Las Vegas: MTB, Red Rocks, Mt. Charleston

We had to get out from under Seattle's winter clouds again, Hawaii was not nearly enough. So we looked around for places that weren't too far, weren't too expensive, and were warm and sunny. Vegas was easily the best option, but I hate the Vegas casino strip so this was going to be a very different trip to the one most people make.

Theme song: Cocoon by Milky Chance.

Fortunately Vegas has an amazing array of natural scenery to offer. First up, Red Rock Canyon. We did the Calico Tanks walk, which was really beautiful and the kids had a lot of fun rock scrambling to the top.

So much rock scrambling

Looking out of the canyon from the center point

The kids were very much done hiking for the day, so E and I took turns to walk the lost creek trail while they slept in the car.

Obligatory Bellagio visit

The next day we went to great playground (exploration peak park). We'd promised the kids swimming and the pool at our condo wasn't ready: it was green :( There actually weren't that many pools open at all. We finally settled on the M Resort and Spa Casino which had a heated pool that was decently priced, open to non-guests, and was really nice. Would do it again.

The next day was mountain biking for me. Rented a full suspension bike from Mcghies Bike Outpost in Blue Diamond, which sits at the foot of many miles of really amazing desert singletrack. The bike shop was great, and even let me leave my post-ride beer in their fridge.

The riding is top notch, I had an absolute ball, and rode about 37km. Weather was good, although could have done with less wind.

Great singletrack with beautiful canyon scenery

This Joshua tree used to have a really big branch you needed to duck under.

The next day we went to the acquarium at Mandalay Bay. It was decent, but not amazing. I was enthralled for quite some time watching a huge octopus move around though.

On our final day we drove up to Mt. Charleston. At the (very new and beautiful) visitors centre they were desperate for kids to do their young ranger program, so we did. Afterwards we hiked up Fletcher Canyon, which was a really great walk. In the final section the canyon walls close in tightly, and there was still a bit of snow to navigate around.

Cherry Blossoms at University of Washington

Spring is finally here. The cherry blossoms at UW are really impressive, and this year was apparently a particularly good one.

The Suzallo Library is a spectacular building. The stairwell outside this room was full of people getting wedding photos done.

The Quad. Blossoms and a huge crowd

Hawaii Big Island

We escaped the Seattle rain to Hawaii, picking the sunniest spot on the sunniest island, which is Kona on the Big Island. We stayed in an AirBnB place near Anaeho'omalu Beach (A-bay). It was beautifully warm and sunny the whole time we were there.

We essentially spent every day going to the beach and then the pool.

I made a bunch of these to order and the kids had a great time destroying them.

We got going really early to get one of the very few public car spaces at Mauna Kea beach. It's got a nice beach with shade and good sand for sandcastles.

We went for a hike to break up the beach time a bit, but this was essentially just walking up a road. The kids couldn't go far enough to get to the interesting bit.

We also toured around some coffee plantations.

Ueshima, this place was great because they had macadamia trees as well. We collected nuts and cracked them right there. Kids loved it.

Doutour. This place is stunningly beautiful, essentially a botanic gardens that happens to also grow some coffee.

I've never seen flowers like this before.

This pavilion with an infinity pool and jawdropping view is really wasted as a daytime coffee tasting stop. It should be a bar.

Snowshoeing at Hyak

Took the new snowshoes out for a spin at Hyak snow play area.

Quite a few people kite-skiing!

Resolution 5k Run and Polar Plunge in Lake Washington

On new year's day we did the resolution run (5k) and polar plunge in lake washington. It was cold, there was snow on the ground in the morning, and waiting around for the run to start wasn't particularly fun. The plunge is at the end of the run, when you are plenty hot, so it wasn't actually too bad. I might do this again next year...maybe :)

For the plunge to count you have to go around the flags and put your head under :)

NYE: MoPOP

We bought tickets to the NYE party at MoPOP (formerly EMP) and it was great.

Butchart Gardens and Royal British Columbia Museum: Victoria, Canada

Trip with family to Victoria on Vancouver Island. We checked out Butchart Gardens with all of its impressive Christmas lights on display.

Three french hens

Five gold rings

11 Pipers piping. These were my absolute favourites because they were so ridiculously creepy and evil.

This guy needs his own christmas horror movie.

Anyone who has seen Butchart will recognize this famous view.

Carols were great, there was also an ice rink.

The next day we went to the Museum of British Columbia, which was quite impressive, and had a large prehistory exhibition.

Seattle Thunderbirds Ice Hockey

We took our family visiting to an ice hockey game. Seattle vs. Spokane. I felt a little sorry for Spokane due to the vigorous, and obviously well-rehearsed, chant of "Spokane sucks!" to musical accompaniment.