"It's not that far..."

Wednesday, August 1st

(Jenn)

Quiet morning around the house. Anica and Lauren had had a sleepover. Needless to say very little sleep was had and Anica walked around complaining that her cousin had woken her at 6:30 am :P

In the afternoon, we went to a splash pad at the nearby park and the inevitable meltdown finally came during a family game of soccer. Rob and I took Anica back to the guest suite and one "rest time" later (which consisted of quietly watching a movie and enjoying a small snack) we were back in action.

Had a lovely BBQ dinner. Ken and Leslie from next door joined us. Ken brought a pitcher of incredibly delicious margaritas and Bruce did up some huge pork chops and snapper on the barbecue. Dessert was fresh berries with whipped cream. The kids played with Bailey - Ken and Leslie's English Springer Spaniel - and Anica /loved/ being able to play with a dog for hours on end. Another late night but the kids were in good shape when it ended.

Thursday, August 2nd

(Rob)

Another nothing-but-sun day, perfect for our beach outing. First, as part of a leisurely morning, Jean took Jenn and me for a little walk around Ladner. We saw the part that's still a fishing village. In the afternoon, we met some of Bruce's work friends at spectacular Spanish Banks beach. The panorama stretched from the ocean to West Van, across to Stanley Park as a green tip, to the whole span of Vancouver's high-rises. And mountains all around of course. This was best viewed after we'd walked a half-kilometre-plus out into the low tide. The swimming began there. Lots of spots all the way out for Will to practice his skimboarding. I made no progress on that in my few feeble attempts.

I'd never seen so many VW vans before. When I set our car alarm off, the woman next to us covered her ears and said: "we hippies sure live differently from you technos." For dinner we met up with more people: 14 for dinner (6 were kids) at a patio overlooking the marina opposite Granville Island. "Is this Yaletown?" I asked Fun Pete. "Why label things?" was his reply. The kids were up late, but had lots of fun. It was a day of babies, dogs, and great, great views.

(Jenn's version of same day)

Another quiet morning. Kids stayed with Bruce while Rob and I took a walk with Jean around Ladner. Lunch at home. Afternoon spent at Spanish Banks - low tide again. Everyone walked out, William skimboarded and tried to teach his uncle. Gord joined us with Lola (same age as Lauren) and Otis (six months). His partner Robin joined us later and then we all separated, went to Pete's condo (overlooking waterfront). Met Darcy and Jane (originally from Ottawa) and their baby Jesse (11 months). Girls had a great time entertaining Jesse. Dinner at Marmalade. Kids ran around. Robin and Gord have done a ton of travelling and shared some stories and advice with us. Asked if we were out of clothes yet which showed they really knew what they were talking about. Dinner was Pete's treat (thanks Pete!) and the kids /loved/ him. He let them hit his hand as hard as they could and you could tell by the gleam in Anica's eye that she'd always wanted to do that! Late late night. Anica had a bath at 10pm. Passed out the second her head hit the pillow.

August 3rd

(Jenn)

Morning began quietly again - Anica still asleep at 8:45. Went to walk-in clinic (kidlet having problems with allergies or something along those lines and way better finding doctor here than there). Gave us an appointment for afternoon. Went to Wellington Point, saw the houseboats on Westham Island and visited the Reifel Migratory Bird Sanctuary. Had a lot of fun feeding the ducks and geese. Saw a Blue Heron and chickadees but the chickadees wouldn't come anywhere near us. Might have been the noise :P

Spent afternoon doing laundry, uploading photos, and seeing doctor. Anica's tonsils are a bit swollen and it's likely she's allergic to something that's pollinating out here so we now have eye drops and a nose spray to take with us. Whee! Love the London Drugs store here - they have /everything/!

Boys have gone to get Indian takeout for dinner and I'm busy getting us ready to go tomorrow. It's been a fantastic visit (thanks to Jean, Bruce, William and Lauren) and we've had so much fun but wow! Singapore, here we come!