Lost Piggy

A few days ago I lost Piggy at Old Navy. I was kind of sad. I was very mad. I cried a lot. I missed her.

But after that we found her. She was in the lost and found at Old Navy. I felt very happy because I found Piggy.

I love Piggy!

The Toderash's Come to Visit - Part 2

So it was still hot the next day. Actually, for several days. So, to the splash pad at Confederation Park we went.

One day, the Toderash's spent on their own. But we did meet up for a picnic supper at Stanley Park (sorry, no pics) and a quick hike in Lighthouse Park. We got there quite late, so the waxing moon was already rising above a recently flowered memorial, with the lighthouse standing guard.

Of course, we had to take the Toderash's to nearby Burnaby Mountain one evening to smell the roses and watch the sunset behind "The Playground of the Gods".

One place we had not been ourselves yet was Lynn Canyon Regional Park in North Vancouver. In April we had visited the Capilano Suspension Bridge, despite the steep entrance fee ($85 for our family). After braving the suspension bridge at Lynn Canyon, we will definitely recommend this free alternative to future visitors. It's narrower and shorter, but still not for the faint of heart.

This is the view from mid-span. Karla says "only an engineer would say 'mid-span'".

There's a very nice trail on the other side of the bridge that loops through the park.

Sasha, the queen . . .

The trail winds past the "30 foot pool". With it being so dry in B.C., the riverbed was almost dry. It was so interesting and beautiful here, that we spent the remaining daylight there. So, after everyone had their fill of pictures and exploring, we doubled back to the bridge (probably a good thing too, because a few days later, our family went back to explore the rest of the trail and discovered that it immediately rises about 200 ft via several hundred stairs - stay tuned for a separate blog post about that adventure).

The final chapter of the Toderash's visit to Beautiful BC is still to come.

The Toderash's Come to Visit - Part 1

So, we'd been in Burnaby for less than 3 weeks when our first guests arrived . . . The Toderash's! Despite our limited time to get to know the area, we had lots of places to show them. First, to the beach at Barnet Marine Park, 'cause it was HOT.

That evening, we went to the Chinese Night Market in . . . where else? Chinatown. Still hot.

We swung by the Olympic cauldron. It's not burning anymore.

Yep, still hot.

So hot, in fact, that some teenage girls jumped into Coal Harbour to cool down. They didn't have to twist Brent's arm very hard to get him to stop and take their picture.

These don't really follow the "so hot" theme, but we saw a sailboat at Coal Harbour that made for some nice pics . . .

Okay, back to the "so hot" theme.

I was so very hot that I had to run through the splash pad with the kids.

And we had to stop on the way home for . . . Gelato!

Still hot the next day, so we drove down to White Rock, to hit the East Beach. White Rock has a cool strip of shops and restaurants along the beach with almost all of them featuring (or at least including) fish & chips on the menu.

We arrived while the tide was still high, so the beach didn't look very promising at first. The girls actually wanted to go somewhere else. But I had paid $18 for 6 hours of parking so we could spend the day here, so dang it if I was going to leave!

After lunch the tide was much lower already and the girls found their groove. And some jellyfish. Little ones, but jellyfish nonetheless. A local girl told us it was okay to pick them up, so, after a bit of apprehension, the girls all took turns holding them.

The tide was now well down and the beautiful sandbars were revealed for the kids to enjoy . . .

. . . and for me to play Frisbee on with some local kid named "Shadow". Yup. Shadow. Didn't catch his real name, 'cause when I asked what it was he said, "Just call me Shadow". Okay Shadow.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of the Toderash's visit to Beautiful BC.

Celebrating 14 Years with a Sunset on Burnaby Mountain

A couple of weeks ago Karla and I celebrated 14 years of bliss. Well, 14 years of marriage anyway. We don't have any friends here yet that can babysit for us, so we took all three girls along for a nice dinner at Socrates Taverna, a large, empty, Greek restaurant. Granted, it was a Tuesday evening, and it was only 6:00 p.m., but it was a little disconcerting to be the only people in the place. However, it turned out that they make a mean Chicken Souvlaki and great lemon potatoes.

After dinner and Mini-Blizzards at DQ, we headed up to Burnaby Mountain to watch the sunset. There is an interesting series of sculptures on Burnaby Mountain called "The Playground of the Gods", by a Japanese artist. This is just one grouping of many . . .

The views from atop Burnaby Mountain are impressive. You can look across Burrard Inlet toward Indian Arm . . .

. . . and toward Port Moody.

There's a strange "Eco-Sculpture" . . .

. . . and a rose garden, with dozens of varieties.

Getting close to sun-down, so we head back towards The Playground of the Gods to get a good seat for the show.

Nice show God.