The entire family had a blast at the HR MacMillan Space Centre, which was a pleasant surprise. There were a good number of exhibits, including one on aliens! The Lego table, with plenty of wheels, was an added bonus.

Tom’s mom visited us for a week to celebrate Nolan’s birthday and spend some quality time with us, in general. Syd and Nolie were thrilled to play with Mimi. Mama and Daddy were thrilled to have a few date nights during Mimi’s visit.

   
We packed in fun experiences, but also left time for relaxed hanging out at the apartment. We brought Mimi to the VanDusen Botanical Garden and to the kids’ favorite neighborhood playground.

   
We also took the Skytrain one stop and walked to the Vancouver Central Library, which has awe-inspiring architecture and a great children’s section. The next day, it was time to see Earth from a different perspective in a planetarium show at the HR MacMillan Space Centre.

   
    
 
We spent Mimi’s last full day on Grouse Mountain, just north of downtown. It was our first time across Lions Bridge and riding the Skyride. The kids loved the 6+ minute ride up, and we had a blast exploring the areas at the top of the ride. Syd especially loved the grizzly bears and Nolie couldn’t get enough of watching the pheasants. The pollination garden was serene.

My baby turned two in Vancouver! I can’t believe he’s officially no longer a baby, even with his adorably delicious full cheeks and tenuous grasp of spoken language. No matter, I’ll still be babying him for a little while.

  
Tom’s mom came up to visit for this momentous occasion and we had a great time together. The kids were thrilled to hang out with Mimi. 

We started the big day with haircuts, including a big boy haircut for our big boy! 

   
 
Then, we spent the beautiful afternoon at the Van Dusen Botanical Garden again. Syd led us and Mimi through the hedge maze and the kids loved playing with lots of sticks. 

   
    
   
We ended our beautiful day with homemade chicken noodle soup (with long noodles!) and gelato birthday cake. Syd loved helping decorate the cake with candles and decorate the mirror in the background with stickers. 

Syd and Nolie have been spending a lot of time together on our trip and bonding really well as a result. Together, they are two little goofballs most of the time, whether it’s making patterns with reusable stickers on the apartment’s windows  or playing in their “house” under the dining table. They jump off furniture together, play chase around the apartment, and work on activity books next to each other. 

Syd is a star big sis and loves taking care of Nolie. She helped feed him lunch yesterday and often tells him “I help you.” She started reading books to him at bedtime too, which is the sweetest thing and he absolutely loves it. He brings the books to her instead of to us. Lately, Syd discovered that she can give Nolie “rides” with varying degrees of success. And he’s an enthusiastic participant! 

Nolie’s been picking up lots of new words up here and I love, love, love when he parrots Sydney, down to the inflections of her voice. Today, they were playing in the second bedroom and she came to the door of a room to tell me, “we are hummingbirds and built our nest in here.” Immediately after, Nolan comes to the door and imitates Syd’s words in exactly the same tone she used! It’s the most adorable thing. He even does it if Syd says “ow” after hitting her head or something, and will touch his own head and say “ow.”

  
We’ve been enjoying the outdoors the past few days while it’s sunny and mild. Discovered the amazing playground at Second Beach in Stanley Park, and the kids had fun watching the water. Also, sticks are popular right now.

   
 
Yesterday, we walked along Coal Harbour and watched seaplanes take off and land. That was a surprisingly fun and relaxing activity for all of us. We got to sit down and relax a bit while the kids were transfixed by the harbour traffic. In addition to the seaplanes, there were boats of all sizes and we saw two cruise ships. One of my favorite areas of downtown Vancouver, hands down!

We spent a sunny, crisp afternoon in Queen Elizabeth Park and visited the Bloedel Conservatory for the first time. The kids loved seeing all the exotic birds and the fish under the Conservatory’s dome.

Back outside in the park, we walked around the gardens, watched people go ziplining, saw Canadian geese in the pond, and chased after a drone. We also caught the best view of downtown Vancouver from a lookout spot. 

  
As we were leaving, we happened upon filming for a new Syfy TV series that will debut in 2016 called The Magicians. The kids were transfixed by all the commotion that was filming crew and equipment. Pretty awesome to see this!