Cycling Stanley Park

The day before our cruise out of Vancouver we hired bikes and rode around Stanley Park and the waterfront area. Good thing Kien likes to ride, because it was actually quite a loop around, and we stopped at little bay areas and rested as required.





















Quite a fun way to spend a day (actually, just a few hours in reality) in a city that feels very similar to Auckland. We were still trying to adjust our body clocks, so one afternoon felt like an entire day.

Vancouver stop

We're here for 3 nights while we wait for our ship. We are staying in a giant corner suite at the Pinnacle Hotel. We have views of both the city and the water out the corner.





We went for a walk around the local area yesterday. The weather temperature is mild which is rather pleasant.















Gastown was busy. This old town was swimming with tourists in souvenir shops and pubs. We walked a short distance then decided to call it a night.

Flying in and out for Independence Day

Flew out on 4th July and arrived on Independence Day in LA. It's been a whirlwind, and the five hour difference in the northern hemisphere time zone sees us sleeping well after midnight and waking at noon.







Arrived in LA in the afternoon, and our friends had planned for us to watch the fireworks that night in South Pasadena.







Out the following day to Vancouver.

Kien's social calendar

When we were up north the other weekend Kien said that he liked being in Auckland more than Mangawhai. We asked him why that was so. He said it was because he wanted to see his friends. So I promised him we would have the following weekend at home so he (meaning me) could arrange playdates for him. Well, talk about a full social calendar for the weekend just gone. On Saturday he went over to one of his good friend's place early morning until early afternoon. Then I reciprocated with having Hemi at ours. They ended up spending a couple of hours in the pool, and it was dark by the time his mum came to pick him up, and even then the boys didn't want to get out.

On Sunday we had Naotaka, Philemon and Sonny over. Sonny is new to the group - well, new for them all to hang out together at school. Sonny and Kien were in the same team for cricket in their first year. I must admit, having the four boys together for a playdate is much easier than just three. When its three there's always one who is left out at one point or another.

I told Kien in the morning that he needed to come up with some activities they can do. I didn't want them to be playing minecraft all afternoon. So he came up with a schedule. Firstly, they were going to play minecraft for 30 minutes. Then they were going to the playground. Well, they did play minecraft while I went to the supermarket, and then when I got home I sent them out the back to play with nerf guns.

After an hour I feed the ravenous bunch, and then they ran around some more.

Such good fun. They are all plotting another playdate. Boy of boy, the kids' social calendars are busier than ours!

A couple of stories from Kien

Here are a couple of stories Kien has written over the last couple of weeks. I've not been concentrating on writing lately. We've been working on improving his keyboard skills as well as identifying and reading notes. I should really do a recording of him playing some pieces. He's coming along nicely with his music. I only have energy to work on one thing at a time, so it seems.

Timber!

The other weekend we were up at our property in Mangawhai doing general maintenance and hanging out enjoying a break from the rain. We collected pinecones, mowed some grass, and Kien chopped down some woody weeds. Here's a little video clip of him using his machete skills.

I went and sat on the corner of our property at the very top of the pine forest. The view is beautiful from up here, all the way out to the Hen and Chicken islands. This is where we want to build our dwelling, eventually.