O C-A-N-A-D-A (it really is a separate country and worth seeing!)

I like Canada. I admit it. I misjudged it. It is not just an extension of the United States. They do speak English there, but they also speak Chinese food and gelatto. We were able to go to Vancouver for a few days on a business trip (thank you Uncle Moss Adams). Richard worked, and Anna and I played. Traveling to Canada is like passing through a tunnell and finding a whole other world on the other side. Anna will demonstrate.... "what is that I see....Maple leafs, hockey pucks, and canadian bacon? Oh My!"

"Can someone point me in the general direction of Michael Buble?"

"As long as I get a good session of competative curling in...everything will be okay"

"What! It costs how much to go to a Celine Dion concert!!!!?"

Here, Anna is loving the Vancouver Acquarium . We saw the Beluga Whale show and the dolphin show. I have been listening to Raffi a lot recently, and I still love his song "Baby Beluga." I found out that it was the Beluga whales at this particular acquarium that inspired that song.

you can't see it very well, but these are flying dolphins. I had Anna on my shoulders and she was wiggling so much in excitement.

We went to Stanley Park, where I could get lost at my leisure. We walked all the way around the park along the sea wall.

When I was getting a snack for Anna, these fellows decided to join us (they probably smartly noticed that Anna throws half of what I give her overboard). I have never seen raccoons up close and personal, and the natives thought I was pretty funny for photographing what they consider a very common pest. It would probably be the equivalent of photographing cockroaches.

we saw totem poles...

At Van Dusen gardens I got honestly lost in a maze. And I really tried to solve it-- but I kept going right back to the entrance. The tree in the center is a monkey puzzle tree. Thank you NAte for pointing out how cool they are!

I should call this my Anna cam-- a birds eye view of what a content baby looks like on a walk strapped to her mama.

In the garden there were some great sculptures. This was supposed to represent the interconnectedness of mankind (I just think someone was trying to get rid of all their old clothes).

...I do need some new clothes for Anna...hmmm.

Van Dusen gardens was so gorgeous. I imagine that the Garden of Eden might have looked very much like this.

Going through the rose garden portion of it, I got some great ideas for names for our future children.

Pimpinellifolia. We could call her Pimple for short....

Alba Rose....and we could call him Al...

And good old Rugosa...to keep the alliteration alive!

All in all, we had a most excellent time! On the way back into the country, the car ahead of us got dog sniffed for drugs. It was so exciting. I half wanted them to sniff our car! A dog sniff is not considered a search for purposes of search and seizure laws. Just thought you should know!

Go Canada!