Sunday we were all a bit exhausted (us from Seattle and Nicole and Jesse for a two day trip to Long Beach), so we moved slow in the morning. We headed to the Vancouver Farmers Marker in the late afternoon and enjoyed some great fruit. I totally forgot to take a picture, but Andrew enjoyed juicy red strawberries (to the point that he was covered in the juice). I tried many cherries and purchased some rainier cherries (to die for!). We ate lunch from the food vendors there and walked around for awhile. Jesse had to go back to work, so Nicole took us over to Fort Vancouver.
Andrew fell asleep on the five minute drive, so we transferred him to the stroller (bottoms up!).
A little history for you from the National Park website: The Hudson's Bay Company's Fort Vancouver was a surprising place: it was a headquarters and primary supply depot for fur trading operations, but employed more people at agriculture than any other activity. It was a large corporate monopoly that kept order and stability by employing many different ethnic groups. It was a British establishment, but the primary languages were Canadian French and Chinook Jargon. It represented British territorial interests, yet made American settlement in the Pacific Northwest possible. Even those who wished it gone praised the hospitality and assistance they found there.
The subsequent U.S. Army post at the site - known as Columbia Barracks, Fort Vancouver, or Vancouver Barracks depending on the era - was equally surprising. Its goal was to provide for peaceful American settlement of the Oregon Country, yet it did so, in part, by battling and dispossessing the native American Indian inhabitants. For more than 150 years it housed and supported thousands of soldiers and their families, yet it also incarcerated American Indian families and Italian prisoners of war.
The officer's quarters
The gun tower
Andrew woke up and explored (sans shoes because mommy left them in the car)
Happy Father's Day!
(at this point Dave was finally starting to feel better and the antibiotics were actually working)
After naps for Dave and Andrew, 'Downtown Abby' for Melissa and Jennifer, and work for Nicole and Jesse, we headed to pizza!
This pizza was intense--talk about toppings! Melissa and Dave's pepperoni above had so much pepperoni on it, you could see the cheese.
Aunt Nicole and Uncle Jesse
My only picture of both of our hosts together and it's blurry :(
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