Halloween 2009

Alright, you'd think they'd make moving photos around more user friendly. But! Here are some photos out of order.

We have a little produce shop down the street that has little shopping carts for kids. Gunter & Zoe just love them.

Gunter got a haircut today, and he looks so handsome.

Gunter was in no mood for Halloween this year. Grandma sent him a great Superman costume, which he refused to wear. We spent Halloween with our friends in Bellingham, Washington, and they have a race car driver suit that he finally, after much coaxing, agreed to wear. He was so excited to get candy. We had an action packed weekend, and he was so tired after trick or treating, but still stuck it out for the taste of sugar.

Our friends have a son who we'll call "Duke". Duke is 5. Our kids get along with him and his sister so well, and we always have fun playing with them. Well, Duke and Zoe like to dance together. We went to a Halloween party Friday night, and Zoe found him and made sure they got to dance together on the dance floor. Seeing them dance was so funny, because the dance floor was like a bar room brawl, and it was like in a movie where all the chaos is in slow-motion with no sound but soothing classical music, and the lovers are all alone in the cacophony.

A girl who knew Duke's parents came running up to them and said that Duke and "that girl" just kissed. We laughed and laughed, it still makes me laugh!

Later, on the way to the car, I was asking Zoe if she had fun at the party. She said yes. Then I asked if she gave Duke a little kiss, she said yes, then said, "and again and again and again." She's only 3, but I don't want people calling her "that girl" in reference to kissing boys!

A slipper detail. I am reminded daily that these are slippers, not shoes.

The ensemble. She's worn it at least 3 times a day for about a week and a half now, and I'm not exaggerating.

Not A Fancy But A Friendly Place

Oh, Mexicali.  You really are a nice restaurant.  Your food is humble, but it fills the belly.  Don't look at those restaurants on magazine covers and wonder how you can compare (they're photoshopped anyway).  

This restaurant cracks me up every time I see it.  It just seems to have low self-esteem.  "Please, come in weary traveller.  You must be tired.  We don't have much, but we will offer you what we can."  I love that the sentence structure on the signs doesn't sound remotely mexican in any way.  Mexicali isn't a very good restaurant, and it wasn't even very friendly, but it does provide me with a little chuckle every time I pass it.

The Aquarium

We woke up this morning with a full day ahead of us, if by "full day" you mean, what will we do for the next 12 hours?  Well,  this is always kind of a depressing thought at the dawn of a new day.  And then I remembered my membership to the aquarium.  We went once, at the zenith of the August tourist season, and it was so crowded, we didn't even see everything before Zoe and Gunter began to unravel.  

The thing I like about the Vancouver Aquarium is that it's a real aquarium.  There's no History of the Trout, there's a baby beluga whale!  And sharks, and piranha!  My cell phone photo may not tell the whole story, so let me describe.  The beluga whales are white, and this is the baby riding above her mother.  Isn't that great?  A fabulous way to spend the morning.  And now that the rainy days will begin soon, we'll be doing it a lot.

A Whole Crop of New Photos

Since many of you have asked for Photos of Vancouver, here are many.  I realize that only 2 of our dear readers are grandparents of the following adorable children, but I hope the rest of you will enjoy.

From what I've gathered, every summer Canada invites different countries to show off their fireworks.  So, in July for a few weeks, about twice a week, there was a big fireworks show over the bay.  We went to China night.  We gave the kids a really late nap and kept 'em up until 11 pm.  We loaded up some snacks and headed down to the beach (a comfy 10 minute drive).

One of Vancouver's stellar sunsets.

I had to include this photo of Gunter.  He still is obsessed with all things garbage.  We went to Ikea to get some stuff, which included this recycle bin.  He was so excited.  He had to carry it through the store, then hold it in the car.  I love that he fell asleep with it in his hands, and only woke up when it was removed from his lap.

We also went to Tofino.  Tofino is honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever seen.  So, there's Vancouver the city, and then Vancouver Island, just west of the mainland, about a 2 hour ferry ride.  It's a 5 or 6 hour trip all together from the city of Vancouver.  We came for my big 40th birthday.  Tofino is a bit out of the way, but people actually come to not only kayak, hike and relax, but also to surf.  Yup, I said surf.  Blizzard gave it a go, even though my feet ached just from walking in the water--very cold.  It was a sunny day, with a high of about 61.  He had a full-body wetsuit get-up, with hood, gloves and booties.  If you want to go somewhere new, I fully suggest it.

Zoe on the ferry, looking cute, or I should say, cool.  She corrected me.

This is a photoshop composite of several photos.  I know it's really fisheyed, but it was the view from our hotel room.  

That's our little cottage in the background.

A better view from our room.

I know I have a drink obsession up here, and this is the last I'll speak of it.  We went to A&W, you know the root beer place we used to have (it must be a Canadian co., because they're everywhere).  This was actually printed on the cup.  I was so amused, I took a picture.  Hey, I'm American, I like my ice.

Cutting the birthday cake outside our room.  It took about 10 minutes to blow out the one candle because of little mouths' constant blowing once the candle was lit.  One candle is the new 40 candles.

We discovered that Gunter loves photography.  He took this picture of his daddy, and it's a great shot!

Someday, when Zoe is a pro surfer, Sports Illustrated will pay us for this shot.

Last week, my parents came up to visit.  It was great to see them.  Among other things, we took them to Whistler.

This is just the drive to get there.  

Gary & Judy with Zoe at the top of one of the mountains.  There were a few cute shots, so I included them all.

There is the Peak to Peak tram that takes you from one peak...to the other peak.  It's new and it's cool.

Is this real?  Just a snapshot from the tram.

Another Gunter photo, another great shot!

I had to include this great nap shot. 

Preschool started this last Wednesday.  They have school on Monday and Wednesdays from 1-3:30--why, that's 5 hours a week!  What will I do with my time?  They wanted the parents to stay for the whole class time that first day, but Gunter reminded me that from now on, I'll have to drop them off and then leave.  I guess they get the idea.

I have to mention Gunter's bowling shirt.  He's developed this bowling obsession lately, and I was so excited to find him this shirt.  He wore it for a day and a night and a day.

 See you next time!

One down...

This sweet little thing hasn't worn a diaper for about 2 weeks now.  Whew!  I'm so proud of her.  It's been kind of a long road, but I haven't been very diligent about it.  I figured there are no 12 year olds wearing diapers, so eventually it would work out.  Now, if Gunter would just show a mild interest, I could stop the bloodletting of money at Costco for yet another box of diapers.

Oh...Canada...

This convenience store does not have fountain drinks. Discuss.

New Chez Nous

at Stanley Park

Gunter loves his birthday bike. Zoe loves air on her tummy.

On our way to the park. We've been watching the Tour de France, and Gunter is really into it.

Our fresh fruit & veggie store, just down the street.

Exiting our apartment building. We cross here to walk this beautiful street to a great park.

View from our "balcony". There is water! Just behind that electrical pole...

Hello from beautiful Vancouver! I've included some photos of our neighborhood so you can see a little of what we got.

It's been a crazy month. So here's the story: Last November Blizzard lost his job. So, part of looking for a job included Blizzard wanting to interview with the Vancouver 2010 Olympics. It just wasn't time to move, though, and he found a job at home. Then, in May, his boss told everyone that they would probably have to start cutting hours. So Blizzard contacted the Olympics again to see if they had any jobs left, and a few weeks later they called and out of the blue offered him a job. We realized we better take it because new architecture jobs are virtually non-existent right now. Within a week we found a family who needed a place to live while their house is being built. Within the next week we moved out of our house and in with my parents. A few days after moving we threw a birthday party together for Zoe and Gunter, and 2 days after that, Blizzard came up to Vancouver to start working while the rest of us waited for our passports to show up. 2 weeks later Blizzard flew back, we loaded up the car, and started for Vancouver. It took about a week before we were actually sleeping in our apartment because of time we spent moving our stuff in while the kids stayed with their cousins in Seattle. It took a week after we moved in to get cable and internet.

Whew, and here we are. Trying to make life as boring and scheduled as we can. The kids have been a little cranky, but things are smoothing out and they're settling in. They actually slept until 7:45 Sunday morning and also this morning, and I'm serious, that's the latest they have EVER slept in. Ah. We have a great park just 2 blocks away, and we went to the beach last week and it took us 10 minutes to get there. There's so much to see here, and it just couldn't be more gorgeous.