Cole is growing SO much! He picks up on last words of conversations. He tries so hard to be independent and it's pretty inspiring watching how much he can do. I am definitely that mom that stays close to make sure that if something were to go array I'm there to save the day. He runs. He's picked up the phrase "No Way!" from the boy I babysit. He says it when he's upset about something and Cole has caught onto that part too. He's so sweet waving to everyone he passes. He makes grandma's days while we are at the grocery store and he greets with a queen wave or a sweet "hi". He's the best and he is my world!
We had the amazing opportunity to take a week long vacation to Victoria, BC as well as Seattle, WA! Our trip started on Friday the 19th. We left as soon as Chase took his online quiz and once I was packed up. It was about 3. I got Cole a dollar store play guitar and that thing came in handy the whole week long trip! The simple things. It was a nice drive and the worse traffic we encountered was in Pullman. I guess all students had the same idea. We got to Samamish, WA and stayed with Erica and Nelson at Nelson's house. The DeMeester's are wonderful people and we appreciated their generosity. The entire week there were only 2 nights that Cole slept through the night. One was the second to last night in Alberta and the other was at Paul and Cathy's. So this first night was the tradition of most all the following nights… rough. But that's ok.
We got up early and got on the ferry in Port Angeles. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nerding out in my mind that we were in the city mentioned in Twilight. I thought about it a few times. The ferry was nice, we sat with a BC resident and this elderly lady was so kind and told us everything we should do. I was worried to get motion sick but it wasn't too bad. It was worse on the trip back. I was set on seeing a whale so I stared out the window getting tricked by all the white caps in the see but then low and behold… I saw a whale! There were 2! Chase, Cole and I went out on the dock and saw those 2 beautiful beasts (from afar mind you) spouting out water and surfacing and resurfacing! It was amazing!
We got into BC and it was beautiful. Seattle was beautiful too. Those tall, thick trees are a breathtaking sight. We needed to kill sometime so we went to the The Bay Centre Mall and got some Purdy's chocolates to share with Aunt Pauline and Mandy (Chase's great aunt and cousin) since they were so kind to let us stay with them. We shared some cheap yummy sushi at the mall cafeteria. We got there that night and it was such a relief. We had no problems with borders and our car was a champ. Jane (Chase's aunt) was there with her new husband Eric and son Mark.
Next day was Sunday and it was nice. On our way Chase recognized the street he grew up on so we detoured and took a picture of his old house. He pointed to the tree (not pictured) and said that was the tree his budgey bird flew into, the garden where the boys would play, and the garage that Lee built. Canada is already singing Christmas hymns and I'm so jealous. We put our tree up 3 weeks ago. At my request of course. Almost everyone we passed Pauline would ask them, "do you remember Lee and Arla Burbank? Well this is their son Chase." Since Chase lived there a few years and it was the same ward there were quite a few who did remember his family. That afternoon we went to the octopus park or Cadboro Bay. It was so fun to see this place that Chase played as a child.
Monday was a beautiful day. We hung out with Mandy, Jane, Eric and Mark while Mandy gave us a tour to hit all the important sites. We drove the scenic beach drive and it was gorgeous. Cattle Point was the first stop and one of my favorite! I felt like I was in Ireland with the ocean and green and rock. It was windy but lovely. Chase used to look through the tide pools to find little sea animals. Unfortunately the tide was in and we didn't get to see much.
Next favorite stop was Clover Point. Oh my goodness! Birds everywhere. Cole loved getting to walk so close and chase them while they slowly ran away. It was a precious and favorite memory of the trip.
We then went to Fisherman's Warf. We planned to get fish and chips but the off season made it so that many of the shops were closed including the fish and chip restaurant. We did get to see 2 seals and a little otter. Cole loved that as well.
Next stop was Chinatown. We bought a sushi roller and chopsticks which means we will start to make our own sushi. That was a fun moment as well. We went into this bubble tea joint and there was a huge picture on the wall of Mao Zedong(or some other chinese guy) and Cole pointed to it calling him Jesus… Not quite but we sure got a laugh.
We went to Beacon Hill Drive in and got some pretty delicious and heavy/filling soft serve ice cream. We detoured on our way home and stopped at Hollidean park. It was gorgeous as well. I wrote in the sand then Cole began to do the same. <3
We got home and ate some pizza and enjoyed some hearty laughs with Pauline and Mandy.
Tuesday was a very rainy cold day but we still got out and went to Mount Doug/ Oak Bay. It was amazing! Cole just slept but we wheeled him down some stairs to the ocean and got to see some big waves coming in while we were surrounded by fragrant cedars. The smell was putting me in heaven. Let's get real the sights were putting me in heaven. I told Chase that if we get rich I want to get a cabin there. It's an incredible drive as you have forests of trees on either side of the road for miles. After we were done there we went to Beacon Hill Park and that was so fun as well. Very rainy so we put Cole in Benjamin's Muddy Buddy, life saver. He looked like a cute little penguin. The minute we got out of the car a flock of ducks waddled their way over to say hello. Coley was mesmerized. He tried talking to the ducks and petting them but to no avail. It was ok though because they got pretty dang close. It was so sweet. We just enjoyed the park and Chase took me through memory lane.
We met the family for breakfast at Cora's, a favorite ever since Sandy took us there a couple years ago. So yummy! Then we got into Pauline and Mandy's van and headed for Costco. We needed poutine and goods to take back with us. We stopped and got to see Hatley's castle, used in the XMen movies. Xavier's school right there!
Wednesday we packed up and waited for Judy and Wade and their crew (Nate, and Jane's kids). They traveled all night so that they could see Chase. Judy is a favorite of Chase so it was good to sit and catch up with them. We really loved our time with all of Chase's family, they are such wonderful people. That night we stayed and Paul and Cathy's. They were so nice and Cathy ended up giving us lots of books and toys for Cole, bless her heart. We are grateful because we were getting to the point of needing some switch up.
Thursday we took the Bremerton-Seattle ferry. We got to the Demeester's by 3. Dinner started at 4:30pm and holy moly that was an event. They had 43 people there! It was crazy! But dinner was delicious and it was so nice to be with friends. They had a turkey dance after dinner, Cole danced every turn. He thought it was all for him I'm pretty sure. Erica and I left after that and swung by Target to get in on the black friday deals. We got Cole and new carseat and a few movies. We also went to carters and got some new clothes as well. We got home and everyone was at the church playing volleyball. We played volleyball until 11:30pm.
Friday morning Erica and Nelson took us to downtown Seattle. We went to the Shereden hotel and saw the amazing Gingerbread houses that happened to be Harry Potter themed which was perfect since I just read those books this year! We then went to the farmers market, the gum wall which was disgusting and got the best clam chowder we've ever head! Then it was basically just the drive home but Cole was pretty pooped since he slept for 3 1/2 hours of the 4h 40min drive. It was so nice! Chase finally listened to Hamilton and likes it like I do now. I hope to go to one of their shows this coming broadway season. Wouldn't that be an experience of a lifetime! We had pizza and I started watching the new Gilmore Girls revival. I enjoyed it.
Today Sunday was a good day. We teach our CTR 4's and they are fun. A little boy we teach asked me what my name was. I replied "Sister Annie" he asked Chase the same question and Chase replied "Sister Chase" it was a good laugh. We got home and put up the rest of our Christmas decorations.
Anyway that's a big long post but I think I covered the trip pretty well. We were so lucky to take on this adventure and now it's time to buckle down and get Chase through the next 3 weeks to finish out the semester strong!
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