West Coast Adventures: Pacific Northwest Trip

For Matt's final spring break, we wanted to do something big to celebrate completing dental school, all that we have accomplished in the past 4 years, and the adventures that lie ahead of us. The original thought was a cruise with our closest dental school couple friends, or a beach house gathering, but this is a busy time to coordinate and it worked out easier to all do our own thing. Matt and I have always been intrigued by Seattle and New Orleans, the two random cities that often surface in our domestic travel wishlist. We found great deals flying into Seattle, and a very fun trip quickly developed. We spent two days in Seattle (new to me), two days in Vancouver (new to Matt; my grandparents served a 3-year mission in Vancouver when I was a preteen so I have a few memories of Vancouver), and two days in Victoria (new to me). We were so lucky with weather and health, and we were able to really enjoy savoring three unique cities and enjoy time together.

First stop: Seattle

We arrived late afternoon and hit the ground running exploring Pike Place and the nearby Piers.

Hands-on crab dinner at the Crab Pot

Pike Place Market

We also happened upon Gum Wall in Post Alley, fun in a rather disgusting sort of way, and explored a few piers. At the end of this post is a link to a Web Album with over 100 pictures capturing it all.

Wednesday, we traversed much of Seattle. We started in Chinatown at Uwajimaya (a seafood supermarket with large fish displays- fun for John, smelly for me), then transported over to the Space Needle. The weather was remarkably clear for Seattle, though it was still COLD for us Nevadans.

Panoramic from the Space Needle

Running and exploring

We also walked by the very modern Public Library (with a quick puzzle break for John), the unique and historic Pioneer Square, and Ivar's Seafood Bar, where we tried the famous Fish & Chips. It was fun to focus on "origins" in Seattle, noting the first Starbucks, first Nordstrom, and flagship REI. The REI there is amazing, a very cool building with a fun kids play area. We finished our Seattle experience with a great Seafood dinner and a few more pictures of the space needle.

Next stop: Vancouver

Thursday, we drove across the border and headed North of Vancouver to my favorite park from visiting my Grandparents: Lynn Canyon. This mossy wonderland, with towering redwoods, waterfalls, and rushing river is so refreshing and escapist for being 20 minutes outside of downtown.

The suspension bridge did freak me out a bit this time, as John started wiggling in my arms and the bridge was slick... and it started SNOWING as we left! Luckily we got in some great exploring and pictures beforehand.

In Vancouver, we visited Sun Yat Sen Garden, which is an impressive and ultra-tranquil "scholar retreat" constructed with Ming Dynasty techniques and materials from China.

Despite this angelic face, this little guy did little to contribute to the garden's tranquility :)

The carefully hand-placed rocks and wide variety of patterns was beautiful.

We also walked around Chinatown, Gastown (fun, historic downtown), modern Downtown, and Canada Place Harbor. Despite seeing a surprising amount of suspect transactions in the first two locations, it was charming and the weather was great.

The Harbor, with a view of North Vancouver and The Teardrop statue.

Downtown, with a view of the beautiful Fairmont hotel.

Friday, we dedicated the entire morning to gorgeous Stanley Park. Just Northwest of downtown, this huge park is filled with gorgeous trails, lakes, museums, and every view of the water and surrounding areas.

Matt's panoramic of Downtown, as seen from the Totem Pole exhibit

Totem Poles

The wonderful Aquarium (also at Stanley Park)

John LOVED it. Fish, dolphins, Baluga whales, turtles, frogs, AND monkeys and alligators!

I still think Monterey Bay has the most impressive quantity of exhibits, but this Aquarium was very well done, with fun shows and a variety of exhibits.

Friday night, we explored Granville Island (with a Public Market similar to Pike Place and a similar local, fun "foodie" feel) and tried a highly acclaimed local Japanese Tapas restaurant.

Final stop: Victoria

The ferry from Tsawwassen (South of Vancouver) to Victoria was AMAZING. The San Juan islands are gorgeous, the entire 1.5 hour ferry was a visual treat.

After landing, we headed to Butchart Gardens, which was stunning in visual aesthetics, fresh floral air, and outrageous price.

The layout and design behind the displays was so impressive.

Naturally, John was more interested in the functionality of the displays.

Victoria is SO charming. A slow, beautiful port town with hundreds of restaurants and hotels and tourist shops, several historic buildings, museums, and patronage to British culture.

The Parliament Building

Which lights up at night!

The Harbor

On Saturday night we walked around the Parliament Building, Fairmont Empress, and downtown before indulging on a Lobster feast for our biggest night out. Once we could contemplate dessert, all ice cream shops had closed (and it was only 8pm), so we got Ben& Jerry's from 7-11 and enjoyed a night of questionably late but very fun night eating ice cream in our hotel room.

Sunday we went to a local breakfast cafe then spent hours exploring the Royal BC museum, with fantastic displays of natural history, anthropology, and recent history. Very enjoyable and interesting exhibits!

Thunderbird Park, in front of the museum

We finished our experience in Victoria with brownie sundaes for lunch (picture below), tea (herbal) and scones, and a fun Italian restaurant.

Overall, it was a wonderful trip! Fun to spend so much time together, and we loved exploring these beautiful, interesting cities. A great way to celebrate completion of Dental School and our past four years!

Here are more pictures, capturing our whole adventure.

West Coast Adventures: Land of Disney!

Here's what we have to say about Disneyland:

HUGE thumbs up!

High on our West Coast travel wish list: Disneyland. We hadn't been since moving to Vegas, John is old enough to appreciate some Disney characters and movies, we live 4 hours away for only another two months... so we jumped at the opportunity to go!

It was AMAZING. I love Disneyland as an adult, but I LOVE Disneyland as a parent. Watching John's face was simply priceless. It was an entirely different experience: anticipating a nap, extra motivation to avoid lines, seeking out stroller parking, etc., but the experience was that much fuller watching John love it.

One of his top favorite rides (and first ride of the day): Nemo

Entering the sub

GLUED against the glass for the entire 14 minute ride. He loves the movie, so naturally loved the view, and I love the fact that the duration of the ride was longer than the line!

Another favorite: the Jungle Cruise. Suddenly not just filler for the Fast Pass wait for Indiana Jones, this boat ride surrounded by wild animals was a repeat hit.

It's a Small World was also very exciting. Peter Pan was fun, but was a bit too quick for John to absorb and enjoy.

But the ultimate favorite was definitely Dumbo! Here's a clip from the end of the ride, when John just couldn't contain his excitement:

The lines were the biggest challenge. We did well planning, timing, and Fast Passing our way through as many lines as possible, but a Friday at Disneyland is busy [yes, Matt opted for Disneyland over two hours in clinic :)]. By mid-day, we were totally worn out from holding our 30-lb boy! But we passed the time well, trying on each other's sunglasses:

And having fun trying to make John laugh.

The parade and Fantasmic were awesome! We all loved both spectacles.

John's favorite character is Mickey Mouse (mi-ee mou). In any gift shop, he would try to pick up every Mickey Mouse doll and give each a hug.
Sucker first-time parents, we gave in to the cuteness and bought a $5 plastic Mickey. Someone was very happy about that.
That little Mickey made all remaining lines very easy!
And it never left his side. John napped for almost 2 hours (we can thank Pirates of the Caribbean for being the best snooze-inducer), but fought falling asleep at night until 9:30!

Truly a *magical* day. Disney sure knows how to put together a great experience for all ages!

Vegas Adventures with Matt's Parents

The months left in Vegas are flying by, so we planned out the essential visits to fit in before our move. Top priority: taking advantage of our proximity to Matt's parents. We have loved living within a drive of them, and we will really miss being able to visit them so easily!

On President's Weekend, they drove down to spend time with us and explore some of our Bucket List items. John was getting a mean cold, but we still had a great time!

First adventure: Springs Preserve and Nevada State Museum

The Springs Preserve is a very interesting desert museum, with stunning architecture and a variety of exhibits. Our favorites were a flash flood demonstration exhibit and a live raptor show (with birds flying right over your head!). There was a "Desert parade" before the bird show, so John participated in his first parade!

He started out strong at the beginning, walking on the path, in sync with the group, shaking his tambourine. This didn't last long... he finished at his own pace after exploring anything interesting along the way.

Attached to the Springs Preserve is the State Museum, with displays on the different phases of history in Nevada. There are great prehistoric fossils and wildlife exhibits, in addition to interesting displays on the Mormons, Basques, mafia, Howard Hughes, and many other groups and individuals that contributed to the history of Vegas and Nevada.

Overall, great museum! Lots to see and explore.

Second adventure: Bodies Exhibit

The Bodies Exhibit is fascinating! We (note: major anatomy nerds) were enthralled by the meticulous displays and huge number of specimens. Especially fascinating to me were the pathology displays (a healthy kidney next to a kidney with stones, healthy lungs next to a cancerous set, healthy aorta next to aorta with atherosclerosis). It's not a huge museum, but it takes awhile to absorb all the detail. Glad we finally got to see this! Bodies has intrigued us since we moved here.

John did pretty well at the museums, despite feeling crummy. Nice ratio- four attentive, doting adults to one child!

We also enjoyed some delicious food: a fun new Tapas restaurant and our favorite new breakfast cafe, in addition to some fun meals at home. We had a great time relaxing at our house, enjoying their company and the fun gifts and ideas they brought with them (Matt's favorite stuffed dinosaurs, toy dinosaurs and cars, and glow-in-the-dark sticks to use in the bathtub). A full and fun weekend!

Third adventure: Mob Museum and Freemont Street

But the fun didn't stop there! Mom and Dad are currently on a Disney Cruise with Wade's family, so we get to see them as they drive down to LA and then back! This past Saturday, we went to our favorite Thai restaurant, the Mob Museum, and then Fremont Street. Such a great night! The Mob Museum is AWESOME. The displays are designed by the same film company that worked on the Spy Museum in DC, with great videos, interactive exhibits, and an enjoyable variety of media. I thought it was really interesting to learn about the origins of the mob, how opportunistic they were through Prohibition and the Depression, and how their influence was diminished. Highly recommend this museum! And it's right next to Fremont street, which has fun "concerts" on their crazy TV screen ceiling on the hour every hour at night.

It has been so fun to explore all the sights in Vegas, especially with Matt's parents joining us for the last few. We love seeing family and it is so nice living within a drive of parents!

John's Latest

John is in such a fun stage of development! The rate of his vocabulary production just started to explode, and I LOVE it! He tries to repeat most short words and phrases now, and although most utterances sound only vaguely similar, I absolutely love that he tries. He recently added many new words: non (John, so cute, points to self and smiles), wawuh (water), mio (milk), truck, bowl, bath, bubbles, noo (more...), amen, up, bye, see ya, heddo (hello), baby, buh (book), boh (blocks), dio (dino), choo, appuh (apple), stawbeh (strawberries), nana (banana), nane (Jane), Papa, Gama, beah (bear),

Nemo, Dumbo, Mi-ee Mouh (Mickey Mouse), how (help), and ahhh duh (all done), and I'm sure a few more I'm forgetting now. He loves singing songs with motion (Wheels on the Bus, Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes, etc.), and cues me to start singing all the time. It's fun to see how much enjoyment he gets out of knowing he can communicate, huge smiles and happy eyes.

Other loves: the iPad, chocolate (out of control, always his first snack suggestion), fruit, chicken nuggets, slides, swings, books, bubbles, puzzles, Playdoh, trains, dinosaurs, Elmo, Mickey Mouse, and wanting to do everything that Matt and I do.

He's also regularly testing discipline and physical boundaries, so that's fun trying to be consistent :)

Part of the physical boundaries exploration- climbing inside of just about anything. Again, I try to be a consistent parent, but sometimes I can't resist and I run and grab the camera:

Helping me pack (house staging)

Helping put away toys

Again, after putting away toys

And laundry baskets are the most irresistible of all!

Finally, John's mastered most animal sounds. It's the best way to distract him in the car, while changing diapers, or any time he's upset. Here's a great video of him from Christmas, when he was first getting the hang of the elephant sound:

I sure love this little boy! He brightens and fills every day with exploration and a genuine penchant for happiness.

Valentine's Day

The highlight of this year's Valentine's Day: I got to hear the heartbeat of my new baby for the first time!! Baby was barely over 6 weeks, but amazingly we could still hear the slow beating of it's brand new heart. There is something so powerful, driving home the reality of the pregnancy and vitality of this tiny fetus. Made my day!

Here's a tiny picture of the bean-shaped babe and a recording of the new heartbeat:

Then, for a family Valentine's activity (I wanted to involve John in something hands-on and fun, I'm not so craftsy, and we all like food), we made Jello hearts! John enjoyed the process of cutting and placing on a plate even more than eating them!

(John placed every heart, but this picture is after a little rearrangement help from me)

A tasty and fun treat!

After we put John down, Matt and I went all out making dinner for each other. Matt made amazing Beef Wellington (holy cow, labor-intensive but so dang tasty), I made rosemary potatoes and German Chocolate Cake. Matt surprised me with a fancy drink, chocolates, and a movie (love this tradition!), and surprised John with a movie as well.
Overall, a very enjoyable and heart-filled Valentine's day!