July & August, I barely knew ya.
I am slowly recovering from 20 solid days of house guests in July. We started with both my parents for a few days, then it was just my Mom for a week or so, then Rob's 6-year old son, Evan, came for a 2-week visit and somewhere in there my Mom and I took a weekend trip to Seattle so she could catch a plane back home. I think we had good times all around, but it's exhausting for me to be social that many days in a row, I really needed a rest!
This was my Dad's first visit here, so we took him to all the requisite Vancouver tourist spots: Stanley Park, China Town (we even hit the night market and got egg balls, yum!), Capilano Salmon Hatchery (way prettier area than the tourist bridge nearby), a quick trip to the "beach area" of White Rock(I'm not a fan of this place on the weekends), The Flea Market (oh yeah!) and the fancy driving range near our house. We are totally going to learn how to play golf one day....but for now, we enjoy the driving range.
During her visit, my Mom and I explored some stuff around town, especially the East Indian fabric stores around Surrey...one in particular turned out to be fabric heaven with a really fantastic and helpful owner. I am into sewing clothing right now, so I have stocked up on silk and embroidered fabric on the cheap...you can buy gorgeous Saris and turn them into all sorts of things. We did a little painting and other crafty stuff. We went to Granville Island for a day, which was exactly the same as the last time we went. We spent our nights playing Canasta.
When Evan arrived, my Mom was happy to be here to meet the closest thing to a grandchild she may ever have (unless you count Chesnee, Shelby, and Chloe). Evan has grown out of his Spiderman phase (and has actually grown a bunch in general) and is way more into Batman this year. I'm sure it has nothing to do with movie marketing. He also enjoys Yu-Gi-Oh which I can't stand. Why don't kids like fun stuff like Scooby and Bugs Bunny anymore? Rob and Evan had lots of fun times at the go-cart track in Richmond and we all had fun playing UNO.
The "girls" trip to Seattle was fun...we took Chuckanut Drive on the way down so that I could practice my death-grip-on-the-steering-wheel style of driving. I hear the drive is beautiful, but I couldn't tell you for sure because I was too busy trying not to kill us by driving into the rock on one side or the sheer drop off to the ocean on the other. I believe the road is 3 feet wide total, but the 35 mph speed limit is helpful and I'd probably do the drive again if someone else was actually doing the driving. Traffic in Seattle is nightmarish...I detest it. Our hotel was on the waterfront and once we shed the car the area was really enjoyable. We went to Pike Place Market and stayed for hours exploring all the different shops and briefly watching the famous fish throwing people. We also spent lots of time walking around the waterfront, it is a pretty area right on the edge of an urban nightmare area. It was a good couple of days and it wasn't even ruined by the hour wait I had at the border to get back into Canada.
Now Rob and I are back to our routine and we are on a strict diet to get in shape (because we totally stop exercising and eating well anytime someone visits us). We're planning a Post Anniversary/Pre-Christmas trip to Hawaii in early December and we want to look spiffy in our bathing suits. More about our trip as it gets closer...but we are doing a week at the Big Island, I'm very excited!
This was my Dad's first visit here, so we took him to all the requisite Vancouver tourist spots: Stanley Park, China Town (we even hit the night market and got egg balls, yum!), Capilano Salmon Hatchery (way prettier area than the tourist bridge nearby), a quick trip to the "beach area" of White Rock(I'm not a fan of this place on the weekends), The Flea Market (oh yeah!) and the fancy driving range near our house. We are totally going to learn how to play golf one day....but for now, we enjoy the driving range.
During her visit, my Mom and I explored some stuff around town, especially the East Indian fabric stores around Surrey...one in particular turned out to be fabric heaven with a really fantastic and helpful owner. I am into sewing clothing right now, so I have stocked up on silk and embroidered fabric on the cheap...you can buy gorgeous Saris and turn them into all sorts of things. We did a little painting and other crafty stuff. We went to Granville Island for a day, which was exactly the same as the last time we went. We spent our nights playing Canasta.
When Evan arrived, my Mom was happy to be here to meet the closest thing to a grandchild she may ever have (unless you count Chesnee, Shelby, and Chloe). Evan has grown out of his Spiderman phase (and has actually grown a bunch in general) and is way more into Batman this year. I'm sure it has nothing to do with movie marketing. He also enjoys Yu-Gi-Oh which I can't stand. Why don't kids like fun stuff like Scooby and Bugs Bunny anymore? Rob and Evan had lots of fun times at the go-cart track in Richmond and we all had fun playing UNO.
The "girls" trip to Seattle was fun...we took Chuckanut Drive on the way down so that I could practice my death-grip-on-the-steering-wheel style of driving. I hear the drive is beautiful, but I couldn't tell you for sure because I was too busy trying not to kill us by driving into the rock on one side or the sheer drop off to the ocean on the other. I believe the road is 3 feet wide total, but the 35 mph speed limit is helpful and I'd probably do the drive again if someone else was actually doing the driving. Traffic in Seattle is nightmarish...I detest it. Our hotel was on the waterfront and once we shed the car the area was really enjoyable. We went to Pike Place Market and stayed for hours exploring all the different shops and briefly watching the famous fish throwing people. We also spent lots of time walking around the waterfront, it is a pretty area right on the edge of an urban nightmare area. It was a good couple of days and it wasn't even ruined by the hour wait I had at the border to get back into Canada.
Now Rob and I are back to our routine and we are on a strict diet to get in shape (because we totally stop exercising and eating well anytime someone visits us). We're planning a Post Anniversary/Pre-Christmas trip to Hawaii in early December and we want to look spiffy in our bathing suits. More about our trip as it gets closer...but we are doing a week at the Big Island, I'm very excited!