Quite a Week....

I feel like I haven't taken a second to breathe since we got home from Canada. Mike and Erin and their kids were here when we got back and it's been nonstop since. I'll start with Lagoon Day. My Grandpa Hale did some computer work for Lagoon years ago, so he received discounted tickets. Every year the entire Hale family got together for the much-anticipated "Lagoon Day", which ranked way up there with Christmas. "Lagoon Day" ended when I was in high school and I haven't been since. We decided to go with my immediate family last Thursday. Lucy and Noah had a great time playing Barbies and watching Dora while they waited for us to get ready.

Pepper and Salt. Could their coloring be any different?

Walking into the park.

Group shot. I have to admit that I was pretty giddy walking into Lagoon. The sounds, smells, and sights were so familiar.

First stop: Bulgy the Whale. I wasn't sure if Lucy would enjoy the rides, because she's never been on anything like them. She couldn't get enough of the rides! In fact as soon as a ride ended she would start crying and say, "Again, again!" Here she is with Landon.

Lucy and Noah.

She has her arm around him. Too cute.

Landon and Abbie.

My mom, Erin and me.

Eating lunch at Lagoon-a-Beach. Lagoon-a-Beach was not nearly as fun as I remember it being. Everything was so overregulated and the water was freezing. We only spent a few hours here.

Two VERY sleepy two-year-olds

The train ride.

The next day (Friday) was a good day. You wanna know why?? Because Annie came home from her mission! The kids made posters to welcome her home.

Here she is meeting baby Adelaide for the first time. Sister Annie Hale returned from the Nebraska, Omaha mission.

This was Annie's reaction when she saw Lucy.

Me and my sis. I'm a happy girl.

Proud parents and grandparents.

We spent the weekend taking family pictures and preparing for Annie's Homecoming. Yesterday we celebrated Lucy's second birthday. I can't believe my baby girl has entered the teribble twos. My family is going on a two-week cruise (without kids) to the Mediterranean tomorrow , so we will be gone on Lucy's actual birthtday. I feel so bad! We had a great time celebrating her birthday though. When I asked her what she wanted for breakfast she said, "Happy cake!" Why not?

Then she sat and watched her new favorite movie, "Dumbo" with Landon.

She couldn't wait to open her presents. It was fun to see her get excited about the birthday festivities. She still tells us that she's "one" when we ask her how old she is. We'll keep working on it.

Mmmmm........cupcakes.......

Most of Lucy's cousins were able to come to the birthday party.

Jordan and I gave her a kitchen set for her birthday and she hasn't stopped playing with it since. Her eyes were HUGE when she unwrapped it.

After presents we had cupcakes and ice cream.

She tried to give me a kiss with her cake face.

After cupcakes the kids went outside and played water games. There was a slip-n-slide and splash pools. Then they jumped on the neighbors tramp while we sprayed them with a hose.

After jumping on the tramp, they all got in my dad's "cool tub". Everyone was pretty tired by the end of the party.

Happy birthday Bug!!! We love you so much.

Vancouver, BC....

Is there anything better than spending time with people you love? I say not. Last April, when Jordan was flying home from Texas, he volunteered to fly home an hour later and ended up with $650 dollars in Southwest Airlines vouchers. We decided to use the vouchers before Lucy turned two and flew up to Vancouver, BC to visit with my relatives there. We have been taking Lucy on long road trips since she was 6 weeks old, but we had never flown with her on an airplane. I was a little nervous, because Lucy is very verbal and not always great at monitoring her volume. While she was very tired, she was great on both flights and we managed to keep her distracted with movies and books.

The Salt Lake airport has this great play place for keeping kids busy while you wait for your flight.

Lucy and her dad using their electronic devices.

When we arrived in Seattle, Lucy was exhausted. We had no sooner put her in her stroller when she was sound asleep.

My mom is from Vancouver and her parents and both siblings live there still. We were able to stay with my Ursaki grandparents and it was great to spend time with them. Unfortunately my grandma had a horrible case of vertigo and was unable to get up and do much. She asked me to put rollers in her hair since she couldn't make her weekly hair appointment. It was a lot of fun, and I thought her hair turned out great.

One of our family traditions is to play bocce in my grandparent's backyard. Can you believe how beautiful their yard is? It backs onto a rainforest.

Lucy and Michelle

On Tuesday, everyone had to work so Jordan, Lucy and I drove the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler Blackcomb Resort. The scenery along the drive was some of the most beautiful I have ever seen. When we were eight miles outside of Whistler, we noticed some cars parked along the highway. We flipped around to see what they were looking at and saw this black bear only 10 feet from our car. So cool!

Whistler Village is beautiful. There is a fun atmosphere there with shops and restaurants. We ate at a pizza place that was selling pizza for $1 a slice. It was delicious.

There was a mountain biking competition going on while we were there. Those bikers were pure crazy.

Lucy wanted to ride on the white bear.

The "Nukshuk" was the symbol of the Vancouver Olympics.

The next night we ate at an awsome Greek restaurant and then went to the Vancouver Canadians baseball game. The whole family was there except one cousin. Here is Craig and Matteo.

Michelle, Erin, and Scott.

Aunt Lucia and Jessica.

Aunt Elaine and Uncle Len. Elaine is my mom's sister. See the resemblance?

Me and Michelle.

Lucy had a mad crush on my cousin Erin's husband, Scott. She talked about him nonstop, and always wanted to be where he was.

One of my favorite things about Vancouver is the variety of food there. One of our favorite places is an authentic Italian restaurant called Anton's. There is always a line going down the street to get in. This time we were smart and went at 3:00 so we wouldn't have to wait in line. The food is delicious, but the portion sizes are HUGE. Jordan was thrilled to get his gnocchi.

Lucy loved Anton's too.

This is my plate after I was finished eating. I promise I ate a lot, but it doesn't even look like I made a dent.

On Saturday we drove to White Rock Beach so that Lucy could play in the ocean for the first time. I found a dead jellyfish on the beach and we took turns playing with it.

Showing Lucy how to build a sand castle.

Lucy thought the jellyfish was hers.

We had to make a stop at our favorite gelato place in White Rock. I dream of this gelato when I'm home.

When we got home from the beach we had a party at my grandparent's to celebrate my grandpa's 85th birthday.

This stump has always been in their backyard and it is iconic to me. Lucy actually smiled once for a picture.

My cousin Dave.

Brian and Michelle. Michelle is an extremely talented photographer and took pictures of us one afternoon. We can't wait to see how they turn out.

Love. This. Picture.

My grandma modeling her new apron. Doesn't her hair look nice?

Happy Birthday Grandpa!!

July 1st was Canada Day, and we went to a fair and had a barbeque with family, but I forgot to take pictures. Doi. There you have it. Our trip in a nutshell.