Forcing Your Child to Be Brave

We started with a short walk to Tim Horton's for donuts for breakfast.  (It seemed like a logical choice after dinner at McDonald's) and then walked into Gastown to pass some time before the 9:00 shuttle left.

The men at the Steamclock in Gastown

We weren't sure about the weather (and therefore the miniature railroad) so we opted to save our second trolley day and head on the free shuttle to the Capilano Suspension Bridge instead.  (FREE is a relative term....the bus will take you there with no problem, but you have to have a ticket from the bridge to get a ride back.  Sure, we'll take you there for free, but it's going to cost you to get back.)

We had prepurchased these tickets too, so we got to walk right past the line and get on the bridge before the masses.  (Great plan.....it is less wiggly with less people.)  We walked past some more totem poles (and the story of the Capilano Family and the bridge itself) on the way.

I convinced Jacob that the only way to get to the other side was to walk across the bridge (true statement) and that there was really cool stuff on the other side (also true statement), so he made the huge step to cross the bridge.  (Bribing him with the gift shop at the end helped with the bravery.....not too proud to admit it.)  We took it nice and slow....and held on for dear life.

Once we go across the river, the bravery continued as we took to the trees for a treetop adventure.  (The scavenger hunt reward at the end got my nervous one up into the trees.)  It was breathtaking up there.....absolutely beautiful.  Getting places early has its advantages.  We had the treetops mostly to ourselves.  As we were leaving, there were lines on every landing and across the smaller bridges.

The next phase of the scavenger hunt brought us to the ground for the nature walk and the birds of prey.

The final step to being a Rainforest Explorer was the Cliff Walk.  Luckily, we didn't know much about it, so nobody knew how skinny or high up or far out it was.  SO glad that we go to experience it as a family.

We are hanging off a cliff...seriously

See how skinny

My bravest child...there is only a grate under him

The effects of water on rock.  Jeffrey was more worried about where the water was coming from.

This is apparently a banana slug.  Mostly, it was just ugly and gross.

The last stop was the promised gift shop!  Everyone got something to remember the adventure by.  (Jacob refused to document the memory...he got a moose like Joshua.)

We got on the bus just as it was starting to rain.  The rain let up as we got further down the mountain.  We even needed sunglasses for lunch at the Cactus Club Cafe and some more walking around.

Olympic Torch - Vancouver 2010

Grouse Mountain, which we could NOT see the day before

You can get this relit for the low price of $15,000 

Digital orca...another piece of art

We wandered back down to Gastown for dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory.  (We also did some souvenir shopping.....Canadian Mounted Police bobblehead anyone??).  Dinner was really good.  It's just like the old Spaghetti Warehouse that used to be in Norfolk.  Salad and ice cream was included in the meal and you can't really go wrong with that.  I had a redo on meat lasagna and it was much more what I was looking for!  The bread was warm and soft and plentiful!  My only big complaint with Canadian dining (besides the price) is the lack of ice in the drinks.  You are a stone's throw from the Arctic.  Chop some ice off a glacier and put it in my water, please!

We stopped by a wine shop for some Canadian wine to take on the ship, and went back to the hotel for an early night.  All of the boys snuggled in to watch the Smurfs before bed, but fell asleep rather quickly.

Liquid Sunshine

Vancouver, British Columbia

On our first full day in Vancouver, the boys got up at 4.  It was BRUTAL!  But, we were expecting it, and that is why we went out a few days early.  We kept them quiet in the hotel for a couple of hours and then went in search of some breakfast.  We wound up at the hotel restaurant and then set out on our day.  We decided to head to Grouse Mountain for the morning.  The bus left at 9am from Canada Place, we walked around the piers to see the cruise ships getting ready to leave again.

The pier looked like this EVERY.SINGLE.MORNING.  It was amazing!

We had purchased an Alpine Family pass before we left home, so we hopped on the first shuttle to the Mountain.  It was a dark, gray morning and got darker and grayer as we got higher.  At the tram station, it was misty and did not get any better throughout the day.  Our bus driver kept talking about the people who were going to the mountain for the run and reminded the rest of us that it might be a little crowded up there.

(Aside - Apparently there was a charity run that morning called the Grouse Grind.  People ran up over 2500 steps to the top of the mountain.  Once you started, you had to keep going....there were too many people to turn around.  Course record is about 29 minutes, but most people take an hour and a half.)

We were ahead of the runners, so we took the tram up and started checking things out.

As good tourists, we started with the movie in the Visitor's Center.  It was about the two grizzly bears that live on the mountain.  After the movie, we decided to go try and find them.  We got to their habitat and couldn't see ANYTHING.  We found some people pointing and wandered over to check it out.

No, the lens doesn't need cleaned....that's what it looked like out there.  And, yes, that is snow.

The bear got up and started walking around, so we walked in the direction he was going.  He found his friend and they started to put on a show for everyone.  They were like puppies doing tricks for food.  They came to the fence, sat, and looked at the people.   (Maybe they thought WE were a mid morning snack!)

Doesn't it look like he is licking Jeffrey's ear??

Thankfully, my husband did not document the next moment, when the bear made a weird bear sound and I jumped and ran moved a little further from the fence.

We found a money pit restaurant for lunch and then went back out into the liquid sunshine for the Grouse Mountain Lumberjack Show.  It was cold and wet and everyone had to stand because the bleachers were wet.  It was totally worth it.  The show was super cute....and so were the lumberjacks.   :)  At one point, they looked for the youngest person in the audience.  It was Joshua.  We won a "hare chair."   (Jeffrey carried that chair around for the rest of the day....like a badge of honor.)

Cute show....cute lumberjack..... 

The hare chair

By then, everyone was cold and wet, so we took the tram back down the mountain (full of runners who had made it up the mountain) and headed back into town for the Vancouver Trolley Tour.  

We had planned to use the first day on the trolley (we bought 2 days) to get on and off to check things out.  There is a miniature railroad in Stanley Park, so we decided to make that the first stop.  The trolley driver dropped us off right in the parking lot, with directions to the closest trolley stop for afterward.  We got to the gate only to find out that it was closed.  (Insert whining and sad faces here....from Russ....the kids were bummed too.)  Someone else (with a local cell phone) called the information number and it was closed because of the rainy weather.  We walked back to the rose garden to catch the trolley.

The next place of interest was the totem poles in Stanley Park.  We got back off the trolley to see them.

We had some time to kill, so we walked down to the seawall, where Joshua saw a lighthouse.  We took a leisurely stroll to check it out.

The leisurely stroll made us miss the trolley, so we got to hang out with a bunch of kids on their Grad Night.  (It's a lot like our Prom...they were all dressed up, taking pictures, drinking from flasks, and smoking cigars....wholesome teenager fun.)

(Editor's note.....the seawall in Vancouver is AMAZING!  Every time I looked at it, my legs just itched to run.  It was flat, paved goodness that wound around Vancouver for about 20 miles.  It had beautiful views that could never get old!)

When the trolley finally came, we finished the last 80 minutes of the 90 minute tour.  We saw some neat art...which is all over Vancouver.  

The Laughing Men....getting any closer might have weirded me out.

A crab....keeper of the harbor.

The Lion's Gate Bridge.  We will go UNDER this on the ship

By the time we go back to Canada Place, it was dinner time.  Everyone (and I mean EVERYONE) was tired and hungry, and cranky.  We found a food court on the way back to the hotel and ate dinner at McDonald's.  It wasn't any better in Canada.

Alaska or Bust!

After months of planning, weeks of excitement, and days of packing, it was time to set off on our amazing Alaskan adventure.  Russ and I were set to celebrate our 10th Wedding Anniversary and there was no better place than a cruise to Alaska with our babies.  We had talked about it for years, and it was finally here!

We woke the boys up at 4:30...am....in the morning...to get to the airport for a 6:00am flight to Vancouver, British Columbia, via Chicago-O'Hare.  Both flights were uneventful and we landed in Vancouver and made it to the Days Inn Downtown by noon.  We checked in, but the room wasn't ready, so the hotel held our suitcases while we went to get some lunch and explore.  Because it was so late in the day, we stuck close to Canada Place and did some walking on the famous sea wall.  We watched seaplanes land and take off and rode the Fly Over Canada ride.  (It's exactly like Soarin' at Disney World.)

  After we explored a little bit, we had dinner at the Bellaggio Cafe right at Canada Place.  We ate outside (under the heated umbrella because it is NOT so warm-ish in Vancouver) and watched a ship leave for its Alaskan vacation.  The bread was fantastic at the restaurant and the red sauce on Jacob's pasta was AMAZING!  (It tasted just like Pasta e fagioli soup!)  Russ had a seafood pasta, which he liked.  I ordered meat lasagna, which had no trace of meat, a whole bunch of mushrooms, and a different sauce that I just did not like.  The noodles were homemade and the kids got ice cream as part of their meal for dessert.  

   It was time for bed after dinner.  It had been a long day.  We walked a few blocks back to the hotel and settled in for the night.  The hotel, while small and rather old, was cute and very, very accommodating.  They moved us into a larger room, which was really two rooms with an open door between them (not two locked doors...the connection was inside and it counted as one room) to "give us a little more room."  Everyone fell asleep quickly.

It's not always about you

Today I finished the Run for the Dream in Williamsburg for the second year in a row.  Last year it was HOT and hilly and pretty miserable, but I posted a decent time (for me.)  I ran by myself and focused on MY race and finishing with MY goals.  This time, it wasn't about me.  Today, I had the honor and privilege of running with people who were finishing their very first half marathon.  It's humbling to be able to go back to that point - waking up for your first half.....getting the starting line for the first time....corralling up...and waiting....and then hearing the gun and starting to run. 

Photo credit to Joel Gorny

Today was different.  It was cool at the start, and wasn't supposed to get too much warmer.  It was still hilly, but they were different hills.  We stayed at the same hotel, but the starting line was right at the hotel instead of a bus ride away.  My knee was killing me from the beginning and I really had no idea what I had in the tank when I started this race.  Another major difference was that I was running with someone and it was her day!

A blast from my past and I reconnected through an amazing support group called the Running Turtles.  Peggy was running her first half and was a little nervous.  We line up, the gun went off and so did we.

The first mile was pretty crowded.  There wasn't much room to move.  We ran the  entire first mile out of courtesy and necessity.  It was hard to get to the side to start walking.  Peggy wanted a 12 minute mile and we got that for the first mile!  (That would be the last 12 minute mile, but at least we got one!)  After the first mile we left the back road of Colonial Williamsburg and started into my happy place.  We ran towards the Governor's Palace on one of the side roads of the Revolutionary City and turned right toward the Palace at the Palace Green.  While I was chatting more than running hard, I still got a little tingly feeling when I saw the Palace and the Green because of all of the memories came rushing back.....first night of college, years of Grand Illuminations, jumping the wall and running the maze...memories!  We then turned left onto Duke of Gloucester Street and past the Capitol.  The miles were flying by due to great company and feeling pretty good!

After we ran out of CW, the road to nowhere started.  We ran up Route 60 FOREVER.  We made a new friend along this stretch who was also running her first half.  We trudged along...still making pretty decent time.  When the stretch on 60 ended, we turned into a commercial park and weaved around until we came to a super secret trail that was opened especially for us in the gated Kingsmill community.  The trail was shaded, which was nice, but had rolling hills, which was not so nice.  We kept running and walking and chatting and enjoying the course and the view!

I don't remember much about miles 6-11 or so.  I do know that we picked up some new friends...one was another first time half marathoner...and rand past a golf course, which reminded me a lot of the Disney Princess Half Marathon course when you come out of the Magic Kingdom.  Seeing the Mickey golf cart would have been really nice during that section!  I do know that I tried really hard to be in tune with what the girls around me needed.  In my experience, people aren't going to tell you when they need to walk more or slow down or sit on the curb and cry for a minute.  I tried really hard to watch them and listen to them and suggest an extra walk if someone needed it.  Most of the time...it was me who needed it.   They indulged me as much as I indulged them.

From there we weaved ourselves back through residential streets on the way back to the College of William and Mary!  This was the part I had been waiting for...I was going home to William and Mary! We saw a familiar face when we got back to Williamsburg.  Peggy's BRF and fellow Running Turtle, Amanda, had driven to Williamsburg to surprise her!  We passed some wonderful Williamsburg residents (one of whom had already finished the race and was sporting her medal....yep, I stopped to take a peek!) who were spraying us with water.  We came up by the Campus Center, ran through the parking lot (new addition this year...totally unnecessary...who wants to run through a parking lot at mile 11.5??) and started up Jamestown Road.  We ran past my college dorm rooms and turned up Landrum Road between Old Campus and New Campus.  (I still didn't like this.  The College of William and Mary is one of the THE most beautiful college campuses in the country.....take away the parking lot loop and let us run around the Sunken Gardens.)  We passed the new library and the Crim Dell and turned toward William and Mary Hall, dreaded hill by the Lodges and the finish!!  We were hot (the chill of the morning had worn off when we lost the shade) and tired and slowing down a lot!  We passed the language houses, Freshman land, the BEAUTIFUL new frat houses and could see the turn to head to the finish line.   SURPRISE!!  Another change from last year....this time we had to run around William and Mary Hall and the parking lot before we could go toward the finish.   I didn't like that very much.  I still felt pretty decent, but I was ready to be done and take my family to Busch Gardens.  Somehow I ignored the course change on the map, so I wasn't ready for it.

We finally made it around the parking lot (what was with the parking lots???) and got up the hill by the lodges.  It didn't seem as steep this year.  In fact, Peggy asked if that was it.  We walked up it, but it wasn't as much work as last year.  We saw my friend Meghan who waited for us at the finish, smiled for a picture, and went into Zable Stadium for our victory lap!  We lost the rest of our new group of friends when we got into the stadium.

Photo Credit to Meghan Gorny

It was nice to make our friends along the way, but Peggy was ready to finish and I was determined to finish what we started together.  We ran past our families and crossed the finish line of her first half marathon!

I don't know what would have happened if I had run my own race.  I might have been faster.  I might have convinced myself that my knee hurt and I was done at mile 2.  I don't know.  But, sometimes it's not about me.

Photo Credit to Joel Gorny