Mother's Day

As the kids get older, Mother's day get's easier for me since the kids are old enough to do some of the planning. Kerry likes things kept simple and as long as she doesn't have to cook she's happy. This meant we started the day with a trip to McDonalds where I picked up breakfast and brought it back. After our special breakfast we headed to Campbell River park for a hike. Surrey has several regional parks that are in the city but definitely feel like they aren't. This one is one of our favourites.

When we got back from the hike we sent Kerry up to her room so that the kids could plan their surprise. They wanted to do an afternoon tea in the gazebo. I helped boil the water for the tea but everything else was them including finger sandwiches, fruit, cheese and crackers and a lovely flower centrepiece from the garden. Kerry was quite surprised at the level of effort they went to. We finished the day off with a trip to white spot. No cooking.

Hike to Deep Cove

At the end of April my parents came down for a visit. The timing worked out well as Mom was able to see the kids concert. (Dad felt he was done with kids concerts 20 years ago so he wasn't very interested.) The weather for Sunday was looking to be quite nice so we planned a trip to Deep cove. It's a nice area in North Vancouver at the start of Indian Arm. I've known several people who have lived there. They are always very proud to say the do and I can't blame them. Being at the far end of the North Shore it's a fairly quiet area for the lower mainland.

I say quiet but on a sunny day in the village area it's anything but when it comes to parking. There are very few places for people to park with very few public lots. The streets are also too narrow in most places for any spots. We are a bit late showing up since we came right at noon and we spent 10 minutes looking for a spot. In the end Kerry dropped us off and she drove back out to the main road to park. It was a bout a 10 minute walk each way.

Once we did find a spot we wandered around the Kayak centre beach for a while and then went for a hike. Kerry had planned on this hike for a while and being North Vancouver I was expecting it to be hilly. I was definitely not wrong. Unfortunately this mean my parents and the dog had to stay behind. They tried the first 100 stairs but it wasn't looking like it was going to get any better so they headed back to the village for lunch.

The hike was just a couple of kilometres but the elevation change was several hundred meters with many ups and downs. The destination was well worth it with a view of all of Deep Cove. If you are ever in the area I highly recommend it. When we were done we met up with my parents and went for lunch at Honey's Donuts. These are quite possibly the best donuts I have ever had. The Yelp reviews are mixed but that's because they are quite heavy and perhaps an acquired taste. After a two hour house we had acquired a good appetite so they were excellent.

School Musical

This school year we didn't get a Christmas concert and instead were treated to a musical at the end of April. Although somewhat untraditional this arrangement had one significant advantage in that the kids had an extra four months to practice. The band and instrument players always sound a bit rough at Christmas but that's because they've only had 4 months to prepare. With eight months the teachers were able to do something much more advanced. They brought in someone to help them stage the event as well as some very good drum and piano players.

There were three major parts to the play. The first group was mostly intermediate students and they were singing for a significant portion of the event on the outer portion of the gym. There was also a group of 30 or 40 students that played major parts in the play portion. Finally the primary students came in about half way with a three or four song set. I was quite impressed at the number of different songs each kid had to memorize and the actors were quite excellent. I hope they do something similar in future years.

Pirate Plunder

One last day of driving. We travelled over 5,000km, visited to a zoo, went to three aquariums, explored a theme park and toured an aircraft carrier. All in 9 days. We were very tired by the time our final day came along. Our night two destination was Newport Oregon and we got in very late. Thankfully, we only had about 7 hours of driving left so we had some time to sleep in and tour the town before we left. Our day started with a beautiful view from our hotel room. We had gotten in late enough that we knew the ocean was out there but we couldn't see it.

We didn't get to see much of Newport but we're pretty sure the Aquarium is worth going to. All we had time to do was tour the gift shop. There was a line up out the door and parking lot was big and full. If we go back we will have to check it our in more detail. Another highlight is apparently rocks. Several of the stores in The Pirate Plunder Antiques and Collectibles Mall had many locally sourced rocks. I would have loved to find the beaches they were getting them from. Jars and jars of agates to be found.

The Pirate alley was okay but a bit of a gimmick to have people check out what was mostly just second hand stores. There were a few local artists with some interesting things. If it was located on the water I think it would have been better. As it was, it was really just a business park.

We had a great time on our trip and we're all warmed up to do the same thing to Disneyland with the cousins this summer.

Paul Bunyan and his ox Blue

Our second day of travel from San Diego to Surrey had us starting in Santa Cruz which is only an hour south of San Francisco. The shorter route would have been the Bay Bridge but I've always wanted to drive over the Golden Gate Bridge. I've been to San Francisco but there was no need to travel over the bridge while I was there so this was an opportunity to rectify that. It was of course slightly less exciting than anticipated as it was quite foggy on all sides. Still good to be able to say we drove over it before the big earth quake destroys it.

Although the I-5 is the quicker route through California, because we were taking 3 days to travel, we were able to take the more scenic route. This included the 101 which goes along the coast of Northern California and Oregon. Wherever we came close to the ocean there were always a lot of waves making for a very scenic drive. The road itself was generally pretty good, with speed limits of 65 and not a lot of traffic. There were a few areas with some tight curves but they were in the forest so we could enjoy the scenery as we went.

As it turned out, this was still a long day of driving, even though we split the trip into three days. We were on the road for 14 1/2 hours including stops today so when we did stop we couldn't stay long. The one item we regretted not being able to do was the Trees of Mystery which was an old growth stand off the highway. Getting there would have been a 20 minute walk plus a 7 minute tram just to get to the forest and we didn't have time to do it. We did still check out the gift shop which was fun as it included some very large statues of Paul Bunyan and his ox Blue. Our destination today was Newport.

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

When we drove down to San Diego we did it in just two days with a stop over in Redding, California. This was a lot of driving, (For Kerry) and didn't leave much time for sight seeing. On the way home we planned to do it in three days. This would make for shorter driving days and would allow us to stop in a few locations that we haven't been before. The first destination was Santa Cruz, chosen mainly because it is a city we recognize, it's on the beach and it was about a third of the way home. Our plan was to get a hotel near the boardwalk and go there for dinner.

The first part of our plan went well. We did indeed book a hotel just blocks from the boardwalk. Unfortunately when we arrived, it seems the majority of the place was closed. Only the indoor portions are open during the week in the winter and many rides only open on the weekend. It looks like a great place. There are roller coasters, a skyline, a midway and lot's of fun and exciting food. (By that I mean, deep fried everything including Oreos and peanut butter and jam sandwiches.) We did manage to get in a good game of mini-golf. The holes were well designed in a pirate theme.

For dinner, we went to the nearby pier which had several restaurants to choose from. We went with Woodies Cafe as it had something for everyone. The pier also gave us a good look back on the boardwalk which  is the longest continuously running boardwalk on the Californian coast. It first opened 100 years ago and where many other boardwalks have closed or burnt down at some point in their history this one managed to keep their fires to a minimum and stay open. (Though I question the term 'Continuously Running' when you aren't open on a warm Friday evening during spring break.:))

USS Midway

Our final day in San Diego had us going to visit the USS Midway, a retired aircraft carrier in the San Diego bay. This was the last item on our San Diego Go Card that saved us well over $100 and with the exception of a small hiccup at LEGOLAND worked out very well for us. We customized ours which allowed us to make sure we knew what we were getting. It was also cheaper than the generic version that included more items but likely items we would not have had time to go to anyways.

As I'm looking through my pictures from today I'm realizing that I don't have a single shot that shows the entire ship. Despite being a 'smaller' aircraft carrier the ship is still huge. The full hanger deck was open and they had all the key areas set up as part of the self guided tour including the mess hall, captain and crew quarters, sick bay, the dentist, the barber as well as the flight deck. They had planes from all major eras starting with world war II and a good selection of helicopters.

I knew this destination was going to be a harder sell with the kids since it's not as exciting as Seaworld or the Zoo but once they were on board there was a glimmer of interest. Carter even stated "This was more interesting than I thought it was going to be." Callie won't admit to liking it but she was seemed very interested in the areas that showed the lives of the crew and didn't rush us to leave. It was useful that there was a scavenger hunt for the kids that allowed them to earn their pilots wings. The veteran administering it at the end even got them to salute.

We at the Midway for about three hours which is what most families indicated they stayed for. Afterwards we went to Seaside Village for lunch and a treat and then drove back to the beach in Coronado. Even though it was only 21 degrees, when you are in the sun it felt quite warm. The water on the other hand was freezing. Carter didn't seem to mind as he spent at least  half an hour splashing about and yelling at the waves. (As he gets older that may start to look less cute.) tomorrow we are off to Santa Cruz and our time in California will be over.