4th of July in STL

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3rd Birthday Solstice Celebration

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Victoria B.C.

The Fairmont Empress

Emmett went with Mommy and Daddy to the beautiful Fairmont Empress in Victoria B.C. We enjoyed a fun trip to and from on the Victoria Clipper Boat which was a scenic 2 hour ride. We found many creative ways for passing the time from listening to Mommy's iPod to Daddy finding out that bloody marys were available for purchase.

The waters made for a pleasant trip and the ample sunshine offered specatular views of the mountains and islands.

The pool at the Empress and Emmett became well acquainted during many visits with Mom and Dad.

We enjoyed our room very much and a little time to ourselves thanks to our "friend" Cindy who came from Spoonfull of Sugar Nannies to play with Emmett on Saturday morning for several hours. Mom and Dad went down to check out the Rotary District Conference and listen to some great speakers.

Evenings in our room started out somewhat interesting due to the fact that Emmett did not want to fall asleep in the presence of either of his parents. Fortunately there were a couple of sitting chairs just outside our room door at the intersection of two hallways. We also got a chance to meet a lot of our neighbors on the floor.

Transportation was mostly on foot in the harbor on Victoria - so much to see and do. We visited the Undersea Gardens and had the opportunity to play with some older kids and watch eels and octopus swim with a SCUBA diver.

The Miniature World exhibit captivated Emmett's attention to the point of forced march departure. We must have spent 30 minutes there as Emmett's mouth was held agape.

Our dinner Saturday night was at a local pizza place that Jodi thought was pretty good, but not very memorable - which explains why we can't recall the name.

We had such a fun time together and enjoyed visiting such a hip, historical town on the West Coast. As always - it was great to get home and then we rocked.

Born to Be Wild

Baby Sister

While getting ready for bed Emmett and I were reviewing the names for everyone in our family - Dad is Justin, Mom is Jodi, etc. We talked about Papa is John and Gramma is Alex, he listed off his cousins Hannah and Ryan and we proceeded to talk about his whole family and what everyone's name is. Then I told him that we have a baby girl coming soon and that will be his sister.

Emmett told me that he wants to give his baby sister a hug and to hold her. I asked him what name she should have and he provided an answer other than "sister" or "baby" for the first time. This time Emmett looked up at me and said, "How about Baby Beluga?"

So, for the time being our little prenatal gem will bare the name Baby Beluga.