The adventures of Squishy and Bean
To Daddy,
I forgot you were away in Vancouver. When we got home today, Mommy said “we’re home!” So I said “Hum…daddeee…” and tried to look for you. I was sad you weren’t here. So I drew you a picture:
Here it is:
I love you daddy!
Love,
Gooey
XO
PS – I am sending some bathtime splashes to you!
We did the ultimate Westcoast family roadtrip – Victoria to Disneyland and back – 10 cities – in twelve days!
Tuesday August 22:
Caught the 6:10am Coho Ferry from Victoria to Port Angeles – boring ferry with creepy looking guy aboard… then drove through Washington state to Portland Oregon. We stopped at the Three Rivers Mall on the way – boring and empty place, but Caleb discovered the joys of Target – and got his first Elmo’s World DVD (the obessession starts!) We spend the afternoon at the Lloyd Center in Portland, and spend the night at the Comfort Inn.
Wednesday August 23:
We get up early – have our continential breakfast and then head on our way to California. After a lot of driving, we get to Redding in the late afternoon. Wehave dinner at Appleby’s, play around at another Target (yet another Elmo DVD), and then go for an evening swim at the hotel’s outdoor pool. We spend the night at the Holiday Inn.
Thursday August 24:
Up early again, and another continential breakfast… then we hit the road once more. We detour and take the scenic route through Sonoma and the Wine Country, and then cross over the Golden Gate bridge throught he rolling fog into San Francisco!
We check into our hotel – Hilton Garden Inn in South San Francisco – and then take the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) to the downtown Union Square shopping district. We do lots of window shopping and have dinner at Lois’ Dinner. Caleb enjoys his Spaghetti kids meal. The poor little guy was tuckered out from all his adventures he fell asleep on the BART on the way back to our hotel.
Friday August 25:
We finally had a day were we could sleep in – yay! caleb had a quick breakfast in our hotel room, and then we headed towards downtown San Francisco. Our first stop: In & Out Burger. Caleb had a horrible time waiting, but really enjoyed his burger once it came! We explored Fisherman’s Wharf and all the fun of Pier 39. Caleb loved the carousel and was intrigued by the sea lions.
He was also very fond of the San Fransisco Sourdough bun he got. That night we met up with Great Aunt Joan, and cousins Chris and Dwayne, and also Jessica and her boyfriend. Aunt Joan treated us all to a big chinese dinner. Caleb decided this was the night he was going to misbehave… it was a long dinner and 1 night out 12 for misbehaviour was okay. (He was great the rest of the trip!)
Saturday August 26:
We had breakfast at our hotel this morning – Caleb has a new found love of breakfast sausage and waffles. Then we headed back to downtown San Francisco. This time we park in the discount parking lot we’d found the day before, and then explored the Ghiradelli factory and the Cannery. We then hopped on the cable car trolly (after a long wait… but a free ride) and rode into Union Square. Caleb was so excited on the cable car, he was holding on and jumping around…. until he fell asleep. We window shopped and then walked to Chinatown. Caleb woke up and we had lunch. We found the Apple store for Adam and were disappointed to find out that FAO Swartz was closed for renovations. We had dinner that night at Aunt Joan’s.
Sunday August 27:
Up early… because we had made the big decision the night before that we were heading for Disneyland. We packed up and drove to Monterey. We spent the early afternoon at the Monterey Aquarium. Caleb loved the touch pools and the water play areas. Then we continued on towards Anaheim. It was a long drive, and around 9pm we saw the sign for the Disney Resort Exits. When we mentioned the next exiot was Disneyland Drive – Caleb let out a huge YAY from the backseat!
Monday August 28:
M-I-C-K-E-Y…M-O-U-S-E!
We spent all day and night in the magic kindom and it was a blast. We wer right up front for the welcoming greeting from Mickey and the Gang, and Caleb got a high 5 from Donald Duck. Then we went on the carousel, and visited with Pooh and friends. Caleb ran up to Pooh, Tigger and Eeyore and gave each lots of hugs and kisses. Later in the afternoon we visited Mickey in his house. Caleb got to have Mickey all to himself for almost 10 minutes. They were cuddling and Caleb was kissing Mickey’s nose. It made the long drive all worth it! We had a wonderful time!
 
 
Tuesday August 29:
We started to head North and made it all the way to Sacramento that night. It was a long day of driving!
Wednesday August 30:
We made it up to Eugene Oregon after another long driving day. We stopped at a Barnes and Noble and Caleb got some time to play with the train table and other kids. Then we went for an evening swim at the hotel pool. we stayed at a Courtyard Marriott and it was the most comfortable bed ever!
Thursday August 31:
We left Eugene and headed west to Florence Oregon. We visited the famous sea lion caves. Caleb was only intersted in climbing the stairs, but the sea lions were cool to see. We drove along the scenic highway 101 Oregon coast, and then stopped in Woodburn for some great outlet shopping. We scored some major deals! We made it to Seattle WA that night.
Friday: Septemebr 1:
We spend a fun day in Seattle. We visited the Woodland Park Zoo and showed Caleb all sorts of animals. He loved the elephants. And half way through he fell asleep and missed out on a few things – oh well – we took pictures for him! Then we went shopping at the Auburn Supermall – it was fun. Tons of great outlets! Caleb had a fantastic time playing in the kids area. He was laughing and chasing other kids, and moving so fast he lost his diaper! We then went out for a nice family dinner at Elliots down at the Piers. It was a long funfilled day.
Saturday September 2:
Our trip comes to a close with a long wait at the Canadian border. Caleb watched a lot of Elmo and Finding Nemo as we waited at the Peace Arch. We finally made it to the ferries and caught the 7pm boat home. Caleb had a blast playing in the kids area. He made lots of new friends and kept everyone on the ferry entertained with his antics. We made it home just before 10.
It was a long but wonderful roadtrip, full of good times, memories and of course lots and lots of pictures! You can view some of them here: California Trip Photo Gallery. We will try to add more later!
We just got back from our first big family road trip… 3000 miles and 10 cities in 12 days! So we’ll be updating the site soon. But here’s a sneak peek at our adventures…
Dear Caleb,
You are now 14 months and 20 pounds -yay! Unfortunately you are still too underweight to have your carseat turned around -but oh well, you are safer facing backwards anyway. And you have definately grown taller. Everyday I look at you and see a more of a little boy than a baby. Your baby days seem so far away… especially since you are now WALKING!
Yes, you have finally decided that the lightening fast crawl you have just isn’t as fun as walking on your two little feet. So you have been working hard all month at walking. What started as a few steps to get some ice cream has turned into more and more steps everyday. You often wander around the house pausing at the odd piece of furniture or wall to adjust your balance – and then off you go. You love to stand up. And you love to have us walk you around.
You also love to climb on things. Apparently while I was out a few weeks ago, daddy found you standing on the toilet emptying my make-up bag. And you seem to think that it’s fun to try to ride your tricycle by standing on the seat. I am in trouble when you start to run aren’t I?!
You also have an obsession with walking up and down stairs. Many times now I have followed you up to the fifth floor of our building and then have to break my back walking back down with you. You also love to walk in and out our balcony door, and wander around the deck. If you could you’d be out there all day!
You love your water table, the swimming pool, your turtle pool, the water park, playing in the sink, and playing in any puddle… but you have decided you hate your bath. You whine and cry and scream… (did I mention you have a very loud scream!) We have become experts at soaping you up and rinsing you off in less than a minute. We may have to start bathing you in your turtle pool!
You have also decided to become fussier about the foods you eat. Some days you refuse any vegetable, some days you won’t eat meat. Something you loved a week ago, you now hate. Feeding you dinner is becoming as bad as washing your hair some days.
Some of this “grumpiness” is also because you have finally cut your fifth tooth… and believe it or not it’s a molar. Four front teeth and a molar and nothing in between! I have a feeling you have quite a few more teeth coming and that is why we have been dealing with hurricane Caleb the last week or so!
You have also become super clingy to me again. You don’t seem to want to go to daddy anymore – poor daddy. I enjoy all my extra cuddles from you, but would appreciate being able to go to the bathroom without you wrapped around my legs screaming “mama”!
But despite all the grumpies and screaming and whining… you are still so much fun, and so darn cute! Lately you have been imitating what you see us do – you try to brush your hair and mine, you like to feed Elmo and Cookie Monster with a bowl and spoon, you try to feed yourself and you try to feed us, you try to water the flowers and you are great at fitting lids on containers and helping put things away in drawers and in the dishwasher. We love you to pieces and love watching you learn all your new skills everyday!
We love you little monkey!
Love,
Mama
XO XO XO XO
PS – We are hoping to find you a backyard soon. Our condo is for sale and we are house hunting. I am going to be one tired mama if we buy a house with stairs!
Caleb is enjoying the fun days of summer in Victoria:
Walks with mommy and daddy along Dallas Road:
Eating the best ice cream – from Beacon Drive In (and sharing with daddy too):
Playing at the water park:
Playing on the playground:
Splashing in the ocean:
Splashing in the water table:
Enjoying Luminera 2006 in the cutest hat…
And just being cute, playing peek a boo on the patio:
HAPPY SUMMER EVERYONE!
At 13 and a half months, Caleb has finally reached 20 pounds! Woohoo! Apparently the ice cream he sneaks is finally paying off for him!
Dear Caleb,
You are now just over 13 months old, and you are totally on the go! I didn’t get a chance to write a monthly newsletter on the third, or get an eeyore picture, because we were away in Whistler (which you absolutely loved!)
One of the hardest things happend this last month – I went back to work! You took it much better than I did and you have lots of fun with your Great-grandparents Wong and your Grandma Ell. Unfortunately this means we have limited time together… but it is fun time! We spent a Saturday on Salt Spring Island, we have been going out to the park and for special little trips for ice cream, and of course have fun spending time together as a family.
You have become quite the climber lately. You love stairs. And even though we don’t have any… you somehow find a way to climb up on everything. The other day while I was out, daddy turned his back for a minute and then found you standing on the toilet in the bathroom dumping the contents of my make-up bag.
You really are into everything! Whenever we are cooking in the kitchen and open up the fridge, you somehow get inside the fridge within five seconds- even if you were two rooms away!
You also have a fascination for noses, mouths and ears. As you fall asleep you love to tug on ears. And you love to point at noses. In fact you love to point at everything. You have become so aware of your world and want to know what everything is. You always point and seem to ask “What’s that?” with your eyes.
You also have a few words now. You can say “daddy”, “mom”, “mah” (more) “dat” (that), “ah da” (all done) and “nana” – which means banana, now or no. And sometimes you also say “tay coo” (thank you)! Your favorite sign continues to be “all done”. You are very good at using that when you don’t want to eat any more!
Speaking of eating, you are becoming very independant and adventurous. You still have your fussy picky eater days. But we can now take you out to resturants and order something for you off the menu. And you are learning to use a spoon – but fingers still seem to work best for you!
Your other big acomplishment recently, is your ability to stand independently. You can stand for longer periods of time, and even wiggle your hips and bend at the waist. You have gained great balance, but still need to build your confidence for walking. The last few days you have taken a few steps towards me, and towards a cup of ice cream! Somehow, I think I might be writing soon about your adventures in walking!
I love you little trouble maker! Thanks for loving me right back! And even though we have some mornings that are difficult and you cling to me and cry when I am leaving, my sadness is lessened with the thoughts that I am loved by you so very much!
Love,
Mommy
XO
© 2025 Ellsweb {dot} net
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑