So...still catching up from August. I'm getting there though. Once I catch up to present day I will never get behind again:) Do you believe me? So, after Andrea's wedding in Utah, my parents took the opportunity to skip town. They flew back to Vancouver with Liam and me! I was so excited to have them come out. This was back in the good old days when the weather was beautiful and life was happy! Ha ha, I'm mostly kidding. Life is still happy now, but the weather is NOT good!
We spent several evenings at the beach. My mom was so cute with Liam...she seems to have much more energy than I do somehow. She kept spinning him in circles and letting his feet skim the water while he laughed hysterically. There is nothing better than sitting back and watching your crazy two year old be entertained by someone else!
One of our first adventures was a bike ride around the seawall. We rented bikes and took a loop all the way around Stanley Park. We had beautiful views of the water, the city, the trees. The weather was perfect that day, too. I was a bit worried about hauling Liam around considering my general lack of exercise and nutrition:) It was a breeze, though. He didn't add much weight and we had an amazing afternoon.
Liam had to power up half way through.
After biking the seawall, we went to the aquarium. For some reason the only photo I seem to have taken was this picture of a sloth. It's rare to be able to see them, so it was a big moment. He is laying on his back on that corner platform. You can see his head hanging partially upside-down over the ledge. So cute!
Our biggest adventure was a trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island. It's quite a journey to get there, and I have wanted to do it ever since we moved here. This was as much a vacation for me as it was for my parents! Dan had to work this day, so we headed over without him, and he met up with us late that night. We actually drove our car onto the ferry and parked it on the bottom level. Then you just hop out of your car and head up top to enjoy the ride.
The ferry ride was GORGEOUS! The trip out there was half the fun.
Victoria has a quaint European charm. I won't mention that somehow our first stop in Victoria was to eat lunch at a McDonalds inside a Wal-Mart! ha ha! There seemed to be a good reason for it at the time...and we knew it was so wrong:) After that, we saw some great buildings, a beautiful waterfront, fisherman's wharf, street performers, and enjoyed some delicious clam chowder.
This is the famous Empress Hotel. It was very impressive.
After walking a LONG way down the water front, we decided to catch a small ferry back. It was the perfect time in the evening to be out on the water.
Up until this point Liam had spent most of his time in the stroller. When we got to the Parliament building we unleashed him on the lawn. I LOVE being able to just let him run free.
He kept randomly laying down flat on the steps...not sure what that was all about.
On our way to the Parliament building we saw this street performer. He looked like a statue, but when someone put money in his can he started dancing the robot. Well, apparently this made a big impression on Liam, because immediately following, he found a platform of his own on the Parliament steps. He said he was a statue and started dancing like a robot. You all probably saw the animated version of this that Dan posted a while back...but here a few of his best moves:)
My dad was a bit fond of taking pictures:) So it was a rare moment to catch him on the other side of the camera!
The waterfront was SO beautiful!
Late that night when Dan finally arrived, the two of us went out for a walk. This boat looked amazing on the water. We couldn't capture it very well because it was so dark and we only had our phones. But it was massive and there was a perfectly clear mirrored reflection in the water. Everything on the water was perfectly still.
Early the next morning we went out to a big pancake breakfast to kick of Dan's Birthday! After breakfast we headed to a great rocky beach. There were a few tide pools, but the creatures were pretty tiny.
Next we headed to the famous Butchart Gardens. They were amazingly beautiful and they seemed to go on forever! Luckily, Liam fell asleep in his stroller for most of it, so we didn't have a bloody battle trying to keep him on the path and out of the flowers...at least not until the end:)
Look how HUGE these flowers are!
Possibly the best part was sitting down at the end for gelato!
Our last stop was a Birthday Seafood dinner for Dan. We found a great little place down by the water. It had a great view, good atmosphere, tasty food, and it really was the perfect end to our day.
Liam was extremely curious about the food
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!!!
It was a pretty chilly ferry ride home, considering it was an evening ride. We ended up spending most of the ride down inside.
Sunday was the last day of my parents trip. That night, we decided to do a little walk down to a beach we hadn't seen before. Look at the exciting sign that greeted us at the head of the path. Do you think that stopped us?
Not a chance! Look at them sprint those steps to the nude beach! ha ha! It was a bit chilly, and it was late in the day, so we figured our odds of seeing any nude swimmers were slim to none. And we were right. No excitement for us:)
Ahhhh, cute parents!
Liam was pretty enamored with this giant slug on the steps.
Monday morning before my parents headed out for the airport, my cute, and wonderful dad found a house project, and jumped on it! We were headed out to Home Depot at something like 7am! He worked all morning and finished just before they had to leave. That is SO my dad! Always working, always improving things. Love you dad!
It was SO much fun having them out to visit. Who's next? I can't guarantee the beautiful weather, but I can guarantee a sofa bed to sleep on! Tempting? I hope so.
1 comment:
All these pictures and places just seem too unreal! They are too beautiful. I miss you, dear friends.
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