The "City House"

It's taken me almost two weeks, but finally an update on our recent stay up in Vancouver is here.

Jeff had a few days off, so we used some bonus time and stayed at our timeshare up in Vancouver. This was our second time staying there at "The Canadian" and again, we had a wonderful time. The layout of our room was different this time, and I think I liked it better, although we didn't have one room that was all windows like last time. This time each bedroom had one wall that was all windows - looking out on the cityscape.
After church, we stopped at the Lynden City park. We had a bit of time to kill since we couldn't check in until 4 and we wanted the kids to be sure to nap in the car on the way.

Jeff said that this was no easy feat, getting her to peek out the window at the same time he snapped a picture!

We arrived right about 4 pm and got checked into our condo, then went for a walk to the nearby IGA market. While there, Jeff was pushing the kids around in a double stroller (which we soon learned was too big and bulky for the narrow aisles). Coming around a corner, Jeff nearly ran into a guy with the stroller. Jeff looked up and, recognizing this man, gave a nod (as he would do to any customer he might run into - which often happens when he's out and about). But Jeff wasn't likely to run into a customer in Vancouver... how would he know this man? Jeff gave a double take and realized suddenly that it was Steven Segal! I was nearby. Jeff came over and pointed him out to me. I wouldn't have seen him because I was too focused on looking for items on my list. Steven happened to look over to me just as Jeff pointed him out, so I gave a smile. He nodded as he also did for Jeff, but we didn't approach him or try to talk to him - he's just a little intimidating! I'm sure he would've been nice and gracious, but who wants to be bothered at the grocery store?! Anyway, that was a nice kickoff to our time in Vancouver - Canada's Hollywood! We kept our eyes open the rest of the time we were there, but didn't see anyone else we'd know.

Our condo has two bedrooms. We decided that Hudson and I would sleep in one room, because he usually sleeps in bed with me when we travel, and Jeff and Kaylee would be in another room. I really looked forward to this because I figured I'd get a lot more sleep than usual. That night, or actually in the wee hours of Monday morning, Hudson woke me up. I had all the blinds open and was able to lay there looking out at the city. I soon noticed that it was snowing outside. It was so nice to lay there watching the snow fall so peacefully.

Monday we went to the Vancouver Aquarium, located in Stanley Park. It was gorgeous. Snow clung to all the shrubs and branches. Outside the aquarium is a beautiful fountain:

This year Kaylee made peace with the froggy that gave her quite a scare last year! If you get our yearly videos, you might remember Kaylee playing in this little car quite happily until she looked over rather suddenly and realized there was a frog looking at her. She cried and wanted out that instant. I can't blame her for being freaked out by it. Don't worry about Kermy though. He knows better than anyone that it isn't easy being green!

This was Hudson's first outing in the backpack. He's the perfect size and weight. Jeff was saying that he needs to start taking him on more hikes now. As it turned out though, it was easier in the end to have Hudson in the umbrella stroller and Kaylee in the backpack. She wanted to be up there, and Jeff was willing to sacrifice his back to accomidate her. It was nice not having to constantly look around and keep track of where she was.

I was so excited to bring my new camera and take a gazillion pictures on this trip, but wouldn't you know it - I turned it on and it told me that I left the disc in the computer! This camera won't allow you to take pictures and save later. grrrrr. Luckily I also had the point and shoot. It's much slower, but less bulky. This is the best picture I was able to get of the dolfin show:

Yep, it's a slow camera.

That night Jeff took Hudson on a long walk around the city. They went on a wandering route to the BC Center which is being worked on big time for the Olympics. Here's a view of part of the city:

Hudson is diggin the ride! That pacifier didn't last the whole trip. It's somewhere lost in the streets of Vancouver - probrably having an interesting adventure of it's own.

That's about all the highlights. I can't believe I didn't take any pictures of our actual condo. This was by far the most relaxing time I have had on a trip. It's nice that it's so close by. Plus I've mostly perfected my packing list for such trips. I'm sure this will be one of our regular getaways.

As I've been typing this blog, Kaylee has asked me two times already to go to the "City House" as she calls it. Mind you, it's 7 a.m. and this was almost two weeks ago! I'm sure she'll ask a number more times as the day goes on. I'm finding she likes to go on trips now and doesn't have any problems sleeping somewhere new. I think she likes our timeshare condos better than she likes her own home!