"I had a pony!" (ride)

I couldn't help but think of that hilarious episode of Seinfeld when Erich had his first pony ride this past weekend. May 30th was Healthy Kids Day at the Langara (formerly South Slope) YMCA, where they had lots of fun games, free food and best of all free pony rides for all attendees. OK, so Erich didn't have a pony, but he sure got to ride one!

Erich also got to visit the fire engine and enjoy free tricycle rides around the parking lot. Very cool, very fun, and very jam-packed - so much so that the local radio stations were broadcasting traffic alerts in the area!

Like a kid in a toy store...

Wait, it is a kid in a toy store. While visiting Panorama Park at Deep Cove, we visited an ecclectic store which had a toy section. Erich was elated (and fast!). Well truth be told, they did have these really neat model cars and trucks where the doors would open and you could look inside for a scale model of the real thing. :-)

Let's play ball!

It was "bend it like Erich" day as we went out to Panorama Park in Deep Cove to play some ball with Erich. He really enjoyed watching daddy and mommy kick around the ball and catching it.

Why did we go all the way to Deep Cove just to play ball? Well apart from discovering a new park, we were headed there to have a fun outing for Karen's birthday. Ever since trying one of the doughnuts from a shop called "Honey's doughnuts" in Deep Cove, her mouth has been watering to munch on of of those delicious perfectly textured doughnuts again she requested to go there for lunch.

All aboard at the Vancouver International Children's Festival

One of the advantages to living so close to Vanier Park is the availability of good cultural shows. From Bard on the Beach to the Vancouver International Children's Festival to the man flying kites on Sunday afternoons, Vanier Park is a great place for Erich to be exposed to culture.

The weekend of May 19th, we took Erich to the children's festival. Despite it being a rather wet and soggy day (particularly disappointing after a long string sunny days), Erich had a blast.

We visited exhibits where he could work with clay, or play with various unconventional sound instruments.

Tourists in our own city - the grand tour

In an effort to make our newly emigrated friends David and Laura feel more welcome in their new home, we took them on a grand tour of Metro Vancouver. David and Laura are from Delaware.

We started early with Karen's famous french toast for breakfast. After packing in the hearty breakfast, we headed out. We visited many places starting in Queen Elizabeth park. Oddly enough, our friends found the Nat Bailey Stadium (adjacent to the park) to be quite the thrill. They vowed they would revisit it to see an actual baseball game. We then drove through Cambie line RAV construction to make it to Richmond via the Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Once in Richmond, I brought them to the little community of Steveston where some of the first Japanese and marine settlers came. I recounted to them how my family had started our B.C. life in Steveston, and how we used to buy fish every Saturday morning by the docks. We had a tour of those docks, and topped off our experience there with a visit to the famous Dave's fish and chips restaurant.

From historic Steveston, we took them back through the city of Vancouver to a relatively modern import - a bubble tea cafe (Dragon Ball) where they enjoyed some of the latest taiwanese/HK imported mixed fruit drinks.

After we got our drinks, we zipped across town to "Little Italy" near Commercial and Broadway. One cannot truly appreciate the diversity of Vancouver until one has visited Commercial Drive and it's various shops including the famous Santa Barbara market.

We proceeded along Hastings Street through to Simon Fraser University where David was finally able to see his current employer's rival school. (David is currently a post-doctorate fellow and lecturer at UBC.) Much to the bemusement of us SFU alumnus, they actually enjoyed the Arthur Erickson architecture of SFU.

Next up was a breathtaking view of the city atop Burnaby Mountain (where I had proposed to Karen). We stopped here briefly before heading on a longer drive straight across the North Shore to Horseshoe Bay where we explored one of my favourite parks - Whytecliff Park.

It was here that I learned something new about Laura and her incredible climbing abilities even whilst wearing a pair of (stylish) sandals! (see David's commentary on his blog...)

We ended our day with a quick tour of the downtown eastside (hey, we got to show the good, bad and the ugly right?) and finally dinner at a Vancouver classic - the old Spaghetti Factory.

As evidenced in the picture above, Erich had loads of fun too. It was great getting to know our friends more, all the while showing off this great city to them.