Post date: Jan 02, 2014 5:29:21 AM
Today started slowly for both kids and parents. I think the long busy days are catching up with the kids and seeing in the New Year was an early morning for the adults. Maybe I should not say "long" days though. The sun rises about 8am in Canada at the moment and sets before 5pm, but the days are busy we are packing as much as we can into the daylight hours. It takes a lot of getting use to the early afternoon finishes. You have a late lunch and come out after 2pm and it looks like the sun is setting already.
Today was busy and we saw a few things. We spent most of our time at Stanley Park in Vancouver today. Busy little place at this time of year. Outside there are various bronze statues showing people laughing in different poses. Had the kids (both big and little) replicate some of the poses for the photos. Along the foreshore of the park is English Bay Beach. On New Years Day they have their Annual Polar Bear Swim. Today for the swim it was a balmy 6 degrees (outside the water). This is Vancouver's version of the Bondi Icebergs. They swim off the beach for a 100 yard swim around a set of buoys. Some interesting people go down for it. Some looked like they were using leftover New Years Eve courage to get them ready for the swim.
The park contains a number of historical attractions including native totem poles which each have a story to tell. The kids got a few things in today as well. The usual kids park play equipment and we stayed until the early evening so the kids could see the very large Christmas lights display set up by the fire departments within the park. There is a whole section of the park displaying small houses done up in lights and all the trees and even a little Santa's North Pole Workshop within a barn. One of the better displays was a set of angels, soldiers and bears all set out like a choir and orchestra that would light up and turn off in time with the music accompaniment.