Noni, GG&Papa Short's Texas trip - 7/09

Aliana is ready for the sunshine. It's amazing how she fusses when outside until her mom puts the glasses on her. She keeps them on!

Noni being attacked by the boys while playing with Ali on the floor. I LOVE it, as if you couldn't tell!! : }

Ahhh... papa reading to Alex and Tony before nap time. They were really listening to him tell the story.

Out to dinner at Salt Lick BBQ Restaurant.

Daddy with his daughter. Mark is doing very well and is without any MS symptoms. Thank you, Lord!

Amy playing with Ali on the floor. She is so responsive. Smiles, LOTS of cooing, kicking and waving her arms. She is also reaching out to grab toys and hair and jewlery : }

Papa repairing the ottoman. Of course, the boys ran to get their tools to help.

Papa playing with Ali. She warmed up to GG and Papa very quickly as did the boys.

Alex and Tony showing Papa their new swing set and slide. Papa didn't stay outside very long. The average daily temp here is around 102 - 104...WHEW!!!

Goofing around in the kitchen while GG shows Amy how she cooks a quick zugu [sp] and pasta

Papa and Amy pushing the boys on the swings. Their backyard really looks like a park. Beautiful!

GG getting to know Ali, who is now 4 1/2 months old. It sure didn't take too long : }

GG telling Ali good night before her nap.

Oh this is what I wanted.....a 4 Generation picture. Awesome!!

Ali was unable to fall asleep. So I volunteered to rock her and out she went. LOVED IT!!

Open Port Market - Seattle, WA

Downtown Seattle right near the ocean is the Open Market. Cobblestone streets, restaurants, sidewalk musicians and entertainers, smells of food cooking and smells of fish. You can get whiplash just walking and trying to see everything.

View right from the Open Market.


Inside an actual Chocolatier Store. The difference - chocolate made by a chocolatier has 60% or higher cocoa content than chocolate made by a candy store. This store was like stepping into a storybook. My friend Aly.

In the Open Market with a Fish Monger. They were actually tossing this fish over the heads of the people watching and buying fish. Just like I've seen on TV.

Did you know Starbuck originated in Seattle? I sure didn't so I HAD to go inside and take a look around. Very quaint and cozy. Smelled just like a Starbucks! : }

The outside of the original Starbucks coffe shop. These guys were singing and dancing for money. They were really pretty good.

Outside the Market - Fruit and vegtable stand. Everything looked soooo good. I wish I could have bought some.

Inside the Market - hundreds of people doing their Saturday morning shopping. Fun, fun, fun!

The flower stands had the most vibrant colors that attracted the eyes of everyone. For $5 you could get a bunch of flowers that you could hardly hold in your arms. Wow!

Whale Watching off Victoria Island, BC

This small island had many, many seals and eagles on it. Binoculars provided us with a much better view of them.


Very windy and kind of cold out on the water. Great fun though!


This Orca got pretty close to the boat. One, in fact, actually swam under our boat. Exciting! Dad has awesome pics of the whales coming out of the water. They each have a white marking on their backs, behind the dorsal fin. These markings are like our finger prints and this is how the scientist tell them apart.

OK, this is a dorsal fin of an Orca whale [Killer whale]. They are about 6ft. tall and the whales can bend them as desired. I think the fin helps guide them in the direction they want to go.

Passed a Light House on our way. Note the huge cruise liner in the background. They're like a small city within themselves!

On our way out to sea. Gorgeous day for whale watching.

Getting ready to depart from the docks to go whale watching with 5 Star Whales Co. We went through the Strait of Victoria Port Angeles.

Our Victoria Island, CanadaTrip - 6/09

This is the House of Parliament on Victoria Island, B.C. It's one of the main attraction for tourists.

This is the British Columbia embelm of honour.

Beautiful stained glass windows inside the House.

The well-known Empress Hotel where anyone who's anybody stays. We didn't! haha But we did walk through it and "everything" was ridiculously expensive.

Dad walking around the front of the Hotel "just looking". Very Impressive! Look at the trees. The trunk grows up but the branches grow down...very strange looking.

This is the cruise liner we traveled on to get to Victoria Island from Seattle, WA. It took us 3 1/2 hours.

The view from the dock when we landed on the Island. It was not at all what I expected. Victoria Island was a "city". In fact, it is the capital city of British Columbia.

I thought this was very English looking...the horse-drawn carriage moving slowly in front of the House of Parliment.

The Empress Hotel from the docks. Over a hundred years old. Look at the ivy growing over the front of the Hotel.