two

The twins turned two! Eli helped out a bit with the icing of the cupcakes and there was a lovely backyard party. Lots of kids running around and a sprinkler to help fight the heat. For their present I made a book with the help of Blurb. It's a personalized alphabet put together with a selection of photos I've taken of them over the past two years. It was fun going through the archive to try and find the right photos - especially when it came to the tricky letters like Q and X. I was really happy with the quality of the book and would definitely recommend trying it out.

victoria

I had a little vacation over in Victoria recently. Mount Douglas Park gave a beautiful view of the city and the sunset. A place I don't remember ever going to in all the years that I lived in Victoria. I've certainly driven through it a million times but I guess I didn't ever bother to go to the top to check out the view.

There was quite a bit of biking with a couple of trips out to Thetis Lake. I love that place - perfect for swimming since it doesn't have the scary weediness of other nearby lakes. The bike trails in Victoria are amazing. I was especially impressed with the Galloping Goose trail. I'd done part of it a few years ago but I finally made the trip all the way to downtown. So pretty with elevated boardwalks and cutting through farmland. Surprisingly I don't have any pictures of that particular route but it is well worth the ride.

And while in Beacon Hill Park there was a visit to the petting zoo. There were a couple of llamas shaved in the manner of poodles but the most approachable guys are the goats. They tried to eat the edge of my shorts but I managed to get away unscathed.

CANADA DAY

I don't normally do anything particularly special to celebrate Canada Day but this year turned out to be a little bit different. Emma sent out an invitation to join her & Gus down at the track for the day. I decided not to put down any bets this time (seeing as last time was such a bust) but I think some of our group did okay in that department. At least I don't think there were any major losses. I would say that the only downside to the day was the tremendously long line for french fries and the fight that took place around me when a guy tried to sneak in front of about 15 people.

After the races were over, we walked through the bird sanctuary back to Emma's house. Gus showed off his patriotic shirt and his strawberry picking abilities. Emma was a little horrified that I would take pictures of these little berries since they had much bigger ones earlier in the season. But they were still sweet and delicious.

Then I was off to Gastown to meet up with Devon and some of his friends. We had an evening of Seamus' Michael Jackson Tribute which involved a lot of dancing in the street (but not by me!) and stops for photo opportunities. Then Devon & I headed off for a walk which somehow landed us at Canada Place just in time for the fireworks.

downtown

I joined Trish and Cassandra for a trip downtown. We headed over to the Vancouver Art Gallery to see the Ought Apartment show. It was the cheap (or by donation) night - because how else can people afford to get into the gallery? The general admission price seems really expensive to me. Anyway, we showed up rather late which meant we only had about 25 minutes to walk around. You can't take pictures of the exhibition but I did steal a picture of one of the lower level gallery spaces! The last time I'd been at the gallery they were just in the midst of installing the Ought Apartment and now you can actually walk around some of the different levels. It's so great! I wish I could steal away the couch on the 50s floor and an armchair from the 60s.

After we were kicked out of the gallery we went down to the Templeton for some snacks - chocolate orange milkshake, anyone? The Granville Street redesign is still ongoing so they haven't replaced all the trees yet. I find it weird to see a street completely lacking in trees. But it gives you a good view of the buildings.

reality vs. responsibility