Oh Canada Volume 2

One of the things I love about being on vacation is the lack of rules. There is no routine to follow, so we get ice cream when we want to get ice cream, we stop and explore things when they are interesting, and we linger at playgrounds because there is nothing calling us home at a certain time. That kind of freedom rarely happens in my world when dinner has to be made, bathrooms need to be cleaned, and responsibilities attended to. I love Anna vacations!

Anna's favorite food is ice cream. She senses when its presence is close. No matter what else she might not eat...she always has room for ice cream! And one of the true pleasures in life, whether you are a child or an adult, is to sit by the ocean on the beach, and to share an ice cream with someone you love while the sun warms your face! Ahh, heaven.

yet another splash park. THis one was on Granville island- -a sort of sophisticated, hippie version of Coney Island-- Canada style. We went there two days in a row! They have an awesome public/farmers market, a fully serviced kids market complete with costume shops, restaurants, puppet shops, and 5 toy stores, and ducks and parks galore. We couldn't get enough of it!

another sleepy baby taking a nap in between fun outings

beach side at Kitsilano beach. Anna ate a pound of strawberries in one sitting. I love seeing that in my child-- a total passion for one food group. We ate strawberries from the farmers market, blew bubbles, chased waves, and examined bugs with her .79 cent magnifying glass.

showing off her prize winning strawberry.

a hug for the camera. Anna loves to see herself on film. I wonder where she gets that from...

Anna had to have two magnifying glasses! A blue one and a yellow one. And I just can't refuse her when the items are less than a dollar and encourage her to explore her world.

and what a big world it is

she was sure she saw a spider, a pill bug, and a lady bug on the beach.

later in the day, we went for a walk around the sea wall and found a couple of men flying big sporting kites in the park. Anna was fascinated and worried excessively every time one the kites "fell down." she wanted to help them back up. And again, I let us stop and enjoy every time something caught Anna's attention. This was her vacation. She was the master of our destiny!

Another tired baby! Worn out with all that fun! We loved, loved, loved our Canada trip.

Oh Can-a-da volume 1

For the 2nd year in a row, Anna and I got a free vacation to Vancouver, Canada while Richard handled business. I LOVE Vancouver. Its less than three hours away, and has so much to do for families. Each day was an adventure and I think that Anna loved the fact that she got me all to herself for a week. For that fact, I approach these Canada vacations as Anna's personal vacation, and I try to plan each day around the things that I know Anna loves to do: explore, play, laugh, and eat.

And every trip starts with a good movie watching spree for Anna. She has a habit of watching her movies with her arms behind her head-- which makes her look like she is a teenager

We were out and about all day every day, so Anna took her naps to the road. The first day we went to Lynn Canyon State park. This was the explore part. Anna is a born adventurer. She loved the suspension bridge there and would have spent hours crossing and recrossing it. We got her a froggy backpack just for this trip and she loved being a big girl with her back pack on, hiking with the big people. No fear for this little one!

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Anna is so indepedent! She wanted to do everything by herself. She was the leader most of the time, while I was the one holding on to her tail-- literally!

The second day we went to the Vancouver Aquarium, home to the infamous (at least in Raffi circles) Baby Beluga! This was such a fun day. Anna is old enough now to have fun in her own right during the whale and dolphin shows. She would giggle and squeal in delight with each spray of water. Everything fascinated her. And I loved to see her love it!

And yet, her favorite part about the aquarium was sitting by Kermit, in his energy efficient car...

and her second favorite part was using the "binockers" in the bird/butterfly house (I know...a birdhouse in an acquarium. Its like having a cat in a dog park)

she pretty much monopolized the binockers the whole time. I think that again she felt like a real big kid explorer while she used them.

The acquarium happens to be located in Stanley park which is this awesome park full of every wonderful and good thing for kids-- trails, water parks, gardens, playgrounds, totem poles, and ice cream.

So after the water park we went to the splash park. Anna just wanted to use the water guns there. She looks pretty powerful behind one of those things-- probably getting that boy who wouldn't share his toy boats with her!

It really was fun to spend time solely with Anna. Sometimes I get caught up with planning outings with my other mom friends and going hiking or park outings in a group, and of course I really enjoy my time with other women, but it is nice to have time just Anna and me-- no other obligations or distractions or responsibilities pulling me away from her. We did exactly what we wanted to do each day. And when Anna wanted my attention, she got 100% of it. I think we came away from this trip both being revived.