Oh Canada!

I went up to Vancouver, Canada last week for my sister's doctoral defense. My parents and I flew to Seattle and then we rented a car and drove to B.C.

My parents at Skagit River Brewery

Erich stayed behind to work and watch the little dude while I was gone. I considered getting Wyatt a passport and taking him with me. After consulting my sister Kristina,  I decided against bringing him. He couldn't be there during her actual defense and I wasn't comfortable having a stranger watch him.  Plus I felt after 14.5 months I deserved a little adult mommy time :)

We check-in to the Holiday Inn in Vancouver where we met my sister. 

 

 We walked only a couple blocks to this cute little family sushi place and had yummy sushi.  

My sister and Dad at dinner.

Ever since I was pregnant I've been craving sushi.  Boulder is known for great burgers not great sushi.  However, Vancouver has awesome sushi, so I was really looking forward to enjoying some during my trip and let me tell you it didn't disappoint!  We feasted ourselves and it was by far our cheapest meal there!

The next day we were up early and heading to campus with my sister.  The UBC campus is very beautiful, unfortunately I didn't get any great pictures of it.  We listened to her external
evaluator give a lecture in the morning and then we went to another building to set-up prior to her presentation.

Then at 12:30 she made her 30 minute presentation of her dissertation.  Afterward she had another hour and a half of fielding tough questions from the panel.  She answered all of them very thoroughly.  I always knew my sister was a smarty pants, but witnessing this life accomplishment reinforced all the reasons I've always looked up to my big sister!  The rest of the day was filled with drinks and laughter!

My sister and brother-in-law.

My sister and her two mentors/supervisors.

 On Saturday it was still raining so our plans to walk the sea wall had to be altered.  Instead we went out for Pho for lunch, drove by the ocean shore, and did some souvenir shopping.

My mom's first taste of bubble tea.

 Then that night we toasted some champagne to celebrate and had a wonderful dinner at the Keg steakhouse.   The next day we crossed the boarder and flew home from Seattle.  What a wonderful trip with the fam! 

I couldn't be prouder of sister
Kristina Uban Shepherd P.H.D. !

Halloween

Halloween was a long time childhood favorite of mine. Over the years it has remained enjoyable, but has also been a source of frustration figuring out what to dress-up as that year.
Last year Wyatt was still very small. He only lasted minutes in his costume before he cried bloody murder for me to take it off. 

This year he mostly didn't mind his costume and lasted hours in it!  Erich and I took him trick-or-treating for the first time. We went just to three neighborhood houses to "show him off".  Earlier that afternoon Wy-guy (my nick name for Wyatt) and I went over to our friends Michelle and Maya's house for a costume party.  Seeing all the cutie kiddos in their outfits reminded me of all the creative fun that makes this day so unique. 

 I remember being out trick-or-treating around the age of 11 and being impressed by our ability to make this day happen. It impressed me that for one day a year we could "trust" strangers to give out candy to children. It can connect neighbors into interacting (which is on a growing decline as we get more virtually connected). We have lived in our neighborhood for 3 years and of the three houses we went to it was the first time ringing 2 of the 3 door bells!
Having a child really triggers memories that seemed long lost. 
Now that Halloween is back on my fave radar, I better start thinking of what to be next year!

p.s. My wonderful parents were at my house on Halloween and my Dad craved two pumpkins for us since I worked the weekend prior and didn't have time to do it!

Sneak Peak

I am currently out-of-town in Vancouver, Canada on my first away trip without the little guy!

Blog post to follow :)