Hugs and Kisses

This is a continuation from the post of the Guymon's trip... the day we spent at Stanley Park. It's rare that Braden and I get to be in pictures together because I'm always behind the camera. Usually I don't mind, in fact I prefer it. But with Jen's taking the shots I thought to myself... "Get in the pictures, Mon - you deeply regret not taking belly shots at the end of your pregnancy because you were all wrapped up in how "fat" you were... don't make the same mistake because Braden is growing up way too fast!"

So I got in... and these photos I like because most of them were candid - we didn't sit there and try to make it - it's just Braden and I sharing a hug, a kiss and playing on the slide.

Aches

Isn't is amazing that within a month of turning 30 I notice know that I have subtle aches in places? My back, my calf, my neck... so either it's just the aging body - or it's something telling me that I really need to get back to my pilates. I'm guessing a little hard work to stay strong will help, but in the mean time... OUCH!

Rainy Day At Whistler Village

Great picture above, huh? Jen took that picture of Chad and Braden walking through Whistler Village on a rainy Saturday. Of course we were hoping for bright, sunny skies and mild temperatures but that would not be the case. Even still it was beautiful... leaves changing (they have some of the brightest red leaves around here!). It also gave us a chance to get these pictures of Braden wearing his raincoat... which is about 2 sizes too big, but kept him dry! We just walked the village, I did some very important shopping and ate lunch before heading home for the evening.

Top: A shot of the Village and changing trees

Below: The whole gang (Guymons and Ramseys) - man, am I short or what?

Guymon's Trip... the beginning

I know I am notorious for writing (or talking) too much so I'll try and keep this brief and let the pictures speak for themselves. Immediately after picking the Guymon's up at the airport on Thursday we went directly to Granville Island. It was on the way, I needed to pick up some fresh produce at the market, I knew they could grab some lunch and it's just a neat place to check out when you visit the area. Friday we came back to Vancouver and walked through Stanley Park, where Jen got some great photos. If you recall from a few posts back when Braden and I were there the week before we checked out a whole other area. The park is HUGE.

Inside Granville Island's Public Market

The square at Granville Island, drumming and dancing show to the left (the drums kind of scared Braden until we took him outside to show him what was making the loud noise)

Jen and I at Stanley Park

"What do you people want?"

Just saw a Squirrel... very excited - these squirrels were jet black, I've never seen that before

At one of the many Stanley Park playgrounds... such a serious little fellow

Jen took my advice and got on the swings, it brings you back to your childhood, you can't help but smile!

Pictures are in!

A HUGE thank you to Jen Guymon for spending hours uploading hundreds of pictures from their trip!!! I'll be posting about the trip throughout the day (when Braden naps and goes to sleep), actually it will probably take me a few days to cover it all. Warning - there will be a lot of pictures, but it will be worth it! Great scenery... gorgeous shots of B... all in all captured some wonderful moments.
A few things I also noticed from the pictures...
1) I need a tan... just some color - desperately!
2) My hair appointment to get my hair cut and colored could not get here fast enough!
3) Braden also needs a haircut - add it to my list of things to do before we leave for Chicago this week
So this is Football Sunday and Chad leaves today for Winnipeg and doesn't get back until about 10 hours before we have to leave for the airport for Chicago. So I'm taking a bit of time to myself this morning while he's still around. We have to admit - Sundays are not the best example of stellar parenting. We still play with Braden and as always he pretty much runs the show... but on Sundays we do pull out the portable DVD player when he's requesting Dora or Baby Einsteins so we don't have to turn the football game off. But I assure you he isn't neglected. I'd just like to think of it as lazy, relaxing Sunday Funday so making sure he's working on the alphabet or numbers... a day off for everyone to just chill.

I thought I'd start with some pictures from Sunday last week. Jen and Kyle packed their Bears gear and participated in our Sunday traditions. After the game Chad and Kyle managed to squeeze in golf at Furry Creek.

And finally... GO BEARS!!!

Camera timer set... managed to get a picture of all 5 of us
Clapping for the Bears!


Totally "hamming" it up. He knew he was getting his picture taken, what a pose buddy!


Jumping and dancing...
All smiles!

Playing in the pillows on mom and dad's bed

The Guymon's on the balcony

Kyle on the golf course - Furry Creek

Chad on the golf course... strike a pose!

Cracks...

Today was the first day of Braden's new class. He wasn't old enough for this class when we moved here so I was excited that he'd have some art/craft/play-doh options we could try and and see what he is ready for... before I just tried it out at home and created a messy disaster.

So what happened at class? He had no interest in he sandbox, paint or play-doh. He just wanted to stick with the familiar and play with blocks and animal figures that we have at home. Maybe next time... but he had a blast when we were singing songs, he hammed it up to be the center of attention. And I have to give Braden props because he does a great job of sharing. I grabbed some pictures, but I had to be careful to crop out the other kiddos since it's a class policy you have to ask permission and I don't know these parents.

On another note, I have to discuss cracks... butt cracks, plumber's crack, whatever you want to call it. This morning I was feeling a bit bloated and reverted to a pair of underwear I had bought after Braden was born that just sucked things in a bit and smoothed things out, and as a result are very high on your torso - and today I didn't want the slight bulge over my pants, (front, back and mostly sides) that linger post-baby and after a week of visitors and eating too much. This wasn't so much for vanity as it was because we ladies know that pants and jeans that aren't completely outdated sit lower on your hips and I did not want to spend the hour with Braden constantly pulling up my pants. BTW, I know this is 1) not attractive 2) too much information -but "bare" with me, I know I babble on but somewhere I have a point and here it is...

I saw TONS of butt crack today... half the moms just bending over, sitting down with their kids... crack everywhere! I wasn't trying to look... it just screams out to be at least noticed, especially when it's represented at every play station! All the ladies know that this happens quite easily these days (I'm aware I have fallen victim, so now I try to be aware), which is why my suck me in, high underwear may not be stylish... or attractive - but at least when I was bending over or sitting down there was no crack show!

And in other unrelated news - being with all these other kids, most of them in this class are older - I am starting to realize just how large my child's head is!

Follow up

Maybe you thought I forgot... maybe you don't care, but for those of you that follow the blog I wrote a few weeks ago about the British Columbia alcohol tax and was determined to get to the bottom of it. Reference this post if you need to... http://ramseysinvancouver.blogspot.com/2008_09_01_archive.html#4531997353410181926

Ok... well a few weeks later and I have an answer to the question, and I had gotten half right information - which is pretty crazy. Seems wine is taxed at a total of 122%!!! No wonder I haven't been able to find anything for less than $15, no Two Buck Chuck in these neck of the woods. Below I copied the email I got in response to my question.

Monica: I am replying to you attached e-mail regarding alcohol pricing.The Liquor Distribution Branch applies a mark-up on the price of products purchased from suppliers which varies depending on product category. For wine our mark-up is 117%. There is also provincial sales tax of 10% and GST of 5% that is applied. Thank you for writing.
Gord Hall
Director, Corporate Policy
Liquor Distribution Branch
Ministry of Housing and Social Development
Province of British Columbia

Ok... here is the deal on "My Blog List"

For those of you that have blogs... this is probably something you know. However since I know I have more than 6 friends following our blog I thought I'd clarify.
On the right (below the fantasy football updates) I have added "My Blog List". I had all these blogs listed before, but now it's updated continuously as they add new posts. Two things if you're going from my blog to theirs...
1) It automatically updates from the time the post, not from the time it was checked - when I first saw this feature I thought it showed when the person looked at it (and kind of thought - wow... that's some blog stalking! Then one night I did a post around 11 something on a Saturday night and figured out that Ben wasn't up checking my blog after 1am his time a mere 9 minutes after I wrote... he has better things to do! :) But I guess that makes me kind of lame because I have now admittedly posted late Saturday night - and then checked out his blog.
2) If you click on a link... click on the name, not the post title. Like today, I've written 3 or 4 things and you would only see the last one. So link through the blog name and be directed to the home page and scroll to see if you've missed multiple posts.
I know this doesn't apply to most people checking this out, but many of you may know some of the people to my right and if you regularly follow this one, you may enjoy theirs. For instance - ISU Tri Delta? Check out "our busy days", it's Amy Garland Durso's blog. If you're from DeKalb check out BenLog for Newell's travel adventures and ruminations. ISU Sigma Chi? Justin, Heather and Olivia Boyd can be found under Illinois Expat.

Fantastic Visit!

Today Kyle and Jen Guymon left... I was sad to see them go and so was Braden (he cried and wailed "Kyle! Jen! Kyle! Jen!" when he saw them walking into the airport, broke my heart! ) I will have LOTS of beautiful pictures soon since Jen took them all, hopefully I can begin to post about their trip by this weekend.
Speaking of Jen being a photographer... she owns a studio with her mom... they did our wedding pictures. Last night Jen and I put the album together. It will be ready when we come back to Illinois in January and I cannot wait!!! Her expertise really helped to create a great photo story of the big day! We finished around 1:30 am... and my dear darling son woke up at 5:45 am. That's why I'm not going to feel guilty about putting him down about an hour early tonight.
Thank you Guymons for coming to British Columbia, I hope you enjoyed your stay and aren't too sore from the intense mountain climb I sent you to yesterday... obviously I haven't done it myself!

Was the Bear here???

Tuesday morning I made a trip out to pickup diapers and as I was pulling out I noticed some "tracks" in our front yard. While we were in Chicago in August many neighbors told us that one of the three bears in the area was chilling in our front yard for nearly 30 minutes, but we already knew one of them had visited as they left a big pile of a present in the yard.

The grass was pretty damp so footprints were easy to leave behind. While I guess it could be human prints, I'm pretty sure it was a bear because 1) it was pretty random in direction 2) The prints had a drag to them 3) The steps were pretty close together (four paws maybe?) 4) What human in this remote area is heading into a bush of vegetation (what the Black Bear eats) with a steep hill and rocks? I took a few pictures so decide for yourself. Note - the last picture is a print that I took in the rubble... It's obvious to me and doesn't look like a human shoe print... but it's possible that this one could be like looking at an ultrasound picture of a baby early on when only the parents or other parents can spot what you're looking for.

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The No Phase....

It's official... this week Braden has begun using "no"...a lot. As in,
Me: Braden would you like to come inside and have a snack?
Braden: No Mommy No
Chad: Braden, would you please put all the tupperware back?
Braden: No Daddy

But the best use was by far this exchange. Yesterday Chad was trying to give me hugs and everytime Braden (with a pout) said - "No Daddy, Knock it Off". Does that really count as is first sentence??? I have to tell you... it was hilarious.
Side note - Braden didn't learn "knock it off" because we say that to him. He learned it the day before when Chad and him were playing and they were joking around, all completely in good spirit.

As for the lack of posts, our friends Kyle and Jen Guymon are visiting from DeKalb. It's been a nice week... but also lots of visiting so I haven't had the chance to post. Jen is a photographer, so this week I have put down my camera and surrendered to her skills. The pictures she has taken are amazing and I cannot wait to share them with you... but we'll have to wait until she gets back home and sends them to me. I really wish I had the talent, knowledge and the right camera to capture precious moments.

You can expect many posts starting tomorrow night... at least for the week until we're off for another 10 day trip to Chicago!

Big Day Out

In recent posts I have referred to the Big Day Out Braden and I had on Monday. Actually the past week and half we have been out doing as much as possible to enjoy this fantastic weather. We've discovered parks in West Vancouver and Vancouver, as well as Stanley Park. Braden LOVES being with other kids and playing at the park. It does make me sad we don't have one in our neighborhood and have to drive at least 20 minutes to get to one... and 35 minutes for a decent one. His new favorite things to say this week... "Kids everywhere"and "Park fun". We started by going to the Aquarium... now it wasn't the best one I've been to, but it was very, very exciting for B. His favorites were the Beluga Whales, the Dolphin Show, and the Sea Turtle/Shark tank. Even today he's still talking about the Whales and the Sharks.

After the Aquarium, came the infamous caricature drawing. From there we strolled over and grabbed some lunch at an outdoor patio. It was Braden's nap time so I was lucky he conked out in the stroller and I walked Stanley Park... it's HUGE... and beautiful and as a lot of different things to offer. I wish I had taken advantage of it more this summer. Once Braden woke up we went to the park at Second Beach... and finally after that we made it back home. It was a perfect day! :)

Jelly fish exhibit

I saw these when I was getting a drink and had to take a picture... who wants "Wild Onion and Yogurt" Potato Chips???

The Sea Turtles and the Sharks

The Stanley Park and Grill - where we went for lunch

On our walk through the Park... a shot of downtown Vancouver

Also in the park, Totem Poles (and originally I typed out something describing them as Native American... but I'm in Canada... duh!)


Interior of the Park

At the playground... kid loves to swing. He's wearing my sunglasses that are way to big - but he was looking right into the sun so we made it work. Actually, the fit around his head, he has a big head, the lenses are just too big and and feminine.

A tube slide, a new experience for B... I'm glad it wasn't crowded and there were two of these slides because Braden talked to me through the slide for several minutes each time.

Open Letter

Dear Mom at the Vancouver Aquarium,

I think it's wonderful that you took both of your children to the Aquarium on Monday. As I write this open letter I keep reminding myself you probably had good intentions. It was a beautiful day and a good day out with your kiddos.

I would like to point out that when you forget your real camera and are trying to use your RAZR phone to capture a moment... I understand... within reason. As a mom I have been and will be guilty of snapping unsolicited, in fact unwanted pictures (just ask my husband). What I cannot understand is making your children pose for 15 minutes to catch the sea turtle in the background... when your cute kids were loudly protesting between shots and you kept complaining that you couldn't get a picture that wasn't fuzzy and making them do it over and over. All the while you kept moving your kids around and stood in the way of other families that were standing a few feet back.

I'm not sure if you got the picture you wanted since I was annoyed and left the area. I hope with all that effort and time you actually got a "non-fuzzy" picture.. and I also hope you know how to download the photo and share it with others... but next time try and remember the real camera.

Sincerely,

The person whose camera you kept stepping in front of, I got about 5 pictures of you by accident(picture one).... but took this one on purpose (picture two)!

Fall is beginning to show it's colors

I love it when the leaves change color for fall. Living downtown Chicago the past 6 years we saw a bit of it, but not in abundance and life was always moving too fast for me to remember to take notice. Here in Canada I have a some more down time to take it all in and I have a feeling it's going to be gorgeous here.

Anyway... I was just excited that fall is beginning, which is odd because I really don't like winter and fall just means the cold weather is around the corner.

These pictures were taken on Monday when Braden and I went for a 2 hour walk through Stanley Park.

My friends are going to laugh at me...

Braden and I had a big day out yesterday... aquarium, long walk, the playground, I'll post more about all of that later. But before I eat quick lunch so I can spend the afternoon while Braden is napping and enjoy this AMAZING weather we're having I thought I'd tell a quick story.

When my four girlfriends came out here in June I put together an intinery... it was of course flexible, but gave us some direction. I wanted to be sure we had plenty of time to relax, but still see some sights. Anyway... I was telling that one of the things I did not include, but was nervous to throw it out there because I was sure they would think it was TOO cheesy... which it is a total cheese ball move, but I mentioned it anyway. I suggested going to Stanley Park where they have a lot of artists sitting outside that draw you pictures, some characteriture like.

With complete sincerity and not a crack of a smile I told them I thought it would be nice to "capture a moment of all 5 of us together that would be different from the 100 plus photos we would be taking". THEY LAUGHED SO HARD THEY CRIED. The story is a little longer, broken up into two parts as they arrived different times, but that's the jist of it. Needless to say we never got the picture done.

So ladies (and anyone else reading)... yesterday I walked past the people and one of the guys offered to do Braden's pic for just $10. Now... I'm not trying to knock the guys talent for drawing someone in 1o minutes, I know I couldn't do it. However, I just don't think this totally resembles Braden. He has his mouth, teeth and nose right... but he has very, very light hair??? But here ya go... just thought I'd share for fun. And I have NO idea what I'm going to do with it now.