A Country Girl

We are back from our short trip to Canada. We ended up going to Vancouver (instead of Victoria) because it seemed like there were more kid-friendly activities available there. We stayed at the Dogwood RV & campground. It had a pool and playground and bathroom facilities with hot showers. It actually looked like most of the RVers actually live there on a permanant basis. Unfortunately it is also right next to a very busy highway which is under construction 24 hours a day. Which meant that Mommy got very little sleep as the trucks were beeping and flashing lights and dumping loads in the middle of the night! It didn't seem to bother the rest of the family too much although Kaitlyn did wake up crying a couple of times.

On Thursday we went to Maplewood Farm. It is a five acre farm on the north side of Vancouver. They had horses, cows, goats, sheep, pigs, donkeys, several kinds of birds, chickens, rabbits and more. The girls really had a good time petting and talking to all the animals. I don't think Cody will ever be a vetrinarian because he just wanted to leave the whole time. They had two baby goats that were only about a week old. It was really fun to see Kailtlyn squealing at all the animals and trying to pet them. We'll have to work on the being soft to animals thing though!

Abi at the duck pond.

Cody in the goat pen.

Kaitlyn checking out the goats.

On Friday we were almost done with breakfast when it started pouring down rain. We quickly gathered everything and everyone up and got in the van. Then we headed to Stanley Park for the day. Our first activity was the aquarium. Again Cody was bored, but the rest of us enjoyed looking at the fish, dolphins, seals, baluga whales, aligators and more. The highlight of the day for the kids was going on the miniature train ride. They play a recorded story as you travel around and there are actors/props along the way to help tell the story too. The kids wanted to go again, but it was a little too pricey for more than one trip.

Dave, Cody and Abi all went swimming in the pool which has a couple of waterslides (I think they are crazy...it wasn't that warm outside). We played at the playgrounds and drove all around and walked around the gardens a little bit. By the end of the day everyone was pretty worn out, but happy to have had a full day of fun. It was funny to hear Abigail after each thing we did she would say, "What is our next activity going to be?" She was really enjoying doing so many fun things in one day!

When we got back to the campground it was about 8pm and the kids were tired and ready for bed, but we discovered that the downpour of the morning had leaked through our rain fly and left puddles on our beds. Dave, Kaitlyn and I all had our sleeping bags and blankets wet through. Rather than spend another sleepless night listening to road construction (in a cold wet bed) we put the kids in their pajamas, packed everything up and drove home. We made it to Edmonds with a few minutes to spare to catch the last ferry of the night to Kingston.

All in all it was a fun family trip (if you leave out the camping part). It reaffirmed to me that I am NOT a city girl. As soon as we left Vancouver and were traveling through green fields and pastures it was as if my whole body could finally relax. I'm not sure what it is about big cities, but they are all the same to me. Loud, too crowded, too many buildings and people everywhere. I guess my spirit just really needs to be around Gods creations. The trees and flowers and greenery just make me happy!