Day 2: Whale Watching in Vancouver

What a great day! We all really wanted to go whale watching on this trip; it was top of the list of us. The first company we called wasn't going to go out because they didn't have enough reservations. I was pretty worried that we would all be disappointed.

We tried another company - Vancouver Whale Watch - and they were planning to take the boat out. The weather was supposed to be decent, so we went for it - and we are SO glad we did!

Goofy kids with silly scarecrow on the dock:

Our boat...

Ready to go! I was SO excited! (And so was everyone else!)

It took 2 hours to find the whales, but the scenery was so pretty that it didn't bother us at all.

How 'bout that house:

This is how Rudy spent much of those 2 hours:

Brady explored the boat. It was cold. And windy!

Lunch time.

Hey! We see one! (See the spout?!)

There it is! Humpbacks -probably a group of 5 or 6!

Moving on...and trying to keep warm.

About 10 minutes away we found the orcas:

A mixed group from J Pod and K Pod, both resident pods. Did you know that the resident orcas only eat salmon? The transient orcas eat pretty much whatever they can find - seals, sea lions, other whales. And, the transient pods all speak the same language while the resident pods each speak a "dialect" of another language. How cool!

See the baby?

SO excited - can you tell?

This is Onyx. We watched him chase down a salmon; he was coming pretty far out of the water and changing directions in his efforts.

Headed back:

Still some great views on the way back...

And more animals: stellar sea lions...

and harbor seals...

Check out how far we had to go to find the whales - all the way past Victoria:

I think the red arrow is our approximate location:

Day 2: Queen Elizabeth Park

The weather was still pretty clear when we got off the boat in the afternoon, so we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Park to take in some of the city views. We weren't expecting the beautiful fall colors, which were a definite bonus!

Day 1: Getting there is half the fun?

We didn't take too many pictures on Day 1. Why would we, really, when most of the day was taken with travel? (Of course, for the boys, that really is half of the fun!)

We did tour the Boeing trip after arriving in Seattle, but no photography is allowed there.

Two tired boys:

At the hotel in Vancouver. Rudy was supposed to be changing into his PJs, but he fell asleep as soon as he sat down!

Headed out to find something to eat the next morning...

Which way?

Halloween Cheat

A haunted gingerbread house is kind of a new concept for me! We got the whole set in our BOO! package this year, so we definitely had to try it out.

We gave the assembly a good old college try:

But soon got frustrated that it kept falling apart. James didn't mess around and just broke out the power tools.

I love Brady's face in the picture above!

James defaults to power tools. I would have used the glue gun (and have, actually, done so to assemble the Christmas gingerbread house). Either way...it works!

Autumn Hike

A beautiful fall day calls for a hike at one of our favorite trails!

Headed up...

(way up!)

Llama Llama Red Pajama Day

As part of the read for the record day, the kids were encouraged to wear their PJs to school. I made it even better by driving them in that morning, so they got an extra long time to sleep in. I brought several of the kids home that afternoon too; it was pretty funny watching them run around outside all afternoon in their jammies!

Apple glasses

The school work that Rudy is most proud of so far this year: his apple glasses

My little monsters