1st Birthdays

This summer we celebrated both Tatum and Maddyn's 1st birthdays. The O's were out of town for Maddyn's real birthday, so we celebrated after all the vacations. Those O's know how to vacation, they usually stay out of town for 3 consecutive weeks! Tatum celebrated her birthday the day after we all got back from Cabo. 

She loved it! She was a fan of all the gift wrap and boxes and was not shy at all when it came to all the people staring at her. She was a real trooper and toddled around all day. Amanda and Cory hosted a pink & gold theme day complete with a bounce house for the big kids. Coby and Bradey made it down with both the girls and Tatum and a ton of friends over.

Maddyn got to celebrate her birthday with everyone at the end of July. She had a bunch of help from big brother and both sisters to blow out and eat her little cake. Ally hosted a Picnic themed dinner complete with bundtlets from Nothing Bundt Cakes. They are amazing, if you haven't had one go get one right now! I can't believe how big these girls are getting. Maddyn still is not wanting to walk, and I can't say I blame her. If I had a brother and two sisters to carry me everywhere I would take it to! She does however walk on her knees and it is hilarious.

  

That crinkled nose grin!

Buster passed away on this day and we will miss that sweet pup, but are sure happy we were able to spend 3 years with him!

Nieces and nephews are the best. Crayton is still in first place for my favorite nephew, but those 7 girlies are hard to place! They are each so different and each so much fun. I love watching them grow. I hope they know how much their aunts and uncles love them! 

Canada

     At the end of June my dad and sister planned a quick trip to Canada and at the last second I decided to join. My dad is a mechanic for American so we fly non rev (non-revenue) stand by. Flying stand by means you get the left over seats on the planes and usually end up flying super early or super late. We got lucky and our flight to Canada was direct and at 8 am. We left on a Tuesday and came back on a Thursday. 

We tried to pack in as much stuff as we could, but as with everything you can only see so many things in 48 hours! Our first thing to do in Vancouver was head to the Capilano Suspension bridge. We rented a car and we were all starving and trying to find our way around a foreign place with access to no phones or maps... we didn't think it was necessary to get any international plan since we were there for such a short time. 

Vancouver is super busy! There were people and cars every where. Oh, and the buildings... I am not sure what I expected, but it was not that! There were so many tall buildings it was like the concrete jungle. We finally  made it to the Capilano Suspension bridge and immediately headed to the Loggers Grill to grab some food. We ended up having some of the most expensive hamburgers and fries, but they were pretty good. The bridge itself was not as long as I was expecting, but it was really cool. The trees were gigantic and they had tree house type areas all over that you walk to on different bridges. The river that the suspension bridge is over was very pretty. 

All of Vancouver had the prettiest landscaping. The flowers every where were beautiful. I think it has a lot to do with their weather, not too hot and not too cold. After seeing the Suspension bridge we drove through the different parks and headed to our hotel. Our hotel was the Inn at the Quay and it was right on the Fraser River. There was a cute boardwalk and pretty boats all along the river. That night we decided to venture to a place called Boston Pizza and it wasn't all that great. I think we were all worn out from traveling and walking all day to enjoy any food. 

 

Our second and final day we drove up to Whistler. We had a good French breakfast at a place near the hotel. Kennedy and I had french toast with Canadian bacon, because Canada. Dad had a big omelet and really good fruit.The drive up the mountain and through town was beautiful. The rivers are the prettiest turquoise color from the snow melt. We arrived in the Whistler Village and drove around about 4 times before deciding where to park. After finally parking we took a walk through the Olympic park and went straight into Starbucks! While in Starbucks a small rain shower blew through and cooled down the temps a little bit. I think they said the temperature hung out around 23 degrees celsius the whole time, I was comfortable in jean capris and a pull over. 

We ate lunch at the coolest urban taco place. The food was amazing and my favorite meal of the trip. Kennedy and I shared a chicken burrito and dad got three different kinds of street tacos. I hope Kennedy can recreate that burrito, it was so good! The locals that hang around the village are so nice and always have their dogs. I was loving it! There is actually still one pass that you can ski and snowboard on, but there was no snow at the base. 

After checking out all of Whistler we headed back down the mountain towards the city. We stopped at every rest stop and park to try and see the "green lakes". We found two different waterfalls and could see Daisy Lake only from a far and the pictures just do not do that lake justice. The water was the prettiest turquoise, one that you would expect to see in the caribbean and not the mountains. We also stopped at an old ferry dock to check things out. They said in the 90s you could see whale from that dock, but they haven't been spotted in the last decade. We ate at King Cockney's Fish and Chips that night for dinner, be Kennedy's request because she saw chicken fingers. And then we went back to the hotel and all crashed.  

I can't wait to go back to Whistler in the winter!

Until next time Canada!