Our Great Canadian Adventure: Stuff We Did

Don't think I forgot about posting about our vacation...you know I'm not going to give up an opportunity to share our 592 vacation photos.

So sit back and enjoy.

But first, here is some very interesting Canada trivia for you (if you were to read a Canadian trivia book based on the lives of David and Melissa):

8 summers ago David and I were in Banff, Calgary for our honeymoon and got to watch some of the summer Olympics while we were there.  It was interesting watching the Olympics from another country.

4 summers ago we were on a little babymoon vacation in Vancouver, B.C. right before Daphne was born, and got to watch the summer Olympics while we were there.

And now it's the summer Olympics again and we were in Canada!  Amazing!  Except we didn't actually get to see them since they're not on yet, but the general time period is the same.

our canadian home

The whole week is kind of a blur in part to a baby boy who did not feel the need to sleep on this trip.  I do have a few fuzzy memories, including discovering that David and I ROCK as a bocce ball team. Our house was on a gigantic lot with a lawn perfect for bocce ball.

This photo is an excellent example of the tension/joy experienced during our tournaments.   David appears to be the joyful one here.

There was lot of fishing available for those who liked to leave their wives with the small children every single day to fish.  You could march a ways down our backyard and fish all you wanted, or there were tons of lakes/streams/etc to drive to.

Daphne came to love fishing so much that David bought her her own pole.  It's very fun to dodge the rubber fish on the end as she flings the line around the house.  The girl has an arm. 

One afternoon we went to a mill.  I'm not 100% sure what is so special about this mill, but it was in a beautiful location and the giant saws were interesting to look at, and my sis snapped this super cute photo of our family:

Daph was in a mood that afternoon and never really had a cheery face.  David fixed her hair...that may have been part of the problem.

There was some swimming,

cheerfulness is oozing from this photo

art time, 

and Christian made his debut at clapping (I'm not sure why he doesn't look happier about it).

We played card games, went for walks, read books, had a mystery dinner, saw salmon jumping, a few saw bears (luckies!), discussed what to do should we come in contact with a bear (sing loudly), and enjoyed lots of doses of lazy-nothing.  

 

Is that enough photos?  That's all I will share for now, unless I think of more later.  Because more is always good.

P.S. I just realized a whole other post I can do about our trip!  Can't believe I almost forgot about it!  Stay tuned...

 

Spoil Daphne Date

We had the plan of dropping Christian off at Grandma's and taking Daphne berry picking on Tuesday, but it was rainy and gross on Tuesday ("no berry picking in the rain" is my life motto).  Not ones to turn down babysitting, we dropped C off and took Daph on a Spoil Daphne Date.

Lunch:

I appreciate how clean she tries to stay while eating.

Riding the quarter rides at the mall (except they cost many quarters...I went broke letting her ride SEVEN rides):

Spontaneous dancing in front of a large mirror in H&M (she was the only one doing that; David and I did not participate):

Do you see her happy smile in each photo?  That girl was in heaven.  She wasn't even the least bit sad that she didn't get to stay at Grandma's.

I think more one on one time with her is #1 on our list of things to do for the unforeseeable future.

Berries!

Today feels a little like it could be summertime...we went berry picking AND the sun is shining all on the same day. 






















Picking strawberries with a preschooler and a baby wasn't exactly the easiest adventure of the year, but it went surprisingly better than I thought.  Daphne loves the berry fields and cried when it was time to go, and as long as I kept Christian supplied with the delicious vegan/gluten free pancakes I had made (this recipe is the best ever!  just as good as regular pancakes), he did pretty well.

We only got about 10lbs (35lbs if you count all that Daphne ate...her container never stayed full for some reason) before Christian reached his maximum sit-by-himself-in-the-field time.  Hopefully I get a chance to get some more, then it's blueberry time, when we need to pick about 5000lbs to last us through the winter.

Soon after this photo was taken, Daphne asked, "wash my hands, Mama, so that I can eat all the strawberries."

Berry season is her favorite.

Our Great Canadian Adventure: Traveling

You have probably been missing us on the blog here lately (except probably not, since half the people who read this blog were on the same trip I was on).  Two years ago we went on a vacation so fun we just had to do it again this year.  Same people, but this time we went to Port Alberni on Vancouver Island in B.C.

Two great things about the drive up there:

1)  The Ferry.

We crossed from Port Angeles, WA to Victoria B.C. on a ferry ride that was an hour and a half long.  It was the perfect little break to get Christian out of the car for awhile (Daphne drove with my parents) and play some super fun card games with whichever family members happened to be on the same ferry as we were.  And we got to ride with different people both trips, so that was pretty cool.  I think all long car trips should include a ferry ride.  It's like a layover except you're still getting closer to your destination. 

The water on the ride home was quite treacherous*.  It made me realize that I wouldn't do well out at sea and should reevaluate my dream of being a deep sea fisherman**.  I found that if I just concentrated on my card game and did not look out the window I was fine.  It was a good thing there were plenty of people there to play cards with.

Bye bye Canada.  We love you.

*Treacherous in that there were a lot of waves and the boat rocked a lot.  Not really treacherous like we were in danger and people were flying overboard. More of a wimpy kind of treacherous. 

**OK, so I've never really have that dream.  But now experiencing the treacherous ferry ride has made me realize that I should never consider having the dream at all. 

And the #2 great thing about the drive:

2)  Forks, WA

We took the longer way home so we could swing through Forks.

This does not at all make us freaky Twilight stalkers.  It makes us very normal people. 

Bella's truck from the movie

I mean, we were so close to Forks it would be silly not to go there.  

Driving the Olympic Peninsula was absolutely beautiful.  I think it's the most amazing place in all the Pacific NW.  Why does nobody ever talk about it?  Probably because the locals don't want tourists around.  Forks or no, I think everyone should drive up there sometime. 

Hello WA coast!  You are amazing!

You know this was some vacation if I could do a post just on the drive.  I hope you're on the edge of your seats waiting for the rest of the story...

(I just stole that line from Paul Harvey.)

(I just made myself really cool by mentioning Paul Harvey.)

This Week

This week we celebrated Faux Father's Day.  We will be busy this Sunday and so pretended last Sunday was Father's Day which gave us time to do some fun family stuff.

This baby is so cute!!!!!

This week we made some gluten free and vegan cupcakes.  (recipe HERE.)  The recipe calls for regular all-purpose flour but I substituted Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose Flour instead.  I have mixed feelings about the taste of that flour, but if you're someone like me who can basically only eat sticks and leaves, a chocolate cupcake is a chocolate cupcake, even with that slightly odd flour taste.  It's not gross or anything, just different. The frosting is yummy, though, and definitely made the recipe.  I would say they were an 8 out of 10.  If I had tons of time to play around in my kitchen I would love to figure out a different flour blend...maybe someday.

Daphne loved them.  I'm not sure why she decided to 'blow out' the butterfly toothpick, except that she's a teeny tiny bit obsessed with birthdays.

Please excuse the spaghetti on her face.  I wash her only sometimes.

This week Christian got to hang out while Daphne and I did some gardening.  I set him up on a blanket and hoped he would give us 10 minutes or so.  After only a few minutes I heard him fussing, and like the good and attentive mother that I am, didn't check on him right away because surely he was just fine.  Until I did look back and realized he was flailing around on the grass like he did not understand the horrible prickly substance beneath his arms.  Poor dude.

Angry baby

This girl knows what's what when it come to the garden

This week Christian looked really cool in Daddy's hat, and is looking like a big boy more and more every day.

And finally, this week Daphne discovered how much she loves to find my clothes, put them on and wear them around the house.

Slices of Life, Vol VI

1.  David and Daphne like to snuggle up and read about the Avengers.

2.  Christian likes to sit around looking handsome, which is good, because we like our babies handsome.  (And sullen.)

3.  Sometimes (and this is hard for me) I have to say yes to the mess and let them build a tent in the living room, just because it makes them happy.

4.  Sometimes David and Daphne read about the Avengers in the tent.

5.   I went to get Daphne from her nap the other day and found she had stripped herself down and put her swimsuit on. Too bad it was 60 degrees out.

6.   The other night I got crafty and made some magnets using washi tape, where the end result make the magnets looks like strips of tape on the fridge.  So cute (thanks, Pinterest, and this link here in particular!).  The next day I was so happy to show David my creation.

Our conversation went something like this:

Me: Look at these cool magnets I made.  They look like tape!

David: Tape?  How do they look like tape?

M:  The ends look torn, like you tore off tape.  So cool, right?

D:  They don't look like tape.  Why are they colored?  How does that look like tape?

M:  It's washi tape!  Washi tape is colored and pretty!  DON'T YOU LIKE MY TAPE MAGNETS???

D.  They don't look like tape.

And now anytime we have a conversation about anything, he says, "well, maybe you should go make some more tape magnets."

Then, about a day later, Daphne was in the kitchen and she said, "Mama!  Look!  There's tape on the refrigerator!"

I love her.

tape magnets.  obviously.

The Moment You've Been Waiting For

Our bathroom is finally *mostly* done and I think it's safe to show you. 





















I'm working on a sign for above the window, and I haven't had that meaningful moment with a window treatment idea yet (you know when you just know something is right...I haven't had that yet), so for now the window is still bare. 

Sooo...

Many moons ago we had a bathroom that looked like this:

Wow.  I had forgotten.

After doing some of this...

...and having this for awhile...

...then David laid the flooring all by himself.  I had some amazing photos but they appear to be missing!  Strange.   So just imagine David laying flooring, and Daphne having a great time writing with Sharpie on the wood under the floor for future generations to find.

And now, finally, we have this:

The mirrors are nicely reflective.

This bathroom has a toilet, I promise, (behind the door) but that's a pretty boring photo to take.  Besides that area looks basically the same as before.

Isn't it all so beautiful?  I love it.  I just realized these photos were taken before I bought the rug, so imagine a white rug in there.  It looks good too.

As a recap, before:






















And after:





















Our next project is the kitchen.  The change won't be nearly as drastic, but it will be lovely just the same.