Lonsdale Quay Dusk

lonsdale quay dusk
Click on image for larger view.

Today is the first day of Daddy's mandatory holidays. We went down Lonsdale and Dielle slept in the car while I walked through some art shops. Then we all went to Lonsdale Quay to have Beavertails. We had two: Garlic butter and cheese - the "healthy" one - and Maple Leaf - the "dessert," maple and chocolate and other bad goodies. There's a cool glass gallery whcih we looked at and then took a stroll on the plaza.

It really doesn't feel like Christmas is just a few days away: it's very mild and dry. It's probably not going to be a white Christmas.

18-month-old hacker

18-month-old hacker
Originally uploaded by cowbell.

Dielle likes the sound of hitting the keyboard. Sometimes she even looks up to see what she has typed.

There's the pre-Christmas routine: Hallowe'en, Remembrance Day and US Thanksgiving. Then the real start to the Christmas season: Auntie Bev and Uncle Dave's party in Chilliwack. It was lots of fun and Dielle was the hit of the party. She was kissing everyone, smiling and laughing at her own jokes. Special thanks to our guest photographer, Auntie Jennifer. 

Dielle was wearing a lovely dress today, very proper schoolgirl-ish. However, when we tried to get a picture of her in it, she preferred to be behind the camera. She giggled as she looked through the viewfinder, and this is her very first attempt at photographing someone else. 

After church, we decided to go up Mt. Seymour. Dielle was too young to remember her "first snow" last winter, so we thought it would be a good opportunity to give her a real experience of the white stuff. There wasn't a lot, just a couple inches, but the most important thing was that she slept through the whole thing. Oh well, maybe next time. 

Auntie Heather had some changes made in her apartment, so we all went to see it and enjoy some tea. The place looks very nice with hardwood floors, new tiles in the kitchen and bathroom and new fixtures. We had tea, nuts, chocolate and Twizzlers.

Mommy put Dielle's hair in a "ponytail" for the first time. You can really see - especially in the middle picture - how much of a little girl she's becoming. Daddy and Dielle went to Safeway tonight and the clerks as usual were falling over themselves ooh-ing and aah-ing. Mommy accused Daddy of taking her to the store just to show her off - and Daddy didn't deny it. 

Today was the first Santa Claus parade in Vancouver's history. Like many fans of Christmas, we hoofed it downtown to watch the parade, which poorly designed to run only five blocks long. There was a huuuuuge crowd, people standing twenty deep, so we spotted only the tops of VPD horses before giving up and taking the Seabus home. It was a nice November day, a little chilly but dry. I'm sure they'll make the parade route longer next year, and we'll be there, dressed up warm and dry. 

Tonight we all went to the Boardman's for pie. No fancy dinner, no dress-up, just two families with kids letting the children be noisy together, while the parents look on, exhausted. When we first got there, the new, more grown-up Dielle just stood there. For five minutes - really! - she looked in from the edge of the room, taking it all in, figuring how she was going to fit in there. Of course, she quickly warmed up and asked Uncle Paul and Auntie Donna to take turns holding her. To make them feel good, I told them it was the very first time she had ever done that. "She must think you're really nice," I commented. ~ I call the second picture, "Alone at the Dance." 

Today, we all went to visit Brandon and his parents, Ivan and Mina. It was the first time for us all to see him. He is 2 months old and is already a big, healthy boy. Dielle looks forward to teaching him the ways of the world when she is old enough to know them and he is old enough to listen. 

Our guest photographer is Karen Carroll. Karen and Deacon came to pay Dielle and Mommy a visit. It was quite an experience for Dielle, as Deacon was her first younger-yet-walking guest. She didn't quite know what do as Deacon explored her turf and played with her toys. As Deacon falls into the 9-years-old-and-younger baby category, Dielle was happy to do her part and feed the little one. 

Dielle and Molly O'Keeffe. Tonight we went to Micheal and Janette's house for a nice kid-focused dinner. Along with Liam and Molly, we had a wonderful dinner with Kraig and Emily, Paul, Donna, Leah and Ben, Ken, Marlene, Sabine and Anise and Scot and Kippy (up from Los Angeles). It truly was a great time. Here, Dielle tries out Molly and Liam's BMW toy. 

Baby cliche # 1028 : "Wearing food" 

We just came back from church. Dielle loves to sing and clap but she's not so cool about being left with the other young'uns in the Mini Kid Room. 

The weatherman said that our summer of hot days and hot nights came to an end on August 22, when the weather front that sat motionless in our skies for many months finally gave up and was overpowered by Vancouver's usual fall visitor. Since then the weather have been mostly cloudy or rainy but we've had some distinctly warm days too. Dielle remembers them and here she wonders what the weeks ahead hold for her: warm walks in the autumn light or wet runs between the house and car.