About a week and a half ago we celebrated the 4th of July by going to Vancouver, Canada. Pretty patriotic, right? We enjoyed just relaxing and exploring a little bit. There's so much to do there, though, that we'll definitely have to go back!
On Saturday we went to the aquarium in Stanley Park. Marty was thrilled by the jellyfish, I was brave and touched a slimy sea cucumber, and Damian was just fascinated by everything. We were just hoping that Damian would be a good boy, but he loved staring at the colorful fish and everything. Oh, and we had THE best soft-serve ice cream in the world! I don't know if it's a Canada thing or what, but I'd go back just for that!
Sunday we went to Lighthouse Park. There were signs warning about bears and I've recently become terrified of bear attacks, so I was just glad we survived! :-) But we walked out to the coast and sat on a huge rock in the water. We dipped our feet in the ocean, then decided it would be fun to see how Damian would react to the chilly water. He surprised us again: we fully expected him to cry or at least recoil, but not so! He just stomped his little feet and really liked it.
Finally on Monday, we underwent a self-induced torture session, AKA, the Grouse Grind. Marty was dying to do this 2 mile hike that ascends 2800 feet. I agreed on the condition that Marty carried Damian the whole way. Having been through childbirth only three months earlier, this hike was a little intense for me. Okay, I hated it. But Marty loved it, as I knew he would. Damian loved it too, actually, even after it started raining about halfway up. He was hungry for a good chunk of it too, but he didn't start fussing until we were on the gondola ride back down to the parking lot. (Thank goodness for the gondola, I never would have been able to walk back down!)Ultimately the trip was tons of fun, and we can't wait to go again!
