Seattle, Washington Day 3

 We got up bright and early on Sunday morning, since it was a Holiday weekend, Dr. M wanted a headstart at the border because you never know how long it is going to take.  We left the hotel at 7:30 AM and were at the border by 8:00. It took over an hour to get through even though there was not a lot of traffic ahead of us. They are much more thorough at this border and did have us get down with our carry on only. There were different lines and depending on which line you got in, decided your wait time.  Speedy and I got lucky and got a nice young guard. He pretty much waved us through. (I think the younger, the friendlier.) Tianna and Teresa got an older gentleman and he asked Tianna a lot of questions and I was worried he wasn't going to let her through.

 Once we got through we headed to Pike Place and had about an hour to walk around and see all the cool things. We could have easily stayed there longer, but we had reservations at the EMP museum.

 The Original Starbucks is at Pike Place and the line goes around the corner. There are also musicians outside entertaining the crowd.

There were so many beautiful flowers and we wanted to buy some and take them home, but we knew they would die since our flight wasn't until 6:30.

 The EMP museum is also referred to as the Jimi Hendrix museum and it is really cool! It has so many hands on things for the kids to do and they can also make a dvd of their performance. It was really neat and I wish LA had something similar.

 We were there for a good two hours and the kids had a great time seeing and doing everything.  When we walked out we had this cool view of the Space Needle.

We then had two hours to spend at the No Folk Art Festival, Now that was interesting! There was a lot of good food and Dr. M said the kids could be on there own. We chaperons got to hang out together and eat.  There was a lot of good food and Lynne and I shared so we could try twice as much. I kept telling everyone that we needed to get a group picture of just us, but I did manage to get this one of them. These were chocolate dipped fruit and they were to die for!

 The Festival was very Bohemian and free. There are performers everywhere you turn and they had a name for them, but I don't have a chance to ask Speedy right now. All the performers had a hat to ask for money. Some were interesting and some were pretty good. I wouldn't mind going again to this, but not have to worry about 25 middle schoolers.  After the chaperons ate we split up into groups to try to monitor the kids, but it was not easy.

 Afterwards it was time to get on the bus and go to the airport. The picture below is of Gary, our busdriver. He really was the sweetest guy and at the end of the trip the kids sang a song for him to thank him. He got all choked up and thanked the kids for being one of the best groups he has had the pleasure of driving around.

 We also had to say goodbye to tourguide Leslie, but we will see her next year in DC and I'm pretty sure that I am going to get to go because Dr. M really likes one parent from this year to go next year too. Now I just have to save my pennies!

We are home and my honey and the Squiggler were waiting for us! It was a fantastic trip and I am so glad that I went. I was really scared to travel without my honey, but I really got to know the kids in those 3 days and saw what a great guy Dr. M is and his wife is the sweetest human being on the planet!

Vancouver, Canada Day 2

 Day 2 started bright and early! The kids had to have their daypack packed with their jazz shoes, black socks and jazz pants and anything else they were going to need for the day by 7:45 AM. We were ready too! The kids really respect and listen to Dr. M. Our first stop was Capilano and the suspension bridge. Okay, I am afraid of heights, but I conquered my fear and did it as well as the treetop bridges and the rim walk.  It was very beautiful, but I didn't look down much. Speedy spent most of the time with her friends and didn't really pay attention to me. I was with the other moms and we had a good time. We got to go shopping a little there, but I didn't find anything for me to buy for myself. I found a little something for my mom, Squiggler, my honey and Nessa.

 They call their "Indians" First Nations and there was a lot of history there. It was really cool and I would gladly go back.

 Dr. M and his wife Melodie, they are the cutest couple! She is the sweetest thing and I think she really balances him out. I really got to know him this weekend and he really loves what he does! He really cares about the kids and how he handles the kids is really top rate! He yells a lot, but he wouldn't if he didn't love them so much. This I am sure of!

 The group picture! I know I have a lot of pictures, but it really was an amazing place. I can't decide if I like this place better then Grouse Mountain. I wish we would have been able to explore this place a little more.

 This is the tram that took us up to Grouse Mountain. We went straight there after we left Capilano. They are really close to each other and we were able to get on the tram as a group. I had no idea what we would see over the mountain and trees, but it really reminded of me of where Heaven and Earth meet.

 I had the pleasure of sitting in the front thanks to my new friend Lynne. She was so funny and I could see us being really good friends if we worked in the same place. She was the official photographer of the weekend and has passed the job on to me for next year.  The company makes a video for all the kids of all the pictures she took of the weekend. I think she took close to 600 pictures and she was very good about getting everyone and everything.

 The kids couldn't believe that there was snow up there! Some of the kids had never seen snow and they had a ball throwing it at each other!

 Dr. M does this everytime he visit Grouse Mountain. He tells the 8th graders to get into this tree stump statue so that they can take a group picture. He then whispers to the 7th graders  to pelt them with snowballs. The 8th graders are kind of trapped in there and it is hilarious to watch. It's funny because he tells them to do it and they always do and fall for it.

 There were two grizzly bears that have been raised at Grouse Mountian and they are sooooo cute! They put on a great show for the kids of wrestling with each other.

 This is as we were leaving on the tram. I had the pleasure of sitting in the back so we could see how far we had been. It was cool.

 Our bus was the blue one and said Noah's Ark on it. We were next to a red one that said Where Heaven Meets Earth. I thought that was so cool because it was Dr. M's description.

 Speedy and her friend Tiana, her mom was my roommate Teresa, and she is also a kindergarten teacher. T is kind of a free spirit and keeps everyone entertained.

 After Grouse Mountain we went to the University to get ready for the competition. The kids had to change and had an hour to prepare themselves. Dr. M had them do warm ups and gave them a pep talk. He had me almost crying.  I was very sentimental this whole weekend and had been the week before because of Weegie. (That's another story for another time.)

 The kids did awesome even though they were really tired from the morning activities. They did very well and Speedy did an amazing job on her solo. She really gets into it and often people tell me that you would never guess she has the voice that she does.

 After the performance one of the judges gave them commentary and feedback on how they did. He was so positive and singled my baby girl out to congratulate her and he said that if he didn't know better he would easily mistake her for one of the actresses on Glee. She was beaming from ear to ear! She was so happy about all the nice things he said to her.

 They won Gold and had the highest scores. We don't attend the real awards ceremony because we are traveling and aren't able to stay for it. They understand and gave us our own little awards assembly.

 Afterwards we went to the Science Center in Vancouver.  It was very similar to the Science Center that we have in Los Angeles and the kids had fun. They had a really good exhibit on DaVinci and I found it to be fascinating. The kids liked playing with all the different stuff and didn't even bother to go to the exhibit.

 For dinner we went to Granville Island Market which is like a smaller version the Grove's Farmers Market. There were a lot of little booths and places to eat. I wasn't impressed with the food, but it was fun to walk around and see all the cool things they had.

 From there we went to an Improv Comedy show and we were asked not to take pictures there so I don't have any, but I did snag a pamphlet.  It was so funny and they had audience participation. They had a lot of the kids and Dr. M come up in different parts of the show. For one skit they had everyone come up and it was hilarious because the kids were suppose to be in the way and they were, just like in real life.

After the show we were supposed to go to Stanley Park, but Dr. M decided to take everyone out for ice cream because of their success. The kids are not allowed to have dairy up to a week before their performances because it causes flem and it 's not good for singing. The kids really enjoyed their ice cream and the adults got some too! We then went back to the hotel to pack up and get some sleep. We were going to have another early morning for our journey home. Dr. M keeps them really busy and they definitely get their moneys worth.  I think he keeps them so busy so they never have down time and can't get into mischief. We never stayed at one place too long either for the same reason. Dr. M has been doing these trips for a long time and really knows what he is doing. Day 3 tomorrow!