Vancouver, B.C.

We blew our big vacation on Japan in February, but I still wanted some kind of a getaway for spring break, so we decided on nearby Vancouver, B.C. Vincenzo forgot to ask for the time off of work so he had to stay back. We couldn’t find another Vincenzo to take his place so we settled on an extra Leo instead.

Vancouver’s forecast was grim but it didn’t matter; all I really wanted was a train trip, and a pool; the rest was gravy.

The rain trip:

The pool:

Actually, I didn’t really care about the pool; all I wanted was to sit in the hot tub and look at the rain pelting the windows outside. Rocco and Double Leo provided entertainment and Vancouver was generous with the rain. Kevin and I watched the boys from the tub, rejoicing over the fact that we don’t have to get in the pool and play with the children anymore.

On our first full day in Vancouver, we visited the aquarium. Other Leo really got into it!

Sometime on day one, the boys started speaking in Waffle, which is where you take all the words in the English language and change them to the word “waffle.” So I could say, “Waffle waffle waffle waffle waffle?” and you’d say, “Waffle waffle waffle waffle waffle!” I’d nod in agreement, then maybe ask a follow-up waffle. The fun thing about this language is it never gets old listening to it, no matter how many thousands of times you hear the word “waffle” in a single day.

The next day the skies cleared and we went to the science museum. Isn’t it cool looking?

The silver globe thing is from Expo ‘86, which 10-year-old Me actually went to! This Me:

Just about everything at the museum was interactive.

There was a thermal energy screen that shows how warm you are, with white being the hottest and blue being the coldest. My hands are the blue ones.

I stood there for a long time waiting to see if there was another blue-handed person in the museum, but it seems I am the only one of my kind. The good news is if I ever run into a snake, all I have to do is hide behind my hands and poof, I’ll be invisible!

We spent a lot of time at the optical illusion area.

(The optical illusion is the spinny thing on the wall, not the look of childlike wonder on the teenager’s face.)

I learned how to spin a plate on a stick! Here I am getting a little show-offy.

Fun fact about Pepto Bismol: it’s derived from the bismuth crystal. We can finally stop wondering where the word “bismol” came from. The chalky pink color remains a mystery.

That afternoon we popped over to Granville Island, which had about 1,000 photo ops but my phone had run out of battery and it wasn’t until we were leaving that I remembered Kevin also has a phone.

On our final day, Rocco, Other Leo, and I biked around Stanley Park, which was the highlight of the trip for the three of us.

Regular Leo didn’t want to bike, so Kevin promised they’d walk through Stanley Park instead. They ventured far enough in to take a picture near a duck for proof, then they went for Slurpees. It was the highlight of the trip for them.

Overall, it was a fun-filled few days that felt like a “real” vacation and not just a token one. Waffle waffle waffle waffle waffle. Waffle waffle?

(Translation: That’s some pretty good gravy. Isn’t it?)