Road Trip: Part V - Seattle

The last leg of our trip included another ferry ride back to Anacortes, WA where I met my cousin David and his wife and my husband!!! Yeah, that`s right, Kevin flew down to Seattle on Friday to meet us for the weekend there and then drive home with us. What a sweet guy!!! So we spent our last weekend in Seattle and had a wonderful time.

My Uncle Joe

Yes, it`s him!! KEVIN!!! :)

My cousin David, the chef!

David`s wife Maryse

Oh no!! What do we have here!

Don`t get ANY ideas Mom and Dad (that`s my mom & dad I mean!!!!)

A day trip to the Museum of Flight
William, Jaren and Landen

Future pilots for the Blue Angels

A group shot of our families

This is how Landen napped along the way over the past 2 weeks - always between stops!! Poor little guy!

Where there is water - there is Jaren! He loved the ocean!

Landen on the other hand could care less if that water came near him!

View of downtown Seattle

Had to get one of these to prove he was there with me! :)

On Sunday night David and Maryse took us to a professional soccer game: Seattle vs. Texas

They tied 1:1. It was an awesome game and soo much fun!! Thanks guys!

Kevin and David

Maryse and I

We then headed back to Canada on Monday morning around 8am. We were planning on making it to Calgary and then spending the night there but we forgot it was Stampede week and we were unable to get a hotel. So we ended up driving from Seattle to home that day. It only took us 17 hrs!!!! :( The boys did awesome but were glad to be home when we rolled in at 2:30am! We had a wonderful get away and were so happy to see so many people! I look forward to the next road trip already!!

Road Trip: Part IV - Roche Harbor

Our next part of our journey was to hop onto a ferry in Sydney, BC and head to Friday Harbor (one of the San Juan Islands) and meet my aunt and uncle at Roche Harbor where they were spending the week on their sail boat with their 3 grandchildren. It was absolutely beautiful there at the marina and it was an experience that our boys have never had before. A little stressful for me aS this was the first time that the boys have ever lived on the docks - but no-one fell into the ocean this time!! :)

We spent quite a bit of time at the pool

Our transportation from the sail boat to the pool-playground area


All the cousins : Sophia, Serena, Landen, William, Jaren



Landen and his new best buddy, cousin Sophia (a.k.a 'phia as Landen called her)

Enjoying the rose garden: Uncle Joe, Sophia, and Auntie Gloria

How we sometimes moved along the docks, most other times it was a mad race to the sail boat!!

The crew of us!

Again, the little cousins! On the docks, everyone had to have lifecoats on - THE RULE!!

Our sleeping quarters for 2 evenings :)

3 adults and 5 kids, made for tight sleeping arrangements!

The view of the hotel from the docks.

Road Trip: Part III - Victoria

Most of our time was spent on Vancouver Island in the beautiful city of Victoria. We were there 6 days and enjoyed EVERY minute of it!!

My little poser on the ferry!

Enjoying the ferry ride to the island


A look that we often got from Landen in his car seat!

A beautiful day spent at Beacon Hill Park

My monkeys in the tree - Beacon Hill Park

Jenn took us to Witty's Lagoon for a day - it was ABSOLUTELY beautiful there and we enjoyed watching the tide come in for the afternoon and playing in the ocean and sand.

The view at the Lagoon

Kisses from my littlest man!

Auntie Jenn and Crazy Landen

"Okay, this sand doesn't taste so good Mommy!"

Footprints in the sand

One day we met a friend of mine, Myrna Fisher, and explored the downtown with the boys a bit. It was so good to visit with her again.

Myrna and Jaren

Jaren, not too sure about this mime.

Eating famous fish and chips on Fisherman`s Wharf.

We spent one of the hottest days in Victoria at a beach close to Jenn`s place. It was the best place to be in that heat!

The boys at Willows Beach

The boys even got interviewed to be on the A Channel news that evening displaying a story about Fun in the Sun. We did not get home in time to see it!! :(

Auntie and Landen

Me and the little goofball!

Road Trip: Part II - Kelowna

Our second part of our trip took us to Kelowna for 3 days. It was quite cool so it wasn't too ideal for beach/swimming weather. But we still enjoyed the beach time anyways - remember, we're from the prairies!!!!

Canada Day at the beach - we were the only ones there!!

Our residence for the 3 days, Larry and Vicki Shipowick's place. They were gone to Germany but they welcomed us in their home while they were away!! It was greatly appreciated and we were glad we had somewhere to hang our hats - especially with the view!!!

Jenn (my bestest friend ever, who endured the trip with me from Calgary to Victoria), Jenn's boyfriend Greig, and Greig's sister Jen.

Greig and his family were staying at a cabin 40 minutes from Kelowna so Jenn visited with them while we were there.

Having fun at the beach with my boys!

Have I said how much I LOVE these kids!!!! :)

Road Trip: Part I - Salmon Arm

One of the highlights of our road trip this summer was being able to see my great Auntie Nan who will be turning 96 this fall. She is a sister to my Grandma Sparks and seeing her brought back a flood of memories (& emotions) of my grandma and how she would have been with her great grandsons. Pictured here is Auntie Nan with her son Dave (my dad's 1st cousin).

The boys and I arrived home from a 2 week summer vacation through Salmon Arm, Kelowna, Victoria, Roche Harbor and finally Seattle. I have sooo many pictures to go through so I thought I would break up our trip into parts and try and pick the best pictures from each stop. Our first stop was 2 nights in Salmon Arm, BC where we stayed with a friend I knew from back in Terrace many, many years ago. Pictured below are her 4 girls with my boys. The two youngest are pretty much the exact same age as Jaren and Landen.

Zoe, Landen, Jaren Elysse, Molly & Heidi.

Playing in the park

Landen and his new girlfriend Heidi - they are about 1 1/2 months apart