Victoria and Vancouver, Canada Trip

A few weeks ago, Jeff and I took the kids on an exotic, international vacation. That's right, Canada. We had to practice our "eh?", "soory" and "round -a-boot" to fit in with the locals there.

The 2-hour ferry ride weaving through the San Juan Islands was, honestly, one of my favorite parts. The views of the islands and the Puget Sound are absolutely beautiful.

7/16/2008

Okay, so at this point I'm just showing off Jeff's great photography skills, but we saw some really beautiful views!

After arriving on Vancouver Island, we stopped off at Butchart Gardens.

While visiting the Italian Gardens, I had the best gelato I have ever had. Honestly, I would go back to Butchart Gardens, pay the over-priced admission just to eat that gelato again. It was incredible. We even got Ethan his own because we didn't want to share ours. I didn't really think he could eat the whole thing, but he amazed us and he did. His stomach can't be that big. When he asked him if we could switch with him, just to taste his, he was hesitant and determined he would still get his due portion of gelato.

That night we stayed in a 4-star Westin resort just north of Victoria. I love credit cards with hotel points! It had beautiful rooms, a salt water pool with a salt water hot tub. It was fabulous. Jeff and I were in heaven - we were pretty proud about staying there and not paying anything near the full rate until...Sienna decided she didn't want to sleep that night. Jeff and I took shifts and I think we each got about 2 hours of sleep. Ah, vacations with young kids. Always full of surprises.

7/17/2008 (exhausted)

Running around downtown Victoria. We found a cool mosiac dolphin. The buildings in the background are the parliament buildings.

When you first see this statue, one would initially think that it's the Canadian version of a cowgirl. But then, you walk by and something really creepy happens. The statue moves.

Turns out, it was actually a lady dressed in really heavy clothing and a lot of make-up to look exactly like a statue (she must get pretty hot in there).

We also went to the Undersea Gardens, which is a museum,underwater. Pretty dark down there, so we didn't take any pictures, but we did see some fascinating sea life, including a giant octopus.

We also visited the parliament buildings. I loved their historical significance and architecture.

We then ferried over to the mainland and stayed at another 4 star Westin in Vancouver. That night Sienna slept a little better, but not by much.

7/19/2008 (even more exhausted)

We began the day by visiting Grainville Island, a huge market with a fabulous international flare. It was like Pike's Place Market, but 10 times the size.

Sienna snuggling (good thing she's so cute).

Chasing pigeons could keep Ethan busy for hours. I love pigeons for that reason alone.

We took a mini cruise of False Creek which goes right up into the heart of Vancouver.

We happened to be the only people on the cruise, so we got a personal tour. The girl driving asked if Ethan wanted to drive the boat. She didn't have children and didn't know Ethan (otherwise I'm sure she would have never made such an offer) but we took her up on it (against our better judgement) and let Ethan (gulp) drive the boat. He thoroughly enjoyed himself and somehow his bath-time toys just don't measure up any more.

Our next stop was Stanley Park - breathtaking views, train-ride and a free (thank you, thank you) water park.

Jeff was playing with the shutter speed on this one and the water spray looked pretty cool.

Ethan is a really social little guy and makes friends wherever he goes. This little kid and Ethan were fast friends and ran around together (a.k.a wore each other out) while we parents happily rested on a near by bench.

Back home in the USA!