Natalie & Ryan: Victoria, Canada

This trip held lots of firsts for Lilly. Some of which I'll tell about in later posts...But this day was her first time in another country. A few years ago, Grandma Griffin treated us to an Alaskan cruise for my graduation. We stopped off in Victoria, Canada, and we loved it so much, we decided to visit again. From Seattle, it's a 3 hour boat ride to the island. Yet ANOTHER early morning and 3 hour trip. We got to the boat by 7, picked out our seats, and watched and laughed as Lilly felt like such a big girl in her very own seat.

I hit up the little gift stand and bought her a little stuffed orca whale and sea otter. We named the whale Victoria. Ha! Lilly loved looking out the window. I don't think she really understood what was going on. I don't know how we managed, but the ride seemed to go quickly, and Lilly didn't have any fits. In fact, she passed out right as we were pulling into port. Ryan picked her up, gave her a blankie, and she literally fell asleep within seconds. Naps were so hard to come by on this trip, so any time she passed out, we were thankful. She always seemed to fall asleep just minutes before we got to our destination.

Another beautiful, perfect day. When my dad asked me to look at activities that I wanted to do while there, I knew which one I had to do. After looking at pictures online, we decided to visit the Butchart Gardens. If you've ever been to the Tulip Festival at Thanksgiving Point, just imagine that times a million. It was stunning!! We especially liked the Japanese gardens and the rose garden. I was overjoyed when I saw that they had a carousel. I was SO going to take Lilly for a ride. We rode the kitty, of course. She loved it! I thought she would be scared, but she actually had fun petting the big kitty, saying hi to everyone around us, and holding on tight while we went up and down and round and round. She loved it, but I hated it. Since having kids, my equilibrium sucks. I get sick so fast. Roller coasters, spinning rides, and boats make me sick, where they never did before. I was only so happy to get off the merry-go-round. Oh, and I forgot to mention that by this point, Lilly had (and I'm not even exaggerating) another 6 tourists take her picture. What is it about my baby that has tourists acting like they've never seen a baby before??

After the Butchart Gardens, we decided to wander the downtown area. Since we had a 3 hour, late boat trip ahead of us, we wanted to grab dinner beforehand. Our bus driver suggested lots of places to eat, but we were denied entry into every single one of them, since we had Lilly with us. If they served alcohol, we weren't allowed to bring in minors. I was bummed, because one of them was an Irish pub that offered fish and chips. We finally found a place that let us in. My dad, Lilly, and I all split a burger, while Ryan got a personal pizza. My dad and I just ate the meat off the burger, and let Lilly nibble the fries. She was so distracted, eating was the last thing she wanted to do.

On our way back to the boat, we stopped at a Gelatoria for Ryan. It's so hard to find legit, good gelato anywhere, so he was more than happy when it was the real deal. I so desperately wanted a scoop of the coconut gelato....The boat ride back was a breeze. Lilly fell asleep about half way through, so I just slept and snuggled with her. We got lost on the drive home. My dad lives here for heck sake, yet still managed to get us lost, adding about 30 minutes onto our late arrival home. I was SO tired by that point. Early mornings and long trips were starting to wear on me. But I will say this...I would love to go back to Victoria for a longer visit. Such a gorgeous island!