Vancation - Tuesday, July 24th

It's totally not raining!



And why is it that I ALWAYS forget to pack sunnies when I go somewhere?

I walk the little trotters off of N to get to Kits (Kitsilano) beach where I sadly discovered that Kits Pool is closed due to the “Labor Disturbance.” Sigh. The garbage folks are on strike. I forget about strikes. They are something we study in history in the US and every once in a blue moon someone threatens to go on strike. For like a day. Anyway. Our kind landlord is hustling our dirty diapers to the dump for us. Not everyone else is so lucky.

We did walk on to play at the playscape and I promised another beach trip, complete with toys, after lunch. N counts 11 cargo ships out in the bay (BOAT! His brother yells! BOAT!) and is eager to look for crabs on the beach, now that he knows that the beach isn’t scary. On the walk back for lunch, we stopped at almost every bench to rest his feet. I’m such a mean mommy. He was delighted though, as we walked along and found pockets of wild blackberries to munch. He was so proud to bring a handful of nearly ripe beauties home to dad.




I raided the nearby toy store for beach toys and the rest of our afternoon was spent in sunny afternoon delight at the beach, digging, scooping, pouring. Smith and I swapped off reading chapters of Harry Potter.

Salmon for dinner! and we set off the fire alarm again. Nothing says dinner's ready like the fire alarm going off.

Monday, July 23rd

It’s almost raining.

I haven’t complained about the rain yet, have I? I mean we expected it, it’s part of where we are. But we had just had so much rain in Austin, I wanted to go on vacation and have it be different, ya know? You go away to get away from what you already have. At least we have a system of keeping dry-ish while walking with only 2 umbrellas. And it’s never raining like it rains in Texas – it’s a much gentler rain. More manageable. We’ll even play at the playground in a certain amount of rain.

I don’t think my birks will ever be the same though. I can’t even remember what it feels like to put them on dry.

We take the bus to Science World -- a children’s museum with a science-y focus. It was very loud (although J slept through all the loud bits) and it took us awhile to get to the quieter, younger children areas. They loved them.





Although when asked about the day, N’s favorite part was the "aquabus" ride back. On English Bay, you can take a ferry across to get to downtown, Granville Island, Science World and other key points on the coast. The ferries are tiny – maybe a little bigger than a mini van really, and seat about 8-10 people.
This shot is ripe for a caption, eh?

a shot of this boat resident juggling on deck. why not.




As we putt-putted our way across the bay, we noticed the clouds had lifted and the sky was blue in patches. We got off at Granville Island and had dinner on the docks watching the boats and feeling the warm sun hit us before it set.

Vancation - Sunday, July 22nd

It’s raining.

We go out to get the paper, only to be reminded that there is no Sunday paper here. It is a weekend paper. So we read yesterday’s news. Slowly. The boys get read to from their new stash of stories from yesterday. We have pancakes (setting off the smoke alarm) and play the longest round of hide and seek that you could conceive of in a one bedroom apartment. (in the shower is my favorite spot to hide, although the wet tub usually triggers an urge to pee...)

Also, we went to play at the elephant park.
boy tai chi.



mom works the digger and boy these hummers are tough to maneuver.




Also note the denuded raspberry canes in the background. Perhaps one tiny berry (unripe) remains. I am guilty of eating them. all.





And now, I’m sitting, ever so the cliche, in a coffee bar with wi-fi. Blogging. Drinking coffee. I swear I should be 10 years younger. (if only I had my ipod with me!)

Vancation - Saturday, July 21st

It’s raining.

Today we walk ourselves silly. We plan a walk to our favorite crepe place, with many stops along the way. We find an armful of books at the kid’s bookstore. Poke my head into the consignment store that I designed the logo for 5 years ago and see they are still using it. ☺ We stop at the community center playground and the kids run amok and make all kinds of friends.





Walking around is sweet. Each corner produces a memory of when we lived here. The scent of flowers and rich earth and things growing is abundant. The air is thick with fragrance. Heavy with it.

Vancation - Friday, July 20th

It’s raining.

We take the bus to Stanley Park to see the Aquarium – home to sea otters, dolphins, beluga whales and more. They also have a wonderful “BC exhibit” with an underwater tank showing what lives in different parts of the province. Each cove offers a stunning array of seastars and anemones. N gets a sea turtle painted on his face.

Raffi singing “baby beluga” did not leave my head the entire time we were there.

We have fish and chips in Stanley Park and watch the rain. We have always laughed at the fish restaurant being next to the aquarium. Sort of cruel seeming. We also note most restaurants serving fish around here have a little blurb on the menu saying that they are approved by the Vancouver aquarium for its source of fish. As we watch the rain, I am stunned by the intensity of the color green here. It is almost oppressive it is so rich.

Our bus driver on the way back lived in Dallas for a spell, and we talked about all kinds of here vs there things. Lots of people here have asked us how much we pay each month for health insurance.



I note to Smith that the stroller has already paid for itself.

Thursday, July 19th

It’s raining.

We plunk down a whack of money for a stroller. We had hoped to buy a cheapie umbrella type, but a store offering that variety is MUCH farther away. I hear Sinda's voice in my head, calculating the cost per day and the craigslist return when we sell it. It does come with a raincover.

N and I take an exploring walk while Dad works and J has a monster nap. We walk down to the beach (4 blocks) and descend the steps to the rocks below. Growing down all the rocky cliffs here are wild blackberries. Tons of them. If only we could reach them all (and they were ripe) we’d be in utter heaven.



N hesitates on the last step – looking out at the sea and the rocks and the beach. The tide is way out. I can see the worry of “living creatures everywhere” on his mind from one of our Berenstein Bears books. I assure him that all the rocks we see are not suddenly going to turn into giant snapping turtles.




He comes home with pockets overflowing with treasures, dirty knees and a huge smile on his face.

Vancation - Wednesday July 18th

It’s raining.



We meet the gracious host of the house we are staying at (we have rented a one bedroom apartment in his 4-plex. He and his in-laws live upstairs. Next door is under construction. He apologizes for any noise, and I laugh at the comforting sound of banging.) Knowing we got in so late, he left us a bunch of fruit to nibble on for breakfast – including a bucket of blueberries. This is not the meager little half pint that we (in Austin anyway) have become used to when we buy berries in the store. This is about 4 of those in one bucket. FULL of the biggest BC (British Columbia) berries and probably for the same price as one of those tiny little bits.



We head off to Granville Island – the Vancouver equivalent of Pike’s Market in Seattle. No throwing fish though – but tons of good food and great handmade items. We submit to the purchase of umbrellas at the umbrella store. Even one that is Nbear sized.

We also check out the model train & boat museum. Two gleeful hours of hearing J say “TOOT-TOOT!”

We walk to dinner at our all time favorite vegetarian restaurant and stuff ourselves silly.

Tuesday July 17th, en route

I think this day could not get any longer until we run into a family of Canadians in DFW who had been there on a 6 hour layover from Vancouver to Toronto. They have 4 children; a 9 month old up to a 9 year old.

SIX hours in an airport!

They are chipper though. Dad said they ended up saving a boat load of money by flying through the US and putting up with the long layover. Crazy.


We arrive very late in the dark to one of my favorite airports – we pass through an area decorated with Pacific NW/First Nations artwork in a diarama complete with running water, stuffed ducks, a canoe and sound effects. The HUGE raven art (raven plays a huge part in First Nations creation mythology) hanging from the ceiling gives Nbear a pause. I look over the railing to see the other waiting areas for the departure gates below. I spy a playscape IN the airport.

Then we descend the escalator accompanied by a waterfall over rocks. I can’t describe how calming and beautiful and how unlike a normal airport this is. Let the Vancation begin!

We step outside and immediately smell the sea.

Our FIRST STRANGER!

Lisa and I have been quietly working on this little t-shirt business of ours, selling a few here and there and trying to get more places to sell them. This weekend we sold our first t-shirt through ETSY.

I had to call Lisa right away.
"Do you know anyone named Isabel in Brazil?
Me neither! We've sold a shirt to our first stranger!"


The joy of selling to someone who has no familiar obligations is quite exhilarating. Thanks ya'll. Thanks Isabel!

More Happy Birthday To Me

Sometimes it pays to procrastinate.

I have been eyeballing several items in the Boden catalog since, oh, my back went out in January and I stared at nothing but the Boden catalog (I also knitted part of a scarf.) And when ye olde birthday rolled around, I eyeballed some more. And then I had some income from a freelance job and so I said okay! now I will buy! And then I got busy. My shopping cart remained up on my screen for countless days. But TONIGHT, tonight, after J had a terrible time falling asleep, I stumbled up the stairs at the late hour that it is to purchase said items.

to discover that everything was on super sale.

"I saved myself $200 tonight!" I exclaim to Smith who returns a wary stare... "saved?" he says with sarcasm. I hear the echo of my father in that remark.

I should also point out that I stumbled up the stairs to my lovely new birthday present from Smith, all nicely installed and up and running. (except Firefox darnit, so my hotlinks are a no go with safari.) I admit that at first glance, the practical side of me piped up loudly and said "Whoa! We don't need this! We could really use a XXX instead!" (feel free to fill in the blank here with "a refridgerator" or "new plumbing" because I certainly did.) Which, when said out loud, is the best reason NOT to get those things as my birthday present. Smith got me something indulgent (better than diamonds) something personal (better than perfume) something I will use every day (better than that fridge) and something that is all mine.

Thank you sweetie, from the bottom of my IMAC-loving heart.