Katie & Claire's Vancouver Adventures!

As Zach mentioned in his last post, Claire & I spent March 10th through March 22nd up in Vancouver, while he toiled away in Pullman. We had a great visit with the family, and it was really awesome to be able to spend more than a few days there, since our standard visits are usually pretty whirlwind-ish! We really missed Zach, though!

This time, we had the chance to visit with lots of friends & family. Of course, Claire got lots of Grandma Shepherd time, as well as lots of time spent with my sister & brother, Claire's Auntie Megan & Uncle Dave. We also hung out with my youngest brother, Greg, but he was busy with work & other obligations, so didn't see as much of him as possible. Claire really loved spending time with her cousins, Emily & Matthew, who were wonderful with her & seemed to really enjoy playing with her (except when she cried...then she stopped being cool for a few minutes!). On the family front, we also visited with my aunts & uncles, as well as my brother-in-law & his family. We also headed out to Chilliwack with Grandma Shepherd to see my mom's cousin, Gail, who I hadn't seen for a number of years. Dave is staying with Gail while he is substitute teaching in Chilliwack. While we were there, Claire got to meet her first cat - she only grabbed it's tail once - the rest of the time she just kept an eye on it (as it did the same!)
It was SO nice to see everyone!

Claire got to visit with a number of my friends on this trip, too - she was a popular baby! First, we caught up with my friend Kelly & her 7 month old, Lucas, who is Claire's future husband. They behaved themselves for the most part - Claire tried to pull off Lucas' sock & Lucas tried to grab Claire's face...sounds like the beginning of a beautiful relationship, right?!
Claire & I also got to hang out with my best friend, Linsie, a couple of times and even met Linsie's ADORABLE 1o month old niece, Delyla. I'm sure Claire was jealous of Delyla's abilities to speed-crawl and stand up, but what Claire was MOST impressed with was Delyla's deluxe Jumperoo...at that point, Claire had been away from her own beloved Jumperoo for a couple of weeks, so when I put her into the deluxe Jumperoo, she jumped like a maniac for 15 minutes or more - she was so into it that she jumped both of her socks off!
Another day, my Mom & I took Claire to North Vancouver to have tea with my friend Jenn & her mom (and their huge dog, Holly, who was quite taken with Claire!).
Finally, Mom, Claire & I went to our family friends, the Penafiels. Claire had a great time with Julie (who is a couple of years younger than me), and got to sit in a high chair for the first time - so many firsts!
Again, it was wonderful to have the time to be able to catch up with so many friends!

When we weren't visiting with family & friends, we just enjoyed spending time around Vancouver. We went for walks, played with cousins, and Claire even got to hang out with her D0g-Aunties, Cassie & Sydney!

We capped the fantastic trip off with a fun road trip back to Pullman, thanks to the stellar driving & passengering skills of my brother Dave & sister Meg. They are both SAINTS for putting up with Claire (and me!) for so long...Claire did pretty well for most of the trip, but had a screaming meltdown for the last 45 minutes of the trip. Thank you, Meg & Dave, for not kicking us out on the side of the highway! We had a great time with you!

We had an excellent trip, and just wish that Zach could have been there with us. Next time, he will be!

Here are some pictures (ok, A LOT of pictures...), as well as a few videos for your enjoyment...yes, every single picture & video features Claire...what? Is that surprising?! :-)

Claire March 2012 Pictures! 
Claire Rolls Over Video
Claire in Car Seat Part 1 Video
Claire in Car Seat Part 2 Video
Claire and Emily Video
Claire Raspberry Video
Emily, Matthew, and Claire Video
Claire Bouncy Seat Video
Claire Raspberry Video Part 1
Claire Raspberry Video Part 2
Claire Reaching for a Spoon Video