vancouver aquarium

today we headed across the border to enjoy the "fishes" at the vancouver aquarium.

really cool jelly fish

although we were there right in the middle of e's naptime, he really seemed to enjoy it. we saw big fish & small fish, orange fish & blue fish, round fish & flat fish. we also saw baluga whales, turtles, dolphins, and frogs!

staring at the underbelly of a big fish

hello turtles!

at the end of our afternoon at the aquarium, e's blurry-eyed, i-desperately-need-a-nap self, would tell you that this goofy quarter-slot car tucked by the bathrooms was his favorite thing.

hitching a ride with an amphibian

as his mama, I would say his favorite thing about the aquarium was to hike up te fake rock structures to stand independently with nose pressed against the glass to watch all the "fishes".

up close

after all that wildlife appreciation, we enjoyed burgers & gelato with our friends jason & tania before we headed back to the u.s.a.

E is very good at sharing - when it is to his advantage

to complete a lovely trip to canada, e made the border guard on the u.s. side VERY nervous with his cover-my-head-with-my-blankie-so-I-can-sleep-in-the-car trick!

this pic was taken in july, but e looked very similar this evening

now admittedly, this sleeping strategy is really creepy, but the look of fear in the guy's eyes was priceless as he asked pat, "why do you have the kid's head covered... take it off of his head!"  i thought pat & i were headed for the slammer!