At last! The Vacation

Forgive me, this will be a picture heavy and link-heavy post. We returned from Canada yesterday morning - all groggy and jet-lagged as we could be. There is so much I could say about the trip, but I will try to keep this to brief musings... oh, who are we kidding?!!? Here we go:

1. The Empress Hotel



This is what the weather looked like when we arrived in Victoria on July 13th - sunny, beautiful, nary a cloud in the sky. Yeah... that didn't last. It clouded over the next day and proceeded to rain every day until July 23rd. The local TV station said it was 'statistically improbable for it to rain seven days straight in July on Vancouver Island.' Um, it did!

2. More Canadian Things I ate on vacation:

Old Dutch Potato Chips and Popcorn Twists
Nalley's French Onion Dip
Nanaimo Bar
Garlic Coil
Butter Tart
Canadian Chocolate bars (at least a 6 of these...)
Maynards Wine Gums
Licorice Allsorts
BC Cherries
Hawkins Cheezies
BC Salmon
My Mom's Blackberry Jelly (seriously - the best in the world)
Pizza Pretzel (I can't find a link for this - it's pizza dough shaped into a pretzel form and baked with toppings on top)
Wild Raspberries

... Yeah, I ate really healthy. In my defense, I was there for two weeks and only sampled these things along the way. Some of you may argue that these are British Foods rather than Canadian ones, but I only can get these in Canada, so to me they are Canadian Foods.

3. Willow Behaving:



I think it only happened this once. She and Emma (the baby doll mentioned in the 'Eight Things About Willow' post) are wearing the same dress courtesy of my Mom.

4. A Trip to Victoria



Of course, in the rain. This is a picture of the Friendship Gate on Fisgard Street. I wanted to find honey buns and bubble tea, but struck out on both counts. The rain got heavier and subsequently so did the grumblings of the progeny, so we hung out in Mayfair Mall and then Bolen Books to waste time until we could pick Andrew up at the ferry.

5. Willow and William Playing:



The last time we were out here William was only 5 months old and there is only so much playing you can do with a five month old... but he is a more robust and rowdier 14 month old and he and Willow had a blast playing together.

6. The Creepy Trees:



We pass these trees on the way to my parents' house - there is a whole forest of them and they creep me out because the short branches all look like arms to me.

7. I got to touch my sister's pregnant belly!



I didn't get to see Jaime when she was pregnant with William, so I was excited to see her pregnant belly. She isn't planning to find out the sex of the baby - but I saw the ultrasound pics and I am predicting she is having a girl. On a completely unrelated note, I love Jaime's new haircut - I think I may get a similar one soon.

8. Willow's Birthday Cake:



Craptastic cake writing aside, I like my decorating attempt! I got the idea from a Canadian Living Magazine. You take a candied fruit slice, slice it in half lengthwise, and put licorice in the middle to make your butterfly.

9. William and Gram (GG to him) hanging out:



10. Willow and my Dad being silly together:

11. TV Shows I Watched While on Vacation: .

Due South
Dr. Who
Coronation Street

Again, you may not consider these Canadian programs - especially the last two - but I don't get to watch them here (partly because we haven't had the cable hooked back up since we moved).

12. Willow and the Pigs:

While not Canadian at all, Willow did meet up with some fine looking pigs while we strolled around downtown Seattle. We were in town for a couple of hours and enjoyed both Tully's Coffeehouse and Cutter's Bayhouse.

13. Sea-Tac's Playroom:

Thank goodness for this! This pic was taken about 10pm and as you can see from her airborne pose, she was still full of energy.

14. And the knitting:

I did rip out the baby sweater I was working on and gave the yarn to my Mom as I didn't want to lug it back to Delaware. My Mom has a pile of old Patons pamphlets from the 50s and 60s and in one I found a pattern for a 'Boy's Helmet.' Why they called it that I don't know - girls can't wear helmets? It was a very easy pattern and I love the results. The green is knit from Patons Astra (the recommended yarn) and the pink from some unknown acrylic in my Mom's stash. Personally, I like pink one better because of the stripes. It's a 6 - 12 months size.

All in all, I had a great (if not soggy) trip to BC. Mom? The last two trips have been rather dismal, weather-wise. Think you can do anything about that? We miss you and Dad already.