Catching up still...

Okay, here are the rest of the pictures of when my parents came to visit and our last weekend in Canada. It seems so long ago now...







While Dave was busy working, my parents and I headed to Pike Place with the kids. It was great as always. And this time we sampled some of the food around downtown as well. Scott and Dylan got pizza, and my mom was off getting her, Madeline and I some Halibut and Chips. The whole time my parents were here traveling around to Canada and such, my mom was on the hunt for the best Fish (preferably Halibut) and chips around. We had tried some the weekend before at the farmer's market on Granville Island in Vancouver that was pretty good. Better then the one we got here around Pike's place actually. It was still pretty good here though.

The little ally way we ate in at Seattle.

While walking around the downtown area, we happened upon a courtyard where Ben and Jerry's were there giving out free ice cream!!! The kids were so excited (as were the adults...). And the line wasn't that bad either.

This is a picture they were taking of people on the plaza. They also gave everyone a free flash drive in the shape of an ice cream cone. It is really cute.

And, of course, what visit would be complete without making cookies with grandpa? This is one of the kids favorite things to do with grandpa.:)

Dylan enjoying the hard work.

For the 4th of July long weekend, we headed over to Vancouver Island to go to Victoria. To get there we had to ride on a boat, with our car. The kids thought this was so cool to drive our car onto the boat. It was pretty windy on deck, but as you can see, Dylan and the kids loved it.

Victoria is the capital of British Columbia, so here is their Parliament building. At night they light it all up with tiny white lights. It was pretty incredible.

While making our way to the fisherman's wharf in Victoria, we passed many street performers, and this one was Madeline's favorite, big surprise I know.

At the fisherman's wharf, they had all these boats docked up against the pier, some selling food and such, and many were house boats people lived on. They had a place that sold Halibut and Chips that my mom tried, and that won the taste test. They had probably the best fish and chips I think she has ever had. Too bad we have to cross the border to Canada and ride a hour and a half boat ride to get it.

Above is a picture of an ice cream place we tried. It was quite an eventful experience. This was a boat tied to the pier. Madeline kept hoisting herself onto their railing to see the ice cream favors. Suddenly she noticed her flip flop had fallen off her foot, so she jumped down to get it. Can you guess where this is going...

Her shoe fell off in between the boat and the dock, right down into the Pacific ocean! We couldn't believe it. Of course, these were my favorite shoes of hers. So Dylan was booted out of the stroller, and Madeline rode in it until we could get back to the hotel and change shoes.

Also at the fisherman's wharf they had a little area where you could feed some seals in the ocean. A boat near by sold little fish you could feed them, so the kids wanted to get some. Dylan luckily just wanted to watch. It was pretty neat for the kids to feed them.

The kids loved watching these boat planes take off and land.

That evening we went to Butchart Gardens, which are some famous gardens you can walk around in. We went there the day before the 4th because every Saturday night in the summer they have a fireworks show at night. And since Canada doesn't celebrate America's Independence Day (ha, ha), that was our fireworks for the 4th.

The picture above was taken because Madeline's middle name is Rose, so she needs to pose by most roses she sees.:)

This was our favorite garden there, the Sunken Garden. It was really beautiful.

Here's a fountain in the Sunken Garden.

Our poser.:)

The kids loved crossing these stones while visiting the Japanese Gardens.

On the 4th we came down from our room and the hotel had set up a table with an American Flag and red, white, and blue balloons wishing all their American guests a happy 4th. It was really cute. We then went over to visit a big castle they have there called Craigdarroch Castle. It was there I thought it would be nice to take a picture of the kids in their cute 4th of July outfits. As you can see, Dylan was not going to cooperate....

Here's a better picture, although minus little Dylan.

We also went to a Maritime Museum in Victoria, and they had his Pirate Ship play area for the kids. They LOVED being Pirates! Even Daddy.:)

They also had a little courtroom in the Museum, and Scott particularly liked playing a judge. He kept ordering Madeline to go hit the adults on the bums, and, of course, she was more then willing to carry out the sentence.:) Silly kids.

The next day we headed back to the ferry for a ride back to Canada. Vancouver Island was one of my favorite areas that we traveled to in Canada. Would definitely go again and recommend it to anyone. Thanks mom and dad for coming and visiting us! We had so much fun and we can't wait to see you in Ithaca this fall for more adventures!:)

Sticker Chart

A couple of years ago, we started a sticker chart for Scott and Madeline. Basically, they have eight rows of ten on a page and every ten stickers they could get a little treat, and when they fill up the whole chart they could get a toy, or go somewhere special, usually the Rochester Museum of Play. This has worked pretty well for the twins, especially when their mommy stays on top of it. They get stickers for anything Dave and I deem is sticker chart worthy. Madeline can earn one whenever she is the first one dressed between her and Scott (the girl takes FOREVER to get ready some days...), either one can earn multiple stickers for cleaning up their toys, last summer we promised each of them 10 stickers if they were on their best behavior at the US Open for Golf on Long Island,... you get the picture. This has worked well for them.

Well, this past visit from my parents, My mommy decided to make me my very own sticker chart too! I got stickers for making my bed in a timely manner, getting the kids ready, and one time for cuddling with Dylan on the couch because he was so insistent I do it, even though we were busy trying to pack to to leave for Canada (which would be about the only reason I wouldn't jump at the chance to cuddle with my little guy). Scott and Madeline loved that I had a sticker chart as well, and were eager to help me put the stickers on it. Just goes to show, you are never too old for your mom to be Your Mom.:)

Incidently, she deserved a sticker chart too, especially for being on kitchen clean up duty while she was here. Thanks Mom!

What's yours is mine...

Recently Madeline has started collecting money in a little coin purse that she has. And when I say collecting, I really mean finding money Dave and I leave around the house and putting it in her purse. For the most part it was only pennies, dimes, nickels, and the occasional quarter (maybe this is because Dave and I don't carry alot of money...). Not a big deal. I would go through every once in a while and take back the quarters, because hey, you always need quarters, right? And I would take issue with her when she would show us all the money she "earned", and inform her she didn't earn the money but took it from mommy and daddy. I couldn't have her going through life thinking money is earned by just taking what you find, could I?

Then one day Dave couldn't find two 100 dollar bills he had. You can probably guess where this is heading. At first, Dave was just mildly concerned, thinking that it would turn up as we looked for it, me a little more concerned because I had just picked up recently and never come across it. As we really started looking around, the feeling came to me to look in her purse, but I was doubtful she would have put that much money in it. I mean, this was $200! But I looked anyway, and sure enough, she had confiscated that money. Needless to say, we had a little talk with her about not taking money anymore, and have become more aware of how visible our money may be. Good thing we don't usually carry alot of money around. But one thing is for sure, next time we lose any money, I know right where I am checking first.

Another Zoo visit, and more of Canada: Whistler and Granville Island

We have really enjoyed having Grandpa Richard and Grandma Sue visit us these last two and a half weeks. Too bad they had to leave today.:(



My mom was a elementary school librarian since I went to school (until recently when she moved to a middle school), so I took advantage of her knowledge of children's books and we hit our local public library. And came home with lots and lots of books for the kids. Here is my dad reading some to them.

As a special gift this summer, Dave and I gave each of the kids a Pillow Pet. They have loved them so much. Scott's is the bear, Madeline's is the horse, and Dylan's is the tiger. The pillows open up to lay flat so they can sleep on them too.

We also went to another Zoo/ Aquarium close to us with the grandparents. Loved the shark tank.

The kids were fascinated by watching the sharks swim around.

Scott and Madeline had lots of questions for the touch tank workers, of course. These two like to talk.:)

A reptilian friend.

They also got to play at a playground at the zoo. They loved that.

The weekend before this past weekend we headed up to Canada and drove up to Whistler, where, as you know, the Vancouver Olympics were held a few months ago. At the Olympic Village they had a play area for the kids. They loved this slide which was made of tubes that rolled as you slide down it.

This was around the medals plaza.

Of course Madeline loved these deer statues.

As I mentioned in the previous post about our encounter with bears, we went up to the Sliding Center. Here the kids got to stand on one of the medal podiums.

And wear some of the athletes gear.

And hold an Olympic torch.

We walked around the Sliding Center after seeing the bears. The view was great from up here.

Remember The Parent Trap movies? The original or the remake? Yes, my mom is hitting two pieces of wood together to "scare" away the bears.:) Our family LOVES that movie, particularly the original with Hailey Mills.

The next day, we headed to Granville Island in Vancouver. The kids were fascinated by a "ball maze" thing (what are they called?). It was so cute to see them with their arms around each other.:)

Can you believe that stack of cherries? This was at the farmers market on Granville Island. It was huge!

They had a magician at the farmers marker as well, and the kids loved watching him, and participating in his tricks.

We even got some fresh strawberries and cherries at the market, so Dave washed them in a little sink we found. They were tasty! Shortly after, we headed to the border again to come back to Washington and the USA.:) More to come of our last week with my parents....:)

Our encounter with bears!

One of the things Scott has been wanting to see on our trips to Canada is a bear. When we tell him he has seen bears at the zoo and such, he tells us he wants to see a bear outside a cage. Considering I have only seen maybe one or two of these in my lifetime, I was doubtful he would see one any time soon. Until this weekend. We drove up to Canada again, and the first day we continued on past Vancouver to go to Whistler, where many of the 2010 Olympic venues were located. Upon talking to a helpful Canadian who could tell we were tourists (I'm not sure if cameras hanging around our necks, or looking confused all gathering around a map of the area gave us away...:), she recommended we head the the "Slider" if we wanted to maybe see a bear without spending a ton of money on a tour. The "Slider" was where they had the Skeleton, the Bobsleds, and the Luge for the Olympics. So off we went.



Not a few minutes after buying our tickets to walk around the track, we saw our first bear! He was crossing the street in front of us.

And as soon as we walked into the venue, there was another bear. In as little as five minutes being up at the "Slider" we had seen two bears, pretty up close. (At least as up close as I was willing to get.:) Scott was so excited, as were we all!

The bear is that black thing behind Scott and Dave. The bears hardly gave us any notice, although we gave them quite alot. It was quite a memorable experience to see a bear this close, and not through a car window.

On our way back to our car, we saw another bear up in the tree, and this one down in another area. It looks like he was sniffing around, trying to find some food to eat. When he couldn't find anything, he started up the hill to where we were, and we decided to quickly get back into our car.:) Although, now Scott wants to be able to TOUCH a bear. Hopefully that won't be on the agenda next weekend... More of our trip to Canada this past weekend on another post. (This one deserved one on it's own.:)

British Columbia: Part I

This past weekend my parents arrived from California for a long visit. We are so excited to go and do fun things with them while they are here. The morning after the evening they arrived, we headed off to Canada for the weekend. This is the area my dad served an LDS mission many years ago, so he has been very excited to come back and see the area again.





First stop is Stanley Park, to see the Totem Poles.

Dylan and Grandma

Dylan getting a ride.:)

Scott enjoying the sunshine and the view

The kids all loved taking turns with grandpa's "goggles", and Dylan was not to be left out.

Our twins had run ahead, who knows where they were for this picture.:)

A little train in the park (Dylan was taking a nap in the car with Grandma; we can't seem to all get together for a picture...)

Grandpa Richard and Scotty

Scott thought he could give Grandpa a piggy back ride

Free rides for all!

After the park, we went to a little neighborhood in Vancouver called Gastown. This steam clock was supposed to give a "show" every hour, but was broken when we were there. Unfortunately we didn't know that until after we had waited for about half an hour...

The next day we went to church in Langley, and it ended up being right across the street from the new temple they just dedicated there. (And no, my dad didn't go to church in his shorts, we went back to the hotel to change and get our cameras after church:)

Next we drove to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. There ended up being lots of fun things to do there.

Mom walking across the bridge. It was quite shaky and Madeline was a little nervous the first time across. Luckily when going back across, she was jumping around and having some fun.

The kids each got a cute tattoo on their faces. Scott and Dylan's were little bears, Madeline's was a picture of the bridge.

Um, don't know why this picture is sideways, but don't want to take the time to turn it.:) There was a little treetop adventure that we ran through. Lots of bridges.

Overall we had a great time. Next weekend we are heading back to Vancouver to do some more sightseeing.:)