We have a long-running tradition of celebrating Easter with my sister and her kids. The kiddos are similar aged and the Easter Bunny always gives them an awesome egg hunt with clues and riddles.

Normally, my sister hosts us in Kamloops, but this year both of my sisters traveled to Vancouver. With my dad already living in Vancouver, it was basically a full family reunion, and the the first time that my whole family has gathered in Vancouver. That put the pressure on to cram as much as possible into 4 days. Everyone was keen to spend time together, but also checkout the Vancouver tourist sights. We were lucky it was sunny all weekend and the cherry blossoms were in full bloom – peak Vancouver spring weather.

Easter Egg Hunt

The main event of the weekend was the Easter Egg Hunt, and the Easter Bunny spent hours getting everything ready.

The kids had to find 12 eggs each, hidden around our house with clues to guide them.

It took them an hour to find every egg and decode the puzzle at the end, which lead them to the grand prize – 3 baskets full of bunnies, chocolates, and troll dolls. I was proud of them for reading all the clues and solving the puzzle on their own. But with the kids showing off their smarts, the Easter Bunny might have to up the difficulty level next year.

Vancouver Tourist Attractions

The most requested tourist attraction my family wanted to visit was the Vancouver Aquarium. The kids loved watching the sea otters and seals.

We also took the kids to Science World, where they spent hours with all the interactive exhibits.

Taking public transit was a novelty for the Kamloops kids. They had a blast sitting in the SkyTrain driver’s seat and surfing on a busy bus. I’m sure the adults were wondering why we didn’t just drive, but I was happy to indoctrinate the kids to my new urbanist ideology. 😂

We also continued the multi-model adventure with a ride on the False Creek Ferries.

To make the most of the great weather, we showed my family some of the cooler parts of Vancouver – with a picnic at Trout Lake, a wander around the Olympic Village, and time spent exploring the seawall around Second Beach.

Family Baseball Game

The only tragedy of the weekend was Kerry destroying her knee and tearing her MCL in the first (and probably last) All-Porter Baseball Game.

She spent the rest of the weekend hobbling around on crutches and in a wheelchair, which limited all the exploring she had planned. Impressively, she remained pretty positive in the face of a tragic accident and still made the most of her trip. I hope she has a speedy recovery. And next time she visits, I promise no baseball.

By the end of the weekend, Astrid was an exhausted, grumpy mess, and Emily and I were ready for a quiet night alone. It was a lot to squeeze into 4 days, but we loved having everyone visit us.

More photos from the Easter long weekend.