising! 

What ideas do you all have a Valentine’s Day?

Snapshot of My Fav Auntventures

“The Why” | The Start of the Auntventure Blog

 

 

Although this blog is newer, the foundation of “Auntventure” goes back for many years.  I am a single, professional auntie with no kids of my own. My two amazing nieces and nephew are the light of my life. Hearing the words, “Auntie Juju” can take any day of mine and turn it around.

9 years ago, I met the other co-founder of this blog, Ginna. We met working as volunteer leaders for the LIVESTRONG Foundation, as cancer had recently impacted both of our lives. I’ll let her tell her story, but for me, I volunteered because I was battling cancer (and now cancer-free!).  While that’s not the focus of this blog, it drove my fight because I wanted to be around with these precious little kiddos.  Life is short, and every moment really does matter!

Ginna and I became great friends through a decade of volunteering together….and we began to notice a common bond: We both ADORED being Aunts.  We both felt that the Aunt Tribe was very integral to the family unit.  Ginna would tell me about all the adventures she would do as her nieces and newphews got older… and when my oldest niece turned 10 years old… I decided I’d join on in with the idea! We called it the great “auntventure” (more to come on what that was in later posts), and in that fun weekend together, the legacy of Auntventure was born.

I love being an aunt. And I know so many of you out there feel the same.  I’m a professional, global biotech consultant, and while I don’t have my own kids, I think the role of an Aunt is huge in any family unit.

After all these years, Ginna and I decided to share our auntventure to give ideas (and have you share ideas with us!) with the larger community out there.  Many more awesome posts to come, but for today… I’m happy to hit “publish” and get this journey writing all it down as we travel the world…!

Welcome to AUNTVENTURE!

Auntie Juju (aka Julie).