Poutine, Sqirrels and Eagles, Father and Son's mix-up!

  I mentioned in the last post that there is something new we discover everyday here. That has slowed down this past week as we've concentrated on settling into our home, but it definitely hasn't stopped, and won't for a long time! There are SO MANY PLACES we plan on going and are told are musts, like Stanley Park, whale watching, all the museums, hikes (especially the one where you can walk on bridges up in the trees), gardens, seeing Victoria and Vancouver Island, etc! It's all super exciting. One lady from church asked me if were here for the summer. I explained that we moved here because of a job, and started telling her that whole story, but she stopped me and said that she meant if we would be spending our summer vacation here. I said, "Well, yes. I haven't really planned anything else other than one family reunion in a couple weeks back in the U.S." The more I've thought about that, the cooler the idea becomes! This area is definitely a vacation destination for so many people, and we LIVE here!

  Last weekend Dave took us to see his work. We didn't get to go inside, because he wasn't asked to work that day and didn't have the "weekend key", but we walked around that northern residential/business area of north Vancouver. Here are a few pictures from that walk.

A view of downtown Vancouver through the trees, from a bridge near the Skytrain by Dave's work.

This is an awesome little "Free Library" that looks like an old telephone booth! These apparently are all over the city and you can donate books to them and bring them back for someone else to read! You can scan that little bar code with your smart phone to find other locations to return or borrow books! Awesome! (I wonder about the levels of honesty people are trusted with, but it's a very wonderful thing to see!) It's just a nice little addition to the community. :)

Dave also took us to a little restaurant about 4 blocks from his work that is famous for their Poutine! Poutine is a Canadian dish that consists of a plate of French Fries covered in gravy and cheese curds! It sounds weird at first, but we were all licking our chops and trying to be polite by not licking the plates too (all except for Kylee)! We split two plates of Poutine between our whole family (just enough)! There was a chicken version with peas and a beef version with mushrooms and peppers! It was almost like eating Philly Cheese Steaks, but on top of fries, rather than bread. Delicious!

  We've had many invitations from people in the ward to come to playgroups and visiting teaching appointment/picnics in the parks (best way to do that in the summer with a bunch of busy moms)! So, we've been able to discover the amazing and gorgeous parks here. The squirrels are all different colors here (black, grey, brown and red with tufted ears). They are a little too tame! They come right up to you when you walk down the trails. They know people have nuts (although you're not supposed to feed them). One baby one even put his little paws up on Madelyn's hand and then ran off when he realized she didn't have anything!

  During one picnic, I pointed our to some ladies I was with, the bald eagle family up in the tree tops. The young brown eagle was being pestered by a flock of crows, until mama eagle came along. It was a fun encounter to witness. I think baby eagle wanted to keep playing. They were so beautiful with their yellow beaks and talons and distinct markings and calls. We were actually unsure of what kind of bird they were exactly, until mama bird came along. She was a cinch to identify! Next time, I'll be prepared with the camera. :) I need to make a habit of carrying one...and I still need to get a phone.

  Friday night, last week, Dave took the boys to the Father and Son's camp-out with our ward. The only major problem was that they forgot the map at home and couldn't locate the ward members! So, they made the best of it and hiked to the tip top of Mount Cypress by themselves and slept out under the stars! I had no idea about all of this until they got home! Dave was extra grateful we bought some nice thermal sleeping bags last year and that he brought along some peanut butter, jam and bread for dinner, since they didn't find the rest of the group! I was glad I remembered to pack them some warm pajamas. It apparently wasn't too cold, but it was Isaac's first Father's and Son's camp-out (I wasn't expecting Dave to want to take him, but he did!), and I wanted them to be as comfortable as possible!

  Dave had an over-sized duffle bag on his back full of their overnight supplies and three sleeping bags, and Isaac (20+ ponds) in arms, but managed to hike over 2 miles straight uphill on a rocky path to the top of the mountain! Wow! They got to the top just in time for bed-time. Isaac kept standing up and looking around, until Dave put Isaac's sleeping bag inside his own and cuddled up to him. Then, Dave was the only one who couldn't sleep until 2:30 AM, from worrying about the boys! They came home just before 8 AM, a lot earlier than I expected, but reported that they had fun! Here are a few pictures:

   We have tentative plans to visit the beach this weekend, so for now I'll sign off, but stay tuned for more!