West End Classic

Had a lovely spontaneous Family day today and decided to drop the car in Stanley Park and walk Lost Lagoon to the West End for lunch. Kathy joined us for part of the journey but opted to hop on transit to investigate some lunch options further afield. We kept on walking up to Granville and jumped into the Four Seasons for a quick cocktail before descending back into Lost Lagoon.

Thursday with Dad

Nana had an appointment with the patio at Van Dusen Gardens today so Daddy took the day off to take Charlotte out on the town. First stop, Hillcrest Pool one of Charlotte’s East Van favourites. Next up, lunch at the always good Suika Bistro on Broadway an Fir. After an epic lunch of corn Karage and avocado ngiri we stopped in a Zulu Records to buy some used vinyl. Charlotte made quite a hall with selections from Mel Blanc and Nina Hagen. Had a good chat with the clerk who said that the original producer of the Rolling Stones, Andrew Long Oldham comes in often to buy records and apparently lives in Vancouver. After that we had to stop at Charlottes favourite toy shop Dilly Dally on Commercial Drive. Last stop was the Gourmet Warehouse on Hasting off Clark for some pepper corns, Dijon and some kitchen bits and pieces. We ended back at home and went for an evening paddle at the beach. Quite a day!

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Rain Dusen

Had a busy Saturday today on the West Side. A little banking, a little thrift store shopping, some cupcakes, lunch at Topanga Cafe, a wet walk at Van Dusen followed by an open house in Southlands. Charlotte made some new friends at the open house and played hide and seek while the grown ups discussed architecture! Good time indeed…

Time for bed!

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Van Dusen

We’ve become official members of Van Dusen Gardens up on Oak at 37th. We’ve been going there on Fridays after work these warm summer nights and have found it a great way to decompress after 40 hours of working with technology. Charlotte really loves it and we highly recommend it to anyone. The place is empty on Friday evenings, it’s cheaper than the spa and more effective than counselling. Nature has the answers…

MOA

Spent a rainy Saturday morning up at one of our favourite places, the Museum of Anthropology. Designed of course by the late great Arthur Erickson, the quality of natural light in the museum makes even the greyest day feel positive. Thank you Arthur! The Haida and Coast Salish artifacts never cease to impress and Bill Reid’s work is always incredible. I’m not sure what’s more impressive, the artifacts inside or the building itself. They both work beautifully together to a create truly special piece of Vancouver.

Jericho Beach

Spent the evening down at Jericho Beach with the girls. A cold stout on the patio followed by some crab hunting and bunny watching. This never gets old. They removed the old concrete warf to allow the beach to return which felt really great. We must give back to nature!

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