Vancouver, Victoria, Seattle

We left Thursday afternoon in a bit of a panic. As usual, things not done in time. And Isabella had a poopy diaper at day care which we had to change. We thought that would save us for the rest of the flight, but no, I forgot to follow the cardinal rule of toilet after nursing, and we had another mess at Dallas airport, which was most inconvenient because they don't really have changing tables or family bathrooms. Sigh. Here we are walking through one of their strange sculptures at the airport. On the plus side, she fell asleep as we walked around and around and around.

Our flight was late. They made up most of the time, but then they mislaid the car seat, so we had to file a baggage claim. Grumble. But they have spare loaner car seats (good to know) so at least we could be driven somewhere. Alla came and picked us up in her mini, which was a bit entertaining (good thing we're all pretty small). Isabella fell asleep on the drive from the airport but, sigh, woke up again. Alla fed us good food then we went to sleep on her cool foam bed. Reminder to self to buy large chunks of foam and cover them - they assemble nicely into chairs or beds.

Despite getting to bed late Isabella was reasonably cheerful in the morning. Alla fed us breakfast and then took us down to the seaport. After much research we decided to take the plane over (thanks Alla!) which was a far more pleasant way to get to Victoria than bus to ferry.

Here we are posed in front of the seaplane (it's a very small operation - we booked our tickets an hour in advance and we could cancel up to 10 minutes before flight time). And I got to keep Isabella in the sling, which was nice because she fell asleep, eventually.

It's only half an hour to Victoria but it's a very pretty flight, even if it was a bit cloudy and rainy.

And, of course, there was the airplane safety card to keep her amused.

Brian picked us up at the seaport and took us to the UVic faculty club where we had lunch with Bruce, Amy, Zoe, Brian and Shawna. It's so much fun to have two babies eating lunch. Although Zoe seemed more interested in running around in circles than necessarily eating (she's fast!)

After lunch we visited Brian's yet to be finished house (more finished, though, then the last house was when I visited many years ago). We had dinner at Bruce and Amy's with the same crowd. After dinner was bath time!

Here we are, getting clean and trying to keep Zoe from standing up. Zoe kept handing Isabella things, then wanting them back. Isabella, of course, was unclear on the reciprocity thing. But she had a grand time splashing around.

For breakfast Isabella ate whatever Zoe had left. Zoe wasn't quite sure if she was done, though. The next day we tootled around downtown Victoria, taking in lunch (dim sum) some coffee (complete with dog-dish entertainment) and dinner (two high chairs, please - they had to search for the second one).

Zoe and Isabella had a good time together. Zoe kept trying to pat Isabella on the head - she didn't seem to mind. I think Isabella is a bit jealous of Zoe's get up and go abilities!

After a long day of tootling around, both of them crashed in their respective car seats.

Fortunately, Amy and Bruce still had a bouncy seat, so we were able to get Isabella to sleep relatively easily. She managed to sleep at least part of the night there, which was a nice change.

To get to Seattle I took another seaplane. Aunt Barb and mom picked me up and off we went to grandma's, with a stop at Fred Meyers to pick up some G-Diapers on sale, no less.

All of the family came to visit and Isabella practiced opening the coffee table doors. She still hasn't gotten the crawling thing down yet, but she was able to stand (with help) at the coffee table and try to pull the flowers off of the table. We had to go for a walk to get her to take a nap; only a short one, unfortunately. We had a nice dinner, though, with Isabella throwing everything on the floor and making quite a mess.

By the time I left Monday poor Isabella was a bit tired. The flight was horrible - I was in a seat in front of the toilets that didn't recline, and sandwiched into the window with two big guys on my left. Fortunately, the guy next to me was a grandpa and was very nice about Isabella going ballistic. And, of course, there was turbulence so I couldn't get up and walk her. And then we were delayed landing and stuck on the tarmac waiting for a gate. Once I stood up, she was fine. Sigh. At least the second flight wasn't as bad (shared a row with a mom). We were late, so we didn't get back home until 2am, at which point a certain someone was sound asleep, and slept in very late. But hey - they had our car seat.

Here she is, practicing opening the coffee table door, wearing her new clothes from Aunt Barb (good thing, because I'd run out of clean ones). She also practiced standing up while hanging onto the coffee table.