We decided to celebrate our anniversary a week early this year, in order to work around Scott’s school schedule.  We decided to do a mini trip to Canada.  It only took us an hour to get to Vancouver (I love living near the border!).  Due to some navigational errors on my part, we drove around the entire Stanley Park loop before we stopped.  When we did stop, we admired the Totem Poles.  Lily was amazed at the size of the totem poles, although she gave us the exact same excited squeal when she saw a duck in the lake a minute later.

We then drove to the Aquarium.  Lily was excited when she saw a large tank of fish.  She exclaimed, “Fishies!”  Then she turned her head to the side and saw another tank of fish and squealed even louder, “Fishies!”  Her favorite fish were the piranhas.  She also liked the beluga whales, and would get excited whenever she saw them coming towards the surface of the water.  We had to help her get excited about the seals (we had to keep her in place long enough to see how playful they were).  She was instantly excited when she saw Kermit in a car.  She put her arm around Kermit without any coaxing on our part.  Isn’t that cute?

After lunch, Lily crashed in her stroller for her afternoon nap.  When she woke up, we showed her the jelly fish . . . she thought they were pretty cool. 

 

We took her to their children's play area.  They have it set up where the kids can give the stuffed animal seals check ups and x-rays like the veterinarians.  They also can dress up like sea animals, play with blocks, explore what it looks like to be under water, or draw at a table.  Lily did a little of everything.   She decided the best thing is to dance in the under water simulation area with Mommy.  (That was a little embarrassing.)

That night, we met up with my friend Sarah.  It’s been over eight years since I’ve seen her.  It was great to see her again and meet her husband (Frederick) and little boy (Mattias who is 18 months).  Mattias is absolutely adorable.  He is very affectionate and was constantly giving me kisses.  He even showed us his dance moves.  Lily loved playing with Mattias’ toys, but was tired and didn’t want Mattias to touch her or her mommy.   I wish Sarah and Frederick could have seen the more social side of Lily.

A Day of Pampering

Last Friday, Scott decided to give me a break from my normal mom routine.  We both had the day off, so he suggested I go pamper myself while he watched Lily.  It was fabulous!

I first went and got my hair cut.  (I decided that long hair isn’t my thing after all.)  I couldn’t bring myself to pay for what Ann calls a “big girl” haircut, so I settled on Great Clips.  The girl did a good job, and I didn’t have to pay a small fortune for her services.  And unlike Ann’s coworkers, I’ve only received compliments on my hair cut.  Which means either my coworkers have better social skills than her coworkers, or I looked worse with longer hair.

I then made an appointment for a pedicure and eyebrow waxing.  It was my birthday gift that I hadn’t cashed in, yet.  Erin recommended Jimmy’s Personal Care Salon.  It was a great choice.  I would highly recommend them to anyone in the area.  It was the first time I’ve ever had a man give me a pedicure, but he did a great job.  (He gave the best foot massage!)   I had to laugh at their brochure, though.  Inside it lists the normal salon services, on the back it lists additional services available upon request: spa parties, personal chef, and personal shopper.

Basketball & a Play Date

When we moved up here, we had great plans to be social and have friends over a few times a month.  But life hasn't gone as planned.  We have been social, but it isn't because we've gone out of our way to invite people over.  Our friends have been kind and invite us over to their houses. Scott decided it was about time we have some people over, so he invited two friends over to watch the Lakers vs. Celtics game.

 

The guys had a great time cheering, munching, and socializing.  Scott & Robbie rooted for the Lakers, and Mike rooted for the Celtics.  The game was thrilling, and went into overtime.  Thankfully, the Lakers won (otherwise there wouldn't have been peace in my house for a week). 

Robbie brought his son, Paden, over to play with Lily.  Lily enjoyed having someone mor eher size to play with.  She struggled to share her toys initially, but we got passed that and the kids had a great time.  Paden taught Lily how to pretend to be Spiderman and Spidergirl.  They also had fun playing with blocks, cars, and Lily's teaset.  I wish I had taken pictures when they were playing with toys.  I took this picture right before Paden left.  Their fun meters were maxed out! (I asked Paden what he was doing.  He said he was dead.  Lily was trying to copy him.)

Poker Night!

So last night Lily woke up in the middle of the night, which is nothing unusual. However, Lily was having trouble falling back to sleep. So Candice decided to take her downstairs and let her watch TV until she got tired again. I came downstairs a few minutes later to see what was going on. To my amazement and surprise, Candice and Lily were watching poker on the TV. "You're watching poker with Lily?" I asked in bewilderment. "There was nothing good on," Candice responded. My thought then was, "Well I think this should be included in the 'nothing good on' category." I held my tongue from further comment though as I knew that Candice was tired. You've gotta love her!

Candice Blesses the Food?

So it was Candice's turn to say our evening family prayer with Lily and I. It was about 10pm at this time. To my great surprise Candice began her prayer, "Heavenly Father, we thank thee for the food that's before us." At that moment I was lost. I thought we were saying our evening prayers before bed, not eating. I then opened my eyes to make sure that we were in fact in the bedroom praying and not at the dinner table eating. I then peered over at Candice and asked, "Food? What are you talking about?" We then burst out laughing at the realization that Candice had been praying on autopilot!

By the way, the lady with the hot 80's hairdo is supposed to be Candice. She did not approve of the photo. Oh well!

One of the books I read to Lily is about a Hoardasaurus. He's always afraid people will steal his things. It's a cute little story. Apparently, Lily has taken it to heart. I noticed her toys were disappearing, but I couldn't find her hiding spot.

Last week, I noticed she was showing a lot of interest in the subwoofer. She was stuffing the clean laundry in it. My hand isn't small enough to reach inside it, but I could hear things rattling around. I tried using salad tongs to pull the toys out, but I only was able to get one plastic fork out. Scott helped me take the subwoofer apart. Inside, we found more toys than we expected. Here is a picture of Lily's loot: