The weather was gorgeous today, so Gracen and I decided to head down to Stanley Park to visit the aquarium.
First stop – the beluga whales.
Next stop – the sea otters. This little guy was totally performing for Grae and she was just soaking it in. Sea otters have to be one of the cutest creatures ever.
After being outside for an hour and a half, we headed inside to warm up a little bit. Grae loves the giant tank by the entrance way that is filled with all kinds of sea creatures.
Next we headed to the dolphin underwater viewing area.
This dolphin was very playful with Grae and provided all kinds of entertainment by doing flips and twists, touching her nose to the glass, and diving in and out of the water.
After seeing most of the main exhibits, we parked our stroller and headed into Clownfish Cove for some playtime.
Gracen explored, played, and made some new friends before it was time to head downtown and meet Bradley for dinner.
Gracen absolutely adores this little sweater from “Manmaw” Sue. In fact, I think she’s worn it everyday since she got it. It doesn’t matter how much it clashes with her outfit, it’s the only jacket she wants to wear right now. Oh, and just in case you forget who it’s from, she’ll remind you every few minutes by pointing to her sleeve while announcing “Manmaw” and nodding her head convincingly.
The weather has really been warming up here in Vancouver, so this afternoon we decided to head out on a little walk around the neighbourhood.
There were some kids playing basketball at the elementary school across the street, so naturally, that’s where my little ball-obsessed lady led us.
You can’t go to the school without stopping by the playground, so that’s just what we did. (Notice that Grae’s walking up the stairs rather than crawling up them… She’s been working on that lately.)
Miss G is becoming so independent at the playground… She was able to get herself up the stairs, across the rickety bridge, and down the slide several times all on her own.
Satisfied with her time at the playground, we were back on our way. On a sort of funny side note – Grae was so into these shrubs that she lost her footing while sniffing them and fell right in! Oopsies. She was a little surprised, but just fine when I pulled her out.
On the way home, she tried her hand at collecting rocks. Lucky for me, these ones were a little too big to take with us… Next time, Grae. Next time.
We were playing in Gracen’s room this morning when she discovered this.
If she pulled all of the bins out of the one side of her shelf, she could fit inside almost perfectly.
She sat inside of her new little hideout for a good long while.
She was pretty proud of her new discovery to say the least.
Celebratory crib jumping was necessary afterwards. :)
Normally Gracen and I share the responsibility of picking out her clothes… She starts by picking out one item, and I’ll pick out another item to complete the outfit. But this little outfit? It is a creation all her own. She started by selecting last year’s incredibly summery Easter dress, but then paired it with a long sleeve tee and tights. Good save, Grae. Good save.
Little Miss G chose to wear her red sparkly shoes today and she could not have been more proud of them. As we ran errands, she kept pointing at her feet, announcing “pretty, pretty, pretty”, and then nodding her head in confirmation. :)
Hmmmm…. I wonder where Gracen could be…
Here she is!
This little girl adores her nightly bath time. Most evenings, she’s signing ‘bath’ before we’re even done dinner. Once she’s in there, I think she could stay in there all night. Her latest thing is having us close the sliding glass doors so that she can splash to her heart’s content.
We’re enjoying finally being well enough to get out and do the things we normally do. This morning we headed over to the Hillcrest Community Centre for their Sunday morning family social and play gym session.
After coming home and having a GIANT 3 hour and 15 minute nap, Gracen and I jumped on the Canada Line and headed downtown. We walked around for a little bit, visited Chapters, and then picked up Bradley from work when his shift ended. It feels good to be well again!
Bradley and the bubbas in the ball pit.
Gracen was in ball HEAVEN!
Gracen playing with the alphabet blocks on the side of the wooden school bus.
Bus driver Kins and climber Grae.
Papa built Gracen a little hideout in the toddler play area.
She was more than willing to test it out.
Where’s Grae?
There she is!
Here come Papa and Grae down the giant slide!
Wheeee!