the greatest show
Hi friends! Happy Monday! I hope that those of you who are off today are enjoying some downtime and relaxing. I’m definitely thankful for an extra day off and a day to get my life together before we leave! The girls are playing hooky from school for a good reason and I’ll share more info very soon. 🙂
What did you do this weekend? I’d love to hear what you were up to. We ended up spending a lot of time with friends, lots of time outside, and quite a few fun activities. I didn’t a lot of work done, and definitely didn’t take a lot of pictures. Sometimes it feels good just to be and enjoy, ya know?
Friday morning, we met up with some friends and their kiddos to walk around the Botanical Gardens,
(this is my spring garden inspiration!)
and I had a Beautycounter video conference call.
That night after gymnastics, we met up with another group of friends for our weekly pizza date, then hung out my mom’s house for a little while. Saturday morning, I caught a Peloton class with Robin, and later that afternoon, madre and nana watched the girls while I went with a couple of girlfriends to the U of A game and out to eat.
The Cats won (yesssssss) and we headed to Tito and Pep for dinner. It’s one of the newer spots in town and the reviews are amazing, so I was excited to give a whirl. Kyle also said that “It was good” which is chef speak for “It’s incredible” since he tends to be picky about restaurants. I mean he makes delicious works of art so you can’t really blame the guy. Turns out you need a reservation for trendy places on a Saturday night (oops) so since a 2-hr wait wasn’t in the cards, we ventured to Pastiche instead.
We ordered cocktails called the Hammer (with gin, cucumber, black pepper) and they were very fresh and delicious. My salmon was perfectly cooked, but as usual, the company was the best part of the meal. 😉
Sunday morning was Pancake Sunday, and after a couple of chores, we met some friends to see the Zoppe Family Circus at the Mercado downtown. The circus was very charming and old-timey. They didn’t use a ton of flashing lights or crazy set changes. It was pure acts of talent, super strong acrobatics, and silly clowns. The girls all got a kick out of it.
(I was singing, “The Greatest Show” in my head the.entire.time even though sadly there was no Hugh Jackman to be seen.)
(Also Liv really, really wanted that creepy clown toy. I might casually hide it in the closet while we’re sleeping, just to make sure it doesn’t come to life and walk into my room.)
After the circus, we walked across the street to the courtyard and drank margaritas while the girls ran around and played. Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.
The rest of the evening was chicken, veggies and pasta in the Instant Pot, church with the fam, and a late bedtime after enjoying the lunar eclipse. It was a low-key and lovely weekend, so I’m ready to spend today blitzing, catching up on work, and getting packed for our trip.
While I’ve got travel on the mind, I have a question for some mamas out there if you wouldn’t mind helping me out. Later this spring, we’re heading to Vancouver for a cruise. What do you do with car seats from the airport to the hotel? Do you bring your own? Is there a way to order a taxi that has carseats? Pretty much every time we travel we rent a car, but for a cruise, it doesn’t really make sense. I’d love to hear any ideas!
Off to catch a strength training workout (I’m going to do this one) and then pack. I’ll see ya in the am with my fitness predictions for 2019.
Have a wonderful day!
xo
Gina
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I have heard you can request an uber with a car seat but I have never looked into the option. Let me know what you find out since we are planning a cruise with the kiddos for next winter.
i definitely will! it looks like vancouver doesn’t have uber or lyft yet but i’ll definitely share what we end up deciding
I hope the trip is Pilot related!! 🙂 Good luck getting everything ready to go!
<3 thank you!
I have never used one but there are separate places you can rent a car seat from, they will deliver to the airport and pick up from the hotel. I looked into it briefly on our last trip but didn’t need it after all!! I will try to find the name again and let you know.
that is so amazing. thank you!!!
When we were in Europe this fall the cars we hired were able to provide booster seats. If you book a car service in advance they will probably be able to do this. Straight up taxis we belted in the taller kid and had the shorter kid sit on my husbands wheelchair cushion and hoped for the best. This is NOT what you want to do. I was in a panic the whole time. So that is why we booked car service every other time.
good to know. the thought of them not having a carseat makes me break out in hives. i’ll look into car service- thank you!!
I use a car service when I travel like that. More expensive than Uber or Lyft but you can request car seats etc. Just google private car service Vancouver or airport transfer Vancouver and they should come up!
that’s so convenient. thank you!!
I bring our own car seat! I bought a car seat cover off amazon so it didn’t get damaged during the flight, and we checked it right with we got there. The cover came with straps so we could wear it like a backpack in order to keep our hands free as well. Good luck!
we’ve done that a couple of times but our carseats are so enormous and heavy. maybe we need to get a couple of lightweight ones for travel
I used to work for cruise lines. Sometimes a bus with airport to cruise terminal service is included, included in Vancouver. You can look into adding that to your cruise package if you arrive on the same day that you embark. Or you can request a taxi with carseats. In California there are a few cities that have minivan cabbies who have that service. It’s pretty cool. The 5-point harness kind of hides in the seat and the driver can unfold them for kiddos as needed.
that is so awesome. thank you for letting me know!
I saw a few comments about Uber/Lyft, but as a Vancouver resident, I’m sad to say that Vancouver is behind on the times and doesn’t have Uber or Lyft. Just old fashion taxis 🙁 One option that might work is Vancouver has the Skytrain- it’s a super easy transit option that connects directly from the airport to downtown Vancouver (if you’re going directly to the cruise you’d take it to Waterfront and then you are right at where the cruise ships dock). Happy to answer any Vancouver specific questions 🙂
ahh good to know!! i’ll look into that. thank you so much! and i might hit you up for some more ideas as get closer if that’s ok <3
I second the SkyTrain! So easy, convenient and affordable and no need for car seats :).
From Vancouver it’s very easy and almost faster to take public transportation to the city center. I would suggest that!
i’ll look into that! thank you!
Good luck packing (isn’t it the worst? why?). Excited to hear about your trip! And the cruise sounds amazing, too!
packing is the worst! but unpacking is even more terrible 😉
In NYC, we prearranged a car service from the hotel to the airport with a car seat. It cost extra but it was worth it not to drag a car seat around.
that’s such a great idea. i’ve been wanting to take the girls to NYC but the carseat dilemma is what stopped me from actually looking into it. thank you!
We purchased a “booster” called the mi-fold. I would suggest checking it out for travel! Folds and fits into carry on VERY easily. Rather than being a “booster” seat it actually adjusts the seatbelt to the proper levels for little kids. It is an approved travel seat in Canada, and I think the US too but you may want to double check that!
Seconded! My gf has this for her 4 year old, it’s pretty neat! So compact, perfect for travel:)
Or take the Skytrain, my kids LOVE it! A good option if you are staying at a hotel downtown or going straight to the terminal. Let me know if you have any other Vancouver questions, I’m up on the kid related things (daughter 6, son almost 3).
We live in the suburbs near Vancouver:)
amazing. thank you! i might definitely hit you up as we get closer
ok amazing. i’m checking it out now! thank you!
https://shop.saferide4kids.com/products/ridesafer-travel-vest These may be pricey, but if you want something for traveling regularly that’s not a bulky car seat, this may be a good option.
i’ll check those out- thank you!
We Uber and bring booster bases after a few sketchy situations without anything. It’s not my favorite thing to carry around but necessary imo.
that’s what we did the last couple of times we went to disney. it was such a pain. thankful for those little carts you can rent, though
You might look into Mifold car seats. They are super super tiny, great for travel. I’m not sure if P is big enough for one yet. They are $40 each, so pretty affordable.
that will definitely work for liv. thank you!!
If you ended up having to pack your own car seat (which is such a pain), get a cheap padded case on amazon with backpack straps and check it. The airline doesn’t charge you and they don’t check the weight. We recently went to Ireland and stuffed the car seat bag with blankets, PJs, diapers, and wipes. It was basically a checked bag for FREE!!!
That’s awesome to know. We’re going to Ireland next spring so I’ll keep this in the back of my mind.
You are a genius
Vancouver does not have Uber or lyft, and I can almost guarantee there is no car seat options in cabs. You may be able to book a town car with car seats. If your cruise departs from downtown, and you are staying downtown, you are better off taking the skytrain to waterfront station. Altervatively, call your hotel to see if they have a transfer option that offers car seats. The fancy pants downtown hotels likely do! 🙂
such awesome tips. thank you!!
I just wanted to say…check out the Bubblebum! It’s an inflatable booster seat for ages 4-11 and it’s approved for usage in the EU and US. They inflate in about two big breaths so super fast and when not being used, roll up and we store ours in our daypack. The kids actually love them and we can install them in Ubers, Lyfts, Taxis, on airplanes in seconds. A true lifesaver for travel anywhere 🙂
I’m not sure how much P weighs–my three-year-old is still too small for it–but we’ve used an inflatable booster seat when we travel called the BubbleBum for my older child since he was the 40-pound minimum. There’s no five-point harness of course since it uses the regular seatbelt, but we are okay with that for briefs rides when we are traveling. At a minimum, it’s a good space-saving option for Liv.