Canada Day & Fourth of July

We were lucky enough to be able to go up to Vancouver for the week of Canada Day (July 1st for all of our American readers!) and Fourth of July (hopefully that one is self-explanatory!). Zach's work has an office in Burnaby (a suburb of Vancouver), and they graciously allowed him to work out of the Burnaby office for the week. He got Canada Day off (since the office was closed), in exchange for working on July 4th. It was a pretty great deal (you know, apart from the whole fact that he had to work at all), since he didn't have to burn up vacation time, but still got to enjoy evenings & weekends with the rest of the gang.
We left Boise on Friday, June 29th, at around 9pm - in hopes that Claire would sleep for the majority of the trip! Luckily, she conked out pretty quickly, and only really woke up when we stopped for gas. She went back to sleep as soon as we got on the road again, so really, she was a great little traveler. Of course, Zach & I only got about an hour or 2 of sleep each overnight, so we were definitely feeling it the next morning, when we arrived in Vancouver around 7am local time! There are certainly pros & cons to either travelling during the day (risking a screaming baby for the 11 hour drive) or travelling during the night (risking zombie-parents the following day!)
We had a great visit with the Vancouver contingent! It was so great to spend lots of time with my Mom, brothers, and my sister & her family. Claire had a wonderful time playing with her cousins, and they even got to go swimming in a (very warm & awesome!) pool - Claire loved it so much that she wasn't even complaining after 2 hours straight in the water! Needless to say, her fingers & toes were little tiny prunes! Claire, Emily & Matthew (and Mommy & Auntie Megan) also played at the park with some of Emily & Matthew's friends & their moms (Megan's friends). It was nice to hang out with some other moms.
For Canada Day, we had a barbeque with my family & my Auntie Margaret - lots of turkey burgers & hot dogs with great potato salad & green salad. Yum! For Fourth of July, it was pretty low-key - Zach worked all day, and Claire & I went to dinner with a friend of mine. Zach did get to enjoy a pizza dinner (from one of his favorite Vancouver pizza places!) with my mom. Claire wore her holiday-specific tshirts for each day, and there are some pictures below (as well as videos & other miscellaneous pictures).
While on this trip, Grandma Shepherd showed Claire how to sit up on her own from a lying-down position. She can do it herself, but sometimes just doesn't feel like it (it's so much easier to just whine until someone sits you up, right?!)...we're working on it! She also plays "Pattycake" sometimes (again, only when she feels like it!) and is giving high-fives & learning to wave hello or goodbye! It was a busy week!
We were also able to get our last piece of living room furniture (an entertainment stand) from IKEA while on this trip - IKEA Canada had a sale going on, and we capitalized on the deal! Once it gets put together, it will join the new bookcases, end tables & sofa table to complete the living room furniture update - we'll be sure to post pictures once everything is in place!
Now that we're home, we're settling back into our routine & Claire seems to be recovering in the sleeping department! Zach is off to his work's headquarters in Pullman, WA for the end of the week (leaving Wednesday, coming back Friday), so Claire & I will be keeping busy while he's gone!
Enjoy the pictures & videos!
Love,
Katie, Zach & Claire

Vancouver 2012 Pictures!
Claire With Emily Video
Claire Giggling Video
Emily Reading to Claire Video
Claire Likes Books Video
Claire With Cassie Video
Claire Likes Blocks Video
Lunch at the Shepherds Video