Summertime Peaks

We had an epic family vacation this summer to Montana, Seattle(ish) and Vancouver! We’ve been looking forward to taking Nova and Tycho to Glacier National Park for a very long time and it was wonderful to finally get to do that. Things started off a little rough with some delayed-onset airsickness, but once we got through that, our days were just about perfect. We had bikes and a bike trailer so we really only got in the car for our two big hikes (and of course driving Going-to-the-Sun Road is an adventure in itself).

Some notable Glacier moments: Nova hugged the bear in the hallway every time she went upstairs; Tycho and Nova were super excited about the top bunk in the bunk room and were very annoyed with us for not letting them go up there; Tycho got to eat his first huckleberry picked right off a bush, Nova waited for us to just buy a pint and then ate them all in a blink of an eye; Nova loved the watering can on the porch and tried to take it everywhere; Nova hugged every tree she could reach on the Trail of the Cedars.

We headed to the Seattle area for a few days of family time — we got to hang out with GG and Papa D and welcome Carly, Josh and Luna back from their around-the-world trip! Tycho just wanted to live in the playhouse GG made all spiffy for him. (He loved getting his keys and unlocking the door every time haha.) It was exciting to see where GG and Papa D live and explore! Tycho liked going to the library, Nova thought our early morning adventure to the hardware store was the best because she got to push a miniature cart around, and we found a tiki… pool?!

We’ve been to Vancouver several times now (Tycho’s first international trip!) but this was the first time we’ve gone by train! The kids were super excited. Nova obliterated an apple as soon as we got going, good thing we brought snacks! It was completely packed until the last stop before the border, then we had a very leisurely crossing. It was so pretty along the water! For better or worse we didn’t really have a plan for our three and a half days and kinda just wandered around the core city center. We visited the library for a Makedo cardboard creation party. While Tycho built a rocket, Nova had fun playing in the toddler zone with another little kid, then ran to a computer with a book and started banging on it. I couldn’t figure out what she wanted until the second or third time she did it – she was trying to check out the book! Sorry, kid! Cool playgrounds, water taxis, great food at Vij’s as always, great urban design including the prettiest Home Depot/grocery store/apartment building?! We were a little jealous. And of course the kids’ favorite part was… the escalators. You can’t beat a good Canadian escalator, eh?