Playing in Vancouver, BC

I slept so well that night at the hotel!  We took our time getting up and had a relaxed morning.  Back to the journal entries:

Tuesday, August 23, 2005

Today we got up just in time to get breakfast. It is a continental breakfast, but a pretty good one. I just had a bagel with cream cheese and a croissant. Cadi had a fresh waffle with syrup. (I had a bite - it was really good!) There was cereal, toast, muffins, juices, etc.

After breakfast, we went down to the pool and played between the pool and the hot tub for about an hour.











We went to the Vancouver Aquarium, it was pretty fun!



We started downstairs where there were lots of hands-on types of activities for kids. Acadia had a great time giving a seal pup a check up. It was very cute to watch.





She created a habitat for a frog, touched a horseshoe crab (is that what they are called?), and got to see what it is like to live in a fish tank... kind of.



There were a couple of different areas to see fish. And off the amazon area, there was a little butterfly area. We saw birds and turtles in there too.





After we went through all the inside aquariums, we headed outside. We saw a little tide pool where Acadia got to touch an anemone.



It was neat there because all of the big pools had underwater viewing too. We watched the end of a beluga show underground.





We also saw seals, sea lions, and white-sided dolphins underwater.







Back upstairs we saw sea otters, the dolphin show, and the beluga show.











After the beluga show, they told everyone that if they wanted to get wet to stick around. Acadia wanted to get wet so bad! So, she stood right where they told her and...



We had such a fun time! It was a great relaxing day!







Back at the car we found a raccoon. He looked so skinny! And he was so cute! We had a few grapes on us and yeah, they found their way to him...





We took our time driving out of Stanley Park. (Stanley Park is a huge park where the aquarium is located. Sacramento people - think William Land park but WAY bigger!) It was very pretty. We saw ball games, picnics, people running, roller blading, all sorts of things.

As we headed out of the park, Ryan let some people cross the street in front of him. It seemed like they kept coming. Finally just as he was about to go, two men walked up to the crosswalk. Ryan wasn't waiting anymore, "No women, no walk!" he declared as he stepped on the gas. LOL

We decided to just start driving towards Alberta. We drove for awhile and started looking for a nice place to stop to eat. We couldn't find any parks, so we settled for a park...ing lot. hehehe It was kind of fun. We made sandwiches and then Cadi and Ryan played woofle ball (the plan was to wear out Cadi so she would sleep well in the car). Soon it was dark and we were back on our way...

Click to see all 84 pictures from the aquarium or just random pictures from Canada. Just remember they are not always in order or labeled. Still, some are fun to look at.

There and Back Again

Obviously, we are back home. We got home late Monday night and while Acadia enjoyed her first day in First Grade, Ryan and I unpacked and cleaned out the car.

This trip was wonderful! And there is no possible way for me to blog about the whole thing at once. So, I'm gonna take it a day at a time, starting with Day 1. Fortunately, I brought along a little journal to jot down some of my thoughts, though even at that I couldn't quite capture all that we did or all that I felt. So, most of this will be word for word from that journal.

Monday, August 22, 2005

I'm in Canada and about to realize a life-long dream. *smile*

We left at about 1 a.m. Ryan woke me at about 3 to take my turn to drive. We were just south of Seattle so I got to see the city lit up at night. It looks beautiful at night! I want to go sometime.

We arrived at the Canadian border at about 5:30 a.m. It took little time to cross. Note to self: Cross border early to avoid long lines! Then just a little way to the Richmond/Vancouver, B.C. area.

We all slept in the car while we waited. We were tired. A little after 7 we got a call from the group we are whale watching with. It was too windy so we couldn't go out at 9. But they put us on the list for the 2 p.m. boat.

We slept some more then got out to walk around Fisherman's Wharf. Cute shops. It is a beautiful day! In fact, it is perfect. Sunny, light breeze, warm but not hot, cool but not cold.







Acadia has so much energy! Ryan and I are a little tired - can you tell who slept while the others drove all night? lol

From Tuesday's journal:

We went!







It was awesome! It took us 2 hours and 45 minutes to get to where they were. They were down by the San Juan Islands, so we actually found them in Amarican waters. (We drove all the way up to Canada to go whale watching in our own country. lol) There were 3 pods together, making one super pod. 95 whales!

It wasn't exactly what I had expected. I thought we would find them in calm waters right near the islands. But they were out in the open, choppy waters. It made it a little harder to take pictures.

They are so beautiful and amazing! At one point a large male and two young whales, plus maybe a small female swam right toward us - then right under our boat! That was awesome!















We also saw some breaching, porpoising, one exaggerated spy hop, and some flippy jumps that looked like "play".







Even though there were 95 whales all in one general area, that area was HUGE! And they were spread out in smaller groups (like the one that went under our boat). Some of the "smaller" groups were still pretty large. One group had at least 20 whales. It looked cool when that large group just swam off into the sunset. Tons of dorsal fins against the horizon. I loved it!

I also loved that I wasn't sick!!! Thank you Brother/Dr. O! The patch worked so well - I even enjoyed all the bumps and huge waves!

Back to whale watcching... We had a great guide, Cameron. He told us lots of things about the whales, these pods, the area. He pointed out some of the individual whales - told us their names, why they got their names, how old they are, etc.

We learned that the oldest whale in these pods is 95 years old! The second oldest is 94! Both are females. Females live longer than males which is why you see more females than males in the wild. We also learned there are two 1 month old babies in this super pod. Awww!

After the boat got us back to Richmond, Cameron drew (on a map we bought) our trip - so we could see where we had gone and where we saw the whales.


The light pencil marks show where we went and he circled "San Juan Islands" where we saw the whales.

It was such a perfect day! We started this trip on the right foot! The whales were wonderful - I want to do this again! My favorite part was when the small group swam right under us. Man do I wish we were in a clear bottom boat! But it was still great.

We were out for about 6 hours total. Longer than usual for those tours - I guess we got more for our money! *thumbs*

It was a great day! And now there is one less thing on my "things to do before I die" list. But I still want to come again... and again... and again...
A few more pictures for kicks and giggles...







Acadia made some friends...



She fell asleep while we rode back...



We saw a bald eagle on our way out...



After whale watching, I was exhausted! As soon as we got to our hotel, I crashed. I think it was a combination of the long drive to get there, the patch I was wearing, and the emotional experience of it all.

To see all 93 pictures from our first day, check out our on-line photo album. I will be putting up more pictures from the trip and posting about them later. Unfortunately, not all the picture are in order and so far none are labeled. (But that's what these posts are for! lol)

Summer's Over

And school begins...

Acadia was excited but still a little nervous about her first day of First Grade.  Before she went out to the bus, Ryan gave her a Father's Blessing.  That helped a little.

Acadia got on the bus and Ryan and I jumped in the car to meet her at the school when she got there.  While we were waiting for her bus, I saw C., one of Cadi's friends from Kindergarten and learned she would be in Acadia's new class.  Yeah!  So now, Cadi has four of her girlfriends from last year in her class with her this year!

Acadia's bus pulled up and we walked with her to Mr. Martin's classroom.  She was assigned a seat at C.'s table.  We met Mr. Martin, who seems very nice and left her for her first day of First Grade.

When she came home (6 hours later!!!  Wow, this will be an adjustment.) she was happy and excited.  She says Mr. Martin is nice and funny.  She liked eating lunch at school, though she couldn't finish because the hamburger was so big.  She says that mostly they went over rules and learned each other's names today.

We're happy and excited for her.  She likes school and usually does really well.  We think she'll really enjoy First Grade.

I do have a few pictures to share...

Getting on the bus this morning.





Arriving at school.



Sitting in Mr. Martin's classroom. C. is here too.



Coming home.

Greetings From Canada

I have a few short minutes so this won't be long.

We are having an amazing time here! British Columbia was AWESOME!!! Whale watching was just too cool. We saw a "super pod" (3 pods that joined together), there were 95 whales! It was hard to get really good pictures because when we found them, we were out on choppy waters. We were actually in American waters! (We drove all the way up to Canada to watch whales in our own counyry. LOL) I will definitely be posting photos when we get home though.

Waterton Lakes National Park is beautiful! We had a terrific visit there. It was great of Landon to have us up! Some of the time we stayed with him, some of the time he camped with us. The entire time was great. When Landon told us that we would be seeing him in the most beautiful place on earth, I thought he was just biased. Well, after spending a gorgeous week there ourselves, we are in complete agreement. Again, pictures to follow when we get back home.

Visiting Landon has been great. We are all having a fun time. He has been a terrific host. Right now we are at his home in Lethbridge, Alberta. Yesterday we had dinner with his mom (a super nice lady - I love her!) and today we're just hanging out. I think we'll be hitting the pool then we're trying to decide what fun thing to do. Miniature golf, bowling, paint guns, go carts, etc. Whatever we do will be fun.

We are all loving this trip! It has been one of the best vacations we've ever had. Partly because of where we are and what we are doing, and partly because we are all just having a great time together. It is coming to an end way too soon. It will be hard to leave and go home. But there is always next time, eh?

"And now we're back to 'Cooking with Cadi'." - Cadi

Chef Cadi made an omelet on her cooking show. (It was the best tasting air omelet I've ever had!) She even collected the dishes when I was done eating.  A chef who does her own clean up - I love it!

"Dark have been my dreams of late."

Not really, but that was the first "dream" quote I could think of.

Last night I dreamed I was in LOTR.

I was with Gandolf, Aragorn (*smile*), and Sam - so I was Frodo? We were on our way to Mordor. As we travelled, I looked to my right and saw two white cities, one smaller than the other. I asked if they were Osgiliath and Minas Tirith. I think it was Aragorn (*smile*) that said yes. I was surprised at how close they were to each other. I was thinking about how far apart they were in the movie, in my dream it was about half that distance. And the terrain was a little different. In my dream there were some bushes.

I was thinking to myself (or maybe I said it outloud?) that this was taking longer than watching the movies or reading the books. Even though we had horse, we were walking (at least I was) and I thought that even though I have been working out alot lately, I wasn't sure I could go on much longer. So I asked, "How long until we finish?" (I assume, finish destroying the ring.) Gandalf anwered, "Four hours." "Oh, so we will be done tonight!" I was surprised. Then Gandolf looked at his watch (By the way, it was on his right wrist and was black.) and said thoughtfully, "No, I think we will stop for the night somewhere and continue on in the morning."

I somehow knew we would be stopping for the night in Mordor. At first I was frightened. (Admit it, you would be too!) Then I remembered that "The closer we are to danger, the further we are from harm. That's the last thing they'll expect." - Thanks, Pip. Besides, I was with Gandolf and Aragorn (*smile*).

That was it. The only other thing I remember is that at times I felt like I was in a game somehow. Fun dream. But next time, I'd like to see Rivendell.

Last Lesson

Acadia has loved horse riding lessons!  Today she rode Sugar again.  Here's a picture...




Today they got to canter a little. It was fun to watch, Acadia laughed and laughed. The trainer kept thinking she was scared because her laugh was almost a scream. She may have been a little nervous, they were going pretty fast and bouncing quite a bit, but I think it was mostly laughing.

It was a little hard for her to say good-bye at the end of the lesson. She is really hoping to get to ride Sugar again, maybe next summer. She is also hoping to ride Chanse again. I hope so too.