A-MAZING!!

First stop - Candytown

Once we got checked in to our hotel room we headed over to Candytown (aka Yaletown) for their annual festive weekend.  We immediately took advantage of the fact that there was very few people lined up for the horse-carriage ride and hopped on that first.  (Probably because it was pouring rain, but we're true Lower Mainland ducks that had waterproof boots and jackets so it was all good!)

It was pretty neat to be clip-clopping around Vancouver streets in a horse drawn carriage with classic Christmas tunes playing...  Great start to our evening adventure!

Enchant 2016

I love that we can adapt to whatever the situation requires, in this case it's the fact that it is pouring rain but we are going to make the best of it and enjoy the heck out of it!

Rudolph!

Probably one of my favourite things was this icicle forest we walked through, very cool.

We came out the end of it and it was like a blizzard, Bennett was catching snowflakes

 

What a surprise, Santa was at the end of the maze - we're still trying to figure out if he was the real Santa or just a Santa helper....

  We went for a hot chocolate in the Christmas market and wandered around the various vendor stalls, there was some pretty nice stuff to check out.  Then we caught a cab back to the hotel where we had a great dinner at Frankie's Italian Restaurant, and then up to our room for the night.

Hotel Hijinks

 

We had a real live 'Elf on the Shelf' in our hotel room.

A

   
It was a memorable night in the City to start out the Christmas Season, I'm really glad we went!

Vancouver

Mini-getaway

This afternoon I'll be heading into Vancouver for 24 hours of fun with family, it'll be the start of getting in the Christmas mood!

 
 We have tickets to get in to see the largest Christmas light maze in North America, along with a Christmas market and food trucks, can't wait.

Snow Line

The temperature here is slowly dropping and so along with that the snow line is creeping down closer as well.  I think in another week or there will probably be snowflakes coming down here in Village.

Pretty soon this whole mountainside will be winter wonderland.  We'll be packing our bags and heading home today so unfortunately we won't get any closer to the white stuff than this.  It was a great week away to relax and take a break from our regular routines, now we're refreshed and ready to go back home.

Scandinave Spa

It's mid-week of our getaway and we went to the Scandinave Spa for some pampering. 

The meandering nature walk from the parking area to the Spa is where the quiet begins...

A glimpse of a couple of the pools where we spent several hours after our massages; hot pools, cold waterfalls and pools, saunas, steam rooms, and relaxation areas.  There is soft restful music quietly playing, and conversation is forbade.  :)  The value of 'Silence' is posted here and there with signs of 'shhh', I wasn't too sure how I'd make out with it but found it very restful.

The entrance lodge has a cafe, a large gas fireplace, and beautiful views to take in - it would be a great place to go just for that.  Pretty easy day again today!

An 'In' Day

There's something about a gray, rainy day that I love - and when I'm settled into a cozy condo in Whistler, it's all the better.  Today we stayed inside, we could look up into the mountains and see freshly fallen snow while we were warm and dry inside.

The cloud has gotten so low that the snow isn't visible now, but winter is definitely in the air.

Years ago when our kids were young we used to go out and find a real Christmas tree, this one right by our deck here made me reminisce about those days.  I think this one would have been perfect!

One of my favourite things to do - Christmas card writing, so I try to choose the time and place carefully.  This year it's a 10 out of 10 - Whistler.......

We are having a very restful time, today we've not ventured out but yet it's perfect.  :)