Summer Alaska Trip - Vancouver

We just returned from what Ryan and I decided has been our best family vacation to date.  We'd been dreaming about it for awhile, and our dream finally came true...we went on an Alaskan cruise!  Alaska holds such a special place in our hearts, and we couldn't wait to get back up there.  We left early Wednesday morning on our flight to Vancouver.  We looked forward to a couple of days here to adjust to the time difference before boarding the ship.

 It was a beautiful day when we landed, so we dropped our bags off in our room at the lovely Loden Hotel and headed back out.  We took the bus straight over to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park.  

 There are lots of totem poles around the park as the First Peoples Nations are an important part of the history of Vancouver.

 This suspension bridge was built in 1889, and it is 450 feet long and 230 feet above the rushing Capilano River.  We wanted to give it a try!  It was fun to bounce and sway as we walked across it; thankfully there was lots of laughter too!

 It provided us some beautiful views, though we tried not to look straight down too much.

 This is the view of the bridge from another vantage point.  You can't even see the ground/river in this picture.  It really is high up!

 After making it to the other side of the bridge, we decided to do the treetop adventures.  It was a fun walkway between the humongous trees that let us learn more about nature in that area.  The girls enjoyed doing their scavenger hunt activity along the way too.

 Of course, we looked for places to rest our feet while we walked too.

 It was a neat area to explore and climb around in.  After we'd finished up there, we bounced back across the bridge and headed over to the cliff walking area...we couldn't resist smiling with this bear though.

 The cliffwalk is a newer attraction.  It's a cantilevered walkway that clings to the granite cliffs above Capilano Canyon.  It was actually scarier to walk out along these paths then the big bridge!

We were rewarded with beautiful views all along the way though, like this waterfall and pond.

 This was such a beautiful park.  

What a great way to start our time in Vancouver!

 Ryan and I were excited to get back to the hotel because we had a pretty big surprise in store for the girls.  While we three were in our room, Ryan went down to the lobby, and when he came back up, Grandpops and Grandma Jan were with him!  The girls were completely shocked.  They had no idea they had flown in from Chicago to join us on our trip.  They even asked, "Did you fly here to see us in Vancouver?"  They couldn't believe they were going to cruise with us!

Thursday was a really rainy day in Vancouver.  We had kind of a lazy morning before heading to lunch at a delicious Lebanese restaurant.  We were amazed at the variety and quality of ethnic dining choices!  After lunch, Ryan, the girls, and I went over to Stanley Park for a horse-pulled carriage ride.  It was an interesting ride that let us see some beautiful scenery without getting wet.

 We walked the couple of miles back to our hotel.  It was a steady rain but nothing awful at that point.  In the evening, Grandpops and Grandma Jan ordered pizza to our room and kept the girls, so Ryan and I went on a little date to a fantastic Chinese restaurant.  It was delicious and fun to have a date!

Friday morning was another gorgeous day.  The girls and I went out on a little walking tour of the city to get out for a bit.  We loved all the water fixtures and pieces of green space around downtown.  It was a nice little outing.

Around 11:00 that morning, it was time to head to the boat.  We loved Vancouver and hope to return another day to have more fun here!

Start of Summer Fun

What a great way to kick off the summer fun!  After Mia's baptism on Sunday afternoon, we headed up to Cloudland Station to meet the Smith family.  We have a mutual friend who owns a cabin here, and they graciously offered to let our families borrow the cabin for this week.  The Smiths went up after school on Friday, we joined them Sunday evening, they left Tuesday evening, and our family stayed until Thursday late morning.  It was a great way to get some wonderful family time and some fun friend time in!

The place was great.  It's like how I imagine the summers in the 50's being.  It was rustic, but perfect for exploring and family fun.  Here are some of the fun things we did.

The kids loved the little lake with the pull boat on it.  They loved to pull themselves across the lake on the wooden barge.

 The adults got in on the action too.

 Just fun!

 There is a game barn to enjoy too.  The best part is the human foosball court.  It was so cool!  We divided up into teams and played for quite awhile.  It was great exercise and gave us so much laughter (other than Lily getting accidentally kicked in the face with the ball...whoops).

 There was a beautiful infinity pool that we enjoyed for several hours one afternoon too.

The tree house provided lots of fun too.  Lots of places to climb and explore.  Mia loved the little suspension bridge to the pirate's lookout.

 I love these kids!

 One of the best parts was the Sweet Shack.  This candy store uses an honor system which we followed.  Everything was a great deal...a dollar or less for ice cream, candy and drinks.  We all enjoyed stopping here each day!

 They also had some checkers and brain teaser puzzles out to try...or just give your daddy a hug.

  The cabin itself was a great place too.  There were 4 comfortable bedrooms and bathrooms, a kitchen, living room, laundry room, and lovely screened in porch.  The kids all thoroughly enjoyed the game room too.  Here they are watching Scooby Doo one evening, but they also enjoyed playing foosball, ping-pong, and darts up here.  My girls will also tell you how much they loved the loft area on the 4th floor.  On Tuesday night, after the Smiths left, Lily made the loft into her bedroom and added glow sticks around, her sleeping bag, and a reading lamp.  It was cozy but comfortable, and she absolutely loved it.  They also loved that one of the bedrooms had bunk beds in it; they had to try that out on Wednesday night!

 You could also enjoy some cuddle time or make funny faces here!

My favorite person to spend time with.

 On Monday, our families drove into Chattanooga (it was maybe 15 minutes away) to go visit Raccoon Caves.  It was really neat!  We took an hour guided tour through the caves which was really fun.  We saw some neat structures and interesting little critters.  It was a great experience.

 On Tuesday afternoon, the Smith family headed on back to Atlanta, but we stayed behind.  We were so thrilled to meet up with the Sepulveda family.  It's been a few years which is too long!  We met them for pizza in Chattanooga, and then they came back to hang out with us for a couple of hours.  It's always fun to catch up with old friends!

 On Wednesday, we spent just a little more time enjoying Cloudland Station.  We spent lots of time on the lake.  First we fed the fish the rest of our bread.  The girls loved throwing the crumbs to different areas to watch the little fish swim around.

 We relaxed a little too and enjoyed some Sweet Shack ice cream inside the water mill.

 We played some H-O-R-S-E on the basketball court by the game barn.  Mia won!

 Put this one in simply because I love this picture of beautiful Lily.

Mia had fun swinging from the tree house and over the creek.

 Lily and I tried out the rope swing over the creek too.  So much fun!

 Mia swinging and Lily crossing the creek.  Pretty much perfect.

Of course, you can't be at a creek and not wade in it, right?  They had all sorts of fun walking up and down this.

 This was such the perfect wait to start the summer!  It reset our family's attention after a hectic last month of school, afforded us time to relax and have fun with friends, and it provided tons of memories that we'll always enjoy looking back on.

Mia's Baptism

On Sunday the 21st, we were thrilled to see Mia baptized.  She had made the decision to trust Christ as her Savior back in February which was the best day for our family.  JFBC does a special children's baptism service once a quarter, so we waited until now to participate in that.  We were overjoyed that they church allowed Ryan to baptize Mia just as they had allowed him to baptize Lily a few years ago.  What an incredibly special day.  Our hearts were overflowing!

 Mia was very excited to have two sets of her grandparents there!

When Mia was meeting with a JFBC staff person about her decision and desire to be baptized, they asked if she had any special adults that she wanted to come up and pray for her after the baptism.  Very quickly she asked if Mrs. Mausz would be able to do that.  Mrs. Mausz is the mother of Mia's sweet friend, Sophie, and Mia just adores her.  She knows that Mrs. Mausz often prayers for her (and their classmates) because she leaves sticky notes on their desks letting them know that she's prayed for them.  We were so appreciative that Mrs. Mausz came (with Sophie and Beckett) and said a lovely prayer for Mia at the service.  We are so thankful for precious friends like this!

We were glad that Wayne, Molly and Zac were able to come celebrate with us, and we appreciated Mia's teacher, Mrs. St. Hill, coming as well.

 We were thrilled that sweet Macey had also recently decided to trust in Christ and was baptized the same day.  They have been friends since birth, but they are now sisters forever!  How great that at the Henderson's request, the church allowed Ryan to baptize Macey too.  What a special moment for Ryan!  Our families were so excited for these girls!

 We were so thrilled to have many friends here to support Mia.  Logan and Eliana Payne, Rachael and Sarah Crowley, Sophie and Beckett Mausz, Mary Preston and Layne Harvey, and Danae St. Hill.  We are so thankful for sweet friends!

What a wonderful day celebrating Mia's decision to follow Christ's example in baptism!