Aurora Wells

Riding home from the airport last night, Aurora was bereft; G&G Nestor are gone, not to be seen again for another four months. I encouraged her to reminisce about the happy times, rather than dwell on the somewhat rushed final parting in the no-parking, unloading-only curb zone at the airport. Here are some of the highlights of the visit, or at least the ones I have pictures for:

Trip to the lovely Van Dusen Botanical Gardens. Grandpa loves the labels. Aurora loves the huge open car-free spaces to run. Daddy loves the vegetable garden, and we ALL loved the maze! We puttered around at various classes and things during the week, and then on Friday afternoon we took a trip on the ferry to the Sunshine Coast.

Aurora loved the ferry ride from Horseshoe Bay to Langdale. Even though the forecast called for rain all weekend, we had absolutely great weather the entire trip.

On Friday night we had a delicious dinner at the Sweet Water Bistro, on Gower Street in Gibsons. Thanks for the sterling recommendation, Gaylin!

The bustling metropolis of Gibsons at 8:30 on a Friday night. I could totally live here. That night we drove to Sechelt and stayed at the Driftwood Inn.

Saturday started with a seaside walk to breakfast at Wheatberries, followed by a visit to the Sechelt Farmers’ & Artisans’ Market.

Although Grandma opted out, Brian, Larry, Aurora and I had a fantastic time kayaking around Smuggler Cove that afternoon. We rented a kayak with a small seat in the centre hatch for Aurora. She didn’t seem to mind the lifejacket or sprayskirt at all, and spent two-and-a-half hours happily trailing her fingers in the salt water, pointing out boats to us, and enjoying the sunshine. Grandpa did marvelously for his first time out in a kayak, too.

Daddy paddled alongside us in a single, which turned out to be very useful, as he could manouver around to distribute snacks and find cool things for us to view in the water…

like jellyfish and starfish! We saw a few bald eagles up close, too, at the entrance to Smuggler Cove Provincial Park.

After kayaking, we took Aurora back to Cliff Gilker park for a go on the giant toddler swings again. Too much fun!

You can’t go this high on a regular toddler swing!

It was hard to leave, we were having so much fun, but there was a ferry to catch…

Unfortunately, Aurora and Daddy happened to be out on deck near the ferry’s horn when it sounded. So, for the past two days she’s been repeatedly reliving that awful moment when the boat made a noise so loud that it scared the bejeezus out of her. It’s pretty easy to sidetrack her when she gets into one of her mental grooves, though. You just mention these guys:

Cute as buttons and so much fun to play with. Thanks for the Duplo Toy Story guys, Grandma! They’re a HUGE hit!

Sometimes I feel like an anachronism in this day and age of working moms. Not to say that I don’t work full-time; a stay-at-home mom definitely works more than a 40-hour week. However with only one kid, and no others in the plans, I sometimes wonder if I’m, well, doing enough. I certainly don’t keep a clean house. My mother’s house was always well-dusted, vacuumed, and relatively clutter-free, excluding my pack rat dad’s domain. (And don’t get me started on how clean my Mother-in-Law keeps her house – it makes me feel like mine is a cardboard box on the Downtown Eastside.) I’m not the healthiest chef for my family, either, although I do try to limit take-out or eat-out dinners to once a week. So what can I do to make the most out of my chosen career? I need look no further than my mom to find my area of accomplishment: arts and culture guru.

My mother was extraordinary at finding fun and educational things for us to do outside of school time. To her, school is just the beginning; if you really want to learn about the world, you’ve gotta go out there and see some stuff. We were regulars at every museum in L.A. and San Diego. We kids got taken to the symphony, major musicals, and other live theatre across the Southland. No trip to visit relatives Back East was complete without taking in a Broadway show, too. We didn’t just go to the movies, we had a mom who took us to Spike and Mike’s first, second and third Festivals of Animation, across the street at the little CSULB drama theatre. Or (one of my favourite memories) an outdoor comedy short film festival on the Long Beach Art Gallery’s lawn.

And on the days when we weren’t out and about? We painted, we stamped, we made masks and puppets and books. She was game for any crazy craft project we wanted to explore (although firing clay was something I did in a rec center class). So we didn’t do many sports? That’s not for lack of trying on her part; she did enroll me in soccer and made me learn how to swim. I don’t think I would have had the nerve to volunteer to draw the sixth grade yearbook cover if she hadn’t made me feel like a competent artist at the age of eleven.

Most of all, my mom opened a window to all the wonders the world had to offer me. I loved science and math because I learned such cool things at the Museum of Natural History and in the Math for Smarty Pants book. She made sure that our family vacations, even the ones to Hawaii or Florida, gave us the opportunity to learn batik, snorkel with the fishes, or ride a bicycle down a volcano (Oahu/Maui); or at EPCOT Centre, dine on the floor in a Moroccan tea room, learn how oil comes from dinosaurs, or watch scuba divers feed sharks and manta rays. I became a geology nut at the Grand Canyon and fell in love with Northwest Coast Art, and my adopted home city, on a family trip to Vancouver.

So thanks, Mom. I am already looking forward to being in charge of the rest of Aurora’s education. Whenever I show her something new, like live theatre (A Year With Frog and Toad last weekend), or teach her a new skill (this week it’s putting 24-piece puzzles together), I know that I’m doing something extraordinary with my time, and that it’s time well spent.

Love,
Your Girl

1. When she’s willing to hug you, she grips her arms around you with all her might.

2. She gets excited reading house numbers.

3. She sleeps 11 hours straight at night, about 90% of the time.

4. She tells her stuffed animals stories during “Quiet Time”.

5. Those eyes – unbelievable.

6. Her laugh is even better.

7. She only wants to be the most exciting characters, but she always lets me be the princess.

8. When Daddy tells me I’ve made a mistake, she hugs me and tells me I did great.

9. We could both spend hours reading each day if other stuff didn’t get in the way.

10. She’s naturally cautious, but once she deems it’s okay, she jumps right in.

11. Life with her just keeps getting better and better and better.

Sorry, I just couldn’t help myself with the alliteration. We celebrated Easter two weeks late this year, so that we could do the egg hunt in Grandma Shaun and Grandpa Bill’s backyard again, with Uncle Jim and Aunt Lori visiting, too. The past several weeks have been really hectic at work for Daddy, with lots of overtime, so it was great to have him all to ourselves for four days in a row. The weather in Armstrong, I mean Spallumcheen, was absolutely perfect, with sunshine, just enough warmth to bare arms, and a beautiful blue sky that cries, “Come out and play!” Here are some photos from our (yes, very sorry) EGGSTRAVAGANZA!

Aurora is totally psyched for the “treasure hunt with no clues,” as she descends the porch stairs.

This basket’s getting heavy, Grandma!

Aurora finds egg number 11 at the far end of the back yard. Thanks again to Jenn Milley for the lovely “Aurora” jumper.

What a haul! Aurora shows off the goodies she can’t wait to consume.

Brawny Uncle Jim helps carry the load back to the house, with lovely wife Lori, too (and baby bump, too!).

Thanks again for letting us come to visit, Grandma and Grandpa. We had a wonderful time!

Aurora’s imagination is on rapid fire, and I sometimes get a little dizzy, switching from princess to princess. “Who is Mommy now? Belle, Ariel or Jasmine?” “You’re Mater, Mommy!” Here at the Castle/Radiator Springs, things have been pretty busy, but I have managed to take a few pictures of our activities.

Our little buddy Barrett loves waffles, so we had a waffle brunch for his 2nd birthday. They look like little grownups, happily munching on waffles at the kids’ table – with cutlery, no less!

My little creative genius working on the visual arts side of things. Nice Volcanos, kiddo.

Who needs a pesky older brother with the Beast/Max the Dog/Aladdin/Sheriff around?

Then last week Grandma Gail (Mrs. Potts/Sebastian the Crab/Nemo/Sally) came for a visit, so we did a few more fun things out of the house. First up, a Treasure Hunt. The hunt was Daddy’s idea, and he wrote the clues and did the setup. Mommy’s job was to make the prize: a board game called Pink Milk (based on Charlie & Lola).

Daddy set up clues for Aurora to find; inside her cardboard clubhouse, under the couch cushions, on a tree outside, and down the street at the big chessboard. She got so excited about finding each numbered clue, that I think she was disappointed to find an X rather than a #5 clue next to the apple tree in our backyard. She dug with her little shovel until she got bored, and then Daddy helped her unearth the buried treasure. Rolling the dice and moving the right way around the board is going to take some practice, but the four of us had a good time.

A few days later we took Grandma to Maplewood Farm. It’s been almost a year since we last went, and a much bolder Aurora was brave enough to actually feed the bunnies:

We went early enough in the morning that they were still a bit hungry, and were willing to take the carrots and celery they were offered.

The goats were still a bit intimidating, although I didn’t have to force Aurora to pat them this time. Mostly she wanted to climb the rocky goat hills.

Grandma’s favourite part was the Wood Duck sighting. They’re nowhere near as common as Mallards, and we saw three pair that day.

Then it started raining again, so we undertook an activity that should occupy us for many rainy days to come: making a doll house. A couple of large boxes, some glue, tape and a utility knife later, and we’ve got a four-room abode for a small family of happy mice (thanks, Grandma Gail!). Just like in real life, the attic is storage space for the “lumber” and supplies for making more furniture and renos. It just looks like cardboard now, but I’ve got plans, big plans. Stay tuned.

Grandma Gail and Grandpa Larry definitely chose the best possible week to visit Vancouver in the winter this year. They were here last week, when despite all predictions of constant rain, the sun managed to shine almost every day. Meanwhile, they worried that their house in Southern California might be floating away in the heavy rains that area endured for days on end.

We mostly stayed at home and ran a few errands, but on Friday we had a small adventure. The plan was to drive down to Point Roberts, the miniscule bit of U.S. territory just south of Tsawwassen, B.C., just to see it. Then we’d do a little bird-watching and visit a playground in Tsawwassen or Delta, and have a hearty lunch at The Boot & Sombrero, our favourite eatery in Ladner. All would have been easy-peasy, except that Grandma & Grandpa forgot to bring their passports, and instead of turning around and going back for them, I made the mistake of blundering ahead and trying to cross the border. By the way, the border crossing at Point Roberts is an honest-to-goodness, actual, bona fide checkpoint, with cameras, guards, guns and everything. We explained the ridiculousness of our purpose (”we just wanted to see it, ya know?”) and after five very tense (on my part) or very laughable (on Gail’s part) minutes of interrogation, the U.S. guard let us through. I spent the next half hour worrying about getting back through Canadian Customs on the other side.

As for the sights in Point Roberts, there is a huge marina, a pub or two, many real estate offices and nice homes, a few artists’ studios, and not much else. Almost everyone has an ocean view. We briefly visited Lighthouse(less) Park, but the chilly wind drove us quickly back into the car. There were a bunch of birds playing around in the wind and surf at the shore, some of which were seagulls, but others were (gasp!) Bald Eagles. When they flew past us, less than 20 feet away, we did a double-take, like, “Did I just see what I think I saw?” Yes, indeed, those black specks in the photo are bald eagles, but since I don’t have a telephoto lens, they look a lot farther away then they actually were in person!

The crossing back into Canada was much more low-key; I guess nobody in Canada expects a threat to national security to arrive in a Prius with a toddler, grandparents, and no baggage in the trunk.

The find of the day was Diefenbaker Park on 1st Avenue (as in, 1 block from the U.S.) which had two cool play structures, plus swings and a duck pond. Aurora was quite happy to play there all day, but we were a little cold and quite hungry, so we headed north to Ladner for lunch.

Lately Aurora’s been developing a “camera smile”. Could you squinch that face up any more?

It was a bit of a crazy day, and to top it all off, we went out and got Aurora a bike and helmet in the afternoon. Check out how cute this is:

The latest thing in kiddie bikes these days is pedal-less “balance bikes”. They’re intended to teach kids to balance and steer on a bike without having to bother with pedals; they just glide along if they’re going fast enough. I’ve seen enough 3- and 4-year-olds zipping through the neighbourhood to know that they really do work. I was one of those scaredy-cat kids who didn’t learn how to ride a real bike without training wheels until I was ten (10!) years old, so anything I can do to help my daughter out is a good thing, I believe. Thanks again to Grandma and Grandpa for the bike. It’s pretty awesome, and the fact that it closely resembles Lizzie’s magic pink bike in Sue Heap’s Fabulous Fairy Feast doesn’t hurt, either.