Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Markets, Beaches, Seafood, and Aquariums

July 23 to 25
Vancouver BC

Woke up Friday morning and decided to go to Granville Island. Picked up my cousin and drove over the Lion's Gate bridge. Traffic was kinda crazy going over the bridge, but that's Vancouver for you!

We had a nice tour around Granville, starting with a street performer – a contortionist.

We stopped at the food court for lunch - so many choices! We enjoyed a smorgesboard – Indian, sushi, perogies and cabbage rolls, and sausage rolls. Ate our lunch on the pier overlooking the boats and Vancouver skyline.

Hard to tour the shops with the girls, but they enjoyed playing in the Kids Marketplace. On the way back to the car we spotted some 'live art' – a guy balancing large boulders along the pier.

Got back to Deep Cove in the late afternoon and headed down to the 'beach' at the end of the street. It was high tide so there was no sand, but the water was great and everybody had fun. Friday night there was a live concert at Deep Cove park. I enjoyed dancing to 'Mostly Marley' and found my reggae groove. The girls played at the park, which was teeming with children much like an ant hill! DD2 and DS joined me in dancing for a few songs, but mostly it was just me! It's been so long since I danced!


On Saturday we woke up and my aunt wore her favourite summer dress, which meant it was a beach day. We packed snacks and spent a good part of the day there. It was low tide so we enjoyed a sand beach.

We found a starfish washed up, which we kept and are drying out. My aunt, the girls, and I went hunting for more starfish off the shore. We found a bunch of purple ones.

Towards the end of the day, we were joined by a girl DD1 met at the concert the night before who also joined us for supper. And what a supper! My aunt and uncle prepared a gourmet supper of mussels steamed in a coconut milk sauce, fresh toasted bread, and Dungeness crab legs. Who needs vegetables? DD2 tried the mussels, and liked the pink parts, but the kids ate hamburgers.

Sunday we decided to go to the aquarium and check out Stanley Park. The aquarium was packed, but we enjoyed watching the dolphin and beluga shows.

The shark tank was pretty cool, and the girls loved Clownfish Cove, a children's play area.

The last the we did was watch a 4D movie about the shallow seas. It was fantastic! We were sprayed with water, hit in the back by sea snakes, and vibrated as part of our experience. The movie was good too! DD1 was a bit scared, but both girls enjoyed it.

We walked and drove around Stanley Park for a bit - tons of giant trees! There was a huge wind storm a few years ago that blew a lot of them down - I can only imagine what it looked like before! Wish we had more time to explore the park on bicycles. Tried to see the Rose and Rhodenderon Gardens from the road, but we needed to get out. Wasn't willing to do that, as all 3 kids were sleeping :( Found another park to play in before heading back to Deep Cove.

Sunday night my aunt and uncle looked after the kids so DH and I could go on a date! Finally, some real couple time! We went to Arms Reach Bistro, just a quick walk back to the park. We had another fabulous supper - I had spaghetti with prawns and chorizo, DH had tuna with a pinapple salsa and we share a 1/2 L of white wine. Could thing it was a full bottle, because its a bit tricky to walk through the woods back to the house!

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