June 26 ... Saturday ... of special note: on this June 26th, exactly 1 year ago, Ashley & I checked our sweet Kendall Grace out of the NICU, at 8 weeks old (technically ... that's a corrected age of 37.5 weeks gestation) at 5.5 lbs ... strapped her good & tight into her new carseat (that completely swallowed her!) ... drove about 10 mph all the way from the hospital ... and welcomed her into her new home with us ... all together ... as a family of 3 ... for the 1st time! Oh what a glorious day that was ... a day we will never forget ... a day that we praise God for over & over again, for He completely healed her, grew her & developed her into the sweet newborn she was to be 8 weeks later and then she got to come home to us!
Wowzers! Ok, now, back to this Saturday, June 26 ...
all 18 of us in the Rogers fam spent the day in Stanley Park & at the Vancouver Aquarium ... we had a blast and took a ton of pictures ... thanks to GranGran who took our camera for most of the day, so Ashley & I could enjoy our time with Kendall & her seeing fish for the 1st time ... up close, in person and not behind a camera lens!
Stanley Park is a beautiful 1,000 acre plot of land that was preserved in the heart of the city ... there are many different parts of the Park & so many things to do and see there, but on this day, we focused on visiting the Aquarium & had picnic lunch at a near-by playground.
 |
| the Vancouver Aquarium located in the breathtaking 1,000 acre Stanley Park |
 |
| the Rogers cousins (plus Uncle B and minus Gabe who didn't want to be in the picture): Uncle B holding Kylie, Brandon, Jude (in the stroller), Kendall, Hannah, Sadie & Tyler ... ready to see all the fish & sea creatures! |
 |
| Hannah, Kendall & Gabe ... he was so funny ... as soon as the group picture was over, he said, okay, I'm happy now! and he walked over to stand by Kendall ... and wanted his picture taken then ... so we did! |
 |
| Auntie Amber (Ashley's little sister) with Kendall at the awesome Dolphin show! |
 |
| the 3 amazing Dolphins in the Dolphin show ... it did not disappoint! |
 |
| Daddy & Kendall |
 |
| Kendall, Mommy, Hannah & Sadie ... these girls LOVE their cousin Kendall & she feels the same way about them! |
 |
| having some fun in the kids' play area |
 |
| Sadie playing with Kendall in the kids' play area |
We had only seen a small part of the aquarium by the time it was already passed lunch time for all the kids, so we took a break from the aquarium to enjoy our packed picnic lunch in Stanley Park ... very near a playground ... which gave the kids even more to do!
 |
| Mommy & Kendall in Stanley Park on our picnic |
 |
| Kendall LOVES Daddy's shoulder rides ... and possibly more than those, she LOVES to hang on by holding fists full of hair! |
 |
| Sadie & Hannah |
 |
| Gabe (nearly 4) |
 |
| Jude (21 months old) |
After lunch, we walked back to the aquarium ... sooo much more fish to see! And Kendall loved seeing all the fish ... we let her out of her stroller several times throughout the day, so she really loved getting right up to the fish tanks ... she even opened her mouth & leaned into glass on the tank, not once but twice, bumping her head pretty good, trying to get to the fish ... she would point to the fish as they swam by and would say "ish-ish-ish" ... she LOVED the fish!
 |
| Brandon taking his turn on Uncle Ashley's shoulders ... and Ash enjoyed giving him a crazy ride & scaring him a little, pretending to trip & almost fall, run around & say "look! no hands!" Poor Brandon, he was having fun, but hanging on for dear life! |
 |
| family picture ... Kendall was about to crash at this point ... she was so good the entire day ... but we must have worn her out with so much fun! |
 |
| in the Rainforest section ... hello, humidity! |
 |
| Aunt Ya-Ya & Tyler |
 |
| some of the beautiful hanging baskets of flowers ... they were gorgeous & I so wished mine would look like this in Texas! |
 |
| Brandon & Hannah watching the dolphins swim by from the underwater tank |
 |
| a sea otter ... he looks exactly like the one we saw in July 2002 that kept eyeing us & getting closer to us (and tried a few times to tip us over) in our rinky-dink boat Brandon, Rhett, Ash & I were in on a camping trip at Galiano Island ... where I caught my 1st (and only) fish, ever! Luckily, the sea otter didn't get us & we made it back to shore safely ... but I will never forget that experience! |
 |
| Ready to watch the Beluga whale show ... our final event! |
 |
| our sleeping girl (with Bear, of course) after our fun-filled day |
 |
| family picture ... in front of the aquarium. We should have taken a picture on the way in & not have waited until the end. Poor Kendall was out cold by then! |
We did buy Kendall one little souvenir at the aquarium ... a baby beluga whale! It is soooo soft & cuddly and she is soooo loving all of her stuffed animals right now, we knew she'd give this baby beluga some love, too ... and we were right! (Personally, I think it might have been Uncle Rhett who sealed the bond for Kendall & her beloved whale ... he sang her the song "baby beluga" in his special baby voice ... and I'm soooooo happy we have that on video! It's hilarious & priceless ... and something I don't want to forget!)
As we left the aquarium, we drove all around Stanley Park ... all the beautiful scenery, the Fraizer bridge, the Vancouver skyline from across the harbor ... and then headed to Amber & Tobias' home (our 1st time to see this one) for a short visit. We played with Gabe & Jude ... sadly, I didn't take any pictures of our time together. Then we came back to Brandon & Mary's for a late dinner & a quiet evening together after the kids went to bed. We had a great day at Stanley Park & the Vancouver Aquarium ... if you are ever in the area, put it on your list of places to go!
Looks like you all had a great time. Lots of firsts! How fun!
ReplyDelete