My Surprise Trip

 

This past weekend Clara and I got to travel to the Valley to surprise my mom for her birthday! 

Despite being a bit hungry during take off, Clara was an absolute delight on the flight there. We sat with a very friendly couple and the lady even let Clara gnaw on her hoodie strings. 

Let's be honest, Clara really was the star of the show.

I'm so grateful for my dad and brothers who helped pull this surprise off! 

Vancouver lived up to its reputation of being rainy...

We went to the Bloedel Conservatory as a family outing in honour of Mom's birthday

It was really fun to see all the different birds they had there!

Such a neat building

Lots of interesting plants too

Ethan and Addi

This guy was really funny

He kept hanging on this bar like this and then sliding down it like a firepole.

I found the core of the ravenalas so fascinating

The birthday mastermind and birthday girl 😀

Mom's birthday actually hasn't happened yet, but she's leaving on a trip of her own and so it worked best to celebrate a few days early. 

Clara was so excited by Ben's remote control car. She kept following it as much as her little body could keep up. 

Everyone out for dinner

Clara's quilt from Grandma

On Sunday I was able to have conversations with 4/6 of my grandparents, not too bad for not planning any visits with them during my time in town. 

I was showing Grandma Buma photos of the kids and all the snow we have in PG

I woke up on Monday at 5:15am to getting ready to leave for my morning flight but found an email saying my flight had been cancelled and rescheduled for Tuesday evening! Well, that was not going to work, considering I had kiddos to get back home to and a husband who was needed at work. So after going back to sleep and waking later feeling refreshed and more sane, I called the airline and expressed the need to get on a flight today. Thankfully that was able to get sorted out and I was put on a flight later in the evening. 

Which gave me a surprise additional day to spend with my mom. 

Peter's birthday was the next day and the girls put together this neat little decoration for him

Chasing the car again

Due to my flight cancellations I was given several food vouchers to spend at the airport. Gratefully we weren't already at the airport when we learned of our cancellation, but I did have some time to kill between getting dropped off and boarding for the flight so I bought myself a very large midnight snack and lots of treats for the kids. 

This salad was delicious. I ate half at the airport and the rest was my lunch the next day. 

Clara won everyone's hearts on the plane and the sweet thing fell right asleep during takeoff and stayed that way right until the end. 

So thankful for this weekend, and for everyone who helped us pull it off on both ends. My family for planning the surprise, for our church family for helping with the kids in different ways, and for Will for holding down the fort with the older three kids at home.