Seattle, Vancouver, & Whistler Trip Report - Day 1

Matt had a conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada at the end of April/beginning of May.  His way was paid so all we had to do was pay my way and find someone to watch our kids.... done and done, I said and off we went to "O Canada" for 7 nights.

A huge thanks to Matt's mom, Marcia, and my friend, Brittany for taking turns watching our kids.  I hadn't left Willa for more than a few hours since she was born (except when I spent 2 nights in the hospital to have Clark... I need to get out more!).  I had no idea what to expect being away from her and Clark.  But I can report that I was just fine without the kids.  I was really excited to come home and see them, but it was nice to have a week without them in tow.

Day 1 - Saturday, April 28

We flew from Memphis to Seattle, Washington on an early flight.  The conference was in Vancouver, BC, but we hadn't visited the state of Washington together yet so we thought we'd fly in and out of Seattle to save a few dollars and cross the state off our list (only 8 more states to go!).  It was a great choice.  We loved our night in Seattle.

We took the Link Light rail from the airport to our hotel downtown.  We pricelined a hotel and ended up at the Crown Plaza on the 28th floor.  Our view was awesome!  We could see the Puget Sound, the distant mountains, and lots of the city including Pike's Place and the Space Needle.

We checked in around 2 pm, napped, and then went out to explore a little of Seattle and get dinner.

We aren't foodies. I wish we were, but we just aren't.  But for some reason food was a big part of this trip.  Vancouver has great restaurants and tons of them.  Anyways, in Seattle we ate at a seafood restaurant on a pier right on the Sound.  We had the best clam chowder.  Matt got crab legs and steak and oh, they were so good.  Here we are on the pier outside our restaurant.

During dinner, we watched the ferries cruise around.  So we decided to take the Bainbridge Island Ferry after dinner to see the city from the water.  Gotta love ferries.  So cheap and such a great way to see the city.

On the ferry...

I really liked the looks of Bainbridge Island.  We didn't leave the ferry terminal, but it was so pretty.  It was like entering another world.  You get on the ferry, leave the hustle and bustle of the city, take a short ferry ride, and end up in a beautiful quiet residential but rugged place.  The picture below kind of shows what I'm talking about.  You can see the little blue house tucked away in the woods with the city in the distance.  Two worlds within one picture.  

We (meaning Matt) took so many pictures on the ferry.  The Puget Sound is so pretty.  We had typical Seattle/Vancouver weather the whole week... very cloudy and rainy as you can see in our pictures.  But we just dressed right and enjoyed our vacay.

After the ferry we walked around a bit more.  We walked around Pike Place Market

and then stumbled upon the Gum Wall.  It was so disgusting and cool at the same time.

I don't know much about it other then lots and lots of people have stuck their used gum to a wall in an alley and I really liked looking at it.  And no, we didn't have any gum with us so we couldn't contribute. So sad.

the Levitt Shell

Memphis is full of traditions and has a huge music scene.  It feels like summer is really here when the free evening concerts at the Levitt Shell start.  We love attending them.  We took the kids to a show the other night.  Willa danced her little heart out and found a friend to dance with.  Clark stuck closer to Matt and me, but seemed to enjoy it as well.

 

 

our Bartlett neighborhood and yard

We live in Bartlett - which is a suburb of Memphis.  We lived in Cordova the first year in Memphis, but moved across town at the beginning of Matt's second year.  We are renting this house from a guy who just finished his radiology residency.  We have the best neighborhood.  The houses are beautiful and well maintained.  Our street is quiet.  Our backyard is private and huge.  There are sidewalks and a park we can walk to.  We're in a great ward and live only 5 minutes from the temple.

 

 

Our neighbors put this purple jeep in their trash pile one day.  I called Matt and told him to fish it out and bring it home.  It doesn't have a battery and we're too cheap to buy one and see if it works.  Our kids don't know any better.  They love it.  They climb all over it, pretend to drive it. and when friends come over, they push each other around.  It's almost better that it doesn't work.  This way we don't worry about breaking it.  We leave it out in the rain and let the kids do what they want to it.

 

 

Willa has gotten really good at her scooter.  Our neighborhood is perfect for taking walks.  We take walks all the time.  There are nice wide sidewalks and empty streets.

 These pictures were from when Marcia came to watch our kids while Matt and I went to Vancouver.  My kids are so lucky to have awesome grandparents.  Clark and Willa love the trampoline.  They spend a lot of time running around on it and jumping.

Clark - 11 months

I haven't done a post dedicated to Clark in... um... have I ever?  Oops, I guess that's what happens when you're not the first born.

Clark is 11 months old today.  And I finally, get ready for it, feel adjusted to being a mother of 2.  Hallelujah! Actually, it's been coming on gradually over the last month.  Clark has turned into the sweetest little guy.  I adore him.  And Matt adores him.  Which feels so good to write because for so long, we wondered if life would ever feel "normal" again.  

We've spent the past 8+ months playing pass the baby because neither one of us wanted to hold him for very long.  He was so hard to hold.  He wouldn't cuddle, he wouldn't bend, and he cried a lot.  You had to be constantly standing and bouncing him and moving around and blah, blah, blah.  But he has turned a corner.  He has relaxed and is just doing so well.  He was (I guess he still is but just not as much) getting Physical and Occupational Therapy for spasticity and increased muscle tone.  But that seems to be in the past and he can finally sit on our laps and cuddle and relax (as well as all of the other stuff he is supposed to be doing like crawling and cruising and exploring).

His digestive issues are pretty much gone also.  He doesn't take reflux medication anymore.  I have introduced some dairy into my diet again (cheese, sour cream, cream cheese) and he doesn't have a reaction to them. (Milk and ice cream still cause diarrhea and vomiting, but no apparent pain.)

I took the pictures in this post last night.  Of course I chose the ones where his eyes look almost perfect.  At his eye appointment last week, the ophthalmologist said his eyes look more crossed then they are.  I'm not entirely sure what she means because they still seem crossed most of the time to me.  So we're still just playing the waiting game.  No further surgeries are scheduled.

41

In October, we visited our 41st state together... North Carolina.  We had both been there before but never together.  My family took a trip to Northern Georgia for a little fall getaway.  While we were GA, we  realized we were only an hour away from the NC border so we hopped in the car and drove across the border.

We've now visited every state in the Eastern United States except Delaware...darn you Delaware.  Matt has to do a month long rotation in Washington, D.C. next year so maybe we'll drive to Delaware while we're there.

Other then Delaware, we have Alaska, Hawaii, North & South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, Wyoming, and Washington (we've both been there but not together) left.  We are getting close.

one... two... THREE!

Willa turned THREE last week!  She had such a great birthday.

We spent the morning at the Children's Museum.  It was practically empty so Willa shopped at the mini grocery store, loaded packages onto the FedEx plane, made slime, and danced, danced, danced without having to wait in line or take turns.

We spent the evening at home and celebrated with presents and cake. 

We got her a mini kick scooter.  When she opened it, she exclaimed - THIS IS WHAT I'VE ALWAYS WANTED. 

She's no master yet, but she's learning.

Here's a picture of Clarky on Willa's birthday.  His eyes are pretty much healed, but unfortunately, they cross a lot.  We go back to the ophthalmologist in early February.  I am guessing that she'll want to do a second surgery.

Willa's birthday party was at Pump It Up.  She loved it.  And Matt and I loved it (which is just as important).  I wish I could have every one of my kids' birthdays there.  It was soo much fun bouncing around and sliding down the huge slides and racing through the obstacle course. 

  After bouncing around for an hour and a half, we moved into the party room for pizza, strawberries and cupcakes.  Willa invited 21 friends and they all came.  The party room was  mess - I was so happy the mess was there and not on my kitchen floor.



It was such a great party.  The kids had a blast.  The parents had a blast.  And the employees did all of the work.

Happy Birthday Willa!

SNOW!

We woke up to snow today! Hooray!

Clark wasn't sure what to think...  He crawled around a little...

Took a few bites 

Willa showed him how to make a snowball

And then after about 2 minutes, he gave his warning by sticking out his little lip (if you've been around him you know what I mean), and started crying. Must be that Floridian blood in him.

Willa, on the other hand, man, oh, man!  She's full Montanan.  She loves the snow!

She was a happy girl.  She didn't want a hat or a jacket.  She just wanted to play.