Bike Ride to Granville Island

Boat houses at Granville Island

It's already Wednesday and so easy to get behind with updates. Busy weekend with Nicky here. Time flies by and my head spins. Got my taxes done on Saturday...a chore that I am glad to have out of the way. It rained all day, so we stayed in and around home. Bronwyn at her friend's birthday party, Nicky on a play date, River on his own (as usual) playing "Plants vs. Zombies" on his ipad. I need to work harder to provide him with play dates. (What does autism look like? For one thing, it looks like a 7 year old boy who has never been asked for a play date!) He does have a friend to play with, but I need to initiate these play dates, and I need to do more. I perpetually feel like I am failing him. I suspect I am always going to feel that way. But on to Sunday....

Jeronimo!

On Sunday the weather was good and so we decided to bike down to Granville Island. It was a good ride. No complaining from the kids as they sped along. Even River kept up...legs spinning a mile a minute. We tried out the new bike path along Point Grey Rd (an expensive conversion to enable rich people to get out of their driveways). It was weird to ride along there without traffic.

Nicky attempting the bigger jumps

We stopped off at the Jump Park underneath the Burrard St. bridge. Some of the park is for skilled riders...but there is a little slopping part to the side and Bronwyn and River thought they were Evil Kievel (I guess that shows my age!) as they went up and down the slopes - slowly and carefully. "Whoa" yelled River..."Jeronimo!" Nicky is more proficient and can attempt the bigger hills and jumps. He tried a couple and then slipped and got a little injured. But he got back on and tried again.

Glass blowing at Granville Island

There are enough of us to make a 'crowd'

Water taxi parking lot

Had fun at Granville Island; playgrounds, ice-cream, market (avoiding 'killer seagulls'). We stopped off to watch a guy blowing glass in his studio; kids were fascinated as he put the glass into the bright orange furnace and manipulated the shape. We speculated on what it could be...a vase, we decided. The police had quardened off a section of road near the market; a "police incident". Bronwyn and Nicky were morbidly fascinated when they learned that someone had died and endlessly speculated on what could have happened. We found out later that someone had jumped from the Granville Bridge and onto the concrete below...a shocking scene that I am glad we did not see. If we'd been half an hour earlier, we may not have been so lucky. I didn't mention this to the kids. Bronwyn is morbid enough as it is.

Motley crew...we told them to look serious...really!

Things that make you go "Ugh!"

Ugh! number 1: Head-lice. Hello, I am a nasty insect that looks like a mini cockroach and I live in your scalp, sucking on your blood, and laying tiny sticky eggs all over your hair that will turn into other head lice. But just to make you feel better you can tell your friends that I prefer clean hair. The last thing we want is to make our home in dirty...errr...lice-ridden hair. That clean hair thing did not make me feel better as a kid...and nothing has changed. It makes no sense...

After trekking across 'miles' of hair to search and conquer other 'planets' (aka heads), the worn out headlice and his pregnant wife and their kids finally reach the scalp of a new place. It's not quite what they expected; garbage everywhere, gangs of unsavoury headlice hanging around greasy unwashed follicles; smoking and drinking.

Barb: "Kev, I'm sorry but I can't' stay here. Look at this place, it's filthy! Me and the kids are not staying here a minute longer. And no way I'm laying more eggs here...no way. I wouldn't bring up a gnat in a place like this! I'm beginning to think my mother was right about you! She warned me, but would I listen? Oh no. And look where it's got me. I bumped into Debs the other day on the school desk...remember her?...well, her and Gary are living on this beautiful clean head. It's got everything; fresh blood, nice clean dark roots, great safe areas of scalp where the kids can play. If you had any kind of ambition and got off your arse then maybe we could move somewhere like that."

Kev: "Well, the lads down at the 'Dandruff and Itch' were saying that this head is really up and coming and that we should get in now....we can clean it up a bit...right? At least we have each other..."

Slap!


Head-lice decided to take up residence in Bronwyn's mass of thick, long, beautiful hair. I had to use the 'special' shampoo and then comb it all out with the 'special' comb. I had to do this twice. Supposively, the 'special' shampoo/cleanser kills them on contact. Apparently not. I found a couple of live ones the next day (shudder). Apparently, the head-lice hadn't got the message about the shampoo...and were resistant. So we tried another shampoo that essentially dissolves them. Goodbye bugs. Hello endless loads of laundry.

Ugh: Seagulls! A pleasant trip to Granville Island with River was marred when a seagull did this to my LIP!

River and I were just going out to the boardwalk area behind the Public Market. We were munching on pieces of cheese bun. A few seconds after we got out I noticed very large seagulls shrieking and flapping uncomfortably close to us. You could feel the air displaced by their huge wings. A few seconds later and one swooped down to River's head; wings flapped around his head and claws pulled his hair. River froze, scared, "Hurt head!" he exclaimed. I immediately started towards him in order to grab him and get him back inside to safety. The gulls were still hovering close by. I put the last piece of my bun in my mouth as I moved towards River and suddenly a gull dived down at my face and tried to get the piece of bread...from my mouth. It's beak bruised and cut my lip. At first my lip just felt bruised and was really burning, but then I put my hand to my mouth and noticed there was blood coming out. Bastard! It didn't get the bread though..ha ha! I quickly collected River, who was still cowering and complaining about his 'hurt head', and we scurried back to the market. There are stupid people who feed gulls and pigeons. Gulls are big aggressive birds that are not in danger of starving!

ETA:  I shall return with a bag of breadcrumbs and a flamethrower!

Ugh: Drunk men in pubs! My sister and I were enjoying a pint at my local the other night when we were approached by an older (older than us anyway) drunk guy; glassy eyed and slurring his speech. He had already sent over a couple of shots that we didn't ask for, nor want. He blathered on about this and that in an attempt to appear charming. "Are you two schisterss....or 'schisterss'" was his stunning opener. He proceeded to tell me he was a barber and that, though I was a 'handsome' woman, I needed to change my hair. Drunk men should not approach women enjoying a quiet drink....ever; the chances of saying something stupid and making yourself seem like a pathetic loser are way too high. Later the same evening a small child threw a large candy cane Christmas tree ornament that hit me. Nice. To be fair, I don't think he was actually aiming at me. The waitress actually took 10% of our bill as recompense for the assaults.  On the way home I startled a skunk...but fortunately it didn't spray. I'm wondering if I should change my hair. Maybe he has a point.

Post-solstice...pre-Christmas

So we're beyond the winter solstice. The nights are drawing out. Unnoticeable at first (unless you check the sunset times obsessively like...ahem...some people do) just a minute or so a day. But going the other way...getting lighter. Yes!

Did some last minute Christmas shopping yesterday. All my shopping is last minute. But more than that I had a day to peruse Granville island and then hang out with my sister. Mark is officially off-work until the new year and so I had a bit of freedom. Granville Island was strangely quiet in the morning. I was able to stroll around and leisurely explore the covered market, stopping now and then to admire the work of local artists and craftspeople. No food shopping, we did that today. I even managed to buy a snack (no line-up) and find some time to sit and eat and do a bit of people-watching. Of course, the peace was shattered by the soaring notes of the ubiquitous Peruvian/Andean flute player (with the oh so "traditional" amplifier and backing track) putting my teeth on edge and introducing the element of total despair to my otherwise happy morning. There are two instruments that I would gladly see banished forever, the Peruvian flute and the bongo drum. In fact, if I were to build a huge fire I would start it going with a whole bunch of dry, woody flute/pipes, and then get the whole thing blazing by adding a ton of bongo drums...the instrument from hell. Only played, or so it would seem, by rhythmically challenged people. Actually, the bongo drum is worse because the only skill a person needs to make a noise is to hit it repeatedly. Which is what I often feel like doing to the person playing it. More skill is require to play the Peruvian instrument of torture. Oops, I'm not being very Christmassy...sorry.

So we looked around Granville island and then took a stroll down Main street (I very seldom get to Main street, being a west-side dweller who rarely travels east). I forget how interesting some of the small stores are on Main. Then we headed west and ate a late lunch at Burgoo...the best place in town for comfort food.

So we're basically all ready to celebrate. Bronwyn and her friend Nicky have made "Gingerbread" houses (using Graham crackers...to the uk they are just plain biscuits). They made their own designs, which was fun. Bronwyn included a kennel and dog toys.

Nicky made a cool garden with stepping stones and scattered the roof with "dead" jellybeans. Such a boy!

Venturing out...

I have been feeling a bit down lately. I am the type of person who puts a brave face on things and I am stoic by nature. However, lately, a few months of cancer treatment with related anxiety, daily trips to radiation therapy, the stress of insomnia, the assault of a head cold (on top of the usual stresses of life) have culminated to make me feel a bit depressed and, it has to be said, sorry for myself. So yesterday was the perfect day for Mark and I to take a trip down to Granville Island. It was an even better day to drop Bronwyn and River off for a few hours with friends who had offered to babysit (thanks Kyle and Michelle!). Having that type of hands-on help makes all the difference. It was wonderful to have time by ourselves to look around Granville Island market. To buy fresh pasta, tomato and bocchini salad, fresh bread, homemade chocolate easter bunnies and cookies for the kids, and a SPCA certified organic chicken (not so easy to come by) for our Easter Sunday dinner. We also tried on a bunch of hats at Edie Hats, a fabulous hat store on Granville Island, and I bought my first hat in ages (and as I left the store I gave a nod and a wink towards my next hat purchase, which will be a big wide-brimmed floppy sunhat!). I love my new hat (and it just occurred to me that I bought a new hat for easter...very traditional...eh eh). It's the one I'm wearing in the above picture.

I'm not hugely into the commercial aspect of Easter. Of course I understand its importance in the Christian calendar, but I prefer to celebrate the arrival of spring. We are observing some traditions. We are going to make an easter egg hunt for the kids, here at home. (No, I am not into the big group egg-hunt either). Bronwyn and I are painting some eggs...not quite finished...and we have made some easter/spring artwork. All-in-all we are trying to make it a spring-themed celebration, while remaining conscious of the fact that Bronwyn is surrounded by a proliferation of easter-themed silliness.

The Easter Bunny is a scary incarnation. I heard one mum saying that they were going to leave a carrot out for the Easter Bunny?!?...weird. Am I the only one uncomfortable with the idea of a 6ft rabbit sneaking around with a basket of eggs? It scares me the way that clowns do. All a bit Donnie Darko. The best place for the easter bunny is in a rabbit stew...but I haven't told Bronwyn that.

Back to Granville Island...

Beautiful handmade chocolates at Granville Island public market. I gave a strong hint to Mark that I like them...something like, "You could easily get a water-taxi in your lunch hour and come here and buy me that box of chocolates...if you wanted to".

We went to Granville Island today. The kids have some Christmas money from Nana Dianne so we made our way to Granville Island Kid's Market. We also took a look around the public market. This is not easy when we take River. He loves to bolt when we're in the market and so he spent most of his time on Mark's shoulders. I love walking around the market. Fresh food and beautiful displays. Not to mention lovely crafts. There is a stall selling wonderful fresh pasta, so we picked some up and made a delicious, quick dinner.

The lower part of Kid's Market is a kid's heaven of toy, puppet and costume stores. We checked out all the toys and chased River as he ran in and out of stores. Bronwyn wanted to go play in the "kid's play area"...which Mark and I refer to fondly as "the kid's pit of bacteria and disease". This is a bright plastic structure with tubes, balls and netting. Last time we went there we ALL got sick afterwards; a particularly nasty flu/cold thing. So...no...we didn't do that again. We usually try to avoid that whole area...the upstairs....it's the kind of place that would put you off having kids for life. Combine...weird photo studio (although I noticed that may have gone)...children's hair salon of torture, the pit of bacteria and disease I already mentioned, the dreaded shoe store (they love that), a freakish area for slot machines with loud, flashing lights and annoying noises, and a small cafe surrounded by distressed looking tables and chairs (where strung-out parents and hyper kids sit to eat crappy junk food...not pretty). Only the brave (or stupid) should enter. As one woman, with a look of desperation, put it, "I'll need a BIG glass of wine after this". We did go up there for a bit because Bronwyn wanted to go on the machines. It's a bit of a flashback for me of hours spent in the arcades along the seafront at Cleethorpes, place of mi birth (that beautiful resort on the East Lincolnshire coast - eh eh...). It's actually like a mini "Fantasy World"...an arcade building in Cleethorpes. I don't even know if it's still there.

Fantasy World, Cleethorpes....where your fantasies go to die...

Back to Granville Island...of course, there's loads to see at Granville Island, including this Rube Goldberg-ish kinetic sculpture outside the cement factory. It is fascinating to watch.

In fact there are installations and artwork displayed all around Granville Island. It is home to the Emily Carr University of Art and Design after all. Where Bronwyn says she'd like to go (if they had one for little kids) and it is always interesting and fun to tour the artwork and artisan workshops.

We were going to go to Mt Seymour...but I was in a slob-about mood. Granville Island is the most I felt like doing. Baseball cap, Lululemon pants, t-shirt and jacket. That is fast becoming my weekend uniform. The last time I made a bit of an effort to dress up was Christmas day. I actually ironed my clothes (the iron usually gathers dust in my house), styled my hair, and put on a bit more make-up than usual. When Bronwyn saw me she said, "Mummy, you look lovely!"....my ego instantly inflated and I exclaimed, delighted, "Thank you!" Then she added, "Yeah, you look like one of the young moms!". OUCH! As I bent down to pick up the pieces of my shattered ego, I stifled a sob and asked what she meant by young mums. She said, "You know, like one of the mum's that wear make-up". So it was a comment on the fact that I was wearing noticeable make-up (and I usually don't). And she was trying to complement me...I think. I will go with that explanation.

Granville Island

Mark and I had a rare afternoon out by ourselves yesterday (probably the first in about 3 years...no kidding). We went to Granville Island, to the market and for a look around. We really enjoy Granville Island market. Lots of fresh food, amazing displays, knowledgeable people and interesting crafts. It was very busy. Mornings are definitely the best time to visit if you actually want to see or buy anything without getting bumped and stepped on. We actually bought various types of onions because Mark has promised to make "English Onion Soup" from the Jamie at Home cookbook I got him for Christmas. I can't wait. I'll let you know how it turns out. (Yeah, I know...not terribly exciting, but it's the best we can do right now).

Big thanks to my sister for looking after the kids for us. When we got home Bronwyn was very excited and bouncing off the walls like Tigger on orange squash (you know the type... the squash that had all those chemicals in it that made kids go hyper). Katrina looked tired and smiled weakly as she mumbled something about it being "fun" whilst beating a hasty retreat out the front door. Bronwyn bounced up and down on the couch, laughing hysterically.