Family Road Trip

Some may call us crazy, but we love taking our growing family on road trips! My childhood was filled with sweet memories like these and I am determined to fill my own children’s memories with travel, exploration and togetherness. Traveling with young kids is not for the faint of heart, but it is oh, so worth it.

Let’s do a little recap, shall we?

Day one (& two)

Day one & two consisted of driving. Lots of driving. These are always the most exciting and trying days of our vacations. We leave home excited for what’s to come but the adjustment to new places and lack of routine takes a little time. It doesn’t help that we don’t see or do a whole lot these days either. But we like to push through these days and get there as fast as we can to have as much time as possible to do all the seeing and exploring.

Day Three

This day has to be my favourite. Everything about it was so very sweet and pure. We started the day with a ferry ride from the mainland to Victoria, BC. It was such a beautiful, sunny day that we decided spontaneously to explore Butchart Gardens - a must-see on our list of sights. It was perfect. I wish I could put into words the excitement and joy our kids had walking through those gardens. They were absolutely thrilled to be taking in all of God’s beauty around them! We stopped for some gelato before leaving to check into our hotel by the harbour. Once we were settled we walked down to the pier and grabbed supper from Red Fish Blue Fish, AKA the best fish and chips I’ve ever had. What a blessing this day was!

Day Four

Day four was slow and relaxed. This was the first day that we weren’t traveling anywhere and took in some sights in and around Victoria. We grabbed a coffee and walked through Beacon Hill Park, making a stop at the petting zoo on the way back. The flowering trees were in full bloom and it was absolutely beautiful! We visited Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch and shared a meal of fish tacos, pizza, and sugared donuts. The kids really wanted to see a castle so we drove up to Hatley Castle, not realizing we weren’t allowed inside. We did walk the grounds and stopped at a nearby beach for a while to explore instead.

Day Five

We spent day five driving from Victoria to Ucluelet where we stayed in a cozy little cabin for a couple of nights. This day was a little chilly and rainy but we didn’t let that stop us from enjoying a hike through Cathedral Grove! This day was a little bit of a reset for us. Because it was so rainy and cold we chose to stay in and relax and let the kids watch a little tv and play and just be.

Day Six

This was our last full day on the Island and we spent it beach hopping and exploring. We started the day at Long Beach, finding sea shells and climbing rocks. We made it to Tofino at lunch time and grabbed some food from my absolute favorite poke bowl place, Al’oha Tofino Poke And Tostada. We then visited Tonquin Beach before heading back to the cabin. We decided to go for a sunset walk along Ucluelet’s Lighthouse Loop and the kids had an absolute blast finding crabs on the rocky shore! We did, however, make the mistake of walking the entire loop - thinking it “wasn’t that long”. Don’t get me wrong, the hike was beautiful, but the sun was setting, the kids were exhausted, and this pregnant mama was getting to the end of her rope, ha! Eventually we made it back and managed to stay in high spirits through it all. We all agreed that a vacation wouldn’t be a true vacation without one incident like that!

Day Seven - Nine

Sadly the bulk of our exploration came to an end and we had to say good bye to the Island and slowly begin the journey back home. On the way we stopped at Cathedral Grove for one more walk on the other side, took the ferry back to the mainland, and then got a flat tire, ha! I am very thankful for my man, who willingly pulled over to fix the issue, and before long we were on our merry way once again! We spent a few days visiting friends and visiting Capilano Suspension bridge, Stanley Park, and local shops.

Day Ten

Our drive home was re-routed due to wildfires and floods so we had the opportunity to go a way we hadn’t gone before. On our way we stopped at The Enchanted Forest - a place I hadn’t visited since I was 5 years old! This was such a sweet little walk in the woods with so many cool little huts and homes to explore!