AWESOME holiday!!!

What an awesome week we've just had!!! I'm thinking this might've been our one and only real holiday this year, so we made the most of it! This post will be a fairly detailed itinerary of the trip, so skip it if you like. :P Don't worry, I won't know if you do.

We headed off-island Monday morning (dh was already in the big city having worked 4 days) and went to visit family near my old neighbourhood (though I didn't go by the old house at all). An evening watching Japanese Sumo tournaments and rockin' out on Rock Band on the PS3, the kids having fun on the Wii.

Next day we headed to the Cloverdale museum where there was a temporary Lego exhibit set up. The kids & I had been to the Sidney museum to see the one there in March/May/a month that starts with M (lol) but we all liked this exhibit better. Bigger, more Lego, a building area for the kids... a huge 8' long scale replica of the HMCS Winnipeg, a massively long display of pirates and sailors, including whirlpool and underwater scene. VERY cool. The rest of the museum was very interesting, too. Spent the afternoon at the local park and waterpark with a picnic and then a visit to Toy Traders on the Bypass. The kids loved it and spent most of their spending money there. ;)

Day 3, up early, headed to Bowen Island for a day-trip. Lunch at Mik-Sa in Snug Cove (good food, horrible service), a drive around the island (unless you're planning on hiking the 22 kms round trip up Mt Gardner there isn't much to do on Bowen, though I bet the view from up there is fantastic!), followed by a play at the school's playground. Quick trip to the local health-conscious grocery store for some organic sodas and the hole-in-the-wall candy store and back on the ferry. Honestly, if you want to daytrip to Bowen, just walk on the ferry. Snug Cove is the only 'village' on the island and all the shops are well within walking distance. Even if you're planning on hiking Mt Gardner, what's an extra 2 kms or so to the trailheads when you're going 11 uphill anyways? Bowen is probably the most upscale (gulf) island I've ever been on. Seriously - $14 for 4 organic sodas?!? All about image; lacks authenticity, imo. Houses are all architecturally designed and for 'show', the people seemed the same way - more concerned about projecting the 'right' image in their Jags and beemers than making a true connection with someone... I didn't see much evidence of a true sense of community... which is something I'd argue Salt Spring has maintained, despite having been taken over by upscale baby boomers as well. At least SS still has its hippy contingent (evidenced by the tie dyed clothing for sale at the famous Saturday morning market), who seem to coexist with the baby boomers who've developed Ganges into condos and oceanfront spas. Bowen? Lacks character, imo. Back at Horseshoe Bay we hopped aboard the Langdale ferry and were in Gibsons by late-afternoon. 40 mins up to Sechelt and we arrived at good friends' for the evening in Halfmoon Bay. beeeeeeeautiful area of BC if you get the chance to check out the Sunshine Coast. I am so totally jealous that their house is completely finished and not furnished by hand-me-downs. AND they have a beautiful garden. We dined al fresco and had a campfire, the kids stayed up wayyyyyy too late and then slept in a tent on the trampoline.

In the morning we walked down to the beach and the kids splashed about in the waves for a while before we toodled off for the return ferry trip.... which we missed. So we ended up at Molly's Reach (if you've ever watched the Beachcombers, you'll understand) for lunch and caught the next ferry. We had planned on camping in N Van b/c dh was supposed to work Friday, but he got someone to cover his shift so instead we headed north to Squamish and found a really nice campground to stay at (Paradise Valley). We cooked tortellini with marinara sauce and garlic bread for dinner, and I had a delicious green salad with mango and avocado and raspberry vinegraitte (sorry, me no spell). The kids tried to swim in the Cheakamus River (I dared not go and watch; it was whitewater rapids around there and the last thing I wanted to see was my offspring swept away), but the glacier fed waters were toooooooo cold for my coastal babes, so it was a toe-dip instead (much safer, lol). A campfire with marshmallows and hot cocoa capped off another great day. :D I have to say that this campground was awesome. The hosts, Lynn & Pat were totally down-to-earth and sweet, and I loved waking up to the morning birdsong dawn chorus... it was like being at home.

Friday we went on the Britannia Beach mining museum tour (cool, and I didn't have too much of an anxiety attack at going in the mining tunnel - eeks!). I *do* remember going on the tour when I was about my son's age, but had obviously blocked it out. :P We panned for gold flakes at the end of the tour (fun - ds would've stayed for hours panning for gold) and then headed south for Vancouver. Set up camp at Capilano RV Park (how close to the Lions Gate are you seriously allowed to tent - what, 20 feet away from traffic?! swell, that looks like a great site). An afternoon at Playland (wtf - regular admission for a family of 4 would've been $120?!? Playland ain't no Disneyland, let me just say that, so where do they get off with those rates?!) Nonetheless, it was fun and ds, although he *thought* he would enjoy the old 1958 wooden roller coaster instead nearly vomitted all over his loving mother on that one. One ride on the pirate ship that swings back and forth and he was convinced all the rides (except the preschool ones which he's now, sadly, too tall for) were evil. lmao (actually, he liked the bumper cars, fwiw) We went to the Lions game in the evening next door at Empire Stadium - wow, what an interesting sociological view that provided into crowds and sporting events/etc.: although we were in the family area (no alcohol), directly across the aisle were the 'regular' seats. So we had all these drinking idiots within arms' reach. One rowdy guy was asked to move seats (making too much noise), then later a fight broke out between fans, it took 6 security personnel to remove the one offending person from the stadium. boy, did he leave fighting!!! then a young woman in her 20s was removed for being so intoxicated she couldn't even stand up on her own. not to mention the streaker who ran 95 yards across the field. try explaining nudity and extreme intoxication to your kids sometime. fun. Although dd did tell dad that when she grows up she's never going to run around naked or drink beer... at football games. LOL yes, i suppose the evening will be remembered by the kids more for the 'entertainment' in the stands than on the field (although dd was pretty enamoured with the cheerleaders, watching and memorizing their every dance move!). Close to midnight we rolled back into our campground site within reach of the bridge, exhausted.

You'd think after a busy day like that you'd be able to sleep, right? Well no sooner did we settle in than the campers next to us camp back from their evening out, and literally the campsites are so close our tent practically touched theirs. Then the fire alarm at Park Royal goes off and the trucks come and are on scene for what seems like an eternity. Somewhere around 3:30 I finally fell asleep for a little while, only to get up at 5:30 to take dh to work. After dropping him off the kids and I returned to the tent and slept in until 9:30. :D After wondering aloud how those drunks from the football game were feeling after waking up in the drunk tank, we spent some time at Granville Island Market - the kids went in the waterpark (with its small waterslide - big hit!) and then to the Kids Market. A got herself a charm bracelet with one charm - something she can add onto every time she visits there; R got himself some Pokemon cards. We missed the 3:00 ferry we'd planned on taking (I guess I spent too long at Ikea?!) and caught the 5 instead... which had a medical emergency before we even left the dock, so by the time the ambulance arrived and carted the person away the ferry was 45 mins late leaving. Ended up rolling into the ranch at 9:30 at night, in time to put all the chickens away for the night and pet the cats hello.

And yes, I slept in until 10:15 this morning. :D (I did get up at 6:30 to let the hens out, mind you). And besides unpacking and doing a little laundry, did my best to do nothing today. There you have it - the most detailed monologue of our holiday that will ever exist.

~Enjoy~