Dance Dance!

As Cecily gets more and more tired... she gets more and more crazy. She loves to have a dance party as a last hurrah before bed. While in Canada I could only find French radio-- so in the first video she is dancing to something in French... a bit rusty on my French since high school...so hope it doesn't offend anyone if it is not the best song. But as you can see Cecily liked the beat.

In the second video she was getting Dizzy with Dizzy.

Enjoy!

Butterfly Garden

We had a lovely time at the Butterfly Garden. We opted not to see the Butchart Gardens, and we are so happy with our choice. This was a perfect place for a 16 month old and a pregnant mom. Nanny and Poppy enjoyed all the beautiful flowers and butterflies along with us. It was so much fun and so pretty... and easy.

Nanny and Poppy

Here is Cecily enjoying a little time with Nanny and Pops (she gave them those names by the way-- which is funny because we were calling my dad Grandpa--- but she decided "Pops" was better. In picture above she is sitting with her new "bus" watching her favorite "Me-Me" Aka movie. In the movie the kids are singing "The Wheels on the Bus" and they are on a double decker red bus just like her new toy!

They aren't a substitute for daddy-- who she is really missing (See previous post-- Daddy is in Guatemala on a mission trip)-- but she thinks they are pretty great.

Oh-- latest CJ words: "I not know" "No Way!" 'Butterfly" , "Frog" and "Donkey"--- not to mention "Boat" and "Airplane"

Nanny and Cecily having a nice snuggle after Cecily's nap. So much to see on the porch!

Impressed with the Empress

My dad, bless his heart, let my mom and I go have high tea at the Empress, but he also watched Cecily for most of the day yesterday. I am proud to report that Cecily and Poppy came out just fine! They did indulge in quite a few kiddie movies and Cecily was allowed to have her Binky most of the day-- So Cecily got spoiled too.

Mom scouted out the shops that we wanted to visit, and planned out a map of where we would park and in what order we would go to them. She knows that as pregnant as I am walking and standing are short lived activities. We really enjoyed our day and managed to get some shopping in before I crashed completely. I did come home and had to go to bed-- I couldn't keep my eyes open!

Government Street

On Monday the 14th we made our first trip down to Government Street and the surrounding area. We had a nice time being tourists and getting a few goodies. Victoria is a great place for tea lovers! And as many of you know... I LOVE tea!

Big Mamma

Here I am in what I like to call--'My Big Mama Shirt.' This shirt is big, roomie and cool! So, I am 32 weeks pregnant and counting!

Thar She Blows!

This past Sunday while I was taking a snooze Nanny and Poppy decided to take Cecily on a walk. They enjoyed a nice walk about town, and once returning to the hotel decided to check out the pool.
They left the stroller about 10 feet away from the kiddie pool. Just as Poppy and Cecily were putting their feet in the water-- a big gust of wind came up. Next thing they knew the stroller was flying into the kiddie pool and sinking-- along with all their stuff. They forgot to set the brakes!
Fortunately it only went into the 2 feet kiddie pool-- but it was still quite a trick to get it out! My mom was immediately caught in the crisis of the moment... her cell phone... wallet...oh my the diaper bag! Poppy, however, was caught up in the hilarity of it all from the first! He had to recover from his laughter before he was much help.

Thankfully, nobody was hurt, and everything was recovered from the pool. All in all things survived pretty well, other than a few diapers... and Nanny's poor cell phone.

Now that's a Threat!

Here is a sign that was posted in the petting Zoo. I thought it was cute!

Fisherman's Wharf

We enjoyed a evening on Fisherman's Wharf. It's a unique little place very close to our hotel. There are a collection of houseboats with a Fish n' Chips place and an ice cream shop. All of these businesses are also houseboats tethered up to the dock. Here we are enjoying some dinner. Cecily was very, very tired, so we did not linger but still had a good meal.
Cecily and Poppy exploring the docks.
A little sea life friend coming up to say hello!
A pregnant woman's delight! Ice Cream! Don't worry only one of these cones is mine, and I was able to enjoy this kiddie cone without any harm to my blood sugar. (See earlier article about Gestational Diabetes.)

How yummy is this? Cecily really got into her first ice cream cone. She LOVES Strawberries, so this couldn't have been yummier.

Ode to Time Shares

A couple of years ago my parents joined up with Worldmark by Windom. The started it with the purpose of sharing it with there ever growing family. They have been able to use it quite a bit both for themselves and sharing it with us kids.

Growing up our vacations consisted of camping. I never knew anything different. Don't get me wrong, I love the great out doors... but this is so much more relaxing! As a very pregnant mom with a toddler I don't think you could pay me to go camping this summer! Sleeping so low to the ground it would take a crane to get me up. Plus I would spend my night traipsing the long dark trail to the bathroom. Plus the neighbors would probably drive us out with Cecily's late night drama (when staying at a new place she always has trouble adjusting).

Needless to say we are enjoying our stay. Cecily has been able to slip back into her usual routine and we have enjoyed her nap times as much as she has. I have even been able to take a nap myself and spent some time down at the pool BY MYSELF for a while. Wow!

Cecily has enjoyed watching the boats in the dock from the deck. There are lots of water planes taking off and ships being 'loud' in the harbor.

Petting Zoo in Beacon Hill Park

While waiting for our hotel to be ready for us we stopped by the little petting zoo in Beacon Hill Park. Cecily was seriously tired at this point, but she still enjoyed seeing the animals. Here is a noisy but beautiful peacock looking down on us from the tree.
Here is a very pregnant goat. My mom thought that I should get my picture taken with her. However, she was too pregnant to be bothered to get up, and I was too pregnant to be bothered to squat down.

Bon Voyage!

Here we are on the Port Angeles ferry making our way to beautiful Victoria, Canada.
Cecily enjoyed making friends with other little ones on the boat (if only she was more social) and exploring the decks. It was pretty rocky so she did fall down on the deck-- which was quite a shock for her-- but she recovered quickly after some theatrics. After that she didn't attempt to walk without some one's hand.
It was a beautiful day and we got off to a great start to our trip with Nanny and Poppy.

Bye-bye Daddy

Here is Rory on the night he left for his mission trip to Guatemala. He will be gone for about 12 days, and is co-leading a team of 17. It's a great group! There are several families going, and there are more adults than teens this time. The are working with a missions organization called Gospel Outreach that works directly with the local churches in the area. Our team is meeting up with El Salvadorians and local people to all work together to reach out to the community. Our team will mainly be doing dramas in the public schools. But, as with most mission trips-- you never know what you will end up doing. I can't wait to hear the reports.
Rory just recently got back from a week at camp, so it was extra hard to say good-bye. But it's just a short trip. I made a photo book for Cecily to look through while he is gone. Needless to say-- we really miss him.
However, Cecily and I are currently in Victoria on vacation with my parents. It has been a great help, and distraction, plus we are having fun.
Please keep Rory and the mission team in your prayers. They will be returning really early in the morning on July 19th.

She actually went!

Cecily has been pretty obsessed with the "potty" the last month. She is fascinated with the whole process. So... while we weren't expecting to begin this process for a while yet, we bought a little potty chair for her. Here are few pictures of Cecily after her nap. She woke up dry and was enthusiastic when I asked her if she wanted to sit on her potty. She sat there for quite a while, and looked so cute I had to take her picture. When she was "all done" she stood up and low and behold it was filled with gold! She went tinkle! Wow! She was so proud! Since then she has gone one more time. I guess we are potty training.

Visit from Grandpa Adams

We enjoyed a visit from Rory's dad, Ryan, during the 4th of July weekend. He and Rory enjoyed a few rounds of Cribbage, and did several household projects-- including putting the new crib together, hanging up a curtain rod and installing some new blinds. Thanks guys!

Here is Cecily sporting Grandpa Adams' hat and sunglasses.

Happy 4th of July!

Here we are in our patriotic outfits. I know we are "matchy- matchy" judge us if you like. I just couldn't resist. First I found this tank top for Cecily at Old Navy. Then I ended up buying my shirt from Walmart, because lets be honest I needed another shirt that fit. After I realized that we had Red, and White, I realized that Rory just had to be the "Blue." So Rory got a shirt from Target!
We enjoyed a fun family afternoon at a BBQ with friends from our church. There was an amazing spread of food. Including some very patriotic desserts... that sadly we did not eat... Rory is abstaining or at least trying to reduce his sugar consumption to show solidarity with me.

Before it got dark the party goers were shooting off all the loud firecrackers and making homemade firecrackers.... Every time one went off Cecily would look around and say "Loud!"
Cecily is not in time-out in this picture, but it sure looks like she is. She wanted to sit in Mommy's chair, and is deep in thought.
Cecily really enjoyed eating Watermelon for the first time. She ate it very enthusiastically and methodically.