Summer's Over but not the Sunshine

The summer holidays are over but the sun is still shining. We had a lovely month with Anne who is now back in England. I think our best memories were of Seattle, Banff and a wonderful day whale watching from Steveston. Greg went back to college this week and is enjoying his new classes. He did incredibly well in his intensive Greek course over the summer and is now taking the intermediate Greek along with beginners Hebrew, amongst other things. I have started fulltime, (instead of three days a week), at West Coast Christian School supporting a delightful teenager with special needs. Although it involves a 40 minute bus journey it is a lovely place to work and the bus journey has views of the North Shore mountains and glimpses of the sea most of the way, so I am not too hard done by! I often see racoons when I wait for the bus next to our apartment in the morning; being a Brit, I still find this exciting and the girl I work with was most shocked to discover that we didn't have raccoons, bears, skunks, cougars or elks in England.

If you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing for six months.
I could deal with that.
Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid.
I could deal with that too.
If you are a bear, you birth your children, (who are the size of walnuts), while you're sleeping and wake to partially grown, but cuddly cubs,
I could definitely deal with that.
If you are a mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too.
I could deal with that.
If you are a bear, your mate expects that you will wake up growling. He expects that you will have hairy legs and excess body fat.
Yup , I want to be a bear.
- Author unknown

Beaches and Mountains

On Tuesday Anne and I headed down to the beach complete with books, mats, lunch and a beach parasol. The tide was low so Anne just walked out and paddled rather than having a swim. I expect that we will go back at high tide for a swim sometime. Yesterday it was a bit overcast so we decided to have a day on Grouse mountain. We got a bit caught out because as we went up the side of the mountain we found that we went above the clouds and got just a little bit pink due to not having applied sunscreen. It was a good day and interesting in the morning not to look out over a view of Vancouver but over a sea of cloud looking remarkably like a coating of marshmallow. Later in the day the cloud turned to haze and Anne was able to look out over the peninsular where we live. We enjoyed the "Lumberjack", and the "Bird of Prey" shows and looking at the two Grizzly bears who live in a refuge up there. Both Anne and I liked the chair lift to the peak so we did it twice. We also found that we were up there with a huge number of police and firemen from around the world as it is the "Police and Fireman World Games"in Vancouver at the moment and we had inadvertantly picked the day when they were racing up the "Grouse Grind" which is a very steep track up the side of the mountain.
Today we are keeping out of any sun, doing laundry and getting ready to go to visit Mark and Claire in Seattle for the weekend. We are starting our visit by watching the Seattle Mariners play baseball which we are looking forward to, but we are also looking forward to watching Mark and Claire who we have been told get very enthusiastic whilst watching. It is hard for Greg and I to imagine Seattle without snow as Greg and I had to dig the car out of snow the last time we visited.

Anne Has Arrived in Canada

We were very excited collecting Anne from the airport last Wednesday evening. We were also pleased to be sitting in the air conditioned waiting area as the temperature has been up to the mid thirties this week. We all went to the beach in the evening and watched the "British" team compete in the firework display over English Bay, at one stage to the tune of "Land of Hope and Glory." On Thursday we took Anne to see around Regent College and attended a Chapel Service. We were very grateful for the air conditioning there too. Friday we took a trip to Deep Cove and had lunch, heading for the shade at every opportunity. We decided that there should be some shade at Lynn Valley so went over the suspension bridge and looked over the side to the drop below. While we were there someone had to carry their dog across as he was lying on his tummy in the middle refusing to move either way. The bridge does wobble rather significantly so I couldn't blame him. We still found time when we got home fo Anne to take a trip along our road to our local wool and quilting shop. The colours in them really are a feast for the eyes and Anne bought some wool to make a present for a friend while she is here. On Saturday we went for a very "naughty" pancake breakfast at, "Denny's". Greg needed to do some Greek homework so Anne and I got the bus out to Granville Island and enjoyed looking at the shops and market. We sat and watched one of the street entertainers perform. He played a Ukelele and hopefully Anne picked up a few tips for playing her pink one she was given as one of her parting gifts from school. We hopped on a bus and went to Gas Town to see the steam clock and also walked along the waterfront watching the seaplanes take off and land. I was exhausted by the evening as the temperature was still high so Greg an Anne went down to the beach to watch the Chineese compete in the firework competition. Yesterday, we went to church at Langley and then went out to lunch with some friends from there. Today is a Bank Holiday here so we will have a trip out, although it is still sunny we seem to have lost the severe heat from last week for which we are very grateful.