Monday, August 06, 2007

Vancation - Thursday July 26th

A beautiful sunny day!




The littler boys and I took a bus trip to Stanley Park as Smith stayed “home” to work.

J fell asleep and N was stark-raving starving by the time we arrived (due to poor timing on my part. Bad mommy again! I’m totally falling down on the job here.) We stopped at the nearest place to grab whatever lunch they offered. I despaired a little because it was the usual burgers and hot dog fare. I opted for a burger, but can I tell you it was the best concession stand burger I think I’ve ever had? The veggies were thick and fresh! The bun was just the right amount of firm and soft – as if actually prepared in a bakery and not in a factory! The burger was meaty, not greasy! YUM! And their soft serve was a hit too.

Our arrival into the part was marked by signs in various places announcing the closure of certain things due to the strike: like the TRAIN ride. You know how devastating that was my friends. It also meant the petting zoo was closed. HOWEVER. We had lunch at the place just next to the petting zoo (which had some obvious aural pluses and nasal minuses) and the folks who run the zoo urged us to go in anyway and have a poke around as “the goats are getting lonely, eh?”

So we did. J was totally enamored with the big brown cow named Lisa. She came over to the fence after awhile and plopped herself down within scratching distance, so we obliged. I was thinking that cows are a most worthy animal to be a pet. Most other animals you could see somehow surviving in the wild or on their own (feral cats and dogs do just fine.) But a cow? They seem to be domesticated to the point of needing external food provided as well as protection. I just can’t see a herd of wild cows making it anywhere.

(hmmm. Where could we put a cow?)





We CRAMMED ourselves onto the free trolley which I thought would be a treat to ride around the Park, which wasn’t. Because it was so stuffed, we really just couldn’t wait to get off at our stop which was at Second Beach – offering a pool (closed!), a beach, a playscape and lots of green grass and trees to run around in.

N made friends with a boy who had cars. J made friends with a little girl. They were inseparable for I don’t know how many hours. It was nice to just sit back and watch the water, the boats, the kids, everybody out enjoying the summer sun.





We returned after meeting a lovely person named Tina on the bus ride home. Tina was probably in her 20s, but she took a shine to N, asking him all sorts of things. N at one point dug into his pocket to discover (gosh! Where did this come from?!) a tiny little chicken, which he promptly offered to her. As she got off the bus, he was asking her for her street name so we could send her a card. It was very sweet. She was very sweet. Thank you stranger Tina!

Then we went to the restaurant that was just across the street from our house when we lived here – Trafalgar’s – and we had to scope out “our” house and changes in the neighborhood: 1) A starbuck’s went in a block down. 2) The dessert portion of the restaurant broke out into its own trendy space. 3) The huge willow tree in the corner of our yard seems to have died back significantly. It is a shadow of its former self. 4) the bicycle memorial for the cyclist who died at that intersection remains intact and decorated 5) a fancy new home furnishings boutique opened up next to our remodeled organic store.

We ate a hurried delicious meal as the kids were worn out, promised them desserts to go and they fell asleep on the ride home. Smith and I stopped off at Spanish Banks beach and sat on the grass looking at the mountains (some of which show glimmers of snow at the very very peaks) the mountains, the people just out playing. We had dessert al frescoe. [the kids were safely asleep in the car just feet from our guilty extravangance.]



And it must be my turn for the Potter book by now!

3 comments:

peevish said...

where were the kids when you two were eating your al fresco desserts?

peevish said...

Also, I've longed for a pet cow for ages. Being close to one makes me feel so calm and peaceful. They are loads of fun to pet.

Sinda said...

Love this picture. I'm so glad you've been able to finish your trip tales.