Sightseeing around Vancouver

Our group toured the North Shore today. We snapped these pictures from the edge of Stanley Park, looking back at downtown and our hotel.

After Stanley Park, we drove about 10 minutes further to see the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We saw a lot of totem poles in Stanley Park and around the bridge.

This bridge hangs 230 feet from the river rapids below; it's really quite spectacular (and a little scary).

Three of us on the bridge. Having Brady with us would have been quite scary.

After the bridge, we drove a little further up the Grouse mountain. These gondolas took us from 3000 feet up to the top of the mountain where we had a lovely buffet lunch.

Anna Belle has turned into quite the jet setter. She's been all smiles and giggles, which has been such a blessing! Taylor has meetings all day tomorrow, Wednesday is slow and Thursday we take the long trip home. I'm counting down the days 'til I see my favorite little boy.

Vancouver or Bust

The Chateau Ste. Michelle winery is just 20 minutes north of Seattle. Since we were driving to Vancouver anyways, this turned into a great little stop. The Chateau and the grounds were really beautiful.

After the tour, tasting and gift shop, we sat outside and had our little bread, fruit, cheese and wine picnic with the Dennis family.

We also got a few good family pictures.

More Anna Belle...

Taylor hates when I take sad face pictures, but I couldn't help but snap a shot before we picked her up.

The Fairmont Pacific Rim ranks as the nicest hotel that Taylor and I have ever stayed at.

The Hotel Arts in Barcelona rivals this hotel. They were both built for the Olympics, had great technology and great access to the sea wall. In both hotels we also had good views of the water and the city from our room. This room is a little newer and has a TV in the bathroom mirror, which really takes the cake.

After dinner last night, Anna Belle was REALLY tired. I giggle out loud at her all the time; she's so sweet!

Seattle: Day 2

We ate dinner in the Seattle Space Needle last night; we were delighted to get reservations on such short notice. Taylor's really good at taking interesting architectural pictures.

I don't know if this is common knowledge, but I learned that the restaurant level of the needle rotates. Here was one of our views at dinner. Seeing downtown at night was also beautiful.

We generally wake up early, but with the 2 hour time difference, we woke up really early. It gave us a chance to shower and walk a block over to the market again. I know... we have probably overdone the sign pictures. We loved watching all the merchants setting up shop.

We ate breakfast at Lowell's this morning. I had bagels and lox, and Taylor had a traditional breakfast. It had a historic feel with black leather and chrome stools and old wood tables, overlooking Puget Sound.

Yesterday we ate the world's best mac-n-cheese at Beecher's.

They make all of their cheese right here in the market. We watched the dairy truck pumping in the fresh milk this morning and then picked up a few of their signature cheeses for our trip to the Chateau Ste. Michelle Winery this afternoon. It's just a 20 minute drive from downtown Seattle.

This pig is a popular place to take photos.

The fish market, photographed yesterday, is behind us.

The seafood displays are really beautiful,

but not as beautiful as the flower displays. They had huge bouquets for $5 - $10.

Maroon carrots genetically engineered at Texas A&M University, and sold here in Seattle. Gig 'em Aggies!

Hello Seattle!

Here's the 3 of us in the courtyard entrance to our hotel, here in the beautiful city of Seattle, WA.

The Dennis family is Taylor's client, but they've become our good friends. We take business trips twice a year with them, and we really have a great time.

The ever so famous Pike Place Fish Co., which I learned about through a motivational seminar at Crescent. If you're unfamiliar, click here: Fish! Philosophy Video

View from the roof deck of our hotel.

View from the street entrance of our hotel.

The view from our hotel room.

Anna Belle in Seattle's airport, waiting for us to rent a car. She has been quite the center of attention, wherever we go. We feel so blessed that she did so well on the 4 hour flight.

The day before we left, Brady wanted cake for breakfast. Feeling guilty about leaving him, I gave in and we made a cake. I messed up a few things, so it really looked gross. Fortunately, my little Brady still loved it. I miss you buddy!

Natural Consequences

If he's anything like his parents, I'm convinced Brady will only learn through his own mistakes. With that said, we keep preaching and correcting. We also embrace the opportunity to say, "I told you so," when he suffers the natural consequences of his actions.

Bailey has bitten Brady a few times, and through his tears we heartlessly explain that's what happens when you keep smacking or kicking dogs in the face. At Aunt Becky's house, he chased the cat under the bed. The cat felt trapped, hissed and used her back foot (and only) claws to scratch Brady's face. I'd like to think he's learned a lesson, but as I write I'm reminded of how he started hissing like a cat. When I ask him what he's doing, he says, "I'm being a funny guy."

In an effort to teach Brady to doggy paddle this summer, we put him in a life vest and threw him in the pool. Again... I felt guilty for being a little heartless. This traumatized him to the point where he's terrified of life vests. He breaks down into a massive panic when we put his AWANA vest on at church because he's afraid vest = trauma.

Today, we went in the backyard to play. I was on the phone with a pool repairman and Brady fell in the pool. I jumped in and pulled him out immediately. He was okay, but obviously shaken. I put the life vest on him, threw him back in the water 3 times and made him swim to the edge. With each swim, he kept crying, but he lost the panic stricken tension. Again, I was hoping he would learn in the moment. Here's his video quiz on the matter:

In happier news, at dinner at Rockwell's last night, the manager came out at the end of the meal to ask if it's Brady that she's been listening to. For the last hour she had sat in her office and giggled at the sound of his laugh. It's a great laugh, so here's a random laughing video.

Lastly, Anna Belle's 1st tooth debuted last week and today I noticed a second tooth. Time marches on...

7 Months

Anna Belle will be 7 months old tomorrow, and the photo below is a few days after Brady turned 7 months old. My sweet girl loves her bath time, and Brady loved getting dressed and undressed at this age. They also started scooting across the floor at almost the exact same age.

RIP Grandma Joye

Grandma Joye passed away this week. We went to the visitation Sunday and funeral yesterday; both were lovely and worthy of Joye's seal of approval. We were happy to get to spend time with Uncle Phillip (home from the Air Force), Aunt Joanne (from Tennessee) and her five fun kiddos (from left to right, Daniel, Samuel, Grant, Maddison and Tricia). After the funeral, they came over to go swimming and play. It was a little bit cool, so everyone piled in the hot tub together.

After seeing Madison in a floaty, Tricia wanted one too. It was cute to see them floating around together.

To keep Brady happy (not crying) through the visitation, reception and funeral, we boosted his blood sugar. It makes him a little crazy, but at least he's not belligerent. This morning he wanted more Coke, and I told him "no". He then persuaded me to go upstairs, "Mommy, wanna go upstairs? It's not scary. You can do it. Brady'll stay downstairs." He says this as he stands between me and the Coke. Whoever said kids were honest must not have kids.

Oil Ranch and a Wedding

We visited the Hockley Oil Ranch this afternoon after church, with the Bowers family. Taylor and I are kind of afraid of these fall fun festivals because when they're crowded, they really aren't fun. We were very pleasantly surprised that there were no crowds or lines. It ended up being a lot of fun for the whole family. I love these pictures of my babies together.

Getting a picture of 2 kids is tough... 4 is near impossible!

The hay ride was really fun because we got to feed the cows.

Both with their eyes closed, but they're so sweet.

Last night we went to James and Lauren Strickland's wedding. It was really beautiful.

Melanie asked someone to take a picture, and they had a hard time with the camera. This was by far their best try at this shot, but Melanie looks like she's wearing a deer antler. Maybe it's because she knows how excited Kevin is about deer hunting season.

Brady went to the Cy-Woods football game with Grammy, and we took Anna Belle with us. She slept through the entire reception.