Seattle Aquarium

This past Tuesday we went down to Seattle to do a little shopping at Ikea and also to go to the aquarium. We were there last January and got a membership because with the group we had, it was cheaper than everyone buying day passes. We never thought we'd get back down to use our membership again this year, so it was nice to be able to just walk right in.

The aquarium is fun but not as nice as the one in Vancouver (my opinion).
Jeff and Kaylee checking out the "Window on Washington Waters" exhibit

This fish seemed very interested in Kaylee. He kept coming back to stare at her. Maybe he thought she was lunch??

Jeff and Kaylee watching the seals come up and swim on their backs. Kaylee was much more interested in the ball that was floating in the water.

The Window on Washington Waters display... pretty amazing!
Afterwards we walked down the waterfront and found a diner that served clam chowder in a bread bowl. For some reason, whenever we're on a pier we just crave that meal.

Update on Kaylee. She is an early riser. Putting her to bed later doesn't help. But now I found a blessing in disguise. Kaylee really likes the new jogging stroller we got. So first thing in the morning (usually around 5 am) we grab some water and a snack and head out for an hour long walk. It's really helped me feel a lot better with this pregnancy. I've noticed that I have a lot more energy during the day and I just feel better in general.

Kaylee is still working on her ABC's and 123's. She sings the ABC song now on her own, only her version is a lot shorter: "B C me!"

Story time at the library started up again this past Monday. Kaylee participated for the first time. Usually she sits and just watches everyone. But this time she did some of the hand motions to Itsy Bitsy Spider and a few other songs, and even danced a little bit with me. This morning as I was getting ready, Kaylee kept saying and signing "Cow" and then drumming her hands on the floor. Soon I realized she was remembering the "ring around the rosy" song. The second verse they do at the library is "Cows in the meadow, eating buttercups. Thunder, lightning, we all stand up!" The thunder is made by drumming on the floor and then we clap our hands for lightning. I thought it was pretty cool that she remembered that. So we sang that song over and over for about 10 minutes this morning...which probrably doesn't seem like a long time, but think about it. 10 minutes. Ring around the rosey.... Come on.

Kaylee loves to drink tea with me. Anytime I brew a cup of decaf Red Rose she wants some too. It's cute to see her standing on her chair with her little plastic cup taking sips and saying "tea!!"

I think she might have an idea that there's a baby on the way. Today she was sitting in her high chair and pointed over to the fridge saying "baby" (there's an ultrasound picture of the baby on there) and then pointed at me and said "tummy". So I got the picture down and showed her the baby's head, nose, mouth, hand, etc... , held it to my belly and said, "the baby is in here". Won't be long now, only 6 or 7 more weeks to go!

Kaylee can pretty much get anywhere she wants to these days. She can climb up and down from her high chair, her changing table, and her car seat. Soon we'll get her new room finished and she will be able to get in and out of bed by herself and even turn the light on and off. I'm HOPING that she'll be able to get out of bed in the morning and play with the toys in her room and not disturb me with her usual "MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY, MOMMY..." Once this baby comes, I'll need all the sleep I can get!

Happy Father's Day!

We had great weather for Father's Day this year. This morning Kaylee helped me make some coffee cake muffins and apple juice. She helped to pour the different ingredients into the bowl and then she helped to stir it. She was very helpful in sampling the crumble topping to make sure it was sweet enough! We put the muffins into the oven and she immediately wanted up in her high chair to eat. She didn't understand that they take time to bake. She then helped me make some apple juice. She was able to pour water into the pitcher and stir that as well. This she was able to sample immediately and she seemed quite pleased to have made it herself!

We went to church this morning and then Kaylee took a nap when we got home. Once she got up we were able to get outside and have some fun. She was wearing her very adorable spring dress today and she just LOVED wearing it. Up until now, she would cry anytime I tried putting a dress on her. But today she stood in front of the mirror with a big smile, adoring herself. Throughout the day she would lift her skirt and say "cute!" She also traded in her toy dog for a dolly. What a little girly-girl she was today! She was so sad when I had to change her into her pajamas tonight. I guess I'll have to start shopping for more dresses.

Anyway, back to our outing. First Kaylee took us on a short walk. She wanted to push her dolly around in a stroller. So cute!


Next we took Kaylee to Whatcom Falls park here in Bellingham. She said her "oh WOW" again when she saw the big waterfall. We took a short walk around the park and stopped to see the young salmon in the fish hatchery.

Last of all we went to a "swing slide" park. Kaylee was being so photogenic, I just couldn't help myself with the camera. What a perfect Father's Day!

Vancouver

Here's the long awaited update on our trip to Vancouver. Okay, well maybe nobody besides me was really waiting...

We had a fabulous time! The weather held out okay. It was overcast and cool, but it never actually rained until the day we left. After arriving we went for a walk down to the waterfront and found this fun little playground. Our condo was located in downtown Vancouver and had floor to ceiling windows. It was amazing to look out on the city from the 20th floor, especially at night with all the lights. Kaylee's room had two walls of those full length windows and we put her porta crib right there in the corner. She loved looking out the windows. The morning after we arrived, I opened up the blinds for her after she woke up. She kept yelling "oh WOW!"

That day we went to Stanley Park and to the Vancouver Aquarium. The aquarium was definitely the highlight of our trip. We all had a lot of fun there. It was especially fun for me to watch Kaylee and Jeff hang out and discover each and every new sea creature they came across. She said a lot more "oh WOW"s that day! I don't have any pictures of us at the aquarium because I just had the video camera going the whole time.

Here are Jeff and Kaylee at a spot along the path that goes around Stanley Park. We could look across the water to the big yellow sulfur pile that you often see in TV shows and movies filmed in Vancouver.

We were only minutes from our condo, so we decided to take Kaylee back there for her nap. She only made it to the parking lot before falling asleep:
Later that afternoon we took a walk to see other sites we recognize from some of our favorite shows. The building right next to our condo was used in Star Gate SG1. Below is an art museum which was used a number of times in the show 4400.
We planned to go to the zoo on the way back home, but as we got there it started to rain very heavily. It was good we didn't stop, because the rain continued for the rest of the day. Out here most of the animal exhibits are outdoors, so it wouldn't have been much fun.

Like I said, we had a great time. Vancouver is a lot of fun and it's so close. It's crazy that we don't go more often. Depending on border traffic, it really only takes an hour to get to downtown Vancouver from where we live. We will definitely be back someday!