Forest Museum and Vancouver Aquarium

My dad and Raquel came out to visit for a week the day after we got back home. We were happy to have company, but boy it sure it hard to switch gears after a summer season! But we had a bunch of fun things planned - the first one being heading to the Forest Discovery Center in Duncan. They were having a big birthday party bash with fun things going on - Quinny was mostly excited about riding on the train! She was so giddy! I love going on adventures with her because she is just so happy and stoked about everything

So nice to be together!!

Loving the train ride

My Dad is so good with Quinny - he is clearly just so infatuated with her, it is really cute. He's a good Grandpa to her

This made me laugh - we stopped and let Q play at the park for a while, and as she was running around, I looked over and these two were playing X's and O's haha!

They bought us crab to make that night for dinner, and we were so excited for it - we are a big seafood family! However. that crab refused to go in the water. He flung his legs out and held onto the edges and Jon had to force the poor little guy into the water. I almost lost it, I was so rattled! I realize it's food, and we eat it... but I just don't like seeing creatures in pain. They all teased me about the tears in my eyes. But half hour later, I did enjoy the crab :)

Tuesday was Jon's last day off (he got three days off in a row after camp ended), and we decided to make the most of it! We drove over to Vancouver to go to the Aquarium! Raquel was really wanting to go, and I was happy to jump on board because we love the Aquarium. Such a great place to spend the day.

She loved this guy and how it looks like he is smiling at her. It was so cute watching her talk to him

Watching her favorite fish swim overhead

Love this smile.

Making friends with the octopus 

Watching the Beluga whale show! I love the Aquarium and how it handles marine life. The focus is rehabilitation. Such a striking difference from the shows I saw in San Fran at Sea World. And so much to learn at the Aquarium, and Q just absorbs it all in

These two are my whole heart. It is wild that humans we have the capacity to love this much. I adore them.

The coolest part about this visit was that they had a stingray exhibition open. We washed our hands and arms and they let us put our hands in the water and touch the stingray's with two fingers. It was amazing! Quinny and I both loved this!

Hanging out with a three year old this much can be a lot for anyone who doesn't have a 3 year old living in their house. But these guys were so chilled out, and accommodating and made the day very easy for all of us, which I so appreciate!!!

She saw this piano and ran right over yelling "I want to play the piano like Mimi!" I want you to play the piano like Mimi does, too!

Thank goodness for the Tula. It saves us on big outings like this! No whining about sore legs, no sore arms for the parents. Win win!

She was out after just a few minutes in the car - it was a big, busy, fun day!

The next morning, Jon went to work and I had a a headache, so they took Quinny for a few hours. They went into Chemainus and hit up the candy shop and the skate shop! She came home with lots of candy, new Toms, and a play-doh set - holy moly! But I have learned that Grandparents like to spoil grandkids, so it's all good, because mostly she came home happy, and full of stories about her fun morning. I love that they are getting time together to bond and have fun.