Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge

Another Christmas tradition, albeit a rather recent one (this is our second year), is the Canyon Lights at Capilano Suspension Bridge.

Capilano Bridge is one of my favorites. I buy a season's pass every year (as a BC resident, if you buy your pass at full price, it's good for a year of visits!) and make good use of it.

The beginning of the site is an exhibit honouring the Native history of the site. It's very interesting and I really recommend not rushing through this section.

And then we always head straight to the cliff walk. It was the cliff walk which first interested me in Capilano. You see, I'd been as a teenager and been traumatized when one of my school friends rocked the bridge. But I kept seeing pictures of this cliff walk and really wanted to try it.

We specifically chose this day because there was promise of snow in the forecast. What I didn't clue in to was that if the snow didn't materialize, it would be rainy.

Very, very rainy.

So, the park was amazingly beautiful. But very wet.

The lights were just starting to come on - it was absolutely gorgeous.

We made our way to the tent where just last year we'd lost Elisabeth. The crafts hadn't started yet, but we took the opportunity to snap a few pictures in Santa's Sleigh before the crowds arrived.

Elisabeth was pretending to be a reindeer while the boys rode in the sleigh.

Next we crossed over the suspension bridge.

Much of the park is closed for this event because of the wet and the darkness. But treetops walk and the pond have beautiful displays.

While we were on this side, it got very dark indeed, and the lights could be seen to their full effect.

Finally we returned to the tent to decorate cookies and make cards. Oh, and drink hot chocolate :)

We did the cliff walk again. It was absolutely gorgeous, but really hard to capture on an iPhone.

One of my favorite things is when they direct the lights on the rock - or the water. The strings of lights are beautiful. But the lights glowing on the rock and water are stunning.

After a quick walk through the gift shop (one of my favorites), we let the Goldstones make their way home while we went back to the entrance to see how the beginning of the site looked with the lights.

It was pretty spectacutlar.

Phoney pictures

I guess I missed downloading a few pictures from my phone the other day.

At the Burnaby Village Museum they've set up a little exhibition next to the carousel which describes the history of wooden carousels. These are the doors:

I love this little house.

David drinks coke from a glass bottle. Cousin Brenda would be proud!

The kids and their cookies - we did a lot of baking that day!

Christmas baking!

Tuesday we were home for the day, so we did our Christmas baking. Sugar cookies, peanut butter kisses, cranberry hooty creeks, and pinwheels along with chocolate orange fudge and chocolate candy cane cupcakes. Oh my!

Of course, the sugar cookies needed to be cut:

And once we had cut and baked the sugar cookies, we decorated.

It's an exacting science.

And with the great task of baking complete, we were free to play with our friends.

Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum

It's become a tradition for us to go to Burnaby Village Museum every year at Christmas. It's one of my favorite Christmas activities. And, it's free!

We had some tickets for the carousel left from the last time we visited BVM, so the first order of business was to head straight to the carousel and ride. (See, we did learn something from the previous evening!)

Did you know that the Burnaby Village Carousel is the second fastest vintage carousel in North America?

I think we made the right choice, don't you?

Every year the museum does a light display depicting the twelve days of Christmas. Each year it's slightly different.

There's always a craft making station in the Real Estate office.

And in the toy room Elisabeth decorated a Christmas tree.

One of the highlights is their version of Santa Claus - Father Christmas. I love the costumes, so rich and luxurious. I also like that we're not necessarily talking about a fat man in a red suit. Although mall santas are nice too, I just prefer this one.

He greeted Elisabeth.

And then said, "smile for pictures."

Greeted David and posed for another picture.

We were at the museum with our friends, and Denis wanted his photo taken with Father Christmas too.

We made our way back towards the carousel, with a quick stop at the train first.

There was also a musical in the theatre. If you find yourself at the museum this Christmas season, I do recommend their version of Robin Hood. It's quite funny and the voices of the performers (remember, it's a musical) were very good.