Vancouver 2010

Vancouver 2010

Last weekend we were lucky enough to head out Vancouver to take in some Olympic hockey!

I have been lucky enough to have traveled many different places in the world. This travel has helped me realize that I am one of the luckiest people in the world to live in Canada, and that it is but for the grace of God that I have been born in Canada. My travels to China to see the family home helped me truly understand that so many of our families have made difficult sacrifices to allow the dream of future generations to be Canadian, to have this amazing life in such a wonderful country!

My pride in being a Canadian, has been something that I have always tried to instil in the kids. The opportunity to go to Vancouver and see so many other people who are so proud of being a Canadian was AWESOME. The kids had the chance to make memories that I hope will last them a lifetime. I hope that they will be able to carry some of this pride with them all of their lives!

After a quick flight to Vancouver we headed down to Canada Hockey Place to see team Canada’s women play Slovakia. The atmosphere was electric! The sea of Canadian jerseys, the pride in our team, the amazing skill of the players and the joy in being there made for one of the best hockey games of our lives. While the score of 18 – 0 is controversial and its impact of woman’s hockey around the world, I can honestly tell you from being there that it score was not run up with malice. The Canadian woman played well, they scored often and that is what we expect at the Olympics. No one expects any other Olympic athlete to let up when they are ahead of their competition. GO CANADA GO

Sunday was Chinese New Year’s! To celebrate our family heritage we headed to the Imperial for dim sum after visiting the Olympic flame! The flame is beautiful. We were able to get some nice pictures of the flame and did not think twice about the fences protecting it. Imagine our surprise later in the week when we heard so many complaints about the access! Then again, maybe we were just happy to get there and see the flame; it is an opportunity of a lifetime.

We really enjoyed the festivities in downtown Vancouver. Seeing the skating rink in Robson Square, was fantastic for the kids after seeing it on television so many times. There are so many interesting things to see from artwork to buskers, it is truly a 24hr party in the streets. All of the people we encountered were so happy, helpful, joyous and filled with pride in their countries.

Then we were off to UBC Thunderbird Arena to watch Russia play Finland. The Russian fans at the game were hilarious! As the next hosts of the winter Olympics they already have their mascot and a strong presence in Vancouver. They had their drummer at the game to keep the Russian fans cheering, in fact BabyJ got in on cheering, Russ-see-yah, Russ-see-yah, with the Russian children behind us. What an awesome experience for the kids to see such pride in another country, a closer hockey game and such strong and powerful female hockey players!

Finland and Russia

Our time in Vancouver was fantastic! The Olympics are being run very well, we found things to go very smoothly considering the massive numbers of people at each event and there seemed to be people willing to help at every turn. Go CANADA, great job VANOC, congratulations to every athlete who has made it to Vancouver and especially to all of the Canadian athletes!

Enjoying the interactive street art!

The Olympic Rings from our hotel at night!

Imagine our final surprise in seeing BabyJ on the CTV news last night as part of a clip From Steven Brunt about "What these Games mean to Canada" and then finding out she is the link picture on the CTV website to video clip! http://www.ctvolympics.ca/video/index.html?assetid=c77be4cf-cadc-4b7e-a095-b22d4b1ec96f  Our Canadian BabyJ shows her pride! GO CANADA GO!

BabyJ walking on Robson on Monday Morning!

Arriving in Grand Cayman and Christmas Eve Submarine Trip

As has become a family custom, we once again headed off to celebrate Christmas and BabyJ's birthday this year. In the past 8 years our Christmases have been spent in China (01), Home (02), Cayman (03), Home (04), Cayman (05 & 06), Cancun (07), and Home (08)! It is a wonderful chance to get away as a small family unit and truly spend the time together. As each year passes, we are able to try and see new things. While the adventures may get more exciting, the very best part is being with my family! Here is the lowdown on this year's Christmas Vacation:

December 22, 2009 we headed off for Grand Cayman via Toronto. Thankfully with all of the cold weather and associated flight delays we had an overnight in Toronto. After a slightly delayed arrival we were off to the Toronto Marriott and a festive dinner to celebrate the beginning of our vaction!

Arriving in Grand Cayman

In the morning we were up early and off to the airport for our flight to the island. From the moment we had Grand Cayman in our sights from the airplane windows, it felt like home, as though the time since we were last there was but a heartbeat! As soon as we got to the hotel we quickly headed out to the beach to make the most of the afternoon.

We played on the beach until the sun had set. Everyone had a great time getting our beach time rolling in the waves of fun! For dinner we hit our often dreamed about Chicken Chicken for roasted chicken and Caribbean cornbread.

Christmas Eve 2009 & Submarine Trip

Christmas Eve CubJ, BabyJ and I headed off for an Atlantis Submarine tour. While we were on our tour we enjoyed seeing the blue sights, several different types of coral, tropical fish, turtles, stingrays and a 2km drop off!

While riding the boat out to the sub we were able to watch DaddyJ turn green looking at us on the rocking boat, see some the the cruise ships and enjoy the coast line.

Normally this is an adventure that DaddyJ takes with the kids. This is the first year that I have been on the sub ride, and the first year both kids have gone together. It was a very interesting trip for me. I enjoyed how everything turned blue due to a lack of the waves of light being able to penetrate the water, how our red shirts looked gray, and of course the sushi menu, aka fish identification cards. It made me want to learn to scuba!

We wrapped up our interesting time in town with a fun lunch looking out over the harbour. Our server/bartender was from Vancouver and showed us a neat new trick for those drink umbrellas. At our restaurant they serve several different drinks relating to hurricanes, complete with representations of what an umbrella looks like after a hurricane. Needless to say we all had a good laugh and will never look at one the little drink umbrella's same way again!

After some fun on the beach we were off to one of our favourite restaurants, Cimboco. DaddyJ ate a full festive dinner of turkey, pork, stuffing, potatoes etc! The kids enjoyed their favourites, grilled cheese and pizza for CubJ and Mommy. Most of all, the kids enjoyed making pizza dough creations which were baked in the wood fired oven.

Christmas Day 2009 Grand Cayman Island

We woke up early on Christmas morning and started the day by opening presents! As always, Santa managed to find us all in Grand Cayman to fill our stockings. This year Cayman Santa even gave the kids some presents himself before our annual Christmas Day brunch.

After stuffing ourselves like the proverbial Christmas turkey, we headed off to the beach for a busy day of checking out the waves, the fish in the manmade coral reef off shore, and sand castle building.

All of that having fun had us ready for an early evening. In the hopes of keeping it simple we headed to the hotel lobby lounge for a light supper. Little did we know what a hit the tapas menu would be with BabyJ and CubJ. Our poor server nearly lost his hand as the kids dove into the calamari and shrimp before the plate was on the table! Thankfully, their ability to converse in French with our server seemed to redeem their barbaric caveman like ways.

BabyJ's 5th Birthday

BabyJ enjoyed a wonderful start to her day with CubJ presenting her with his self made birthday card, a beach Barbie and some additional clothes for beach Bab's. He was very proud of having managed to convince her that he was buying the gifts as a present for one of his classmates! Beach Barbie was a great hit and enjoyed playing at the beach with us. I am pleased to report that sand washes out of Barbie’s hair quite nicely, and she is a proficient snorkeler.

BabyJ enjoyed a special Birthday Girl button that DaddyJ had found for her. She wore it proudly all day, in fact she would have enjoyed wearing it all vacation if she could have! The first place that she proudly enjoyed displaying her button was at breakfast. After her breakfast of berries, rum cake, banana bread and pancakes (it’s only one day!) we headed off to the Turtle Farm http://www.boatswainsbeach.ky/conservation/history.cfm







The Cayman Island Turtle Farm is dedicated to raising turtles for the purposes of protecting existing turtle populations in wild. Many of the wild turtles are hunted for the flesh, which is commonly eaten in the Caribbean and Asia. Some of the farm turtles are raised for consumption; some are successfully released into the wild and the rest are used for educational purposes.




Despite at least one visit each trip, we continue to learn and enjoy our time there each year. If you ever get the chance, we highly recommend a visit to the Turtle Farm.



On our way back from visiting the turtles we made a stop in Hell, Cayman Islands! How many five year olds can say that they went to Hell and back on their 5th birthday? For a very religiously grounded island, it continues to amuse us that there is a place called Hell in one of the most heavenly places we have been.

"Hell, Grand Cayman is a group of short, black, limestone formations in the northwest Grand Cayman town of West Bay. It is roughly the size of half a soccer field. People are not allowed in amongst the limestone formations but two viewing platforms exist for tourists. There are numerous versions of how Hell received its name, but they are generally variations on "a local official exclaimed, 'This is what Hell must look like.'"


Upon our return to the hotel, BabyJ was greeted with a well organised (DaddyJ extraordinaire!) surprise of a birthday cake decorated with a Snowman (shocking!) and balloons!

After some birthday cake and opening the rest of her presents we headed to the beach! To cap off the day we headed out for her choice of a birthday dinner. That included a grilled cheese sandwich and ice cream, capping off her image of the prefect birthday in Grand Cayman.

Exploring the Island and Feeding the Stingrays

Jeep Day, seeing the rest of the island!

This year we were feeling brave about driving on the other side of the road after our trip to the Bahamas a few years back. So we were off to rent a car to tour the rest of the island. What fun it would turn out to be!

Over the years we have seen about half of the island by taking the local busses. This year we wanted to head all the way put to the other end and se Rum Point. Along the way we would be able to hug the coast, if only we could navigate the traffic circles going in the opposite direction we are used to.

Fantastically, we were able to rent a Jeep for our sightseeing. We all loved riding around with the top down taking in the salt sea air and basking in the warm Caribbean sunshine. Not to mention that BabyJ especially loved the one off opportunity to ride in a big girl seat sans booster! (Just this once little one!)



While heading to the far end of the island we stopped at CubJ’s favourite spot, the Pirate Caves. Now these caves complete with Bats are real caves that were used by the pirates. They have been commercialised for the most part to entertain the kids, however if you ignore the ‘decorations’ they due truly provide an eerie experience! The best part was trying not to scream and run away as I saw the first bat disturbed by my camera’s flash. The Pirate caves are now run by a man who looks and sounds remarkably like our paediatrician! Instead of focusing on children’s health this man rescues and rehabilitates animals. He has created a miniature zoo with animals ranging from Freshwater Stingrays to the local Blue Cayman Iguana. The kids enjoyed watching me become a parrot perch.





After the pirate caves we headed out to Rum Point to check out the beach. While there we tried out the shallow waters on the beach, sampled the usual fare of food for lunch and rated the rum punch with high marks. One of the best parts of getting out there was driving through the local communities. The houses were often painted in bright colours including pink, coral, blue and green. There were more churches of every denomination than you could count and fantastical views of the sea.


What a wonderful way to explore!


Stingray City

This year’s new adventure was taking the kids out to feed the stingrays and snorkelling at both a coral garden and reef. This is a half day adventure begins with a boat ride out to the sand bar where you hop off the boat (slink if you are fearful of stingrays as a result of your older sister telling you that you were going to get eaten by one on your 11th birthday in the Bahamas in a shrieking voice!) and plung into the 4ft deep water.

This allows you the opportunity to see the stingrays surreally swimming by and stare mouth agape as a member of the crew gently picks one up to give you a quick biology lesson. After that if you are brave enough you can touch, hold and kiss a stingray. Kissing a stingray is said to bring you 7 years of good luck! Now that I have concurred my morbid fear of these creatures I can see them for the majestic creatures that they are. They swim with a near movement less grace that all synchronised swimmers can only aspire to.

The kids were very excited at the thought of going out to feed the stingrays after seeing a video about it before we left home. They were very excited on the boat ride out to the sand bar. Once we go there, their enthusiasm was dampened by the sight of so many stingrays and their massive size. Impressively, both bravely jumped off the boat into the water (and our waiting arms) and overcame their apprehensions to touch, hold and BabyJ even kissed the Stingray! I was so proud of them both, as I know how terrifying I used to find the stingrays.





After Stingray city we were off to the Coral Gardens and Reef for some open sea snorkelling. Again I was shocked into awe by the braveness of both kids as they got off the boat and started snorkelling! It is a completely different thing to jump into water that is two to three times as deep as you are tall in the wide open sea without a shore line in sight! Neither of the kids has been (until this year) an overwhelming lover of the water, they enjoy pools with their ledges, the beach with it’s easy proximity to the shore and clear visual of the bottom. Needless to say while the coral garden is beautiful, it was the bravery of my kids that had me in awe. (Under water pictures) It really opens your eyes to possibilities that future vacations hold! With this adventure under their belts, who knows what they will be willing to try next time.....





To wrap up our trip we spent a lovely day and a half at the beach before heading to the airport for our return flights. For the most part our flights were uneventful despite the several layers of security being added at the airports, shocked American travelers trying to adapt to new carryon policies and an increase in police presence. Luckily for us, both children have spent their lives flying under the improved security policies. Ironically, they simply accept these changes without complaint, as they seem to understand that these changes are for everyone`s security and that flying is a privilege. I wish I could have said the same about a number of the adults... lol

All in all, this was most likely our best vacation in Grand Cayman to date. We left wanting to come back, remembering why this is one of our very favourite spots in the world and having shared new experiences with the kids. It is my hope that all of you have a place you love as much as we love Cayman!