2015 Camping Trip #1

We camped in Porteau Cove with our friends the Lindners and the Sidneys.  Highlights from the camping trip:
- Gabi and Sophia loving the walkie talkies
- The girls spending a lot of time "investigating" the beach
- Gabi taking a spill on the scooter (yikes)
- Adria not sleeping and letting everybody in the campground know about it
- Weather way too hot for early May (but we loved it)

It was a fantastic and fun trip. Looking forward to camping trip #2!

Field trip to VanDusen Botanical Garden

A few weeks ago, Sophia and her daycare mates went on a field trip to VanDusen Botanical Garden on a cold spring day.  I made sure to come along because this would be Sophia's last field trip with the daycare.  She'll be off to kindergarten in September and there are many "lasts" with the daycare over the next few months.

I really appreciate the work the teachers put into making sure events such as a field trip takes place.  There are a lot of things to organize and coordinate, plus minding the whole class during the trip itself.  The kids enjoyed their field trip and kudos to the teachers for making it happen.

Here are some photos from the field trip:

Going barefoot

I bought my last pair of running shoes in May 2009. And I still use them. Granted, I have not been running a lot in the last six years but it has been close to six years nonetheless. So, I recently decided it was time to buy a new pair.

In the CrossFit gym I go to, we work out with no shoes on. I just wear my socks doing the workout indoors. We slip on our running shoes when we have to go do some exercise outside. But for the most part, our workouts are indoors, wearing our socks. It felt funny at first but I have grown accustomed to it. We also sometimes run laps inside, with no shoes. Our CrossFit coach showed us how to run properly with no shoes. Basically, land on the balls or the middle part of our feet, not the heel. We should not over-extend our legs so that we can land properly. It’s a different way from how I’ve been running all these years when wearing running shoes that again, it felt funny at first but I started to feel more comfortable with it over time.

At the suggestion of my CrossFit coach and Ed, I looked into the minimalist running shoes. These have “zero drop” from the heel to the balls of the feet, unlike the mainstream running shoes which have 10mm to 12mm lift from the balls of the feel to the heel. With zero drop, it is basically like running barefoot and this promotes a more natural running gait.

I found a small store on Main St that focuses on natural running (http://www.distancerunwear.com) and they carry a good selection of minimalist shoes. I tried on three pairs (Vivobarefoot, Inov-8, and New Balance) and I ultimately decided to buy the one that feels the most like being barefoot - the Vivobarefoot Stealth. I have used it only twice for our warm-up run before the CrossFit work-out so the jury is still out on whether I made the right choice or not. We’ll see…

Alaskan king crab dinner

Ed organized a dinner with me and three other friends recently at a Chinese restaurant in Richmond.  No special occasion.  Just five people enjoying amazingly delicious food and feasting on an Alaskan king crab and a duck.  The crab yielded three different dishes - the legs steamed with garlic, the leg knuckles stir fried with spicy sauce, and the meat in the body mixed with noodles.  The duck yielded two dishes - Peking duck and duck lettuce wrap.  There was too much food for five and we just ate and ate and ate.  The food was very tasty!  We all had a great time stuffing ourselves.  We definitely could have had two or three more people join us and we would still have had enough food for everyone.

We all knew it was going to be an expensive dinner but I don’t think any of us expected it to be as expensive as it turned out to be.  We were all a little shocked when the bill came.  The crab cost $418.00!  I don’t think I have ever had one dinner item cost that much before.  

To splurge once in a while is fine and we definitely had a wonderful time enjoying that crab.  I better start saving for next year’s Alaskan king crab dinner!

Some photos... (Thanks to Tina and Sean for the photos.)

King crab!

Into Skating

We went ice skating on Family Day (Feb 9) because our friend, Yvette, rented the ice rink and shared it with family and friends.  We found out the day before that there would be no skate rentals available so like crazed parents, we went around the city looking for skates that fit Sophia’s slender feet.  We ended up finding a pair at Cyclone Taylor Sports.  It set us back $80, which I was pretty choked about, but we really wanted to go skating and it is hard to find footwear that fit Sophia’s feet.  So, fine, I said.  Let’s just buy the freakin’ skates.

Fast forward six weeks and I feel better about the skates.  Sophia has really taken to skating and we’ve been going to public skate once a week since that Family Day.  Her balance is pretty good and so is her coordination.  She’s going faster each week. She can even go backwards a little bit now (she wiggles her bum side to side).  She really enjoys her time on the ice and I love watching her motor around the rink.  It’s funny how thrilling it is to see your child improving at something they enjoy doing.  

Sophia’s motivation seems to be her desire to be in an ice show just like Minnie Mouse.  We went to see Disney on Ice before Christmas and it sparked her interest in ice skating.  She sometimes asks how good she has to be so she can be in an ice show.  Haha.  I tell her the only way to get better is to keep practicing.  And as long as she enjoys it, I’ll keep taking her to the rink.  Good thing thing I love to skate, too.

Showing off her new skates!

A friend from daycare was at the rink, too.

In skating lesson

On the big ice