The Long Awaited Vancouver Post!

From July 30th to August 7th we were In Brisitish Colombia with Eric (the best man from our wedding), his pregnant wife Jillian and their daughter Jillian (11 days younger than Enzo).  Eric's aunt and uncle have a house in Vancouver and a property with 3 cottages/small houses in Sechelt.  Here is Sechelt in relation to Vancouver:

Looking at Sechelt on the map makes me notice its precarious location - like it could break off at that point with the next big earthquake!  Anyway, we arrived in Vancouver, spent the night there then drove to the ferry, took the Horseshoe Bay-Landale ferry and then drove on to Sechelt.  We spent 3 1/2 days there with Eric's aunt and uncle (Peggy and Tony) and their three married adult children.  Let's just say we were a procreative bunch - there were kids and pregnant ladies everywhere!  Ok, just 2 pregnant ladies and 5 kids still in diapers, but it's much more than I'm used to being around.  Everyone was so generous, nice and pleasant to be around, the kids got along, the food Peggy pumped out of a postage stamp size kitchen for 13 people every night was incredible (and looked effortless!), and the wine never stopped flowing.  It was incredible!  We were right on the rocky shore and Enzo got up close and personal with starfish, crabs and mud.  My personal favorite part of being in Sechelt was the heavily studded overgrown bushes of ripe blackberries!  Seriously, I made two pies and Peggy helped me make 4 jars of jam.  I ravaged the bushes on the property and a neighbor's (abandoned) property.  Okay, on to the photos.

On the windy ferry.  You can kind of see his long blond hair in the second photo!

In Sechelt, playing in the kiddy pool.  You can see the shore and an island in the background.

Enzo and Jilly during one of their many hugging sessions.

 Sharing pretzels.  Jilly is a snack enthusiast.

Enzo's first Kinderegg, because they are banned in the States!

Okay, I couldn't choose which bare buns blackberry picking photo to choose from, so you get 4.  Seriously one of the cutest things ever.

   
So I got no photos of the family, or food, or anything.  I'm such a bad vacation photographer!

And on to Vancouver, where we stayed at Peggy and Tony's house for the rest of the trip.

Took paddle boats around a lake in Burnaby.  It was kind of a disaster but it was Enzo's first time in a small boat.  He hated the vest but eventually calmed down.  Looking back, I think this was about the time Enzo started to not feel so great.

Went to an old timey village to check out old timey things. And he rode a carousel which he enjoyed much more than his first time in Santa Cruz.

The next day we had a full day of activities at Stanley Park, a huge park on a peninsula with tons of kid stuff to do.  We rented bikes and went around the whole park.

 The kid loves bikes.  (And I loved his duck helmet!)

At one point only French fries could keep them happy.....but just barely.

 There were a few little water parks where we stopped to play.

Enzo discovering the joy of a water cannon.

Resting at the beach, pondering the questions of life.

Family totem.

After our trip to Stanley park, things took a turn for the worse.  We had been travelling around Vancouver on public transportation, ate dinner at an amazing Indian restaurant, then went to Granville Island for gelato.  At the gelato shop Enzo was still acting cranky and wouldn't even try the gelato.  He then proceeded to throw up all over me.  Three times.  We were both soaked with mango lassi puke and he was burning up with a fever.  I almost cried, not because I was covered in vomit, but because I knew we were two hours away from home base on public transportation.  We got home just fine as I tried to avoid people on a crowded public transport.  Not something I want to repeat in the future.  Also, I may never drink mango lassi again.

The last couple of days were more subdued as I was constantly treating his fever and keep him happy.  So here's a few random photos of the last couple days.

Watching bears on Grouse Mountain.

Enzo has been saying "RAWWRRRR" every times he sees a picture of a bear now.

The dads holding babies and playing frisbee.

The dessert case at a very highly rated gelato shop (amazing we made it to another one).

Oh my, the adorableness...

 
























Jilly is a constant talker and has helped Enzo with his verbal skills.  It's been really cool to see him blossom with his vocabulary while we were spending so much time with Jilly.  Last observation of the trip is that Enzo got to go on so many kinds of transportation - plane, car, ferry, paddle boat, gondola (up the mountain), bus, SkyTrain, carousel and bike.  Pretty cool for a little guy!