Vancouver

We have been planning on going over to Vancouver for a few months now and when we finally had planned to go everyone got sick, so we stayed home, not knowing when another available day would come along. On Nya's birthday it poured rain and Darren stayed home. We threw ourselves together and hopped on a ferry. We went to the Vancouver Aquarium, one of our favorite places. They have 2 baby beluga whales there right now. They are just my favorite animal in the whole entire world, I don't know why, I just love them (maybe it is because they are this most amazing white). One of the new little baby's was such a ham. It would come right up to the edge where everyone was standing and just look at you with open mouth, as if it were actually smiling and saying, "I know I am soooo cute, just look at me". It found a leaf in the water and it would suck it into it's mouth and then blow it back out over and over again. Later on when went inside to view them under the water, Nya laughed every time a whale swam by, it was the funniest thing - I wonder what she was thinking? We saw so many amazing animals. They also have a theater 4-D theater there and we got to go and see Planet Earth's, Shallow Seas. They warn you ahead of time that some small children get scared and have to leave. You wear 3-D glasses and they have all sorts of special affects come out at you, from wind blowing as the are panning over the sea and water spraying as the whales come up for air, bubbles blow at you as the take you under water and all sorts of fun things. Nya DID NOT like it, but we made it through with out having to leave (thank goodness for that lipgloss in my purse). After we were done at the Aquarium, we headed over to Ikea (I love my Ikea) to check out what I thought from the magazine pictures were the most perfect couches that I have been hunting for for 2 years now, only to be so disappointed. So the search continues! We caught the 9 o'clock ferry and were home safe and sound and way too late at 11:40 p.m. Thank goodness the next day was Saturday! We had a great time celebrating Nya's birthday in style and all together. 

Strings And Sealing Wax And Other Fancy Stuff

When I was a child and I heard the song, 'Puff the Magic Dragon', I used to wonder what sealing wax was. I thought that it must be some sort of wax on ceilings, what else could it be? In my very young age, that made perfect sense, now just what in the world was it ACTUALLY? Although I learned long ago what it was, I never had reason to use it............ until now! Along with our medieval unit that we are doing with our homeschool group, we discussed the ways they communicated. The kids each made a feather quill and wrote a letter on parchment paper and sealed them up with ribbon and sealing wax. It was very fun and it makes a letter look VERY IMPORTANT!

Nya Is 1

Nya turned 1 today. We LOVE this baby. I have the fondest memories of this time last year. I thank God every day that He knew we needed Nya in our lives. Happy 1st birthday, Baby!