visitors

Our first visitors in Canada arrived on August 6th to spend a week in Vancouver!  Allison's cousin Amy, her wife Shannon and their daughter Vivienne brought along some beautiful weather for the entire visit.  So sad not to deliver some pacific northwest clouds and rain... :)  but it did make for a great week of activities and outings with the kids.

Sunday after our visitors arrived we all went to Rocky Point, our favorite park in Port Moody.  There was an outdoor concert with a Bob Marley cover band later in the evening, so we spent the afternoon hiking and playing.   Here's Molly and I doing some "lift-ups" as she affectionately calls them.

The princess...

All the kids love to swing (a lot)... so we killed at least a half hour on the swings with them all.  Here's Vivienne, Molly & Owen in action.

We had a nice picnic dinner in the park from Pajo's fish and chips and then walked out on the pier to see the boats.  Here's Molly pondering some deep thoughts.

After the pier, you can walk along the bay on the water.  The kids were looking for crabs and looking for rocks to skip.

Molly and Vivienne....

After this, we went for a walk around the inlet.  Molly fell asleep, so I took her in the stroller on the outer path while the rest of the crew went on the trail by the water...  Here's Owen walking along the path.

On Monday, Sea to Sky highway was the destination....  It is a beautiful drive with many parks along the way.  Here's the kids at the park at Shannon Falls.

Shannon Falls on a beautiful summer day.

The views along the highway are quite spectacular

Whistler was the furthest desination of the day.  Here's a view of the rail line leading out of town.

Brandywine falls is part of another Provincial park close by to Whistler.  The water tumbles from 70 meters into a beautiful pool.

And you can't miss the Olympic Villiage in Whistler.  If you look closely you can see Owen in the rings.

There is still some snow on the peaks in the middle of summer, but the trails are clear.

Tuesday was spent in downtown Vancouver at the Aquarium and Stanley park.

The exciting point of the day was seeing Matt Damon and his family.  Vancouver is known as the "Hollywood of the North" and there are always film crews around the city and surrounding region.  There are huge warehouses close by my office as well for studio production work.

Wednesday, the gang went to Chilliwack to try and see the toad migration which happens annually at this time.  Unfortunately they move the most often in the overnight hours, so they didn't see too many.  Here's Molly, Owen and Vivienne inspecting one of the toads on his journey across the road.

The toads are very small!  Here's a little guy next to a penny.

After seeing the toads, they explored Bridal Veil Falls park which has another beautiful water fall and is also known for the moss that grows over all the trees.

Bridal Veil Falls are known for how they pour over the rocks and appear as..... a veil.

Thursday was spent in downtown Vancouver and back to Stanley park to see some additional sights.  Canada Place has a gigantic raindrop in the square...  Here's Owen posing with it.

Here's the kids at the lookout view of the Lion's Gate Bridge that connects Stanley Park Island with North Vancouver.

Aboriginal history in this region is displayed in many of the parks.  Here are some of the totem poles created and on display in Stanley Park.

Friday morning was spent visiting Campilano Bridge and the newly opened Cliff Walk.

After the bridge, they visited MapleWood farms which is a local petting zoo.  The going opinion was that we never need to go back there again, but there were a few fun moments... here's the girls petting a goat.

Burnaby Mountain was the last stop of the day to see the views.  Here's the entire adventuring group!

Friday night I watched all the kids while Allison, Amy and Shannon went for a moonlight kayak tour from Rocky Point.  Here's Allison on the water.

Out at the Boathouse Restaurant post paddle....

Some moments captured during the week...   Molly and Vivienne walking through the soccer field at Owen's school.

Out for a walk Friday night with the wagon.  The kids were taking turns pulling the wagon with the other two riding.  Molly was working especially hard here to tug along Owen and Vivienne!

Tubby time with the girls.  So many laughs coming from these two.  They were too funny in their goggles..

It was a great week where we all had so much fun.  Busy days and quiet evenings catching up and enjoying company of family.  It was wonderful!  Who is coming next?