Temperance Street Times

Upon our return from the East in Late  May, with the brand new Toyota Sienna in hand, we spent 3 weeks in Sask reorganizing and then hit the road West again aiming for Vancouver Island.  First stop was the Dinosaur Museum in Drumheller, AB.  Thomas was impressed, but later when asked if he liked it, admitted he found it a ‘bit scary’. Click on the thumbnail to see a full size version of the picture.

We opted to take it slow and camp our way through the mountains via Calgary (where a brief stop at the US Embassy saw Nathaniel officially become and American Citizen).  Some of the camp sites we hit included – Lake Louise, Herald PP (Near Salmon Arm) and Paul Lake PP (near Kamloops). They were all lovely locals and we did manage a few short ‘hikes’ (strolls).  While Thomas loved it all, the weather was generally less than favorable.

Upon descending into the Fraser Valley our first stop was Lory Senft’s place in Chilliwack.  Turns out her daughter Isabella and Thomas had more than a few things in common (love of motorcycles, runner bikes, swings and slides!!) and good times were had by all.  From there it was 20 minutes further West to Abbotsford for a visit on Sunny Slope with ‘Great’ Grandma.  Following that we hit the BC ferry scene and hopped over to the island where we visited with Kris Valka and family in Comox.

Further south in Parksville we visited with Grandma and Grandpa John.  We spent some good times on the beach, combing for seashells and flying kites. Other highlights included a petting farm where Thomas went on his first pony ride and a wildlife rescue site where bears and eagles were recuperating.

From NJ, we made a brief pit stop in Boston and then headed north to Maine to visit Alyson and Ray and Dane the dog.  Thomas was quite taken with the boats and games at the Maritime Museum while Michelle was quite taken with the Lobster at Cook’s…Mmmm….

Upon our arrival in New England we set out to visit a couple of Imbaw’s high school friends both living down in New Jersey.  The first, Jesse Lerman, is located in Princeton, a lovely college town an hour south of NYC.  Thomas had a great time playing with 4 year old Maya, and Nathaniel whooped it up with Ezra – 7 months old.  Click on the image to see a larger version of each photo.  Teena was feeling under weather leaving Michele to enjoy her chocolate/orange ice cream cone in the 93 degree heat.

From Princeton we headed back North to Jersey City where we met up with John Li for some yummy Chinese food and a view of Manhattan.

Nathaniel turned 4 months old on May 1st and we celebrate the event by preparing and feeding him freshly mushed avocado. His first solid food. He had been grabbing plates and food off of the table in the last few weeks, so that when he was actually presented with his fist spoonful of avocado, he quickly grabbed and shoved it into his mouth and down his throat such that he ended up gagging and spluttering on his first bite…After the initial excitement he happily settled down and gummed a good portion!