After the bridges, around Vancouver

Once we'd finished exploring Capilano Suspension Bridge, we decided to cross the Lion's Gate Bridge and visit Andrew's work neighborhood. First we stopped at Fresh Slice for pizza perfection and then we drove to Stanley Park to enjoy pizza and snooping on a posh wedding.

 I'm not so stalkerazzi that I took pictures of the bride, but it was fun to watch, and what a backdrop for a wedding party! The live orchestral music was quite nice too.

 Of course my children were too busy beating each other up to notice the grand cultural experience I was exposing them too. So we packed up and drove to Andrew. What should have taken us 8 minutes ended up taking an hour thanks to Vancouver Rush Hour. I'd forgotten how awful that was.

 Finally we arrived and walked down to the Vancouver Convention Centre in time to watch a cruise ship leave port and pretend we were tourists too.

 We decided it was the perfect evening to stroll along the ocean side and enjoy our big city.

 It was also a perfect opportunity to indulge in some photography.

 And finally, the cruise ship left port. I can guarantee you one thing: I will never, ever take a disney cruise. I couldn't stand the music and hoopla. UGH!

 But it was a neat experience to watch the ship leave port.

 Looking towards East Vancouver and the dockyards.

 Port Vancouver. It's quite pretty from a distance.

 Then, because I'd never really done it before, we walked along the sea wall towards Coal Harbour.

 Where we encountered a children's water park outside a pub.

 And a lovely marina with boats we'd never be able to afford.

 And we even found some horses to ride.

 Some of us were more enthusiastic than others.

 And as the sun set, we meandered back towards Andrew's office. I can't believe he gets to come here every day...and almost never goes for walks. What a waste!

 Later this month, Andrew and I will "race" walk through here with the Rock and Roll Vancouver Half Marathon. I wonder if I'll notice how pretty it is.

 This is the site of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Flame. It took  me four years to finally come check it out.

 Very striking.

 And all over Vancouver, there are pianos for people to play. Elisabeth loves to practice the song Grandma Menary taught her last time we were in Ontario.

 Then we stopped at the Convention Centre to watch the sun set over the ocean.

 And take a few selfies. We were hoping for a family picture...

 We'd better keep practicing...

Do you like heights?

I was looking for some pictures, and found these from a day trip I took with the kids.

Have you been to Capilano Suspension Bridge? It's really beautiful, no matter what time of year you go. One hot summer day, I took the kids out to visit the park. It's the 125 anniversary of the park, so it was even more beautiful that normal. It was also much more crowded than normal. I must remember to take the kids one rainy day. 

 We arrived and decided that the suspension bridge looked too crowded and so we decided to do the cliff walk first. With a quick stop for photos first, of course!

 Then we descended the stairs to the cliff walk. I'd done the suspension bridge years and years ago with my school, but it was the addition of this feature that made me want to go back and visit the park again (because, quite frankly, I found the actual bridge terrifying!)

 The cliff walk is also suspended in mid air, and winds it's way up and through the rock along the canyon. It's beautiful, and I imagine it would be different every time you went depending on the weather and the changing seasons.

 David thought it was brilliant. Lizzie, not so much. She was a little unsure to begin with....

 And you can see her fears only grew the further we got along the walk. You can also see that it was very busy and we weren't able to hurry along, or turn back.

 Poor little Elisabeth soldiered on, despite her fears. David tried to be supportive, but he thought the bridges were great fun.

 Safely back on solid ground, we posed for a picture in the forest.

 And then we crossed the suspension bridge. I'm not sure why our school hasn't been here on a field trip. Unless it's the fear of having children fall of the swinging bridge. I guess that could be it. But there's so much to learn here, whether it's about our ecosystem, the forest, the history of the canyon, or even just about salmon. We spent several hours reading all the information and looking around.

 And then we ventured up into what I call the tree houses, but they're really just more suspension bridges, through the forest.

 There are a series of bridges, that lead from one tree to another. We stopped at the ranger's booth and picked up a little booklet with tasks to complete as we wandered around the park. It helped make us pay attention as we wandered.

 Here we're learning about the wing spans of various birds. As you can see, Elisabeth's span isn't really all that great.

 And then we learned about trees and how tall they grow, what sort of leaves they have...that sort of thing.

 And at the end, we collected our badges for learning.

 This is the view from the middle of the suspension bridge.

It was a wonderful day, we can't wait to go back!