Home to BC for a week

The last week of August, I took the girls home to Canada to see my family.  We hadn't been home in a year, which means we haven't seen my brothers and their families since I was home with the girls last year.  Ava was just a newborn then... and now she's a toddler!

Me and my brothers, at the beach near Victoria, BC

Jason stayed home to get organized for the start of the school year.  I had 3 days of course right before we left, and Jason watched the girls for the weekend by himself.

I was proud of how we traveled there.  On Monday, Jason drove us the the airport early before school and helped us check in and get rid of our luggage.  Then I took the girls through security and on to the gate and plane.  Interestingly, our black graco stroller didn't fit through the security screening on the conveyor belt, but I'm certain it has in the past.  I think it actually broke the conveyor belt.  But we just wheeled it around like they would with a wheelchair - no big deal.  We even took milk and snacks on that were bigger than 3 oz... so thanks TSA for being kind to families.

The kids did well on the plane.  I paid $5 for Wifi so Rachel could watch a movie.  There were two family movie choices, and she chose 'Dispecable Me' over 'The Lorax'.  She watched half of it and then decided she was done with it.  Ava finally napped at the end of the flight in the carrier.

I managed to pick up our luggage and survive the hardest part of the journey: Ava in the carrier, Rachel walking beside me, I pushed a stroller holding 2 car seats in front of me, and pulled a rolling bag behind me with all our clothes/travel crib/high chair in it.  We loaded on to a car rental shuttle bus with the help of the airport shuttle staff, and then into the rental car line up.  It took over an hour to wait in a huge line of cruise ship tourists to get to our car.  Then I installed both car seats, buckled the girls in, and drove 2.5 hours to the Anacortes ferry.  We had a beautiful ferry ride!  Ava loved walking in and outside into the wind, and passed over 2 hours just walking in and out, in and out laughing.

We finally made it to Uncle Jeff's house in the evening, satisfied.  Although it was a good day and the girls did really well, I'm not sure I'll do that again.  It is a lot cheaper to fly to Seattle than Victoria or Vancouver, even with a ferry trip and a car rental.  But it's a lot of work and travel time for everyone.

We spent the next week with family.  Playground time, lake time, hiking, beach time, and playing with cousins.  It was lovely.  There were two new dogs in the family to meet, and Ava is now a big fan of dogs.

Uncle Tony and cousins paddle at Elk Lake

Picking blackberries with Nana

The short walk from Nana's house to the beach

My awesome brother and sister-in-law

Making kelp heads with cousins

My Dad plays with Monty the dog

My 92 year old Grandma, who is doing awesome

My mom (Nana), my aunt Jocelyn, and my grandma

Top of Little Mount Doug

We spent our last night in Vancouver catching up with wonderful friends.  Ava seemed wide awake at 4am and woke Rachel up, so we just decided to go ahead and start our drive back to Seattle.  We did the reverse trip and survived well enough to meet Jason at the airport and come home.

As usual, it was lovely to go, but it was lovely to come home!