An outdoors kind of weekend Part One

This weekend was yet another jam packed couple of days, filled with all sorts of outdoor activities to keep us active and exploring. After a few gloomier days this week, it was nice to have such nice weather to great us on Saturday morning. Our initial plan was to spend the day at Wreck Beach, but seeing as it was still a little cool, we figured risking a day at the beach may not be as much fun as we hoped for. So we did something we haven't done in quite some time.


After the kids finished up their swimming lessons, we booked a Zipcar for a few hours to go hiking. We really don't take the time to do this often enough, so everyone was pretty excited. Only problem was, the nearest car to us at Commercial and Broadway was at Main and Broadway. So we hopped a ride on the B-Line, picked up out car, and headed downtown and over the Lions Gate Bridge and off to Cypress Mountain. 

Waiting for the B-Line bus in their car seats

The view as we head over the Lions Gate Bridge

We decided to do a hike that we had done in December, that took us up to Hollyburn Lodge. It's a really easy trail to take the kids on, and if you need proof, just know that my kids ran all the way up! Once we reached the top, which took considerably less time than we thought it would (again, the kids ran), we faced two questions; which trail to take next, and why wasn't Santa here serving breakfast?! Little note, if you go to Hollyburn Lodge before Christmas, you can have breakfast with Santa, but in July, Santa is not there. Imagine being three and a half and finding out that Santa doesn't actually live up the mountain.

I told you they ran

Our ride for the afternoon waiting for us after our hike

After our hike we squeezed a stop in at the viewpoint to take in the view of the city and the surrounding water. It's something we don't get to do very often being a carfree family, and every time we stop there it's a nice reminder of how pretty Vancouver is. Then it was back in the car, to bring it back to the lot and catch the B-Line home for some dinner.

The view from the Cypress Mountain Viewpoint...
Pretty spectacular

After that, what could possibly be better than joining some fellow cycling friends in a park for some Bike Bowling. For those unfamiliar, this is an extreme sport involving a small child's bike, several large garbage bins and a steep enough hill. For those feeling daring/foolish enough, they ride the small bike down the hill and into the bins stacked in a pyramid, trying to knock over as many as possible and get a strike. It's not something I have any interest in doing, but funny enough, my husband and kids love it! Don't worry, the kids were slowly rolled down the hill with Daddy who protected them from any of the bins hitting them, meaning he was a little banged up by the end of the night. The sacrifices we make for our kids.

My husband in proper form before he takes down some bins

So that was part one of our weekend. A bit of hiking, a bit of driving, and some extreme cycling...all I can think is it's good to keep it interesting!