The Big City

One of the "A-maze-ing Laughter" bronze scultures.

My hubby had a work-related conference in Vancouver. We tagged along for a portion. On our first evening, we went to White Rock beach at sunset which is a beautiful spot.

One goal that I had for this trip was to go to Queen Elizabeth Park. My parents have a photo of me there when I was a little girl. I haven't been back since so I thought it would be fun to recreate it. I had trouble finding the park since I didn't have a good map and couldn't use my phone. Once I found the park, I couldn't locate the "good" part of the park and was wondering what was up. Once we started exploring, we eventually found the Bloedel Conservatory (we didn't go in)

and the great view of downtown Vancouver.

Plus some pretty gardens.

Queen E. Park is the highest spot in Vancouver (well, other than Grouse Mt, I suppose).

My boys and I ate lunch at Save-On-Meats which is super affordable and has yummy food. The location was a bit of an adventure since it is just on the edge of East Vancouver (which has a lot of homeless, drug problems, etc). The boys called the area "Sketch Town" as in, a bit sketchy.

We stayed in a hotel with lots of character - the Sylvia Hotel in English Bay. I enjoyed the historical photos on each floor. One elevator was out so we used the stairs sometimes. In one of the photos, the hotel was the tallest in the area at a whopping 8 floors! :) Check out the cool stained glass and the ivy-covered wall.

There was no air conditioning in the room so I was thankful we weren't there on Sunday night That day the temperature was in the 90s.

These fun scultures are located in English bay.

The grass surrounding English Bay was looking a little brown since there hasn't been much rain this year.

C enjoyed collecting shells.

This is a famous giant stone cairn - the Inukshuk. It is an ancient Inuit symbol of friendship.

It was the symbol of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver.

I did NOT enjoy driving in Vancouver. July is especially busy, parking is challenging, and the drivers aren't courteous at all. I was frequently honked at and even yelled at once, while I was parking the car. Quite a change from super polite Seattle area drivers. We had an accidental trip to West Vancouver over the Lions Gate Bridge. If you don't turn left at just the right time in downtown Vancouver, you will end up driving through Stanley Park and over the bridge without any chance to turn off.

Returning home, I survived a trip through the border, with my kids and without my husband. The border guard didn't bat an eye about that but chose instead to question that I didn't buy anything. Who can shop when you are with boys all the time! :)

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