The BFFs Celebrate 40 in LA!

This year, instead of going to Edmonton with my BFFs, we celebrated our 40th birthdays in LA! This is a big upgrade from our usual drive to West Edmonton Mall where we shop all weekend. Instead, our weekend was full of celebrity spottings, tours, show taping, live podcast, and more!

Believe it or not, this trip was actually planned before our Disney trip was decided. Each year on our trip, we pick the weekend for the next year so that we all keep it open. It seems to be the only way to allow six different moms to break away from the family for a few nights.

When my family started planning a Disney trip and the month of November was chosen, we worked it so that I wouldn’t have to fly back-and-forth. It couldn’t have been more perfect as my friends got off the same plane that my family got on at the airport.  

We may have been in the same city but the two trips were very different. 

From the very beginning, we really wanted to go and see some live show tapings. Our first choice was Ellen, but sadly we didn’t get tickets. Sara and I tried twice with different entries using different email addresses and were unsuccessful. Little did we know at the time we’d have many other opportunities during the week that made up for it.  

The first day was jam packed with excitement, so much so that we barely found time to eat! The first thing we did was a bus tour at TMZ where we saw many locations were others saw celebrities, HA!   My favorite part of the trip is when we drove by the hotel where pretty woman was filmed, that is One of my favorite movies of all time, and I think I’m due for a re-watch! I’m really happy we did the tour as we saw many parts of Hollywood that we wouldn’t have seen otherwise, but I’m not in a rush to do it again.

After the tour, we strolled the boulevard for a bit before it was time to get in line for Jimmy Kimmel Live. The thing with getting tickets is that you sign up two months in advance but you don’t actually find out if you got tickets until two weeks before (sometimes less!) and still when you accept the tickets you don’t know who the guest are going to be. The Jimmy Kimmel guests were Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, among other things) and Camila Morrone (Leonardo DiCaprio's girlfriend, among other things). I had no idea who are the guest were, but the show was amazing and we walked away with a one year subscription to Disney+! 

What I found interesting that was for a one hour show, we waited in line for an hour, then we were seated, and waited probably close to another hour before the show started. But because Jimmy Kimmel is live, the taping of the show was actually only an hour.

James took the picture below of our TV screen the same night that it taped. While all six of us were at the show, only Dee and I were on air for this scene. James couldn’t spot us in the crowd during the show, but we could see ourselves given we knew where our seats were.

You may think that after Kimmel we decided to head back to the hotel room, but you would be wrong. Instead 4 of us headed to a live taping of Kaitlyn Bristowe’s podcast, Off The Vine. This was a last-minute addition to our agenda. We literally bought tickets the night before the show.

Believe it or not, this was my favorite part of the LA leg of the trip. While some of you may not know, Kaitlyn Bristow is a former Bachelorette and I listen to her podcast quite regularly. Interestingly enough, she wasn’t my favorite person on the stage that night. Her guest was Nick Viall , a former Bachelor, and also one of my favorites. He has a pod cast, The Viall Files, that I sometimes listen to though admittedly it is not my favorite. The best part is, that when we bought the tickets we didn’t actually know who the guest was, you can imagine the squealing from all of us when we found out Nick was the guest. On top of that, Blake from Bachelor in Paradise was the guest DJ, and Demi even made an appearance.  It was a super fun night filled with wine, laughter, and a whole lot of fan girling!

After a very hectic first day in LA we toned it down a bit for day two. The main event was to attend a taping of the Kelly Clarkson show which is brand new this season. I remember watching American Idol the year that she won and love her music so it was exciting to see her live.  She starts each episode by singing a song and that day her song was Bitter Sweet Symphony bu The Verve.  I remember this song well from my younger years and in particular for being in the movie Cruel Intentions which even she said she thought of when she sang.

Her guests were Kristen Bell, the voice of Anna, and Ne-Yo, who I'd never heard of. I really enjoyed the taping of her show and the format. The guests stayed on stage as the next guest was introduced and she engaged with both of them at the same time including a cooking session with Ne-Yo. Kelly Clarkson was very “normal“ and exactly how I would expect her to be.

There were some differences between the taping of this show and the live Jimmy Kimmel show. The breaks were substantially longer and she had an entire team come out to prep her for the next segment.  This included lint roller’s, make up people, hair people, and entire entourage fixing her up for air. It was interesting to see how scripted the show.  There was a woman standing out of view that had potential questions that Kelly should be asking her guest to lead them in a certain direction. It wasn’t just the show that I enjoyed, but seeing the whole process behind the scenes.

After the taping, a few of us headed to a taping of the sitcom, the Connors, and the other half of us headed back to Melrose Ave. to browse some shops and had a little fun with all the murals along the way. See picture above.

Sunday morning, our Uber was booked for 7 AM, which meant a very early start to the day. We had a Warner Bros. tour booked for 8:30 AM to maximize our last full day in LA. The highlight of the tour by far was sitting on the couch of the friends set. The show was such a big part of my adolescence and I watched it for years with these exact girls, so it just felt right to experience it with them.

Deena picked us a great hotel in Santa Monica right on the ocean, which Arnold Schwarzenegger dined at every morning... though we only spotted him once. We looked at the pier every morning as we hopped in our Uber and headed to our destination saying we were going to visit the pier soon.  Finally on our last day, a mere two hours before the sunset, we headed on a walk to the Santa Monica pier. It was a beautiful night, the sunset was beautiful, and the pier was crowded. Now that I’ve rekindled my love of roller coasters I actually wanted to go on the roller coaster at the pier but we were afraid the line would be too long so I passed. It really was a great way to say goodbye to LA.

This was a perfect trip for us. From celebrity watching to just the right amount of shopping, it was perfect! I have no doubt we will be talking about this experience for years to come. There’s always something about spending time with my oldest friends that makes my heart happy. Not everyone can say that they still spend time with their best friend from kindergarten or their roommates from University, but I can say both! I am so fortunate to call all of these women my friends. I think the Golden girls said it best when they said “thank you for being my friend“.

Happy 40th birthday to us all!

Disney Extravaganza!

Over 30 years ago, my Mom took my brother and I do Disneyland for the very first time on our very first plane ride.  It was my most memorable childhood memory, and we still reminisce about how Mom fell in a mud puddle on the way to the park and we insisted there was no time to go back.  My Mom wanted to recreate this memorable experience for her grand kids and memorable it was. We had 7 full days together and I documented each day diary style at the end up each night. 

Day 1

Travel day is always the worst. This trip was no different, what I will always remember about our travel day to Disney was that our suitcase was drenched in fish juice when it came off the carousel. Yes, fish juice. I’m not talking about a few dribbles, I’m talking about the whole front of the suitcase was wet. People on the shuttle bus complained about the smell, people getting their luggage complained it stunk... it was bad. In the end when we got the rental car James emptied the suitcase into the trunk and left the empty suitcase in the parking lot. For the record, that was 100% James‘s idea. On the hour drive from LAX to our vacation house, I called WestJet and convince them to give me a $100 travel credit. I guess I’ll be buying a new suitcase, among other things, on our trip to target this week.

Day 2

We spent our first full day at California Adventure Park. The most memorable moment for me was waiting in line for our first ride, Soarin' Around the World. I remembered it from the last time we were there and it was a real hit among both kids. Although that time, Grady cried as we tried to strap him into the seat, in the end he loved it. That was James' fault for telling him that there was a drop at the end, which there is NOT. It was easy for us to forget that although Cooper came when he was four years old, he really doesn’t remember.  I watched Cooper's face more than I watched the screen.  His smile was big and and his eyes were glowing.  The excitement didn't fade even after the third time we rode it. For me, seeing the world through your children’s eyes, really is a blessing. And that’s what Disney is all about.

Day 3

Today is the day that Cooper turned nine! While most would think that celebrating your birthday at Disneyland would be the best day ever.  Cooper disagreed.  By mid morning Cooper told me it was the most boring birthday ever. Those few little words hurt my heart. Mostly he was bored because we spent our morning walking back-and-forth in the park trying to orientate ourselves on the first day. Also, Cooper is not a big ride guy, so he spend a lot of time waiting for others to get on and off rides. I just wanted his day to be perfect, and thought that being in Disney would be enough.

In the end, his favorite part of the day was dinner at Goofy’s kitchen. We had eaten there for his fourth birthday and knew that he would get special treatment. The dessert was de-lish per the birthday boy. The picture with Chip was one of the best photos of cooper on the trip.    It is harder then you think to catch a natural photo of this 9 year old!

Day 4

Today was a rest day after two very long days of amusement parks. We tried to sleep in, but didn’t. The kids swim, the adults drank beer.  We went to target to purchase a new suitcase and a few odds and ends. We even made a trip to the mall and I came home empty-handed. Surprising, I know. The day was much quieter, but much needed rest from the hustle and bustle of Disney. Back at it tomorrow…

Day 5 

Today we headed to Universal Studios. My favorite ride is always the studio tour and this time was no different. I don’t know if it was because it was the weekend, but it was way busier than I remember and way busier than Disney. The bonus to the park being so busy was that Cooper was forced to hold my hand. That hasn’t happened in years! The lines were long, and I realized I am not very patient. After waiting in line one hour two rides in a row, I was done. No more rides for me. We are also accepting that Cooper really is not a ride guy. He doesn’t like drops, speed, or noise. Though he liked the Simpsons ride. The great thing about universal, is many of the rides are movies that give the illusion that you’re on a roller coaster, and he seems to like those. If you are planning to go and have some spare cash, the VIP tickets is well worth the money.

Day 6

Today we had another free day.  Personally, I really like these because you can sleep in (if 7:30 AM is considered sleeping in) and drink our coffee in our PJs. After that we decided to head to Newport Beach to check out the pier, dip our toes in the ocean and head to the nearby mall. Sadly, the kids were the only one with any shopping success. Macy’s was having a wicked sale and they loaded up our cart quickly with Champion and Nike attire. I guess I’ll have to wait until my girls trip next week to spend some cash on myself. More on Phase 2 of my trip soon.

Day 7

My sleep ended abruptly last night when I woke up to Cooper puking beside me. While you may think that I was sleeping with James, I was actually sleeping with Cooper. After he filled the bed with vomit we were able to change the sheets and get back to bed.  With a sick kid James and I switched off our Disney duties shortly after noon.  He read 6 movies over the course of the day while I crushed a good section of my book.

The highlight of my day with meeting Cinderella as we left the park.  She was so polite and kind as she asked  Taiya and Tessa at what kingdom they were from.  Saskatoon, of course!  I told her she was my always my favorite princess and she called me a queen. After calling Grady a prince he told me that Cinderella was really  nice.  Thank you to Grady who pointed her out as we left the park when he probably just wanted to walk right by. It was the perfect end to our Disney vacation.

And just like that, our time in Disney was done.  It is amazing how the time goes so slowly while you are there and then it is over in the blink of an eye.  The week was filled with so many great moments that I will never forget.  What an honor it was to experience Disney with my entire family.  Coming from a boy mom it was great to have someone who wanted to meet the princess and wait in line to meet Mickey.

Mom, thank you so much for putting the plan into motion and following through with all the details.  It was so relaxing to not have to deal with vacation planning for a change.  We appreciate everything you did to make this trip a fantastic one!

Kelowna 2019

This was our 8th consecutive summer spending our summer vacation in Kelowna.  I remember it was the summer after I went back to work and we didn't take a winter holiday so I really wanted a beach summer vacation.  Little did I know that we would make it an annual tradition for the foreseeable future.  We loved it that much.  It makes me feel almost as happy as Hawaii.  Almost.

On to the details.

For me boat day is always a favorite for James and I.  It is slowly growing on Grady. My usually anxious child has ventured out of his comfort zone and been quite brave on the tube and jumping off the top level of the pontoon boat.  This kid loves the water and I am so happy to see him try (and enjoy!) new things.

While Grady is in his element on the lake.  Cooper is less thrilled.  The boat scares him.  Good thing the pontoon boat doesn't go that fast.  On the last tube ride of the day Cooper finally went on at a coasting speed with his Dad and Nick.  Personally, I liked that speed way better.  It was a start and I was proud of Cooper for conquering his fear. It is a start. Literally, a slow start.

After skipping a year of the watersides in Vernon, we made our way back this year.  The best part was that the kids didn't need us to slide with them.  I didn't get in the water once which, for me, was a win.  I'm certainly glad that didn't need us because that day ended up being freaking cold and it eventually rained on us.  I was using the towel as a blanket and huddled under the umbrella at one point.  That led to an earlier departure which I was totally okay with.  Cooper will tell you this was his favorite day.

For the second year in a row, the ladies booked a wine tour.  We extended the length of of the tour and visited 6 wineries and added a stop for lunch.  It was a full day affair.   No one can visit that many wineries and survive on crackers only.  Rookie mistake last year.... Over the years I've come to really enjoy visiting the wineries and buying a bottle or two of wine at each stop.  My favorites are Volcanic Hills for red and Rollingdale for white.  I managed to come home with 2 cases this year and am enjoying a glass as I type.

While we were out tasting all the wine, the Dad's took the kids to the Wibit which is always a favorite for the kids.  This year only the kids went in since it was too cold for the Dad's.  Another victory in my books.  There are some really good things about the kids getting older......

Don't feel too bad for the Dad's, they got their day of golf in the next day.  I love that each of us get a day to enjoy kid free.  This is a tradition I could get used to!

Last year we did a 24k bike ride that resulted in a large slurpee bribery and Cooper in tears as we finished.   This year, our leisurely hike turned into a hike straight up a mountain with great views and grumpy kids.  Seriously, look at that view.  Worth every injury the kids nursed on the way down.

Personally, my favorite part of the vacation was the morning I spent with my girlfriend (or on my own exercising).  Sherry and I ran every second day with our longest being just over 10k. The other days I walked solo and listened to podcasts or my favorite running play lists.  There is just something about the BC fresh air and scenery that makes me want to (gasp) set an alarm!

Grady will tell you that the zipline morning was his favorite.   When I was uploading these photos, I thought the one below was of Grady.  Ooops.  This was a new find this year and was essentially a  wooden structure with jumping decks and some floating docks.  Once again, I took pictures and stayed out of the water.  Are you seeing a trend??

We are so fortunate to travel with this group for the second year.  I don't think the kids will ever let us travel alone again!

Kelowna, I love you.

Day 13: Our Last day

Last night I was feeling ready to go home.  We had done most of the things we wanted to and truthfully, 2 weeks on every trip is when I start to want to go home.  

But last night I didn’t know that our last day was going to be one of the best.   

Today was perfect weather, possibly the best of our trip. The sun was out in full force and the skies were clear and blue.  

We met 2 families on the beach for the morning which turned into an all day affair.  They built sand castles and boogie boarded.  Floated in tubes and ate pizza on the beach.  The adults may have had a few adults bevies.  Nothing beats a beer on a hot day.  

After almost 6 hours we left the beach happy and sunburned.  All signs of a good day at the beach. 

We went to our last dinner and talked our our favorite day and both kids said that our last day was the best day.  Nothing like going out on a high!

Aloha Maui, thanks for another great trip. 

Day 12: Sunburn Central

 

Today was a day of few pictures.  It started with beach yoga.  I don’t like yoga so not sure why I thought I’d like it at the beach.  Other than the view, I didn’t like it at all.  But after all the running on vacation it was probably good for my body.  

I followed up yoga with a massage that was only okay.  The room was cold and I saw a lot of naked old ladies where suits were optional.  I found myself thinking about what I was missing at the beach.  Note to self for next time. 

After the massage I hurried to the beach where we met one of Grady’s teammates and family.  I told you our hockey families are the best!

We stayed on the beach way to long and we all had sunburns to tend to in the afternoon which meant staying out of the sun. 

It was a relaxing day soaking in our last Maui rays. 

Day 11: Exploring our Resort

What a great day. From beginning right until the very end. I started the day with a run.  I was so excited to run in a different area, because truthfully, after 10 days I was bored of my old route.  Keeping things real, I ran or walked 3.5 km every single day except yesterday.  And you know what, I missed it.  While 3.5 km doesn't sound long on its own, over the course of 10 runs that's over 35 kilos that I otherwise wouldn't have ran.  Tomorrow I plan to do beach yoga instead. 

At 6:30am it was still a busy path.  Busy but beautiful.

The water slides open at 10am so after a quick trip to the beach we were back and ready for them to open.  We put in a long shift.  Like, really long.  We left our room around 9 and but got back right around 5.  We all have sun burns to show for our long day in the sun.

While the kids and I wanted to eat right at our pool chairs, James insisted we had to go to the restaurant and get out of the sun.  He was probably right.

The hotel has a lazy river that is connected by smaller slides which kept us busy not to mention the tarzan rope and the under water camera holder the kids bought.  There was no way I was putting my camera in there but Cooper had no issues using his.  I am happy to report his phone survived!

Our new surrounding kept us busy exploring all day. It is amazing what a change in locale has done to make it feel like a brand new vacation.

Two full days left.....

Day 10: Crossover day

Today we packed up all our belongings and moved them to Wailea for the last 4 nights in Maui.  We have never switched hotels but when you stay for 2 weeks I'm starting to think it was a wise thing to do.

We had to check out of our current hotel at 11am and couldn't check into our new one until 4pm.  So we had 5 hours to kill.  We decided to go mini golfing. While Cooper enjoyed getting the only hole in one of our round, our older son had a hard time losing.  Not sure I ever want to mini golf with him again.  Ever.

We checked into our new hotel and can I just say.... Wow!  It is more a hotel style then a condo style and much bigger.  Our room wasn't ready but the kids were more than ready to hit the pool.

We arrived shortly after 2pm and the kids wanted nothing more than to go on the water slides so... James and I sat and watched them while sweating our butts off for well over an hour.

I love how Grady will watch his younger brother slide before him to make sure it is 'safe' before he goes.  AKA, he is scared to go himself.

Once he finally decided to go down he was all smiles. The kid was shaking with excitement.

You may not know this, but Grady has a love/hate relationship with water slides.  He loves them so much, but he is also so scared of them. Every time.

I'm glad to report that he over came his fears on these ones and had a great time sliding with his brother.  James and I watched from the side, with no chair to sit on, in our full clothes because we hadn't checked in.

We have a full 3 days to explore all the pools and slides!  I'm being rushed away from my blogging to start exploring now, at 7:38am!

Day 9: Mama's Fish House and Road to Hana

Let me introduce you to Mama's Fish House just outside Paia.

It is THE best fish you will ever have.  Ever.  And also the most expensive.

The first few times James and I went to Maui I refused to go since I didn't eat fish and it was too expensive if I wasn't going to like it.  Then I went, and I am a converted fish eater.  We have been back once a vacation to this gem to feast on the best fish ever.  Today we drove an hour to get to our reservation.

We always go for lunch, it started because the kids were young and we felt it was more accepted to ruin someones lunch with crying kids over dinner.  Then we kept going for lunch because honestly, the view is breathtaking.  I'm actually not sure if I prefer the view or the fish more.  Can you sense how much I love this restaurant??

Today I had the curry dish with 3 different fish, Mahi Mahi is the only one I remember and the others don't matter because they were all delish.  By far my bet meal of the trip.  I loved it way more than my Mom who had it years ago and when I asked her why she didn't like it she told me she didn't reallky like curry.  Insert eye roll.

With our full bellies, we decided to try a part of the Road to Hana since the kids have never been and James and I haven't done since before we were married.  James and I both remember the bamboo forest as one of our favorite stops and it was only at mile marker 6.5 so we decided to give it a try.

At about mile maker 3 James started to get nauseous and hated the driving.  Very narrow, sometimes down to only one lane for both directions.  At one point, I wasnt sure we were even going to see any bamboo.  

But we did, and it was worth it. 

I even managed to snag a family selfie!

We immediately turned around after our short hike and headed back to our condo.  

It was a full but good day.  A little old mixed in with a little new.   Today brings a lot of new as we switch sides of the island to a hotel we’ve never stayed at.... 

Stay tuned.  

Day 8: The Gazebo

We headed up island today and explored what we thought was Napili beach and turned out to be Kapalua Beach.  In the kids words, it was 'super awesome'!.  We worked our way from snorkeling at baby beach where my stomach nearly touched the coral to Kapalua where it was about 9 feet deep.  The kids were nervous but they did it!  Next time we are for sure doing the boat tour!

We arrived at the beach just after 8 to secure parking so we were departing right around noon.  We have next to nothing left to eat at the condo so I suggested The Gazebo.  I remember eating there on Easter Sunday about 3 years ago, waiting in line for well over an hour and loving my pancakes.  When we pulled up and there was only a table or 2 ahead of us we were all in.

The view is spectacular.  Like you have to blink to believe you are actually there.  It looks like Grady was inserted into the photo above....

The look on Coopers face when the white chocolate macadamia nut pancakes were served was on point.  They were just as good as I remembered them.  I asked him if we could share but he was having nothing to do with that.

In the end, despite the amazing food, the kids favorite part was the wiki stix that they couldnt' believe you could take home.  Go figure.

If you are ever in the Maui area, I highly recommend The Gazebo for breakfast, or in our case, pancakes for lunch!