"Negative on the stamps for U.S. visitors, eh."

This was our first greeting in Canada from the border patrol on the way from Seattle to Vancouver, by car. Us newbies to the passport thing wanted a stamp, but they didn't have them. Sadness. But thankfully, that was the lowest point of the trip. For those of you that don't already read Sara W.'s blog too, Preston, Sara, Luke and I went on an AWESOME trip to Seattle, Vancouver and Whistler this past week. We had SUCH a great time, eating, relaxing, hiking, biking, eating, walking around, shopping, eating, seeing the sites, basking in the beautiful weather, and yes, more eating. Here are some highlights from the trip:

1. Ziplining across the mountains and raging rapids of Whistler, BC. We're crazy!
2. Eating all different kinds of good food. We're so good at it. I think I'm still full.
3. Walking around Vancouver's Stanley Park, and visiting the Aquarium. Awesome.
4. Renting bikes in Whistler and riding around the trails, seeing beautiful lakes.
5. Meeting Jan from "The Office" - see Sara's story on that one. It was so cool!
6. Seeing the first Starbucks ever in Seattle's Pike Place Market, and eating tons of fresh fruit from there. Such a neat place!
7. Anniversary dinner at Anthony's in Bellevue with Luke - GREAT seafood. (Luke and I were in Seattle for about 24 hours before Preston and Sara met us - happy six years baby!)
8. The Capilano Suspension Bridge. Scary!
9. Riding the train from Whistler back to Vancouver. So gorgeous.
10. The International Fireworks Competition in Vancouver - we watched Spain. It was the BIGGEST fireworks show I've ever seen, and probably will ever see. Amazing.

Of course, we were ready to see Cooper after seven days apart. He had so much fun with Nonnie and Poppie that he probably didn't even notice we were gone for that long. It was good to get away for a while, but we REALLY missed him while we were gone. I promise, he grew.

Book update: I finished reading The Kite Runner, and it was GREAT. I loved it. I'm working on The Time Traveler's Wife right now, and will let you know how it goes.

Here come the pictures!

Me and the hubby.


First Starbucks - my Mecca.


My attempt at being artsy.


Outdoorish.


Best part of the trip. The gang.


Jan from The Office! We watched her stroller!


Gorgeous lake.


"What? We're walking across where?"


"It's not that high up!"


Train ride along the mountains.


Some video of the Capilano Bridge and the fireworks show. Both pretty cool.

Thanks!

Thanks everyone, for the GREAT recommendations! Drum roll ... I've chosen to finish The Kite Runner, and read The Time Traveler's Wife. Randomly, I will also be reading The Reagan Diaries, as my mom has these two books in her possession. (Thanks Mom!) I'll let everyone know what I think after I read them. Again, I appreciate the recommendations.

Gilead will be next, only because everything I'm reading is free right now. Carolyn's shining recommendation was the most motivational. You win the award!

How many a man has dated a new era in his life from the reading of a book. Thoreau

I need a good book to read. What is your favorite book of all time? Something that you could read over and over again and never get tired of. Or, something you've recently read that truly changed your life.

I have The Kite Runner right now, but I've read to page seven, and had it for about six months. Depressing.

Please tell me, I need a list of good reads as I will have some time soon that I can read and relax for a while, and I want to see what everyone's reading!

Keepin' up

Seems like I'm apologizing for not keeping up with this thing every time I write. Hey, I do what I can!

Last weekend, we went to the beach in Port Aransas with my family. It was a blast! Cooper had a great first-time-at-the-beach experience, even with the seaweed. He would just run out into the water and one of us would have to chase after him. If it would have just been me and Luke, we would have been exhausted! We had a great July 4th too. Weird that it was on a Wednesday, but it broke up the week a little bit, so that's good.