A Trip to Granville Island

For the first time in a very long time my brother Eric came down to visit me. His wife had planned to come fly down but that was cancelled but then reinstated and he drive down with her. Since he hasn't been to the lower mainland much we took a trip to Granville Island. I think the most interesting part must have been the seagull at our table since that's the only pictures I got from the day. It was very respectful of our presence as it at the garbage next to us. We checked out the market, got bagels and fudge and then drove home. I don't think he enjoyed the traffic getting down. It was admittedly a bit busy getting there. 

Mother's Day

Mother's Day started with our traditional breakfast at McDonald's. Kerry's main goal for Mother's Day is to not do anything and typically that means not going anywhere however this year we took a hike up to Golden Ears park. It's a provincial park which means it remains very unspoiled. It's only a 30 minute drive from our house when traffic is light and as soon as you enter the park you are into beautiful lakes, streams and trees. Our hike was about 5k each way and I got lots of pictures of stumps and rocks. It's now been over one hundred years since some of the first old growth was cut down and the stumps are still hanging on.

We got back early and Callie started preparing the traditional mother's day after noon tea. She made sandwiches, lemon aid and biscuits and had taken the time to get clotted cream and jam like we had when we went to London. Kennedy happened to be in town and her and Brenda didn't have any other plans so they came for tea as well. Tulips and fine China topped off the setting. 

Easter Weekend

This Easter was a bit unique for us. There was a snap federal election and Barb and Reg had decided to volunteer one more time and this time they managed to get Callie her first formal job. Canadian elections happen quickly so there isn't a lot of time to post positions and hire. It's mostly about calling past volunteers and asking who they might know that is available. Callie did a quick interview and was hired on immediately. Her role was not too stressful as it was in Oliver and involved dealing with people who weren't registered correctly. She partnered with Barb who had plenty of experience. 

The commitment included the four days of pre-polls that were over the Easter long weekend and then doing vote counting on the actual election day. Kerry, Carter and I went up with her as it was Easter weekend and someone needed to look after the dogs while everyone was working. Kerry did an elaborate Easter dinner that she packaged up and sent to the other poll workers who were very appreciative. The dogs of course enjoyed having the extra company. Carter and I got some driving lessons in and we left Callie there to come back for school. Kerry went up the weekend after the election to pick Callie up. 

 

Evan's Birthday

For my birthday this year I knew exactly what I wanted to do. A certain Republican president had recently taken office and had announced sweeping tariffs for everyone including Canada. Apparently 'friend-shoring' was not a concept and Canada was the little brother that he felt he could bully. The tariffs were supposed to take place on February 1st and thankfully were later delayed but the idea of supporting Canada was already born. We went down to Granville Island which is something I like doing but isn't overly convenient and things aren't cheap so there isn't a lot of incentive to make the trip. The one thing I feel about most issues though is that if money is going to be wasted I'd rather it get wasted locally. This goes for government contracts and apparently steaks as well. We found several cuts of beef that looked good as well as some sausages, fudge and bagels. It definitely would have been cheaper at Superstore but I enjoyed supporting local businesses. Same goes for travel. It will be hard avoiding the US for four years but I'd rather spend that money supporting things that support Canada. I don't see things changing until a new party comes to power.

Carter's Basketball Season

This year Carter made the senior basketball team. At the end of grade 10 we weren't quite sure he would continue with basketball as he chose not to do the spring session but there was a training camp in the first week of summer that we adjusted our vacation to ensure he could attend and I think it made a big difference. We've been watching his school team for a few years and I have two observations. One is that very few parents seem to stick around for the games. At times Kerry and I are the only ones watching. The other observation is that unfortunately the North Surrey team is not exactly top ranked. It saddens me to think that more parents might show up if they won more.

The season goes from October through January and although they seldomly got completely blown out they lost quite a few close games. They did manage to make it into the playoffs which was fun and I think the team enjoys playing. The playoffs ended without a win but there were still tears for the final pictures. For the seniors it would be their final game. Not sure what will happen for next season. They lost their one tall guy. There was a short spring league where Carter got a lot more playing time which he enjoyed. I hope he makes the team again next year. 

Christmas Tree Hunt

Going out and cutting your own tree is a lot cheaper in Prince George. You can go to a number of places including our own property on West Lake and find a tree for no cost. You then get the experience of the hunt, hot chocolate and a free tree. That experience is not the same in the Lower Mainland. There are places where you can cut your own tree but they are far from free, especially since we like a tall tree for our living room and it's the most expensive kind. At $20 a foot, our 8.5 foot tree comes in at a price where it makes more sense to get a fake tree. We used to have one but it got old and we wanted the cut tree experience for the kids.

After this year's experience, I suspect we'll switch back to a fake tree at some point. We found what appeared to be a nice tree but in hindsight wasn't as nice as we thought. It was growing on a slope and had a big crook in the bottom. That has made it almost impossible to get level. Even with one inch of wood underneath on one side it's still not straight. I also almost passed out while cutting it. It was warmer and wetter than normal so the saw just wasn't cutting. We named this year's tree "Swiftree" which was fitting based on what the focus of the year was. Unfortunately she is not taking in water well and might not make it to the new year. 

Taylor Swift Mania

I won't bore you with all the details of what it took to get tickets to the show in Vancouver, but I will say it was only at the last minute that all of Callie, Kerry and Melissa had tickets for the Taylor Swift show i which was the last stop for the Eras tour. Callie had a ticket for the past year so she was eagerly creating friendship bracelets from day one. She had actually started even before she had a ticket when Taylor was only doing US shows. She made her first batch for the Seattle show and went down with Kerry to listen to the concert outside. Her friendship bracelet skill evolved immensely during that time. She started with simple beads with words and quickly evolved to woven ones and multi later bead strings. She added clasps and all of them could be removed even when they were tied. I contributed in a small way by making some wooden rectangles with various Taylor Swift sayings on them on the CNC. I had grander plans of being able to do things in brass but I couldn't get the settings right and I'm not sure my big CNC was the best tool for the job.  I think she made north of 200.

The tickets that Callie and Kerry had were VIP seats and they would be going with Callie's aunt and her daughter. The seats were good and definitely VIP priced but the only real difference was a Taylor Swift gift box that showed up a couple of weeks before the show. The family had an opening event where they all opened the boxes together. It was mostly paper based things plus a pin. Callie was a bit disappointed it wasn't Vancouver themed which she understands some other cities were. It was still nice and will be a good keepsake. 

I think if I had been around during the Beatles it would be have been fun to be able to say I experienced some of that so I decided I wasn't going to miss that opportunity with Taylor Swift since I think it's had the same sort of hype. I went to work on the Friday of the first concert in Vancouver and then wandered around downtown. The atmosphere reminded me of the Olympics with everyone there for a common event though the weather wasn't as nice so it wasn't quite the same. Vancouver had put large lit letters at several Instagram worthy locations. It was a great opportunity to show case the city and the concert brought in over $150m in economic activity.

There had bee talk about certain areas being inaccessible except for ticket holders but it wasn't much different from a normal event or concert at BC Place. You couldn't go right up to the gates but you could hang out in front of the stadium. In other cities, there had ben large groups of people congregating during the concert. It wasn't huge in Vancouver on the first night I think because of the rain and the fact that the city had warned people away. I think it would have been a lot bigger in the summer when it was warm but there were still thousands of people by the last night.

Melissa arrived on the Friday night and Kerry, Callie, Melissa and her niece wandered around the city on the Saturday. On the Sunday, my brother-in-law had rented a limo for everyone that took them to the event and picked them up afterwards. It was more convenient then we were expecting as they got home pretty quickly after the concert was over. I think the only disappointment for Kerry was that there wasn't a surprise gust. We figure it's because she was filming all three days and they wanted consistency. Still an amazing event, 706 days after the whole thing was first announced.