More Olympic Fun

We took the kids downtown on Friday along with thousands of other people!

We parked at a skytrain station and took the skytrain in, which was exciting in itself for the kids.

Here is the flame before they put the Plexiglas up but after they had moved the fence forward and opened it up a bit so you could put your camera through.

As you can see it was a gorgeous day. Sunny and warm and very fun. The crowds were huge but so friendly and kind. No one cared if you jostled them or if they had to wait in line.



















The flame was really huge and gorgeous but it sure smelled like gas!































































This is by the art gallery on the other side of it is Robson square where you can skate and do the zip line. We didn't skate or do anything that would have caused us to wait in line for 4 hours.









































Please note the flowering cherries in the background. Yes they are real. Many of the flowers in the flower boxes were planted for this event but those trees think its spring already!

The clock in the background is counting down to the Par-Olympics.










We also went across the bay on the sea bus to Lonsdale Quay for lunch - yummy. While we were there we saw this big ship in the distance so we went to check it out. It was a Russian ship, fully functional and manned with real sailors. It was a blast. I think a highlight for the kids and for Sam!










Here Sam wanted in on the smoke huddle.
































There were a ton of people on here just walking around. The best part of it was it was free! Sam even walked into their laundry room by accident and all the sailors were ironing their clothes and stuff.

It was so fun to be downtown for this once in a lifetime event.

I've been watching everything I can of the Olympics. There's something fun about watching everything live in our own time zone. But I have to say I'll be glad when it's over so we can eat supper again around the dining room table instead of in front of the tv. Looks like tonight is another tv night as Canada takes on Russia at 4:30 our time!

In the next few days I'll post some pics of Ana's first piano recital (and video). She did amazing.

Olympic Fun

The kids school celebrated the opening of the Olympics but having a torch run. Each class chose one child to run with the torch before they "lit" the flame. Ana got to run for her class so I went to the assembly to watch her run with the torch. It was really fun. Here are a few pics of Ana running with her torch.

Looking at these pictures and those from Zach's birthday - I realize I take terrible pictures. They look washed out, grainy and boring. I need to work on that!!

Birthday Time

It was Zachary's 6th birthday this January. They're a bit late but here are a few pics from the party. I didn't show the other kids - some parents don't want their kids faces splashed all over the internet!


Early morning present time!


He had a small party with a few friends from school. They played soccer outside with Sam and then came in for some snacks and cupcakes - all in all pretty low key.

It's hard to believe that Zach is 6 already. He's growing like crazy and often has very great, intelligent things to say. He's always asking questions about how things work and gets frustrated with me if I don't know. Often I'll tell him to just wait for Dad and ask him when he gets home!!