Vancouver Vignette

Passport pictures! Clue number one that your summer vacation is gonna be pretty spiffy.

It's been more than a decade since our European honeymoon, so Jason needed a new passport, as did the big girls since it's been five years since we lived in France.  Eli and Annika got their first mugshots, so only I missed out on the passport fun.

So where did we go with our uber-pricey international ID?  Vancouver!  Thanks to the generosity of my great-grandpa John Wells, our "family reunion" was a cruise from Vancouver to Anchorage in celebration of his eightieth birthday.  The kids wouldn't have needed passports if we had chosen to drive instead of fly, but some road trips are just too long.

Oh, Canada!  It just so happens that we visited our friendly northern neighbors on the Fourth of July.  Kind of ironic since it will probably be the only day our family spends on foreign soil this year.  Funny, eh?

Even though there weren't any fireworks on the cruise ship, we still pulled out the red, white, and blue to show our patriotism. 

Before embarking on our Celebrity cruise, we enjoyed a gorgeous morning in Canada.  Despite few hours of sleep, the kids were all smiles in the morning.  Perhaps it was the limousine they got to take from the airport to the hotel, or maybe it was the fun aquabus we rode to Granville island.

Brooklyn's prepared for a splendid day.

Talia Lily--all smiles as well.

First stop--breakfast!  Jason found French Canadian meat pie at the market.  Super tasty!  Only thing missing was the cranberry sauce.

Annie Mae greets Canada with a wave "hi" as Brooklyn watches over.

Look closely and you'll see Annika adding an extra drop of drool to the Pacific.

Just love these girls.

This one too!

And let's not forget the pigeon-chasing boy.

Granville Island (which happens to be a peninsula) had an amazing public park where the kids could have splashed for free had we brought their swimsuits. 

Don't worry, we still had fun.

Brooklyn really wants to cut her hair, but I'm just not sure I can let those gorgeous locks go.

Of course, Talia's new bob is pretty dang adorable.  (There's a bit of a story behind that.  Apparently the word "trim" means something slightly different to Jason and I.  I hope he's forgiven me for flipping out when I first saw.)

Handsome Eli with his vacation cut.

Everybody swing.

Higher!

HIGHER!

All right, Papa Kay says that's enough.  Time to head back and catch our boat.

But first Annika wants one more turn down the slide.  (This babe will pitch herself off nearly anything.)

NomiAnn with our pipsqueak.

Vancouver tried to scare us off, but we weren't deceived.  Coyotes or no, this would be an absolutely lovely place to settle.  (And yes, we felt the slightest twinge of regret that UBC didn't accept our application to architecture school years ago.)

Talia admires the beautiful woodwork at one of the shops on the way out. 

Just enough time for some shaved ice before catching the ferry.

To quote Annika: Nummm.

Tuckered out, but totally content.

Delightful Vancouver, farewell!

Despite spending only a few hours in Vancouver, the city quickly weaseled its way into my heart.  My morning run along the Stanley Park Seawall was so magnificent that it was painful to turn around and go back.  I don't know if we could ever afford to live there, but I'm certainly eager to return and explore more.