Stanley Park

We had amazing weather on Sunday (no rain & temps in the mid 50's - woohoo!!!). So after we got back from church and ate lunch, we decided to head to Stanley Park.

What a great place to visit on a beautiful fall day! The colors were so vivid, the leaves were falling everywhere, and the views were incredible.

Here are a few fun pictures from our visit.

One week down...

We are starting to get settled into our new routine, new surroundings, and new normal.

This past weekend we had some time to get out and get to know Vancouver a little better. Our apartment is in a suburb just east of the city. So there is much in the city that we haven't seen yet. We had fun checking out a little of it on Saturday.

Sunday we attended a Danish Church not too far from home. They alternate weeks of having services in English or Danish - we happened to land on a Danish service! Even though Danish and Norwegian are similar, we still didn't understand much. I did recognize when they talked about God, Jesus, or the days of the week, but that's about it! The people were very friendly and interested in knowing more about us. The funniest moment of the day was when the children's teacher came and introduced herself to us after church. She said "I could tell you were from the south by your boys' Southern accents!" Too funny - our little Ukrainian-Americans and their apparent Southern drawl!

Here are some various pictures from the past week...

World's Tallest Toy Soldier
New Westminster, BC

Some signs are just too fun to pass up without a pic...

Riding the Sea Bus

Exploring Downtown Vancouver

The view from our apartment

Fall is definitely here (okay, actually, it feels more akin
to winter in Georgia!)

Ukrainian Church
Surrey, BC

Lonsdale Quay

North Vancouver, looking back to Downtown Vancouver

Two Handsome Boys

Waterfront Park in North Vancouver

Enjoying a day of exploration

A big uphill road in North Vancouver

Home of the Canucks (would love to see a game if
they NHL would get their act together!)

Chinatown - had a great lunch here on Saturday!

Snow began falling on the mountains over this
past weekend - so pretty!

Cool Lego Jack-o-Lantern at the mall near our apartment

Baked some yummy cookies, thanks to
a Pinterest recipe & the discovery of the ingredients at
a nearby discount store!

Canucks

We made it to Vancouver! We are settling in and getting adjusted to big city life. We are still struggling with the time difference so everyone is tired, but we are slowly getting adjusted.

Here are some pictures in and around our apartment.

Just outside our building

The view from one of our bedrooms

Kitchen

Living Area

Boys' bedroom

Zack & Jenn's room

Black Bear Scare

We went on our first official family of four camping trip. We told the boys we were going on an adventure, and that is exactly what we got!

We got settled at our campsite. We were the only ones there and the weather was nice: just a bit of sun and around 60 F.

We went for a 5 mile hike at Raven Cliffs. It was a nice walk and the leaves were just beginning to turn.

We got back to camp and had dinner. Then the boys were playing. After a few minutes, William calmly came up to me and said "Mommy, there's a bear over there." I laughed, until I followed his gaze. There at the next campsite, about 60 yards away, was a big black bear (probably 300-400 pounds).

I tried to stay calm. Zack told us to head for the car. I took both boys by the hand and we began walking to the car. We waited for Zack. It seemed like forever, but probably about 3 or 4 minutes later he emerged from the woods. The bear had been very uninterested in us, and after Zack threw a couple of things and made a little noise, he retreated across the river.

We debated on leaving, but decided to stay. While my vivid imagination tried to tell me otherwise, we saw nothing further of our large neighbor that night or the next morning.

We had a fun time, and it is definitely a trip we will not soon forget!

Saying Good-bye

Many songs have been written about it.

• Taylor Dayne said it's never an easy thing. (Love Will Lead You Back)
• Boyz II Men told us it's hard to say goodbye to yesterday.
• The Beatles tell us that when you say goodbye, I say hello - actually a good reminder that with so many goodbyes, there will also come many new hellos.
• And the Sound of Music reminds us that there are many ways to say it. (So Long, Farewell)

We are in the heart of a season of goodbyes. The songs are right. It's not easy. In some most cases, it's just plain hard. There have been tears already. And with just two weeks until we leave the states, there will surely be more.

It has been interesting to see how each of us handles the sadness of goodbyes. It has been a good lesson in facing and dealing honestly with our emotions. It has been an important lesson in leaving well.

But as we get towards the end of of our goodbyes, we remember that it's not really goodbye, it's only see you later... and until we meet again!    Happy Trails to You