back from vacation

vacation, when done right, should take you out of the ordinary. so i suppose that when you live a stone's throw from the beach, it makes sense that vacation would take you somewhere in the rainy mountains.

did you know that seattle is closer to canada than to oregon? it is so so close. i grew up spending a week in whistler, british columbia every summer, and this year my parents invited us to join them! i hadn't been back for ten years, and many things have changed (from good to great) since the 2010 winter olympics, but it was thrilling to spend five days showing tovi and cruz a place that i truly love. 

it rained the whole time, but do you know what? there is much more scope for imagination in the rain than in the sun. (it also reminded me of every single field trip i went on in school-- huddled in rain coats under awnings, park rangers daring us to lick banana slugs, sea gulls flying off with our paper lunch sacks. california doesn't build that kind of character)

cruz would have been satisfied if we had spent our entire vacation in the airport.

i think cruz does pretty well for himself as a grandchild, and my parents were born to be grandparents. such mutual adoration.

mama bear and baby bear.

whistler/blackcomb farmers market. note: the children are making little lollipops from hot maple syrup poured over ice. ma, mary, and laura make this same treat in Little House on the Praire (Little House in the Big Woods). and now you know everything you need to know about whistler. 

tovi and i had a date night-- drinks at one restaurant, dinner at another, a little shopping... dreamy!

[and yes, for those keeping score at home, i did try to look like my favorite canadian jillian harris all week]

via possessionista

site of the olympic medal ceremonies and also the site of the cutest picture we've ever taken.

yes, our lions are international travelers. 

diapers and crocs... this is a babe on vacation.

in canada they call reese's a nonpossessive "reese." i don't even know what to do with that information.

thank you, mom and dad, for the lovely week!