More Banff Photos...

Prairie Dogs - Banff

If you sit quietly and wait long enough by the holes in the ground...

Kevin looks like he's ready to play wack-a-mole.

Snow! April 26-27

It was freezing driving through the Rockies. Freezing yet beautiful. We were lucky to see as much wildlife as we did since we only stayed one night in Banff. We saw a mountain goat by the road, a coyote in a field, prairie dogs, and a herd of elk. The third photo is Lake Louise, while the other 2 are near the town of Banff.

More Porteau Cove, April

Trina, Teegan and Stella visited us one afternoon in Porteau Cove. We had a wonderful time on the beach collecting sea glass treasure and watching a seal in the waves. This was our last get together with the cousins before we began heading east towards the Rocky Mountains.

Porteau Cove, April

We spent a few nights at Porteau Cove provincial park, just north of Vancouver. Our site right at the beach was beautiful and peaceful. Hummingbirds were everywhere.

Visiting In Vancouver

We got a chance to visit with the wonderful Veino family and also my great friend Cheryl and her little guy Logan while we were in Vancouver.

Kelly, Rob (Jim's brother, remember Australia's cousin Jim?) and Hayden visited us at our bus one afternoon and then Hayden and Rob had another visit the next day while Trina and I caught up on some much-needed sister time. Hayden is in the first photo with the girls. We were hoping for a Veino family photo, next time. It was a family reunion when Jim joined us on skype from Australia, then later aunt Betty joined in from Nova Scotia thanks to Jim's skype prowess. Thanks for making the trip in Veino family, it was great to see you and to meet Hayden. We always appreciate your comments on the blog.

Cheryl and Logan also made the trip into the city. It was really cool to meet Logan. (He's in the 3rd photo with the girls). We also got to meet Libby their chocolate lab. As Cheryl said, isn't it great (wierd? cool?) that now our kids get to meet. We had a great play at Ambelside park where the activities involved the teeter totter, throwing rocks in the river, and thanks to Cheryl's preparedness with baby wipes, cleaning bird poop off the hands. It was great seeing you again Cheryl and meeting Logan. Maybe someday we can meet Ken. Keep on rockin' Logan!

Vancouver Aquarium, April, 15

Thanks Trina, Teegan, and Stella for joining us at the aquarium. We enjoyed visiting all the fishy critters with you. Remember the turtle that looked at Stella and Mercedes, and the waving baby beluga? How did that stick bug feel on your hand Teegan?

What a fun afternoon!

Pender Harbour, Easter Weekend

We spent the Easter weekend on the Sunshine Coast in Pender Harbour. The girls enjoyed the ferry ride up to Gibsons. Trina, Tony, Teegan and Stella's house is looking great and they're looking forward to being able to enjoy their property full-time.

We had a play on a nearby beach that Teegan and Stella call 'crab beach'. You can guess why. The girls had fun collecting little crabs in their buckets, then letting them go. Once the tide went out we found oodles of purple starfish, Stella is posed here examining the wiggling tentacles on the bottom of a helpless specimen.

The Dads took all the kids to nearby Sechelt where they bought a bag of gold fish each, releasing them into Teegan and Stella's pond later that day.

On Easter Sunday the Easter bunny found us once again. That afternoon, after a huge brunch, we spent a few hours playing at the Sechelt pool where you can zoom down a slide, swing on a rope, or float around a lazy river. A great way to minimize the chocolate damage.

Thanks for the hospitality you guys. We enjoyed your wildlife, and the animals on your property too!

April 9

Queen Elizabeth Park, Vancouver. We explored the tropical Bloedel Conservatory here. Thanks to Teegan and Stella for telling us to look out for Charlie the cockatoo, he did some great summersaults for us! Most flowers in the park were just starting to push up from the ground but the daffodils were out in full bloom.

Back To Canada, Farewell USA - April 5

We're back! We rolled across the border on April 5th into British Columbia and settled into the Capilano rv park in West Vancouver. We really enjoyed our

Kyra turned 10 on the 7th. Double Digits. She decorated her own cake as you can see, then with the help of Trina's graciously lent van we went to see 'Monsters vs Aliens' in 3D. That's a fun movie. We had a birthday dinner at Trina, Tony, Teegan and Stella's place complete with decorations, hats, and the always popular noisy party horns. Unfortunately none of our birthday dinner photos turned out, so just imagine it. Thanks for the party guys!

The Zoo, Portland, Oregon - April 2

I can't seem to get my pictures to show up in the correct order, they fell asleep after the zoo. We rented a car for a day while our bus was being serviced and had a great time parking wherever we wanted to and passing other vehicles on the highway!

We had great fun feeding the lorikeets and watching a baby elephant follow it's mom around.

Oregon

Oregon has a beautiful coastline all the way up. The camping is great too. We had more great walks on the beach, even though it was very chilly and drizzly. We visited Hatfield marine science visitors centre in Newport where the girls got to feed seaweed to the abalone and watched the anemones move their food to their mouths. It's a fantastic centre with eels, fish and crabs, short films, touch tanks, and hands-on exhibits, all for a donation. The sea lions were hanging around on the docks at the little town's waterfront.