Christmas Tree Hunt

The first weekend for our Christmas Tree farm at Dogwood was November 25th/26th. We like to make sure we go the first weekend because they have a limited number of trees and will sometimes close after only the first few days. The weather was perfect for getting a tree as it was below zero meaning that the ground was frozen and not muddy. We tend to search the same area every year though I really feel we should just get one of the trees that are already cut. They were a bit small this year so we ended up cutting our own. I was mildly annoyed with the family as I have to crawl in the dirt to do the cutting and all they have to do is lean the tree in a way that the way doesn't bind. They failed this year.

We've been cutting our tree here for several years but I'm irritated at the inflation price. We were up to $20 a foot for our preferred tree type. Noble or Fraser Fir. We like these because they have lots of areas for hanging decorations. $20 is getting pretty steep especially since we have a vaulted ceiling and can handle a 9 foot tree. I was able to lean the tree a bit and Kerry knows the person doing the measuring so she was able to distract him. We ended up with an 8 1/2 foot tree. At $170, those $69 dollar trees at Rona are looking more appealing. I'm still in favour of a real tree but at these prices we could get one of those auto-raising trees from Costco.

This year we named our tree Katniss Evergreen in honour of the latest Hunger Games movie that was out just before Christmas. 

 

Halloween

We're not too many years away for skipping the pumpkin patch completely at Halloween. The last two years we've gone to the local patch in stead of Aldor Acres and this year it was only Kerry, Carter and I. Carter is very particular about his pumpkin so he likes to have a selection that's bigger than what you would get at Safeway or Superstore. Port Kell's is a good clean alternative to a full on pumpkin patch. I think they grow some of their own pumpkins but I think they buy some as well. The patch is just an overflow parking lot with lots of selection and there is no mud. There's also a covered indoor area for the kids to play.

I was considering not doing a Halloween decoration this year but I had a project in mind for the past few. years and decided at the last minute to see if I could pull it off. It starts with two 5x5 pieces of plywood cut into 30 inch squares. I then used the CNC to create four sections of each of Kang and Kodos. Once they are cut to shape and the lines are carved in 1/8 of an inch deep, it's a simple job to paint them. It has the appearance of taking talent to make with the reality of being veery precise due to the CNC. They turned out quite good. I had practiced with a Maggie. At least this year, I created things that store fairly easily in the shed.

I got lucky with the weather again. It was nice for a full week leading up to Halloween. This meant I could get everything out a few days in advance without having to worry about rain. The rain even held off until the day after so it was a clean job putting everything away. I don't plan on adding any more big items unless I win the lottery and can afford a storage unit. I may decide to continue to improve on certain things to make them look good during the day and allow them to get wet. Right now everything looks good in the dark but not great during the day and most of it can't get wet. The neighbourhood always has good things to say and some kids stick around for a while to take everything in. 

Weekend in Whistler

With all of our travel this year we ended up with a free hotel night through Hotels.com. It's a pretty good deal. For every 10 nights you get an additional night free based on the prices you paid. Coupled with free cancellations for most hotels, it's easy to become loyal to one company. We had a credit of about $400 and I think it expires so we decided to head to Whistler for a weekend. It was the in-between season with mountain biking ending and skiing not yet starting so we got a very good deal on a condo. It had two separate bedrooms plus another room with the couch bed and a full kitchen. The place had a hallway it was so big. You could probably sleep 20 during ski season.

We did typical Whistler things including a hike on the trails near the village and dinner. We were out early for a hike on the Sunday and almost ran into a bear. There was a couple walking ahead of us that were probably within 50 feet of it. We were a few hundred feet behind and were headed right to the trail where it ran down. We didn't really feel like being bear wary so we took a turn back towards the village. The weather was nice for the time of year and we avoided traffic in both directions so overall a great weekend. 
 

Raptors Game n Vancouver

In early October the Raptor's had an exhibition game against the Sacramento Kings. Vancouver once had its own team, The Grizzlies, but they only lasted a few years. I was listening to some people talk about them and they made a good point, that their timing for Vancouver wasn't very good. I think if a team was added today they would probably do okay with a lot of corporate sponsorship available and a different demographic. It would also help that the Seattle Sonics have since left so there is not team in the upper  west.

Funny story about getting the tickets. They went on sale at 10:00a and I was initially in the queue. After about 5 minutes I got let in and there were not very many blue dots left. I selected some tickets in the front row and purchased assuming they were available because someone else had dropped them. We arrived at the arena and it turns out the tickets were in the handicapped section. Nothing during the purchase indicated this was the case and we weren't the only people to make the mistake. The seats were very nice though. They had chairs for us and there was plenty of room with no one immediately behind us. 

The game itself was okay. 125 to 104 for the Kings so not the outcome we would have hoped for. I watched basketball more in the 90's where it wasn't typical to see such high scores. Lots of three pointers and not much defence. There were quite a few empty seats until about half time. Not sure why you would buy tickets to a game like this and not show up on time. The half time show was the cheerleaders and a giant blow up Raptor costume. Overall it was a good experience. Carter got another jersey and I think we would probably go regularly if the tickets were reasonable and we get a team again. 

Carter's Birthday

Looking back at the year's blogs I've noticed a trend that I seem to stop blogging for the year right around Carter's birthday which is September 17th. I then spend my Christmas break catching up on blogs from September through December. I don't usually do New Year's resolutions but perhaps this year I'll try to get blog posts out closer to when they actually happen. As an example, I couldn't figure out why I seemed to have two sets of dinner pictures for Carter's Birthday and then I remembered it was a birthday weekend. On the Saturday he had a party with his friends at our house with basketball and video games and then we went to D-Spot Dessert Cafe in Delta. It had a very large selection of tasty options.

After his friend festivities on the Saturday, his real birthday was on the Sunday. We started with Fly Over Canada which used to seem expensive but now that Disneyland has gone crazy with prices, the cost per ride is probably more than what we pay for this ride. It's in an old IMax theatre and takes you over top of the screen, suspended in your seat. They mix it up a bit each year so that it's worth going more than once. This year was Fly Over Iceland. Iceland isn't high on my places to travel to but it does look interesting. Lots of lava fields and volcanoes.

We finished the day off with a trip to the Cactus Club at Canada Place. It really is quite a spectacular location for a restaurant and Cactus Club is one of our favourites. I think Carter had been talking about this particular item for his birthday for several months. Food was excellent as usual and he got a piece of cake for free. The only issue was that the coke glass he got had.a crack in it. Not enough to not drink from it but enough that I let them know about it so they didn't send it through the wash again. I think we got comped the drink which was not really what we were trying to do but always welcome. 

One more year and it's time for Carter to learn to drive.

Ed Sheeran in Vancouver

Many months ago we purchased tickets for Ed Sheeran in Vancouver. It was a stressful event but at least we got tickets, unlike the Taylor Swift concert. Carter isn't a fan so it was Kerry, Callie, Myself, Melissa and Kathy attending. Callie had made us friendship bracelets before I left on my Denver trip. It's not really an Ed thing but she was still making hem for Taylor for the upcoming movie and wanted some for Ed. I CNC'd a wood portion with the five mathematics symbols. Last minute she also decided we should have matching t-shirts. She had a divid t-shirt from his last concert so we all got similar ones with the remaining symbols.

The concert was amazing. Last time was at GM Place and I had to go alone because Kerry couldn't make it and no one else know who he was. This one was in BC Place. I think Ed is purposely looking to get the record for every stadium he plany because he made his stage circular. This ensures every seat can be filled plus the floor. BC Place hit 65,000+. The other major difference was that he brought a band. He could do it without but there are a few songs that benefit. His band mates were off the stage in front of each of the pillars and were only on for a few songs. I felt the sound in Seattle was better but the lighting here was great. We also got to listen to Ed and Khalid do 'Beautiful People', one of my favourite songs.

 

A Work Trip to Denver

At the end of August I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Denver. As per usual I went down a day early so that I could take in some of the tourist spots. The flight there was uneventful and I got to my hotel around 1:00p. Unfortunately, most of the things I wanted to go to closed at 4:00p so I had to wait until the next day to go to the zoo. It's not a bad zoo as zoo's go. The habitats were all quite natural though I found them a bit small. It was also a little sad to hear all the kids talking about which animals had recently died. Not sure if it's above average but it was definitely on their mind.

My next destination was the Museum of Nature and Science. On the science side it was much like Science World with interactive exhibits on various topics including the human body, rocks and minerals and global warming. Was a pleasant surprise to find a US city like Colorado reporting on the science side of things instead of selling us on the 'we need oil for a while' message. On the nature side of the house there were hundred's of stuffed animals in vignettes of their natural habitat. It was very well done though I wonder how they got a hold of so many animals to stuff including polar bears, buffalo and eagles.

My favourite destination was the Denver Botanical Gardens. You can tell a lot of donation money went into this place. There were ponds, atriums and art galleries throughout the property. It would be a lovely location for a wedding though I think they cater to mostly larger groups. There was a permanent tent that was about 500 feet long with pinpoint lights throughout. The atrium was made of concrete which must of been fun to engineer. I finally got to see a Chihuly statue in person. It was an enormous sculpture in yellows and oranges. I'm surprised it manages to make it through the winter. It looks so delicate.

After my day on my own I headed to my other hotel to start the conference. It was being held on a golf course / retirement property where one of the founders of the company hosting the event lives. The whole area was very nice but definitely car centric. You would need to take a car just to get to the closest corner store. The conference was a bit of a different experience for me because there were only about 200 attendees. Most conferences I attend have thousands of participants so it's easy to hide and concentrate on the sessions. With so few people there was always someone that wanted to talk directly to you. Still fun though with some great food.

As a team we managed to break away from the conference for a team building event. The Atlanta Braves were in town to play the Colorado Rockies. It was effectively one of the top teams in the league against one of the worst teams in the league though it wasn't exactly a blowout. A few runs every couple innings and no major mistakes. The weather was perfect in the high twenties with sunny skies. The game goes quickly with the new pitch clock. I didn't bother getting any food but we did go out for wings afterwards. The whole trip was a lot of fun. I wouldn't recommend Denver as a destination but if you need to go there it's a very nice city.