Beautiful BC

Day 9

Kilometers travelled; just a few, out and about the city

After a long day of travel we were all excited to wake up to a beautiful sunny morning in our Westerly destination, Vancouver. Nate was the first to wake up, shortly followed by his brother who was eager to get up and see everything there was to see in Vancouver!

After breakfast my Aunt Wendy offered to take the boys on a quick walk to a park behind her house for a little while so that Ken and I could have some down time. That may have been the best offer we'd had in days! The four of us have spent some serious quality time together over the last nine days and it was nice to have a little break. When Aunt Wendy and the boys returned home we headed out to begin our adventure of the day. Wendy was an excellent tour guide and suggested that we start in Stanley Park at Prospect Point. We all loved looking out over the ocean and the city. Will was so excited each time he saw a new ship entering the Harbour. On our way back up we noticed a gift shop, Will has been on the quest for the perfect souvenir so we stopped in. Nate made his choice very quickly while Will wondered and pondered. After quite a while he could not make a decision so we left. This was disastrous, Will was beside himself because Nate had gotten something and he hadn't. It was at this point we realized just how exhausted our little guy was. We had some lunch and a little rest before carrying on.

Our next stop was third beach. The boys timidly (at first) put their feet in the ocean. It wasn't long before they were changing into their bathing suits and throwing themselves into the waves. It also was low tide, we spent some time discovering tide pools and climbing on the slippery rocks that are usually beneath the oceans surface. Here was the stop of disaster number two of the day. Will slipped, did a full belly flop on tot he rocks and cut his hand on a number of barnacles. That was the end of our beach adventure. Will now felt that the beach was mean, so we had to move on. At the end of the day, after some time had passed, he managed to forgive the beach and remember the fun times he had there.

The grand finale of our afternoon was Granville island. All day I was falling more and more in love with this city, this market certainly helped to deepen that connection. All the colour and life was infectious. Fresh seafood and produce, brightly coloured flowers and artisans for as far as the eye could see. This place is a foodies dream! Wendy picked up a fresh salmon for dinner while the boys watched a street magician (they ended up becoming the starts of the show!) and ate gelatto. On the short drive back to Wendy's the boys immediately fell asleep. They slept until it was time for our delicious, freshly caught dinner. Then we headed out to Deep Cove for a concert int he park. Deep Cove sealed my loved for this province. It's a hidden gem of steeply soaring cliffs around a lovely cove with homes built up on the cliffs. There was a real feeling of community there. You could tell everyone who loved there, loved it and didn't take it for granted. Finally, after an action packed day, it was time for bed.