Great Ending

We're home!! We left Whistler on Thursday morning . it was a last minute decision to leave rainy Whistler early and spend a couple days in rainy Vancouver.








We called Hotwire and scored a room at the Hilton...in Richmond. It was a little out of the way as we were planning on visiting fun cousins Kath and Court, and their wonderful family, who live in Coquitlam. We didn't really know if they'd be free, but as it turned out, they adjusted their schedule as soon as we called so we could get together. So after a beautiful walk through Stanley Park on Thursday afternoon, Daniel and I trusted our fate in Martha's hands and set off to find their new (to us) house.

What a great family. We don't often get to spend time one on one, and the kids hardly know us, because whenever they visit Alberta there are usually a hundred other relatives around. Kendra and Nolan are younger than Josh and Levi. The last time we visited their house was so long ago we have a picture of little Kendra, happily lying in her Daddy's guitar case! Now she is a confident and beautiful young lady with the most amazing smile. Nolan is helpful, warm and has the most delightful sense of humour. He made us laugh out loud many times with his fun personality. Forest is the eldest, about the same age as Levi. Forest and I have a lot in common. Food is a sure way to make us both happy! (Especially carbs and sweets. *sigh*) It was great to see them all!
We ended up ditching our hotel reservation on Thursday and staying overnight at Kath and Courts. They have a guest suite and assured us we were most welcome to it. It was a lot easier than trying to navigate through Vancouver in the dark, going somewhere totally unfamiliar to find a hotel room, especially as we stayed on into the evening.
Friday morning we had coffee and a nice visit with Kath after the kids were off to school, then Daniel and I went off for a day of exploring Granville Island. We had a lot of fun, and too many desserts! We looked at all the shops in the market, and all the booths and all the galleries. What a feast for the senses! We hadn't been there since about 1997, so it was all fresh and exciting, though I love it so much I think I could happily visit every week!


I picked up a fun book for myself. Keri Smith's Guerrilla Art. I found it in a little shop called Paper-Ya. I seriously could have stayed in that shop all day and spend a lot of money! I showed such restraint. Aren't you proud of me?

Friday evening we met Kath and Court at the Coal Harbour Marina, where their boat is moored, and we all took a cruise around the point, along Stanley Park and into False Creek and Granville Island.

The city looks totally different from the water.


It was beautiful, seeing the city lights come on as the sun went down. Court then cooked us a fantastic Italian dinner in his fully stocked galley kitchen there on the boat, which is not what I know as a boat. It's 50 feet long, and beautiful! It was such a fun evening!

Though they invited us to stay overnight with them there (Yes, there is a guest room on the boat) we headed to our hotel. It was a short night, as we were out of the room by 5 am and on the road. We stopped for lunch in Jasper and made it home in time to take the boys out to dinner. There was very little traffic, and the time flew by as Daniel and I listened to CD's on Thomas Jefferson Education all the way home, discussing the upcoming year and all the things we will be learning.

I'm glad to be home. I missed all my kids, (big and little), a lot.
Today the sun is shining and the day is absolutely splendid! I had a lovely time in BC, but I really missed the Alberta sunshine!