Seattle and Vancouver

A few months ago, my cousin, Jon, and his wife, Kaycee, had their first little baby, Lily, 

so what better reason to head up to the Pacific Northwest than to meet my new niece. 

And I think you should know, Lily is a precious, little thing. Seriously, so very sweet.

And since we were planning on a 5 day trip and had been to Seattle a few years before, we decided drive further north and get another stamp in our passports ... Canada. Vancouver to be exact.

But first, we had to meet Lily for the very first time. And we 

were all SO very excited ... most especially Sophie!

 Lily!

 Father (Jon otherwise known as "Uncle Don Don") and Daughter (Lily)

 Auntie Charlotte with Lily

 Thinking of 3 kids? 

Looks like chaos right?

2 is quite enough ...

I know, I know, I look stupid in this one but how cute is Blake!!!

And after a quick coffee/brunch date with Jon and Lily, we hopped in the car for a 3 hour trip to Vancouver. And how we loved Vancouver ... from the hotel to the city to the amazing food. We had an awesome time and felt like 2 days just wasn't enough time ... wish we had just a few more days ... maybe a week, perhaps two ... we probably could have spent the rest of the month there and it wouldn't have been enough time ... that's how much we just loved Vancouver!

Waiting in line to cross the border.

This is the first time the boys in our family (Andrew and Blake) had 

ever crossed the border, using their brand spanking new American passports!

Oh Vancouver,

How I loved thee ...

And miss thee ...

My cousin, Jon, recommended this Chinese Restaurant called, 

"Legendary Noodles" ... yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!!!

My beautiful daughter walked fearlessly up to the water ...

And took a step in. Highly, highly unusual ... I'm proud of her!

The "J" boys Hangin' out!

I LOVE Sophie's smile in this one ...

Inukshuk

This reminded me of the Vancouver Olympics in 2010

I've been looking for something nice to photograph

to replace the IKEA print on our wall. Not sure about this one

quite yet but that's why I took this particular photo ...

Right before the 2010 Olympic games,

This group of statues came about. It is meant to show people

about the different stages of happiness. It was meant to be temporary

but people liked it so much, it became permanent.

Maple Sugar Latte

I'd never had one before Vancouver.

It was amazing .. yum, yum, yum! 

Stanley Park 

 With Blake

 Sophie had one of the worst meltdown of her life ...

in Stanley Park. It was awful. She was already kind of cranky but

some Daddy had a great idea to offer her ice cream if she behaved.

I heard her offer it and I knew it was over ... and it was. Poor Andrew

thought it would just give her inspiration to cheer up. She didn't. And when she

didn't get that ice cream, she just fell apart. Screamed and cried for nearly an

hour. It was ridiculous. Upset over an ice cream. Ahhh ... to be 3 years old again!

 Sophie's Shadow

Up Grouse Mountain we encountered a bear.

Don't worry, it was behind a fence ... but I had no idea

we would be able to get so close! Amazing!

Always SO happy! 

Bald Eagle in Canada.

Might have made me feel a little bit of American pride ...

Sweetest little guy

You can't tell, but Sophie was being carried in the Ergo Baby Carrier. 

Yep, it fits up to a 40 pound toddler ... though I would never suggest it ...

But here she is ... in the Ergo ... might have been the last time ...

The poor kid didn't get a nap since we were so much on the go ...

He passed out after we left Grouse Mountain on our way to the Suspension Bridges.

I even carried him a way and then transferred him into the Ergo.

And still, Blake slept ... 

Lynn Canyon Suspension Bridge

Sophie walked the entire way,

holding onto Daddy's hand.

Hiking

Holding on tight!

Heading across the suspension bridge

Cheese!

So sweet ... love that little boy! 

View of Vancouver from Granville Island 

Lunch on Granville Island

There is nothing more to say than ...

we got pooped on. Hopefully that is lucky.

Sophie got to pick a special treat from the Toy Market.

May I introduce a new puppet in our house ... 

Sophie Alexi Vancouver Canada Jamieson.

And after a fun trip in Vancouver, it was time to head back to Washington ..

to spend time with Jon, Kaycee, Lily and friends. We were lucky that Kaycee's parents

live in Mount Vernon, which is about 2 hours from Vancouver, 1 hour from Seattle ...
so we headed that way for some fun time with Lily and friends!

Lily!

My cousin Jon went crabbing that morning

Fresh crab for dinner ... yum, yum, yum! 

Bedtime cuddles!

Superman wasn't happy

Sophie feeding some cows with Uncle "Don-Don"

The Pangs ... new and improved! 

Pre-ride back to Seattle cuddles

The cousins! 

Andrew used to work in this building.

That fact obviously bored Sophie

Kaycee and Lily ... trying out the Ergo!

Pepper decorations

Dungeoness Crab

Not as yummy as what Jon served up! 

Pikes Market Place

Fresh Fish

Fresh Veggies

Amazing Pepper Decorations! 

Flowers

Running with Auntie Kaycee

Love that HAIR!

EEEK ... don't take a picture of ME Auntie Charlotte!

With the girls! 

Blowing dandelion

Singin' in the hills! 

Blake practicing his walk

Our friend, Kayla, and her son, Saifo, now live in Seattle

so they came out to visit with us! 

Sweet friends!

With Kaycee and Lily

Trying out sunglasses at Target

She said she was cute ...

Sophie loved these ones too

but we said no ... she wasn't happy about it.

Security Anyone? It's Lily, the security guard! 

So happy! 

Sophie saw this "Pop-t-i-cle" and 

insisted on having her picture with it! 

Getting a lift from Uncle Don-Don

Dinnertime Entertainment

Where Jon used to work - "Zeeks Pizza"

Yum, Yum, Yum, Yum ....

With the Space Needle

What a great trip this was ...

from Seattle to Vancover to Mount Vernon,

we had the most amazing 5 days! 

The highlight was of course getting to meet Lily and hang out

with her lovely parents but we also loved Vancouver and can't wait to

go back! It was an amazing place ... until n