We had a wonderful trip to Vancouver and Seattle. It was quite an adventure. After having missed our flight to Seattle due to bad weather the nice people of United Airlines flew us straight to Vancouver on Friday of the trip. Thursday when we originally left for our destination of Seattle we missed our flight and ended up in Denver for a night. Friday we woke up early and hopped on a plane for Vancouver. The flight was not to long just long enough for John and I to watch a movie. (Boy, do I love having an iPad!) Upon arrival to Vancouver and the nice little line in Customs we were on the Train/Subway to Downtown Vancouver where we would spend the next couple of days. We made it downtown where we got out and hiked with our suitcases MANY blocks to our hotel ( I felt like a major tourist!). We stayed at the Sheraton the first night. This was a great location and was within walking distance to many fun sights. We walked a LOT that first day. We saw Canada Place ( where they had the media during the Olympics) as well as the giant torch that was lit for the Olympics. We walked around the Sea Wall and enjoyed the local park. Their parks are BEAUTIFUL! Then we got some hotdogs ( yes, we are big spenders) Okay so we mainly did it for the experience. This is the closest to a big city that we have been. Is was busy, I’m talking people walking all the time everywhere. I imagine it is a lot how I would imagine New York to be but maybe with less crime. But, I have never been to New York. We walked more and more and ended up at the movies for the evening. It was a memorable day. On Saturday John’s Birthday we decided to stay in Vancouver again. ( This was mainly because we were having so much fun on Friday that we forgot to figure out how we would get back to the US. There was a 24 hour mandatory reservation on riding the bus or taking a train.) So we got another hotel for that night which was hard because the whole city was sold out for Taiwanfest in Vancouver. So Saturday in an interest to make the most of our time we rented a mo-ped and went to explore Vancouver. It was fun! We did however look stupid with our hats and we did get yelled at by a local who called us “losers” but it didn’t ruin the mood because at least we were not walking. We went to Stanley Park and to the Vancouver Aquarium. After this we went to Granville Island where we saw the most awesome street performer ever! He seriously rocked. We also went to see Gastown and Chinatown. We had a nice dinner out at a restaurant called Rogue. It was amazing and a short walk from our hotel. On Sunday we got up at 4am hoping that we could get on the bus to Seattle. ( We forgot to call once again, this time we had learned that there was a chance we could buy a ticket from the bus driver. He was less than thrilled about selling us a ticket but he did and yes we finally made it back to the US.) The bus dropped us off at the airport in Seattle where we picked up a rental car hit an awesome crepe place for breakfast. We then took a short nap in the car, got a snack ( In Seattle they are required to put all the calories on their menus, it’s insane!) then headed to Bumbershoot a festival in Seattle. It was so fun. We met up with our cousins and I really enjoyed seeing Motion City Soundtrack and Weezer. They Rocked. Thanks again to Sam and Clint for putting up with us. We made it safe and sound to the airport to fly home. Adventure concluded!

These photos are from our recent trip backpacking in Colorado. We led 7 boys into the wilderness. It was a blast! I enjoyed getting to be around such a fun group of guys. We hiked a total of 28 miles over 7 days. I crossed the Continental Divide ( which was crazy scary!). We also went along a steep cliff like death trail for several miles. Did I mention that this is how I spent my 30th birthday. The boys even sang me happy birthday on my big day! It was definitely a birthday to remember!

We had a great time at the Lake and Cabin. We went with John’s Business Partners and their families to the lake so we could get to know them better. It was a great work trip! I vote we do it again! This was Graysen’s first trip on a boat and she LOVED it! It could have been that she had a swimming pool on board and she loves to swim.

Was all about:

Fun, Shopping, Swimming, Relaxing, and did I mention Eating!

First stop Sam Moon then IKEA! YAY! Let the fun begin!

Sweetish Meatballs and Mashed Potatoes, Yum! Just a kiddy portion because we still were going to Babes for dinner.

Stef and Amy in the front and Bobbie in the middle driving to our next destination. Have you heard for Charming Charlie’s? Well it is awesome! Everything is by color in that place.

After Charming Charlie’s we went to Babes! My favorite Chicken Fried Steak Place.

Blurred coffee Saturday Morning

Blurred Sarah (My Backseat Buddy): We were the backseat riders for the whole trip. On our way to Dunkin.

coffee and donuts: did I mention we ate HORRIBLE on this trip!

Random sign that didn’t make any sense: Free dinner for defensive driving. What does this have to do with a comedy club?

Saturday our day looked like: Coffee and Donuts, Allen Outlets, World Market, Galleria and Dinner at Uncle Julios (that place is AMAZING!).

At the outlet mall I found this:

Can you guess who this is for?  Isn’t it the most perfect thing!  Awesome is scared about wearing it because he doesn’t want to look conceited. This is why I love him!

My friend Portia came to visit me on her lunch break. She was my co-leader for my high school girls group that I led. She moved to Dallas about 2 years ago.

Did I mention this trip was random: Here is the Bee truck we were driving next to on the highway. Please don’t wreck! That would not be fun!

Sunday we went to Whole Foods. It’s the best grocery store on the planet! I can’t wait till we get ours here next year.

I didn’t get many pictures because I was too busy having fun! One of the other girls may have gotten some so I may have more at a later date.

Well that was my trip in a nutshell!

I Love Seattle! We had the best time on our seattle trip. It is beautiful up there. We did a million things while we were there: we visited family (John’s cousin’s Sam & Clint and their newborn Coresta) and John’s high school friends Jeff. We went to the Seattle Aquarium, The Zoo, The Science Museum and saw Harry Potter in IMAX and 3-D. We also went on a harbor cruise, The Underground Tour, Pike Place Market, The 1st Starbucks, Space Needle, EMP (experience music project) and Bumbershoot ( music and art’s festival). We had a blast!! On the way home we even got to have the tiniest plane ever! We took pictures to prove it. We had the plane out of Denver and boarded OUTSIDE! This is america right! You couldn’t even stand up all the way in the tiny plane. One other thing that struck me as weird is Seattle had trees on all of their overpasses. It was kinda weird to get used to. We also went in a tunnel that had a house over it and that was a little weird too! Here are our pics and some video!

We had a great trip to Dallas! It was great to see friends and have fun at the same time! John went to QuakeCon at the Texas Gaylord hotel. I went to stay with Amber and Kaitlyn. We went to the Science and Nature Museum where they had a whole floor that is a children’s museum it’s awesome! We also went to  the Dallas Zoo. We ate at my favorite restaurant called Babes and had a grand ole’ time! Graysen and I tried to swim at Amber’s neighborhood pool but Graysen just wanted to run around it so we left. Graysen is learning to put on her shoes but she hasn’t quite mastered it yet. Enjoy our trip pictures.