Now it's time to record the memories - of our 14 days of adventure and their photos - a chronology of our connection here and a documentation of the connection between SC and the Pacific NW. And I'm excited about recounting our time together and again grateful for the memories captured within these photos (thanks to Philip - our family photographer - he's really good!).
Days 1 & 2:
The first two days were lovely and we drove through the old growth forests in Stanley Park, got out and meandered from 2nd Beach to English Bay and met Philip for lunch at our favorite English Pub - Elephant & Castle. Then we bummed around the waterfront watching sea planes land and take off while soaking in the sun. We explored the West End, including the kids' school and our favorite grocery store along the way. Mongolian BBQ for lunch was a hit! We also introduced everyone to our favorite gelato store and wandered about Robson Street - shopping and people watching.
Mimi pulls a tooth! The tradition continues...
Day 3:
We packed a picnic lunch and headed to the aquarium for the day - the kids could not wait to take Mimi, Papa and Aunt Rhonda to one of their favorite spots and show them the beluga whales, otters, jellyfish and dolphins. It was a rainy day but fun nonetheless - and I learned that a classic 'lumberjack' sub from Safeway can easily feed 6 people. I'd highly recommend that plan! We got home and rested up for Lydia's 'big show'! Her final ballet class at the community center included a mini performance and it was great fun to celebrate her dance skills with extended family. She did great! And Henry was a most supportive big brother - and the coffee we had on the seawall at Coal Harbour was yummy. We got to show the family where Love it or List it Vancouver concludes its show many times - Cardero's restaurant!
Day 4:
Philip and I preached to all who were coming to visit that they must bring rain attire. Saturday found us heading for Grouse Mountain with a 20% chance of rain - which usually means just grey skies in Vancouver. Alas - we rode the gondola to the top of the mountain and headed into the chalet for lunch only for the rain to come. Naturally, Philip and I were the only ones withOUT rain gear - oh well, we just got wet. Sadly, we didn't get to see the Grizzly bears but we enjoyed the movies, the gondola rides and the promise of warmth that home would provide. We stopped off at the Capilano Fish Hatchery on the way down the mountain and meandered through the old growth, mossy forest and saw salmon spawning and the Capilano Dam - the mist on the water was fairy tale-ish and the forest walk was amazing.
Day 5:
Big day! We were headed to Shannon Falls and Whistler - Olympic celebration at it's finest! We hiked to the Shannon Falls viewing platform and marveled at the lovely falls - they really are incredible...and HUGE! The kids had great fun showing Mimi, Papa and Aunt Rhonda their favorite spots along the river and looking for special rocks. Once we arrived in Whistler we went to our family's favorite restaurant for lunch and showed off the fun playground, the peak to peak gondola (which we admired from afar), the snow on the mountain peaks and the Olympic rings. The cloudy start to the day had given way to a beautiful, sunny day and the drive back into the city was glorious. The peaks made themselves known as the sun burnt off the fog and nature's majesty offered quite a show!
Whistler - street performers!
Day 6:
We rested - and mama and Philip ventured down Denman to give acupuncture a whirl while the kids and I walked with Aunt Rhonda and Daddy to this lovely little (well, really not so little) bookstore called MacLeod's. We walked into that store and I felt like we had wandered into a book warehouse - books were stacked all around us - we were in a hoarder's paradise. But the folks who own/work there know exactly where everything is! Everyone picked out a book they wanted one and we cabbed it back home. Acupuncture and massage were deemed great uses of time and recovery was lovely.
Day 7:
Canada Day! We had the pleasure of celebrating Canada Day with friends at a community picnic hosted by our friends Jeff & Sara and their church. The kids shared their friends with their grandparents, we ate hot dogs and hamburgers, played baseball, tossed water balloons and just had a great time! Then we rested up for the big Canada Day parade! At 7PM we walked down the block for a great parade...there were countless cultures represented, and it was really fun. And I was struck that this celebration of Canada and its independence was so heavily focused on the cultures that have come together to make Canada great - a true celebration of people which was really delightful.
Canada Day Parade - bagpipes!
Canada Day Parade
Nothing says Canadian independence like stormtroopers, right???
Canada Day Picnic in Stanley Park - Mimi and Aunt Rhonda concentrating on checkers
Pure joy!
Buddies: Leiroy and Henry
Lydia's got a future in facepainting
Aunt Rhonda got the star treatment in the face painting department!
Loving on Papa
What's a picnic without water balloons?
Happy Canada Day!
Go Canada? :)
Day 8:
We enjoyed a low key day - Aunt Rhonda got new 'do' at my favorite Aveda Hair Salon on Robson Street, mama and I went to T & T Grocery Store and marveled at their live seafood selection, green tea flavored Kit Kats, sauces by the carload and more mushroom varieties than you could imagine! It's great fun to explore ethnic grocers and find new menu items to incorporate into our daily life. Papa held down the fort with the kids while Philip returned to work.
Day 9:
We hopped aboard the aquabus and headed for Granville Island. The kids eagerly shared their favorite part of the island, Kids Mart (I wonder why it's their favorite?!?!), with everyone and then led us to their favorite restaurant - Cat's Social House. On the way we discovered the Granville Island Water Park - it was AMAZING! We'll totally head back to enjoy that fun spot! It's been amazing to discover all of the FREE, public water parks for kids to enjoy around the city - our goal is to hit every single one of them.
Day 10:
We began our day with yummy brunch at Abode - close to our house - that serves the best, slap your mama brisket breakfast bowl I've ever experienced. We took our time, filled our bellies, and met some folks from Alabama who were heading for an Alaskan cruise. It's amazing how shirts with college sports logos have the power to connect people who would normally never speak to one another. It was really funny and neat at the same time. Then - Miss Lydia's patience was rewarded - we FINALLY made our way up Robson Street to Chapters (a bookstore) which houses the only American Girl Doll store in Vancouver. She had the most wonder-full time of sharing the store with Mimi, Papa and Aunt Rhonda and was delighted with her spoils (which took nearly all day to narrow down to fit within her budget). Henry floated on cloud nine as he got to choose Legos from the kids' area of the store. The kids walked home with Papa while we grown up girls slowly made our way back up Robson window shopping and laughing. The evening saw a boys' night in the making as Philip and Daddy met up with Philip's closest colleagues for drinks at Blackbird's - a place that I'm sure has played host to many a tall tale and lots of laughter. Funny enough - they were excused from Blackbird's as the whole place had been booked for a film's wrap party - but not before Bombay Gin handed out freebies to everyone in the restaurant.
Day 11:
Today we walked to the seawall and the beach at English Bay. It was cool and cloudy, but lovely nonetheless. We got to people watch and everyone got to touch the Pacific waters that lap the sand at English Bay. We gathered shells, took pictures of the giant inukshuk and then headed to what really should be a Southern restaurant - C-Lovers. It's a place where fish and prawns are all served and the only preparation available is FRIED. It was tasty and inspired nap time afterwards. We got to visit Ayoub's Dried Fruit & Nuts store - it's a glorious destination for all things decadent. I even found saffron for $4! Real saffron - and not just a strand or 2 - it was half an ounce!
Day 12:
Kind of on a whim, we rented a minivan and headed East toward Mission, BC (the filming site of Rambo: First Blood) to visit the Othello Tunnels. We'd never been there but had wanted to go and it seemed only fitting to head there with family so all of us experienced it for the first time together! Naturally, it got cloudy and rainy, but it wasn't too bad because it kept the air cool. The tunnels were incredible - they had been part of the railway system and their builder (who was responsible for construction of many of the Canadian railways) had an affinity for Shakespeare. He named all of his railroad projects after famous Shakespearean characters and the five tunnel section that's now been graveled over in Hope is the Othello section. There were crazy tall bridges and views of water I've never seen before. It was glorious! As luck would have it, there were car accidents on Hwy 1 on the way back to Vancouver so we hopped off the interstate in Agassiz (home of the illusive tulips we searched for on Easter weekend) and had a yummy dinner at Jack's. Then we embarked upon a lengthy, albeit beautiful, ride back to the city via back roads. The sunset was the prettiest I have ever seen - I only wish I hadn't been driving because I would have taken pictures galore! We finally pulled into the apartment at 11PM - thoroughly exhausted and road weary, but FULL from the sights and experiences of the day.
Day 13:
As the finale of our sightseeing we headed to Gas Town to find souvenirs and enjoy the older part of the city. It has the feel of Charleston, with some cobbled streets and older architecture, but has the grit you'd associate with inner city - I just love the energy of Gas Town. We lunched at one of the kids' favorite spots before making our way down Water Street. We window shopped, t-shirt shopped, and souvenir shopped as we meandered to the Gassy Jack statue. He got his name not as one might think. Turns out he worked in a bar and became well known for his lengthy stories - and for his ability to talk ad infinitum - aka 'blowing gas'. Even funnier was the sign we came upon right beside the statue that read "Real Carolina BBQ". Despite having just eaten lunch, mama insisted that we give this a try and test its validity...and I must say - hat's off to Peckinpah for some legit BBQ (the noun, not the verb) and the ONLY hushpuppies you'll find in all of Vancouver. Discovery points for mama - now we have a Southern BBQ joint right here in the Pacific Northwest that we can visit when we get a hankering!
Peckinpah - yummy! http://www.peckinpahbbq.com/
I need a break!
Gassy Jack
Day 14:
We enjoyed a quiet day in the apartment - emotions were thick as we whiled away the hours before we had to head to the airport. Tears came readily as Lydia begged her grandparents not to leave. Countenances were drawn. Hearts were full. The goodbyes were lengthy, the hugs tight. Lydia and I drove everyone to the airport and she was a wreck - lamenting the departure of people she loves dearly and who love her back. The sendoff at security was torturous and gut wrenching, but we survived. In truth, I'm glad it was hard - it meant our connections are deep and our bonds strong. Had it been easy I think that might have been more sad. The tears and heartache were tempered, however, when they gave way to belly laughter as we got trapped in the airport parking lot! My card got stuck in the machine at the "easy" exit (not) kiosk. We clogged an entire lane for about 20 minutes as we waited for someone to come fish out my card and let us out. It was hilarious, really, especially when I realized that instead of climbing across to the passenger side of the car to get out (since I was parked so close to the kiosk) I could've simply backed up and gotten out of the driver's seat. Clearly the high emotions were affecting my sensibilities. Nonetheless, we escaped and got home in one piece. Sleep came easy once the tears dried.
We had a lovely two weeks sharing this part of ourselves with people who know us best - we have a new depth knowing that we're connected by experience to the East coast and it's great fun to talk with folks who really know what we're referring to when we talk about what we do on a daily basis here. I realized the irony in being together with family over two countries' independence celebrations while enjoying how connected we are to other people and how dependent we are on our connections. Independence is great - don't get me wrong - but I think it's richer when we realize it's at its finest when celebrated in relationship.
