Scaling Grouse Mountain

One of our most memorable experiences in Vancouver was Saturday evening, after our day in the rain at Stanley Park. The rain had cleared out and Steve and I thought it would be a nice time to visit Grouse Mountain, a popular lookout over the city, which is also a ski resort in the winter. Pete and Sheralie graciously watched our children while we went on our adventure. Our initial plan was to ride the gondola up, take in the view, and explore the resort at the top. Instead, we got there, saw the entrance for the hiking trail to the top--called the Grouse Grind--and thought why not? We had no kids with us and the trail is less than 2 miles so we started off on our hike. The trail was mossy and green and oh so magical in a LOTR sort of way. We soon discovered it was also steep, VERY steep, and was going to take a lot longer than we anticipated. It's not called the Grouse Grind for nothing--it is one crazy hike. And there we were in our street clothes, Steve carrying a backpack and me in slip on shoes. I felt like a complete dummy, hiking up this mountain in jeans and a necklace. By the time we were 1/4 the way up I wanted to throw that necklace and camera around my neck into oblivion, just to unload any extra weight. It was totally grueling. Steve put a photo ban into effect so we could focus on the climb. It was very hard, but also very funny at the same time. It couldn't have been more obvious we were from out of town. We reached the top, sweaty and thirsty, in 1.5 hours after climbing 2800 stairs. By then more clouds had rolled in so our view was nothing but fog. The irony! Steve rewarded us with t-shirts to memorialize our climb together. And the $10 gondola ride down (it's prohibited to hike down) was some of the best $10 I've ever spent. We laughed all the way home at our naivety but proud of our accomplishment! This will go down as one of our best dates ever.

Once we came down out of the clouds, the view of the city was great from the gondola!

Rainy Day at Stanley Park

On our third day in Vancouver we ventured across Lion's Gate Bridge to explore Stanley Park. I've heard it described as the Canadian version of Central Park. Stanley Park, however, is larger and noticeably lacks homeless people. It was threatening to rain when we arrived but we managed to ride the miniature train and play at a playground without any trouble. Dragging Clark away from the sand digger toys for our picnic on the seawall was just that: dragging. As we were wrapping up our lunch it started sprinkling. We were walking towards the lighthouse when it turned into a full downpour. After we got loaded up into our cars the rain let up and we walked to see the First Nations totem poles. While there...a cloudburst. We all huddled under--or in--a large tree for shelter. When the rain subsided a bit we decided we were done taking our chances at the park and ran back to the cars and called it a day. Once home, we dried off and Sheralie made us all hot chocolate from scratch. Despite the wet weather, I was amazed with the park. You can be at a beach, watch ships and seaplanes, ride a train, see a rose garden, learn about First Nation culture, play on a playground or splash pad, and more all in one beautiful place!

A June(uary) Wedding

The second day of our trip was the day of my friend Erin's wedding in the Vancouver temple. We were roommates the entire three years I was a single person in Houston. Steve and I were honored to attend the ceremony while Sheralie was more than gracious to watch our children and her five children in the temple waiting room. The waiting room was hopping with our seven kids and several more from the wedding party. Our original plans were to have the kids play outside but the weather was too drizzly so we didn't have a lot of options. (As we learned later, June in Vancouver is commonly referred to as Juneuary due to all the rain.) To make things more exciting, I had left my recommend at home in Houston. Luckily I realized that the night before so I had several hours of lead time to get that sorted out. The ceremony was so special and Erin looked amazing. I am incredibly happy for her and so glad we could be there! 

Capilano Suspension Bridge

In the afternoon of our first day in Vancouver we drove a few minutes from Pete and Sheralie's home to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. We walked through the treetops of the rainforest on the swaying bridge with hundreds of other tourists doing the same. In addition to the main bridge there is a treetop adventure walk and a cliffwalk. We tried them all and they were all equally spectacular. The whole park is very well done and the kids had a great time chasing one another around, seemingly oblivious to the altitude.

O, Canada!

Vancouver, British Columbia has been at the top of my bucket list since the Winter Olympics were held there in 2010. This summer the stars aligned and we went late last week to visit Steve's brother Pete and his family who are living there as well as attend the wedding of a dear friend and former roommate of mine. As expected, Vancouver is beautiful! The landscaping is amazing and everything is so green, including the people I learned. They take "going green" to a whole new level. Each home has multiple recycling and compost bins, and limited trash can space. Every utility box in the city is wrapped with a nature scene and the streets are impeccably clean. I also observed that there are coffee shops, sushi bars, and boutique clothing stores a-plenty, along with natural food markets. Our first activity of the trip was going to John Lawson Park (very cool park!) with our cousins. Once we'd tried all the park activities and equipment we walked down to the water to throw rocks--a favorite activity of boys large and small.

Our First Texas Fourth

This is the tenth summer I've spent in Texas and this was the first year I've been here on the 4th of July. We had a low key holiday that started off with a family run, then swimming in the community pool, a family picture on the porch, and a BBQ with Mark and Amy. Following the BBQ a storm rolled in and brought plenty of lightning, wind, and rain. The excitement at home kicked up a notch when the power flickered on and off multiple times. We went to the church for root beer floats, despite the weather, and the rain slowed down just enough for us to enjoy the neighborhood fireworks show from the comforts of our hot and humid car. 

One of the funniest parts of my day was when I was telling Clark the story of why we celebrate Independence Day. When I got to the part about the colonists not wanting to be governed by the king of England he told me, "He was a good king, just a little bit because he told everyone to repent."