MarshallAndFamily.com

The zoo had their annual Bunny Bounce egg hunt for kids this morning. As we were getting ready to head out the door I was prepping Marshall for our visit by telling him that we were going to the zoo to hunt for some eggs. By the time we were ready to leave the house he was yelling “DOO! DOO!”. Here are a few photos of him outside the house with his empty basket in hand.

The zoo was supposed to open at 9:30. Marshall and I arrived at 9:20 thinking we were early. NOT! There was already a ridiculous line of people waiting for the gates to open. You’d think they were giving stuff away for free by looking at the line of people comprised mainly of parents, strollers and kids. We joined the growing line, waited 15 minutes before we finally got in, and headed to the toddler egg hunt. They separated the egg hunts into age groups and we were partaking in the 3 and under group.

We got there with basket in hand and Marshall started picking up the colorful eggs immediately. As he was picking up eggs off the ground a little girl turned around and put a green egg in his basket. Cute! After a while his basket was near capacity so he started dropping eggs in other people’s baskets.

Our friend Dave took this photo of Marshall and me. We saw Dave, Amina, her mom, and Maria at the egg hunt. It was great seeing them again and Dave took some great photos of us (thanks Dave!).

Stroller parking. This was outside of the toddler egg hunt corral. Hi Dave! (in baseball cap).

Marshall and me outside of the merry go round.  He was too distracted with his granola bar to pay attention to the camera.

Me and Amina.

Marshall washing his eggs. We came home and the first thing I did was dump them into the sink with lots of soap. He loved playing with the water and it was a good opportunity for him to wash his hands too!

We drove up to Vancouver last weekend to spend Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday up north. Marc had a 2 day conference there so Marshall and I spent two days walking around parts of the city.

Sunday February 24th.  First item of business: Japadog.

We arrived at high noon on Sunday famished and tired. I had an airhead moment as I realized that our dim sum plans were not going to manifest since I forgot to make a reservation at least 2 days in advance.  Plan B was Japadog per Marc’s suggestion.  As we pulled across the Granville bridge and into downtown we perked up at the sight of the roadside hot dog stand.  This unique stand sells regular smokies and hot dogs but also has a Japanese style hot dog menu.  Marc saw it on Bordain’s show and decided that we must try it on our next visit.   Japadog is located on the corner of Smithe and Burrard for those who want to know.
Marshall kept taking big bites from the Terimayo. It was a beef hot dog with Teriaki sauce, sauteed onions, mayo, and toasted nori strips. I thought it was good but my favourite was the … Oroshi. It was a bratwurst on a bun with special soy sauce, Oroshi daikon radish (grated daikon that’s seasoned and cooked), and green onion. Brilliant! That was my favourite. There was one more on the menu but we were too full to try it. Besides we have to save something new to try on the next trip.

Second item of business on Sunday: Have dinner with Uncle Oliver and Auntie Florence.

We met for dinner that night at Fortune restaurant, a consistently good Chinese restaurant in Oakridge Mall. We had a luxurious feast including of shark’s fin soup, lots of good stir-fries, and a sweet bean soup dessert with black eyed peas.

 Marshall ate a lot of everything and we really enjoyed seeing Uncle O and Auntie Florence.

Note to Uncle Oliver: We are expecting you to visit sometime this year so don’t think I forgot!
 Monday morning: Kits Beach.

Marshall and I drove to Kitsilano Beach to walk around and enjoy the rare weather. The weather was spectacular on Sunday and all of Monday. Sunny and warm, it was a rare treat for Vancouver.  We parked around Pt. Grey and walked down to Kits Beach. There were plenty of shells, sand and sunshine.

Here are a few photos of Marshall hanging around the seawall and walking on the sand.

 Looking cool at Kits Beach.

    Picking up seaweed… “Ma – waas dat?”.

  My big boy with some empty clam shells.

Later we parked on W 4th and walked around the shops in Kitsilano.  We stopped at Lush and bought a bubble bath bomb, then went to Cobs bakery.  They had Hot Cross Buns in regular (fruit and raisins) and chocolate!  They didn’t have choco buns when I was growing up.  It is a rarity to see Hot Cross Buns in the U.S. since Easter is not a holiday that is officially recognized. 

 I bought six of each and before we even made it back to the hotel Marshall finished 1 and a half of the chocolate buns.  He had a chocolate mustache and was asking “Wipe crimmers peas”. 

That evening we went to the acclaimed Vij’s Indian restaurant for dinner.  It was great food but not the most kid-friendly.  Marshall loved the lamb lollipops – I’d never seen a kid eat rack of lamb so enthusiastically!

At the end of the day the bath bomb came in handy as he was pretty crusty with all of the chocolate bun residue from earlier in the day.

Tuesday Morning:  Walked 2 miles (~3k) around the West end, up to Robson, and back to the hotel.  It was a great morning for a walk around the western part of downtown.  As we walked due west on Davie toward the water, we headed back north to Robson and went back east toward the shopping district.  We stopped for lunch at a crepe place on Robson.  Pretty authentic with a genuine Breton at the till and organic buckwheat crepes and cidre.  C’etait fantastique!  We walked back to the hotel to check out, hence no nap today.  We drove back to the northeast end of Kitsilano beach to a playground.  Marshall had a blast climing up the slides and sliding back down.  Some photos of my little monkey:

We hopped back in the car and walked around Yaletown to wait for Marc to adjourn at 4:30 PM.  After eating an earlier dinner at Capers (soon to be Whole Foods) we picked Marc up at the Fairmont and left for home.  It was a great visit.