Canada Trip 2016 - Part 1

We had a pretty fantastic run of trips this summer. 

Michael split up his paternity leave and took off a few weeks in June. We spent a little bit of time in Canada, then my wonderful parents watched the little ones while we headed to San Francisco for a McPhie baptism, then we went back to Canada, and then ended with a quick little trip to Whistler. The trips were made all the better by the fact that most of our hotel stays were covered by secret shops. 

Thomas was really excited about flying this time around. He loved watching the airplanes. And of course he had to wear his airplane pajamas.

He also made sure we all knew the safety instructions.

Once we got to Canada it was business as usual. Thomas was more than happy to lend a hand.

This kid just belongs outdoors.

Grandpa Avis surprised us by giving the Barbie Jeep we got at a garage sale last visit a little bit of an upgrade. It looks so much better! 

Thomas was a much better driver this time around. He loved taking Becca for rides and chasing a particularly bothersome sheep (Ahem, Peeeettttteeeerrr).

Ad of course there was the usual horsing around....

He's growing up so fast

One highlight of the trip was helping grandpa stock the pond.

Which is apparently serious business.

With the pond well stocked, we did a bit of fishing. First we collected the worms.

Then gathered the necessary supplies

Enjoyed some father son time

And voila. We had ourselves a few fish. It's just that easy.

Such pure joy. Oh to be a kid again.

At first we were a little worried about killing and eating the fish in front of Thomas, but he was surprisingly cool about it. Maybe a little too cool; he really like the eating part.

A boy and his dog.

 If we had a place large enough that I wouldn't have to walk a dog or clean up after it I would get one, but that is not the case here in Southern California. When I am tempted by cute videos of people and their dogs I remind myself of how much I dislike the clicking of nails on laminate, the barking at visitors, the walking, the feeding, the dog hair, and so on and so forth. Still, this boy would love a dog. But thankfully that is what grandparents on farms are for ;)

San Francisco was fantastic. We flew into San Jose to attend our niece Laura's baptism. It was great seeing all the family members that were able to make it. We then spent a few fabulous days in San Francisco and finished up with a night at Michael's brother Jonathan's house. Michael's brother lives really close to Google headquarters so we saw several of the google self driving cars while we were in town. Pretty neat.

In San Francisco we:

• Went to the Exploratorium with Michael's parents. Super neat place. They also had a temporary exhibit on the Strandbeest. 

• Drove along the Golden Gate Bridge

• We ate delicious foods. We had balsamic strawberry ice cream, famous rice pudding, chinese food, cuban food, and some really good middle eastern food. We also had delicious treats with Jonathan and Sarah in San Jose.

• Walked to Fisherman's Warf and various other places. . 

• Google really needs to take topography into account when advising you about walking routes. A mile doesn't seem very far until you have to go up and down major hills. I never understood how it was possible for my grandparents to walk uphill both ways to get to school, but now it is all too clear.

• Went to church.

• I always love going to church in other places to see the similarities and differences. I think it was fast Sunday and there were a ton of converts from many different cultures bearing there testimonies which was really neat.

• Walked and walked and walked
• So much walking. I really enjoyed walking around Golden State Park. We didn't see the bison this time around but there were so many other beautiful things to discover. 

• Drove and drove and drove
• We went back and forth between San Francisco and San Jose several times. I quickly fell in love with our rental car which had bluetooth capabilities. It was funny because Michael had gotten me a bluetooth stereo for our car for my birthday which we never installed. It got installed pretty quickly after this trip. I can't tell you how nice it is to be able to play Pandora for the kids while driving. No more listening to the same 20 songs a million times a day (although we do still listen to a few of our favorite CD's, especially when reception is bad). 

• Visited the Oakland temple. 
• People say the San Diego temple is beautiful (and it is), but this temple was really breathtaking. The set up was really neat and it had a killer view, but I especially liked the water features. There is something very peaceful and calming about water. 

• We went to Sausalito and walked around a little houseboat village. Michael and I love walking/driving around neighborhoods looking at houses so this was one of the highlights for us. Some people were very creative. 

And I'm sure we did many other things that I have forgotten, but this is enough for now. It was a wonderful trip.

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Thomas had contracted some sort of chicken pox-like disease. Luckily it was pretty mild and didn't seem to bother him at all. We were even happier when Becca didn't get it.

Once we returned to Canada we had lots of family to visit with. We celebrated Michael's birthday by tubing down Cowichan river in the rain (his idea, not mine). Michael, the missionaries, and my dad transported a shed on the back of the truck up the Malahat. 

Then we headed to Whistler.

We had a 2 night stay at a Whistler hotel that also included dinner at one of the fanciest places I have ever eaten at. Any place that has a person come around with a scoop to clear any crumbs that may have spilled onto the table during the meal is top notch in our books. Not that we would ever spill crumbs on the table, we're too classy for that....

This was one of the desserts. The pictures of the rest of the meal were all blurry because of our hurried attempts to not be seen taking pictures. Again, keeping it classy.

Oh and did I mention that the seats were designed to make it so you don't slouch during your meal. Very uncomfortable but I see what they're going for.

We had New Zealand venison carpaccio and some sort of pasta dish for starters. I was a big fan of the carpaccio. I had a fish dish for the main entree that was a little underwhelming and Michael had quail, which was delightful. Dessert was the picture above and a "deconstructed carrot cake." It was definitely the ambiance more than the food that we remember. 

Again we found ourselves walking a lot. We walked around the cute Olympic village and went for a hike around one of the lakes. Whistler is really beautiful. I didn't find myself missing the kids too much when we were in San Francisco, but Whistler had more of a family feel and so I found myself thinking about how much Thomas would enjoy this or that. I am definitely down for a return visit with the kids in the future.

We found giant chairs on one of our hikes.

As it is British Columbia, there were countless numbers of water falls to visit.

But as much fun as it was to have some alone time with Michael and go on adventures again, I couldn't wait to get back to my little ones. I mean, look at this sweet face.