Victoria, Day 2

Tuesday we woke up and played around at the house for a bit before taking off for the beach again. Danielle's mom, Pat, had bought the girls adorable matching pink polkadot shirts, unfortunately I didn't get a picture of them, but they are so cute.

Alex drew in the sand, made sandcastles and watched all the dogs running around.

I played with the rocks.

Heidi watched the waves, because we sort of parked her there and that was all she could watch.

Once I started with the rocks, I couldn't stop. So Danielle helped me write everyone's names.

It was addicting.

After our standard 15 minutes at the beach before Alex froze, we went to Beacon Hill park and visited the petting zoo.

The best part was the goats. This goat kept sneezing, which terrified Alex, hence her clinging to Danielle with a tear dripping down her cheek.

After we explained the strange sound to her, Alex warmed up to the little babies.

I was not afraid of the goats.

At about the same time Alex broke out in tears from fear, Heidi was behind me being eaten by goats. This didn't go to well at first. I think the shock of 4 baby goats surrounding her at eye level and chewing on her toes, fingers, elbow and knee at the same time was a bit of sensory overload. This picture is from 20 minutes later when she had finally accepted this strange new world.

A few minutes later I turned around to see Heidi's stroller being pushed around the goat pen by 3 or 4 goats.

There were TONS of peacocks at Beacon Hill Park.

In fact, instead of feeding the ducks, Alex ended up feeding the peacocks. When this one walked away before eating all the cereal Alex had shared, she started picking them up off the ground and putting them back in the bag.

Here are the girls giving me phony smiles while I stand there begging for real ones. At least they were looking at the camera.

This was one of the few chances the entire week, that Heidi wasn't strapped into something and got to crawl around.

Like I said, Peacocks everywhere.

This peacock was more interested in Alex's gifts than the last one.

We ended the outing by climbing a really cool tree.

At home we ate dinner with Michel and Sara, Danielle's brother and sister in law, as well as her parents. Heidi actually cuddled with Michel which was amazing, she doesn't cuddle like that with anyone. The kids loved him, he is now referred to the baby whisperer. It was a fun end to a fun day.

Victoria, Day 1

Disclaimer: I know that this is far more detail than anyone is interested in. But I'm a realist and I know that if this grand adventure even makes it into my journal, it won't have half the description. Therefore the excessive number of pictures and descriptions, it's for posterity.

There is no way I will be able to describe our trip to Canada in one post, so I've decided to try and summarize each day into it's own entry.

The drive to Victoria went rather well. We overcame some hurdles, and Danielle received a baptism by fire into parenthood that started 200 miles out of Provo when Alex vomited a lovely combination of cheese, juice and candy all over her lap. The fun continued when Alex was forced to overcome her fear of public toilets. It was rough, even to the point of offering to let her go outside on the grass, like the puppies. No worries now though, we have since successfully toured every toilet from here to Vancouver island and back again.

Our stopover in Sweet, Idaho was timed perfectly and we got to go to my lovely cousins wedding reception. Alex fell in love with her and the pretty white dress. She was adamant through the whole reception that she had to see the pretty girl twirl and dance with her. I finally went and asked Callie if she would mind, and the look on Alex's face as she danced and twirled with the bride, was priceless. She still talks about how she wants to get married in the temple with beautiful white dress someday. (YAY!!!)

On our way past Seattle we stopped by the temple. Alex LOVES temples and so I thought it would be fun to take a picture of her at each temple we passed (we still have to get all the Utah ones, we didn't stop for those).

The temple grounds were beautiful but unfortunately it started to rain so we ran back to the car.

After 2 long days in the car we made it to the ferry. On the hour and a half ride I tried my first Poutine, a wonderful Canadian invention where you smother french fries in cheese curds and gravy. My new favorite food. We walked all over the boat and even went outside to get a better view. It was so windy! Alex tripped on the deck and her Croc shoe flew off and almost blew overboard! It was a fairly traumatic experience for her, and all Alex would talk about for 2 days.

At the last minute I bought Alex a rain coat because Danielle warned me it would probably rain. And it did, every day we were there, but even then Victoria was gorgeous and so much fun!

Monday morning our first stop was the beach! I've always dreamed of living by the ocean and going on long walks with my kids on the beach, so this was a dream come true.

It was so fun watching Alex experience the sand and water and waves. Heidi slept in the car while we explored, but we didn't last long. It was cold and didn't take more than 15 minutes before Alex's teeth were chattering and Danielle had to carry her back to the car.

We found handfuls of beautiful rocks to collect, although the shells were few and far between.

I was a little miffed about not being able to run in the water with Alex thanks to my boot. But as you see here, a plastic bag at least allowed me to walk in the sand. Trust me, it was very stylish.

Our next stop was going to be the petting zoo, but the kids fell asleep on the way there. Instead Danielle drove me on a tour of the city. All the houses were adorable and painted the brightest most beautiful colors. When I drive around Provo, each house I see I think, blah, ugly, too big, to gross, no, no no. I think I could have lived in any house from the Washington border North. Those NorthWesterners sure know how to build a house.

One place I might not live though, would be on one of these floating houses by the dock! They were tied to the dock so they wouldn't float off. We ate a cupcake in a little floating desert shop, and the rocking was a bit much for me! I took a picture of this house because it made me think of Ben and Kate and I pictured them raising a little floating family here.

After my tour of the city we stopped by the pier to eat some fantastic fish and chips at Barbs, a floating restaurant. Another wonderful Canadian thing, salt and vinegar on the table for you to add to your french fries!!! It was a fantastic meal.

After Barbs we went to visit the seals! They hung out at the dock across from a fish shop and if you stomped on the wood they would pop up to say hello!

There were 4 big ones the came around when we visited and Alex though that they were the greatest thing ever.

I thought it was better than Sea World.

Danielle treated Alex to a fish at the fish shop and Alex was so excited to feed it to the seal.

Heidi wanted to be in the picture.

This picture is a recreation of what happened when Alex fed the seal her fish. Unfortunately at the same moment another seal splashed me from about 2 feet away and scared me to death. Therefore I missed the picture, and Alex refused to ever hold the fish out like that again.

Heidi was rather content the whole time. But insisted on making goofy faces whenever I got out the camera.

The Dock was by far one of my favorite places, we went back again later on in the week because it was just so fun!

While we were there Alex really wanted to ride on a boat and kept trying to climb in all the ones tied to the dock. So Danielle took us on a harbor ferry ride to downtown.

The captain let an excited Alex sit on his chair for a minute. You can see him peeking out the widow, looking behind me as Heidi wiggles herself out of the half bucked stroller and face plants on the ground. One of my finer parenting moments.

Downtown we saw the beautiful Parliament building.

And a totem pole.

Naturally, what else would a kid do on a bunch of stairs besides lay down and lick them.

After downtown we walked back to the car, adults just as tired as kids, and drove to Danielle's parents house. Heidi took and nap and Danielle, Alex and I watched Disney sing along songs. Before bed Alex got just about everyone to read her handfuls of Beatrix Potter books, and we finally all crashed for the night.

I don't know if Danielle had half the fun that we did. Although I can tell you that vacationing with a 'native' and another female at that, was the greatest thing ever. No offense to Tyler, we missed him terribly and wished he had been there, but there something about being a woman, you just think, anticipate and plan differently than men do. So having Danielle there was like having my clone. She changed diapers, read stories, cheerfully carried a screaming toddler, pushed strollers, fed kids, ate dinner with kids on her lap, put kids to bed and best of all, set her alarm 15 minutes earlier than we usually wake up, so she could hop out of bed and help with the kids the moment they got up. Amazing right?!

So, of all the things we saw and did, I am going to have to say that my favorite part, we really getting to know and hang out with my sister-in-law Danielle. I don't even think Tyler could have handled the mixture of fun, stress and napless kids for an entire week like she did, and they aren't even her kids.

C-eh-N-eh-D-eh

Tomorrow morning at 4am, Alex, Heidi, my sister-in-law Danielle, and I are all driving to CANADA!!!

Danielle is from Victoria (an island by Vancouver) and has been telling me for about 5 years how beautiful and wonderful it is there. She wanted to visit her family, and I'm always game for a road trip, so off we go!

We will be back in a week, hopefully with wonderful stories to tell and lots of great pictures.

I went to the doctor and got another x-ray yesterday. The great news is that I've been cleared to drive!!!! After an entire month stuck at the house I no longer have to depend on Tyler to take me everywhere. I've never been so happy to share a car. The yucky news is that I'm condemned to the boot for another 3 weeks, making my grand total just short of 2 months. blah. I did get a new boot though because the last one was literally falling apart. It was awful. The new one is a bit heavier, uglier and bulkier, but it was free and I can drive, so I don't care.

Our house looks strange these days. All the chairs are on their sides, either to prevent Heidi from climbing on and then standing on them, or to block of areas of the house she is not permitted to enter. This now includes the kitchen, the bathroom, our bedroom, and her bedroom. It's only a matter of time until she climbs out of the crib.

She can sense the bathroom door opening and make it from the kitchen to the toilet in .7 seconds. She has figured out how to open kitchen drawers and cupboards and loves to forage in the trash. Her bedroom has become a death trap, with all the child sized furniture easy to climb like steps. It's no longer safe to ask Alex to "hurry and close the door" because Heidi is faster at getting her fingers in the hinge than Alex is at closing. I have nightmares about children losing fingers.

The upside is that Heidi now has a minor interest in things on floor, and so fewer and fewer non-food item are making their way to her diapers.

Despite a month of sickness and injuries life has been good, we enjoyed watching LDS general conference, and have found that re listening to the talks without children around greatly helps connect the dots and find meaning in the great talks given. We have had some fun pancake dance party dinners, sunny days spent swinging, movie marathons and more often than anything else, book marathons (we recently discovered 'FableHaven' and can't put them down).

Well, by the time you read this Tyler, we will probably be in Canada, or there and back again. We love you SO MUCH and will miss you like CRAZY. You are the greatest husband I could have ever asked for and a fantastic father. Don't have too much fun without us, and try to miss us a bit, ok?! LOVE LOVE LOVE YOU!

Happy 27 Tyler!

Wednesday marked the anniverary of one of the most important days of my life. The day Tyler was born. We had all sorts of grand plans for celebrating, but being sick and having 2 sick kids, doesn't really make for a great birthday.

I made Tyler fancy scrambled eggs as he was running out the door, late for school. I stuck candles in the eggs, but the heat of the eggs melted the candles and instead left us with a fire hazard and waxy eggs.

Alex and Heidi helped me do a pathetic job of decorating the house, the highlight being the portrait of Tyler I sketched up real fast.

This is my depiction of what I hope he looks like in 20 years.

Heidi's birthday gift to her father was the joy that came from seeing her first tiny little ponytail in her hair, and that she took 4 solid steps to him in his honor.

Tyler came home in the afternoon and got some time to relax and finish a book before he hung out with us girls. Tyler's Mom came and watched the kids while we went to see "Limitless". It was fun hanging out with Tyler, but the movie was awful, we should have left. We strolled around a bit afterwards and them came home to rescue Grandma.

That evening I had my cake decorating class and there was a parenting class at the church Tyler went to, so Grandma babysat once again for us (Thanks SO much!)

I fixed a fancy meal of Mac n' Cheese for the family before we all ran our separate ways, and I promised Tyler that the next day would be so much better.

Thursday we had the family birthday dinner celebration. Mashed Potatoes (Tyler's favorite) and Fried Chicken with plenty of peanut butter bars and cookies. I'd arranged a round of "How to host a murder" and assigned everyone their parts and directed them to dress up.

Everyone did a great job at their parts and it was a lot of fun. Ben definitely took the gold for his portrayal of a British actor. Kate was a world traveler, and Archie had special shoes.

Tyler was an archaeologist and I was a country lady and a crack shot at that. You might be able to tell by my face that I still wasn't feeling super great.

Devin was "The General" and Kara looked fantastic in her part as a wealthy aristocrat and ...... THE MURDERER!!!

Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of Michael and Danielle, who played their parts impeccably. "Hey, I don't know about you guys, but I have gun."

All in all it might not have been the best celebration of Tyler's birth ever, but it was a lot of fun and great to spend time with all the family.

A few weeks ago we stopped by the bakery outlet to buy some animal bread for the chickens. Tyler found that you could buy a whole rack for $8. It turns out that a rack of bread is enough to fill our entire car up.

It may not look like it, but this is what 100+ loaves of bread look like stacked in a shed. We later learned you can buy partial racks, or individual loaves. I think in 3 months when we run out of duck food, we will have to try it that way.

For my birthday Susan signed me up for a cake decorating class. It has been so much fun! I have learned a ton and already my cakes are looking semi professional, at least compared to what they used to look like. Alex has loved the endless supply of frosting that she has been in charge of licking off the beaters.

The weather has been crazy, as it usually is in March, but I think the warmth might have finally stuck. We just need to keep reminding ourselves that we would have killed for 35 degree weather to play in, 3 months ago.