Daily Photos: Day 329

Monday, November 24th

Off to the Gym & Sing again.

Ben will be a great driver; he's checking his blind spot. (Or is he wondering why the bus won't go now that Izzie is in the back?)

We couldn't go home without stopping at the playground... and it was even dry for once. We had to wait a while for a turn on the swings but apparently it was worth it.

Sam thought it was hilarious to go down the slide on his stomach. And of course Ben had to do the same thing. This kept them occupied for some time.

But not too long, because there was also much dirt to be dug.

Izzie is at the stage where she loves to carry things around, whether a bucket...

or a purse.

The walk home took a long time because Ben and Sam wanted to carry the buckets and shovels. Ben kept stopping to shake his so vigorously that the shovel and rake would fly out and fall on the ground. Then he and Sam would laugh like this was the funniest thing in the world. And then two steps later they would do it again. I didn't get a picture of Sam's full-out laughter but like his funny smile and expression in this one.

Daily Photos: Day 328

Sunday, November 23rd

In the evening we went to Kits Beach to let the children run off some energy. The park had the highest slide I've seen at an outdoor playground. If Chris had stood at the bottom and held up his hand the top would have been several feet higher than he could reach. Ben wanted to try it but it had a ladder instead of steps and the rungs were too far apart.

The boys had fun walking on some of the logs that lined the beach.

Those with little legs got carried.

And since the sun was setting it was back to silhouettes...

Daily Photos: Day 327

Saturday, November 22

On Saturday we took the Skytrain and then the SeaBus to Lonsdale Quay. This was a trip in which the journey was every bit as important as the destination. Besides the train and ferry the boys also got to take an escalator. So, since leaving Tennessee Ben has been in a car, plane, van, bus, ferry and train.

We sat at the front of the boat so the kids could see out the window.

Right after we got off the boat we passed all these birds sitting on the concrete.

There were lots of specialty shops and restaurants to browse. This guy was making fudge.

Chris, Sam, Ben and I climbed up some stairs to the giant Q that overlooks the quay. Prior to being a mother this would be no problem, but the thought of one of the children falling (wasn't going to happen, but I couldn't help but think it) kept making my stomache do flp-flops.

After some guy showed me a picture he had taken I got Julee and dragged her back so that I could do something similar. I'm having a lot of fun with silhouettes on this trip - didn't have the wide angle lens to include more of the stairs, but I like the result anyway.

We took the kids inside to see if they wanted to go play in the ball room. Ben and Sam found it a little too intimidating and Izzie was definitely too young - although I believe she was game. Instead we found another area where they sat on some rides and went down a couple of kiddie slides.Nobody seemed to mind (or know) that the rides didn't move.

Ben sat in this roller coaster simulator almost the entire time we were there. Izzie was permitted to join him for a few minutes.

She has taken to going to people with a huge smile on her face and arms lifted up for hugs. It is very endearing.

Daily Photos: Day 326

Friday, November 21st


The boys are learning important new skills such as how to lick an ice cream bowl.

Daily Photos: Day 325

Thursday, November 20th

The children are taking full advantage of having so many people around to read them books.

Here Ben and Sam enjoy some grapes while Grandma takes her turn reading.

The books of the week are Cars and Trucks and Things That Go by Richard Scarry, Penguin by Polly Dunbar, and Chickens to the Rescue by John Himmelman.

Daily Photos: Day 324

Wednesday, November 19th




The boys take part in a little play-dough playing... and taste-testing on the sly.

Daily Photos: Day 323

Tuesday, November 18th

A wonderful lady from Julee's church offered to switch vehicles for our stay and we took her up on the offer. We can all fit into her van... at least until the baby comes. We thought we'd better take advantage of this so we drove to the Vancouver Aquarium.



Julee's favorite part of the day was when we were benignly gazing into a tank and suddenly the tentacled snake (top right) devoured a goldfish right before our eyes. Ah, the circle of life!

Baby beluga in the deep blue sea.. and Ben's head.

Julee and Sam taking in the fish.

There was a plastic dome you could pop your head inside of. I'm not sure why. With three little ones to keep track of we didn't get to read many of the explanations!

There was a kid's zone with blocks and aquatic costumes for the children to dress up in. Since Izzie likes Ben's backpack so much I thought she would enjoy wearing this shell around. And she did.

The first thing we did after we arrived was watch the dolphin show.

The boys loved it whenever the dolphins leapt into the air and splashed.

In fact they enjoyed the show so much that we watched it a second time before leaving.

Daily Photos: Day 322

Monday, November 17th

We've been taking advantage of all the wonderful programs in the area where Julee lives. On Monday we went to Gym and Sing at a community center in the neighborhood. The gym is filled with riding toys, mats to jump on, rings to swing from, balls, a tunnel to crawl through... The kids loved it of course. Ben's favorite was the mini-trampoline and Izzie's favorite was the tunnel. After 45 minutes everyone helps pack up the equipment and the children take a ride around the gym on the "train" made out of the gym mats.

On the way home we paused for a leaf fight.

Izzie watched from the confines of the stroller.

As you might be able to tell, all our activities have been very successful at tiring the children out.

Kissing cousins... Sam doesn't actually kiss, nor does Izzie. They just sort of lean into each other while looking very cute. And Izzie, of course, doesn't take out her thumb.

Daily Photos: Day 321

Sunday, November 16th

Sunday's big adventure was riding the bus to church - we didn't have a vehicle large enough for all of us. It was just a short walk to the bus stop, and the bus ride was the perfect length. It was long enough to be fun for the kids... and short enough to be fun for us. Ben was delighted to pull the "request stop" cord.I realized this summer that we'd taken a lot of pictures of the children, but hardly any of the adults. It's been almost three years since I've been with both my sisters and mom at the same time so we made sure to document the occasion.

Daily Photos: Day 320

Saturday, November 15th


The beginning of a long journey...

Daily Photos: Day 319

Friday, November 14th
Izzie decided her running shoes would go well with her pajamas.

Daily Photos: Day 318

Thursday, November 13th

I'm getting further behind and I want to catch up, so I'm inserting pictures from the last few days even though on the 16th they hadn't yet been taken!
Here's Izzie with Ben's backpack. Of course she likes to do everything her big brother does and that includes carrying around a backpack even if she can barely walk with it on.