Seattle and Vancouver (finally)

We laughed when we read this sign. What does that even mean?

I started to blog this last weekend and I had written a ton about our trip, then somehow deleted half of it and then I was annoyed and haven't felt motivated to try it again until now. Even still, my motivation level is low so we'll see what we get.

Riding along the sea wall. Downtown Vancouver behind me.

Getting ready for the bike ride. We picked up Bob the Builder along for the ride.

This isn't the best picture, I just thought T-man looked really handsome this day.

Taft is becoming an official Herway boy and is not interested in being in pictures or smiling for pictures.

Hiking on Grouse Mountain

One of the views from our apartment

Seth let Taft play in this pond with all his clothes on. This is why dads are more fun than moms.

Bob the Builder looking less than thrilled to be on this trip.

First of all, Vancouver ROCKS. Prolly why they had the Olys there. Seth and I pretty much talked about how cool it would be to live there the entire time we were visiting. We tried to figure out what kind of job Seth could get (notice we didn't discuss that I could maybe help contribute financially. :)) to make it feasible to live there. Seth said he'd want to take up rowing if we moved there. Seth would also probably eat sushi every day because it's really affordable there. I would go to the public market on Granville Island every day and decide what to make for dinner while I was there. Or maybe I would just pick something up to-go because so many places looked scrumptious. And I would dress Taft in exclusively in H&M.

Vancouver is the perfect urban-mountain-ocean blend. While we were there we walked lots around the city, hiked a bit on Grouse Mountain, and rode bikes along the sea wall. My only concern about living in Vancouver would be a serious Vitamin D deficiency and a bad case of SAD (seasonal affective disorder). I'm all for a good rain storm but 90 straight days of rain and no sunshine might put me into a deep depression.

Also, Vancouver has a European vibe that makes you love it, but at the same time has great American amenities like fountain soda and English is the primary language spoken.

Before Vancouver we went to Seattle and stayed with Seth's BFF Jared (Jerry) and his wife, Jen, and their cute boys, Chase and Calvin. Chase is a year older than Taft and Taft had the time of his life playing with him. They got along so well and it was really fun watching them play together. We were really just in Seattle for a full day, so Taft, Seth, and I walked around Pike's Place, got clam chowder at the pier, and walked around Seattle a bit. It brought back memories of going to Seattle for Jerry and Jen's wedding when Seth and I were dating. One thing we did back then was get clam chowder at Ivar's at the pier and it was my top thing I wanted to do this time around. I love soup and I thought it would be fun for Taft to throw french fries to the seagulls that sit on the balcony squawking at people until they feed them. I told my mom about it and she said, "They sell that at Costco." Of course they do. Why does Costco have to take the fun out of everything? Actually, I love Costco. Who doesn't? Seth and I talk about what we're going to do when we have real money and one of the highest priorities will be to buy yummy fruit like pineapple, mango, etc. from Costco.

Later that night we met up with Jerry's little family and went to a Mariners v. Red Sox game. I don't think any of us caught a ton of the game but we did make it all the way to the 7th inning stretch with three kids under 3. We had great seats but ended up moving on account of our kids being a little too rambunctious for others to enjoy the game. Ironically, we moved to where no one was sitting except for one crotchety old couple who at different times told both Jerry and myself that "We can't SEE THROUGH you" when we stood up to deal with children. What is it with grumpy strangers lately?

Safeco Field

Chase and Taft entertaining themselves

On our way home from the trip we stopped off at Seth's friend's (Rock) parents' apple orchard/giant. farm. Rock's dad showed us all around the farm and explained how it all works. Turns out that it's harder than Johnny Appleseed made it seem. You don't just put an apple seed in the ground and get delicious apples eventually. It's actually quite involved. Then they let us pick TONS of apples and let us taste different apples that they were trying to make new breeds of. SO....yummy.

As always, Seth did a really good job planning all the details of the trip. We stayed in an apartment with a full kitchen and washer and dryer, so it was like we lived in Vancouver for a bit. The apartment had GREAT views, with floor to ceiling windows on three of the four sides of the apartment and was on the 23rd floor. It was awesome. It seems my only jobs on vacation are to make sure Taft and I have all the things we need (clothes, etc.) and for me to keep a good attitude. Pretty easy. 

So, that was our week vacation. Our next vacation won't be until we go look for apartments in San Diego in the Spring. That's kind of depressing. Luckily, later in October Seth's brother's family is coming, then my family comes from Thanksgiving, then a month later we'll have a new baby! Even though Seth has to work like a dog with no vacation for a while we still have lots to look forward to.