Vancouver, Canada: Day 17, 18 and 19

Day 17
I woke up, ate and started to knitting. While doing so I watched an episode of my lovely Lost. The episode was called: Enter 77. Mom I and went to visit mom's perfumer friend named Ayala. While they talked about perfume I watched another episode while knitting. I finished the brown scarf then started another one with the green yarn from Victoria. We went home and I read a bunch of Catcher in the Rye. I also knitted some more. Once Greg got home he took us out to dinner for David Krentz's birthday. We went to a latin restaurant called Baru. Barry, Gary, Ian, Andy, Michelle, David and Kim were all there. I ordered empanadas with mom and a mango salad. They were good, but, the salad took a while. After dinner I ordered chocolate heart cake. It was amazing!!! It was a little bowl of chocolate souffle, one of vanilla ice cream and one of fresh berries. It was very, very good!! Mom shared her perfumes with everyone. The favorite was Quercus, I think. Greg talked to the Krentz's a while about work then we went home. I read some more, then went to bed.

Day 18
Mom made us an omelet for brakfast while I knitted. I watched a Lost episode and later on we went to lunch at Earls. We had salad and pizza. The waitress forgot the olives so we got the pizza for free. As we walked to Stanley Park we stopped in a store called Accesorize. It was full of bracelets, necklaces, belts, purses and hats. I bought a really nice multi-green hat. Mom and I walked to Chapters where I bought the book I had been looking for: Fruits Basket Volume 17. I was very, very happy. We walked to Stanley Park, and took a little trolley to the Totem Poles. They were very cool looking. Mom took pictures and then we walked on. I took some pictures then we walked to the market, Capers. We bought lettuce, cucumbers, chocolate biscotti and dental floss. When we came home we had tea and the chocolate biscotti. YUM! Greg picked us up and we went to a restaurant called Moxies where we met the gang from Gregs work. Gary and his family: Maggie, Ian and Kelly, along with Barry, Ian, Ken and Dennis. I ordered the Coconut Curry Rice Bowl with chicken, it was good, but it was too much food, so I took it home. Maggie and I talked about things for a while, then I read my new book. We ate and then talked some more. Ian told us more about his invisible dog Jimmy. At 10:30 we went home. I emailed My for a little while then read a chapter. After I went to sleep.

Day 19
green scarf. It's very pretty, bright green and a little fuzzy. Mom did the laundry and ironing while we listened to HP7. I also emailed with My. WeToday I had my leftovers and an goat cheese and pesto omelet for breakfast. Then I watched a Lost while knitting. I finished the began folding clothes while I watched Lost. I made salad for mom and I. I decided to play my flute for a little while while mom was busy. I worked on duets and Lord of the Rings music. Once mom was done we walked down to the Aquabus, which we planned to take to Granville Island. On the way to the ferry we stopped by a really neat little garden store called The Urban Garden. When we arrived at Granville Island we walked around trying to find a paint shop then went into a little yarn store. Mom and I went into several other stores like a garden store and then we got ice cream. I got Strawberry, it was amazing. We went to public market and bought some maple syrup. We took the boat back and met Ayala, her daughter Tamya, her brother and her niece. We walked to an Indian restaurant called The India Bistro. We ordered some Samosas, then Greg got there. We ordered salad, vegetable korma, and mom and Greg got Tandori Trout. I was good. I drew on a map of Granville Island I had in my purse, and it turned out pretty good! Once we were done, we walked home and Greg told us that he only had one more week on the film. We were all unhappy. I worked on my blog and packed. It took a while but mom helped me so it went okay. I read 2 chapters then went to sleep. Vancouver Canada is a very cool and fun place to be. I would love to to back, and I HIGHLY recommend going. Whether it's Saltzspring or Victoria, Granville or West 4th you can bet that you'll have a good time. Goodbye Canada, I have so much fun. Thank you.

Vancouver, Canada: Day 15 and 16

Day 15

The Vancouver Island ferry to Victoria departed at 9am, so we left the hotel at 7:30am. We drove for about half an hour to get there, and then we boarded. The ferry was like a giant moving building. I ate toast with cream cheese. After eating, mom and I walked around the topdeck of the ferry, it was very, very cold. We listened to a speaker from the Costal Naturalist give a presentation on the habitat of the area and surrounding islands, it was fun to hear. She told us about bald eagles and many of the local islands, including one called called Saltspring. We left the ferry and waited another 45 minutes to board a second ferry to Saltspring. It was a 30 minute ride, mom and I stood on deck and looked out at the islands. It was very pretty! It began to rain. We left the ferry and drove through the really, really pretty island toward Ganges, to a farmers market. Unfortunately it was raining so the three of us huddled together and walked around with our umbrella. It was sort of uncomfortable having all three of us under one umbrella. We bought berries, plums, pastries and chocolate. Next we looked for a place to eat and sat down at a little restaurant, the food took forever to arrive. I ordered curry butternut-squash soup, which was very good. We walked to a little yarn shop called “Stitches”, I bought two balls of a multi-colored wool. During the ferry back to Victoria, mom and I listened to HP7 while I began a new scarf. We drove into downtown Victoria and dropped our things off at the B&B we were going to stay at. Next the three of us strolled around the city. We saw the government building all covered in lights, it looked like an english gingerbread house. China town which was a little creepy. We found a restaurant called Rebar to have dinner, it was very very good. I ordered an almond burger and I ate some of Greg’s salad. I also had a peppermint tea. After an excellant meal we walked back to our B&B. All three of us decided to take a bath, at the same time because there were 2 bathtubs. halfway through filling up both baths, the water went cold. Mom and Greg waited about 20 minutes then filled theirs up again. They could only fill it up halfway though because there was not enough hot water. I worked on my blog then went to bed.

Day 16

Today I woke up, had a shower then went down to breakfast. There were a bunch of nice people there; Robin and Suzanne, Pat and Doug and a man named Dennis. We had grilled fruit, coffee cake and Spanish French toast with orange juice and tea. Once we were done we checked out. The 3 of us drove around the block then went to another yarn shop called The Bee Hive. I bought some really nice, green toned, fuzzy yarn and then we got some lunch. I got Chow Mien, it was okay. While eating we were watched by a big seagull, I guess it was hungry. We went to the house of Greg’s friend Ken who works at Rainmaker. Ken is a really nice guy, he is a storyboard artist. We talked for a while then he showed us the house, he made the door to his office look like a submarine door, it was really, really good!! It looked totally real!! His front door had a stained glass window of a deep sea diver in it. Where the helmet was there was a little window, so that the person inside could see the person outside. On our way to MacMilllan Provential Park we drove past a building with a live, grassy roof that has a goat on top! It was called “The We left and drove 2 beautiful hours to Cathedral Grove. It was a park with amazing, old growth trees!!! They were very tall and VERY pretty!! Some were covered in fur (moss). We walked around and saw some big black slugs! They were very weird looking. We saw a huge tree, which was spectacular, it was like 7 times the size of Greg!!! After we left, we had dinner at a restaurant called the White Spot. Mom and I ordered Caesar Salad with olive oil, lemon and salt for dressing. We left and drove to the ferry to go back to Vancouver but we had to get there at 10:15pm to get our reservation, we missed it by one minute, but still got on. Mom and I listened to Harry Potter 7 while I worked on my blog. Driving back home we got a little lost, but we eventually made it!

Vancouver, Canada: Day 13 and 14

Day 13
It was mom’s birthday. I ate fig bread with goat cheese for breakfast then at 12:30 we walked down to the Aquabus and took it to Granville Island. We waited for Greg at the entrance, where he picked us up and took us to lunch at the fabulous Earls. Barry and Gary (another of Gregs work buddies) arrived to join us. Mom and I shared an amazing thin-crusted margarita pizza topped with black olives and a delicious green salad. The guys talked about work for a little. Afterward Mom and I walked down to West 4th to our favorite bead shop. We both decided to make a necklace we had seen in a shop. We walked around, collected beads and chain, which took a little while, then sat down. It took us about two hours to finish it, but in the end they turned out wonderful. Mine was gold and orange and mom’s was silver, green and purple. We were thirsty so we walked to Safeway, then to a post office. It was still too early for Greg to leave work, so mom and I sat down in a little French cafe where we had tea and a hazelnut chocolate, which was very good. Greg picked us up and we headed for The Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts. It began to rain really hard and parking was no where to be found. Greg bought an umbrella and dropped us off at the door to the restaurant. Just before Greg pulled out onto the street the man at the restaurant told Greg there was a parking lot under the building. We sat down and ordered, I ordered a special veggie dish. First I received a salad which was very good, then I got the special goat cheese mushroom dish, it was amazing! It was a portobello mushroom stuffed with feta cheese, there were different veggies all around the mushroom, and in the middle was amazing risotto. It was absolutely unbelievable! Then desert came. I had chocolate cake with raspberry sauce. It was AMAZING, a little rich, but AMAZING!! Then I was completely stuffed. Our waitress was very nice, her name was Lindsay. Once we got home I read a chapter of Catcher in the Rye then went to sleep.

The Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts

Day 14
I woke up and looked at the clock. It read 12:44. It was the latest I had ever slept. I ate lentils then finished up my book report. Mom did some research on yarn shops for me, but alas, there was only one store in all of downtown Vancouver. I watched Avatar, then an episode of LOST. Later mom and I went looking for the yarn shop, but the address was fake, it was an apartment building, not a yarn shop. It started to drizzle. We went home and ate applesauce, I also had chips, curry, crackers and goat cheese. It was very good. Mom and I started to do the laundry but Greg arrived to take us to dinner before we could finish. We went to a restaurant called Kalamata. At the restaurant was Barry, Michelle, her boyfriend Andy, Sara and her brother, Gary and his wife and two kids named Maggie and Ian. I sat next to Maggie who was nice, we talked for a little while, she was reading the second His Dark Materials book, The Subtle Knife. It took like an hour to get the food, and I accidentally ate Ian’s house salad. I finally got my Greek salad which was pretty good. We went home and mom and I listened to HP7, then I packed for our trip to Victoria in the morning. I read a chapter of my book then went to sleep.

Vancouver, Canada: Day 11 and 12

Day 11
I woke up having had a very strange dream about Theatricum and Mugglenet. For breakfast I had chocolate waffles with mom then listened to Harry Potter for a little while. Mom had to work on things so I started my book report on The Invisible Man. It took a couple of hours, but after much work, I finished all but the last paragraph. We ate leftover gnocchi with a lite tomato+garlic+olive sauce. I worked on my knitting for a little bit then Greg got home. We all went out to the Vancouver Art Museum. There were several shows, one was called Monet to Dali, so we went to see that first. It was nice, but it was very crowded, especially the painting by Dali at the end of the show. Next we went upstairs and saw an interesting exhibit by a Chinese artist. It was sort of sculpture of different things combined together, like a large cage with a bone and water bowl in it. On the next level up there was the show I really wanted to see. It was called Andrea Zittel: Critical Space. She designed several small pre-fab living spaces, as well as some really cute felt dresses that were very fun to look at. Mom and I gazed at them for a while then we all went across the street to Chapters (the Barnes & Noble of Canada) I asked to see if they had the newest Fruits Basket, which they didn’t. Mom helped Greg find reference books for work while I looked around the Teen section. On the way home we decided to have dinner at Oysi Oysi; an asian fusion restaurant. We ordered sesame chicken and cucumber, brocoli rabe with garlic, and miso soup. It was good. Then we went home and mom and I listened to HP7. Then I read a little and went to sleep.

Day 12
Today I woke up, checked my emails then listened to HP7 with mom while eating fig toast with goat cheese and chai tea. I worked on my computer then watched an episode of “Avatar the Last Airbender” while knitting. I finished the scarf then watched another episode while I drew. Mom and I decided to go out so I could get postcards and a few items she needed from Capers, the market. I bought the postcards, then we walked on. We walked into Sears to look at blenders, then walked into a cool department store called Hudson's Bay. We went to the third floor to look at clothes, I saw some really cute pants that were 130 dollars. Mom found a nice lacy shirt. We walked home and listened to HP7 some more, while Mom and I worked on our drawings. Mom was also doing the laundry. When Greg returned home, we decided to walk to Stanley Park. However, we turned around part of the way there toward a bookstore, as we did we passed some really nice old houses. We went to a really cool kitchen store, Homewerx. There were really cool shirts, notebooks, and cups plus a number of other neat things. We walked down the street to the bookstore, I looked at a neat knitting book. Then we went home and had dinner; lentils, cucumber salad and fresh corn on the cob. It was all very good. I did the dishes and worked on my blog. Mom and I listened a little more. I watched an episode of Avatar then went to sleep.
Homewerx
Avatar the Last Airbender

Vancouver, Canada: Day 9 and 10

Day 9
Greg, mom and I headed over to North Vancouver to go to the Capilano Suspension Bridge. I was very nervous because I was afraid that it would be really shaky, so as Greg stepped on the bridge that was very far above a shallow rocky river, I was terrified. The bridge shook as I walked and I was constantly clinging to the rail. Once we finally got across I we waited a minute for the Eco Tour Guide to arrive. She arrived a minute later and then the tour began. She showed us a fallen tree, called a “nurse” log that acts as fertile ground for plants to start growing on. Then we saw some rainbow trout, the guide explained their role in the forest ecosystem. She also explained the four main trees in this forest and the size they grow to be. We saw Douglas Fir, Spruce, Hemlock and Cedar trees. Once the tour was over we went on “Tree-Top Adventures” which was a bunch of bridges up in the trees leading from tree to tree. They have attached adjustable harnesses to the trees to create the bridges between the trees. The harnesses cause no damage to the trees and actually help make them stronger by gently exercising them. We walked around for a little while then crossed the “terrifying bridge” back to the other side. There, we spoke with “Peter” from one of the First Nation tribes of the area. He educated us about Totem Poles (correctly called Story Poles) and also answered our questions about drum making and the images they paint. Then I had a turkey sandwich. We quickly browsed through the gift shop, then headed out. Greg, mom and I drove around North Vancouver for a little bit, mom was trying to find an art store but it was closed. We then went to a coffee shop called Beans, I got a chai tea. On the way home we stopped at our regular market, Capers. We made gnocchi and salad for dinner then went to the 10:10 showing of Stardust. I absolutely LOVED the film and HIGHLY recommend it. Originally it was a graphic novel written by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by our friend Charles Vess. The story is about a young man named Tristan who has a thing for the pretty Victoria. She is going to marry a young man named Humphrey but Tristan persuades her to wait till he brings her back a fallen star. He is soon thrust into an adventure that not only involves him and the star, but also a witch, a prince and a pirate of a flying ship.

Stardust

Day 10
Today I woke up and ate sausage for breakfast. I knitted for a while and began to watch my play Nicholas Nickleby. Mom and I also listened to HP7. After a little while we walked down to the ocean and took the Aquaboat (a little water bus) across the water to Granville Island. We got homemade gelato, I had hazelnut chocolate which was some of the best ice cream I’ve ever had. After I finished, we went into an art store called Opus, I got 2 colored pencils and an eraser. Then, we strolled around looking into the interesting shoppes and sites. I got a cute little notepad to jot down ideas. We also walked around the Public Market a bit, then drank some hot chocolate and watched the people waiting for Greg to pick us up. We went out to dinner with Barry and Ian at a nice restaurant called Earls. We talked for a while then Dennis showed up just as our dinner arrived. He decided to order the Kung Pao chicken, same as Barry. They talked and laughed about favorite film comedies while I knitted. For dinner, I had Mediterranean Linguini, which was very good! I finished watching my play then went to sleep.

Vancouver, Canada: Day 7 and 8

Day 7
We woke up and went with Greg to his work. I checked my emails then mom and I headed back to West 4th St. We walked around and found out that everything opened at 10am, it was 9:30.
We found a corner cafe where we sat down and had tea. After 20 or 30 minutes we set off. Mom saw a shop that she wanted to go in so we walked inside. The shop had some nice clothes and mom found a really nice lacy purple top, she also put a brocade off white/light pink jacket on hold. We walked on, looked into a yoga store and a stationery shop. Next mom and I went to the bead store that we love. I made two more necklaces and mom added something to her other necklace. Once we were done mom noticed that it was time to go have lunch with Greg, so we walked back to Rainmaker Studios. We had lunch at the cute little coffee place that mom and I had been to before. It was me, mom, Greg, Barry, Ian and Dennis, who also work with Greg. Ian is a very interesting person, he is English and has an imaginary dog named Jimmy. He tells lots of stories like the "Great Penguin Blinding" or other random things that don't always make sense. I ordered a chicken pesto panini sandwich. Mom got goat quiche and carrot soup, which I had a little of. Once we finished we went back to Rainmaker Studios to work on our blogs. On our way back to West 4th we stopped by a garden center where one can walk around and learn about waterwise gardening, it was very nice. From there mom and I walked down to the beach, it was very pretty. The beaches in Vancouver have large logs on them which are good for sitting or leaning on. We looked out at the water for a while, I also watched the different people around me. On the way back, mom and I decided to get gelato, I got mango and mom got pear. It was amazingly good! Walking back to Rainmaker Studios I licked my gelato happily. While waiting for Greg to finish work, mom and I listened to Harry Potter, then we went to dinner with Barry and Ian. As we were about to leave the building Greg went back up to get his jacket, mom and I headed for the front door. As we tried to open the door a load alarm went off. It was really startling and creepy. Dinner was Indian: veggie curry, chickpea curry, cabbage salad and naan. Before the food arrived, Ian looked at my sketchbook and gave me some drawing pointers. I ate and then drew while the 'grown ups' talked. Later we drove home.
Day 8
Today mom, Greg and I went to the farmers market. On the way there we passed by a VW bug covered with items and painted, it even had a functioning fountain! The street on which the farmers market was on had a row of really nice old Victorian houses. There was an accordion player who performed different songs from around the world, they were very good. Mom gave him a coin and he played an Argentine tango. We got a bunch of food, then went to this little side garden that had a really nice garden. I took a loads of pictures, then we all walked back to the hotel. For lunch, we had beet soup with fresh fig bread from the market. Greg took a nap for an hour while mom and I worked on our computers. Once Greg woke up we discussed the possibilities about what we were going to do for about three hours. We finally decided to take a drive round Stanley Park. We drove the whole way around one time and then parked to talk a walk. I had brought both my video and my regular cameras to take pictures with. We stopped in a amazing tree clearing, took some pictures then walked on. We passed a wedding, a theater where Oklahoma, the play, was going on, a rose garden and then headed to where Greg thought the parking lot was. We got a little confused as to where the parking lot was, but after lots of walking we finally found it. We then drove home and made dinner: grilled salmon (for mom and Greg) and veggie curry. Later mom and I listened to HP7.