John Harvey Photo

February 2019

Go to Slide Show Smaller Images Spring seems to have arrived early



Queen Elizabeth Park

My kids have gymnastics on Saturday mornings and Queen Elizabeth park is right next door.  I like the walk and it's sometimes surprising what turns up in the middle of the city.   One of the ornamental trees had Ruby Crowned Kinglets looking for bugs.

Ruby Crowned Kinglet Eating BugsRuby Crowned Kinglet With Flowers

 
Last week I saw a wren in the leaves and went back to see if I could spot him again.  I spotted him, but also spotted a variable thrush in the trees.  The Variable Thrust is interesting - it comes to the city for the winter and heads up to the mountains in the summer.  I don't see it very often, but because it's so showy, it stands out when you do rarely spot one.
 
Variable Thrush Looking At MeVariable Thrush Eating Winter Fruit

Chinese New Years Parade

Bundled Up For Cold Parade
The kids really like the Chinatown parade.  The kids take Chinese classes at the Chinese Cultural Center and this year we had the opportunity to walk in parade - surprisingly they didn't want to walk.  We followed our usual strategy - arrive about an hour before the parade and park a few blocks from the parade route.

Two Lions DancingWalking With Lion CostumesLion Running By

Lion Walking To Parade StartShane Simpson Handing Our Red Packets

Dragon HeadThe parade has a many different features - my favorites are the Lion dancers and the dragons.  Dragons are fun to watch, especially at the start of the parade when people have lots of energy.

Gold Costume DragonLong Yellow And Red Dragon

Afternoon Snowfall

Our plan for Sunday afternoon was to visit the boat show at Granville Island.  We walked down in the snow and found the Boat show had closed hours earlier because of the snow.  The kids didn't mind - walking in the snow was fun.

Snowing In CourtyardSnowballs Under BridgesClaira Walking To Granville Island

Nara With Snow On Marina

Snowday!

Claira And Nara Snow Day
Monday was a school day and Tuesday the Vancouver School board declared a school day.  Without another parenting option, I decided to take the kids to work and let them do their homework at my desk.  Of course going downtown in the snow is fun for the kids.

Claira And Nara Playing In Downtown Snow

Queen Elizabeth Park Again

 Pacific Wren Looking For Bugs
Every week, I have roughly an hour to walk around the park.  My hope is to find a Hummingbird nest, but I have yet to have any luck.  This week there was snow on the ground and small birds were busier than normal.  Much of their usual food is covered up so the birds are pushed into the smaller patches of bare ground under trees.


This week, I stood in one spot (a snow covered trail) for at least half an hour watching the birds come and go.  Four different species came and went in that period of time.

Purple Finch Female Eating Dried FruitSong Sparrow On Evergreen BranchChickadee On Branch

James Playing Hockey

James's birthday is in February.  His weekend was peppered with games, but Sunday he had a game just before lunch.  We drove out to Aldergrove to see the game and then join the Williams for lunch.
 
James Skating Down IceJames Lines Up Shot
The league James is in plays half rink 3 vs 3 hockey with a substitution every 2 minutes.  The kids play two twenty minute halves and then they get a shoot out.  James team had a weaker time with the game but did well with the shoot out.  James was able to get 3 of 4 shots into the net!

James Beats The Goalie

RV Show in Abbotsford

  Rooftop Tent
We like going to the Boat Show in Vancouver and we were already in Aldergrove for lunch, it was a short drive over to Abbotsford to see the RV show.    The RV show is setup differently than the Boat show.  At the boat show, there are more than a dozen vendors showing boats, but each vendor has a small number for sale.  At the RV show, there were about 4 vendors and each of them had RVs from entry level to house replacements and everything in between.  Of course the kids love the giant ones with fireplaces and granite counter tops.


Kids In Toy Hauler
We live in a condo and I work all year round so a RV doesn't make much sense for us.  That said, there were some interesting units.  There were RV's designed to fit in parking stalls (they pop up in the camp site) and the there were RV's with roof top tents to give the kids an awesome view for their fort.  The kids still preferred the RV's starting in the low 400's.  At least they are cheaper than the boats my kids like.

Kids In Tent TrailerKids Driving Winnebago

Hike On Bowen Island

I have always enjoyed a walk in the woods.  I have also enjoyed travel, even if it's just a short way from home.  The Vancouver Nature Society was doing a walk on Bowen Island and I had the kids for the weekend so I decided to take them to Bowen Island for a walk.
 
Claira With Bigger TreeNara With Bigger TreeKids Walking On TrailClaira With Licorice Fern

 
The plan was to walk around Killarney Lake and then back to the ferry terminal looking a trees, fungus and such.   We go to the lake, but around the lake would have been too far for the kids.
 
Muted Colours With Great Blue Heron
Our favorite spot turned out to be a swampy part of the trail where there was ice for the kids to break. 

Pacific Wren At Stream Side
 

Maple Ridge Lapidary Club Rock and Gem Show

Nara Learning To Grind Rock
We are going to Hong Kong for Spring break and I noticed the Rock show we visited in previous years happens while we are away.  There is no shortage of rock and gem shows so we picked the show in Maple Ridge to visit.  The show had lots of vendors, but they also had club members doing demonstrations.  One member was showing kids how to use the grider to polish up a rock stuck on a stick.  These are skills needed to make a "cabochon" - a polish rock.

Nara Polishing Rock
 
Nara With Cast N
A second club member was showing how to cast shapes using bismuth.  The kids would press a toy block with their initial into the green sand and then he would melt some bismuth and pour it into the mold.  After it cooled (he had a tub of water) and the sand was removed, the kids got to take their letter home.  It was a super cool craft.

Claira Pressing Mold




Kids In Tent Trailer
Long Yellow And Red Dragon
Tags: dragon, lion dance, Vancouver Chinatown
Pacific Wren At Stream Side
Species: Troglodytes pacificus (Pacific Wren)
Altitude: 22m (72 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: bird, stream
Claira Pressing Mold
James Skating Down Ice
Nara Polishing Rock
Ruby Crowned Kinglet Eating Bugs
Species: Regulus calendula (Ruby-crowned Kinglet)
Altitude: 117m (383 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Song Sparrow On Evergreen Branch
Species: Melospiza melodia (Song Sparrow)
Altitude: 104m (341 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Shane Simpson Handing Our Red Packets
Kids Driving Winnebago
James Lines Up Shot
Nara With Cast N
Lion Running By
Tags: lion dance, Vancouver Chinatown
Bundled Up For Cold Parade
Person: Claira, Helen, Nara
Tags: Vancouver Chinatown
Kids In Toy Hauler
Nara With Snow On Marina
Person: Nara
Tags: Granville Island, marina, snow
Lion Walking To Parade Start
Tags: lion dance, parade, Vancouver Chinatown
Walking With Lion Costumes
Tags: costume, lion dance, Vancouver Chinatown
Claira And Nara Snow Day
Person: Claira, Nara
Tags: snow
Nara Learning To Grind Rock
Variable Thrush Eating Winter Fruit
Species: Ixoreus naevius (Varied Thrush)
Altitude: 122m (400 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Pacific Wren Looking For Bugs
Species: Troglodytes pacificus (Pacific Wren)
Altitude: 104m (341 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Snowing In Courtyard
Person: Claira, Nara
Tags: snow
Chickadee On Branch
Species: Poecile atricapillus (Black-capped Chickadee)
Altitude: 104m (341 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Dragon Head
Tags: dragon, parade, Vancouver Chinatown
Kids Walking On Trail
Person: Claira, Nara
Altitude: 47m (154 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: hiking
Claira With Bigger Tree
Person: Claira
Altitude: 18m (59 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: human for scale, tree
Variable Thrush Looking At Me
Species: Ixoreus naevius (Varied Thrush)
Altitude: 122m (400 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Gold Costume Dragon
Tags: dragon, parade, Vancouver Chinatown
Ruby Crowned Kinglet With Flowers
Species: Regulus calendula (Ruby-crowned Kinglet)
Altitude: 117m (383 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
James Beats The Goalie
Claira With Licorice Fern
Species: Polypodium glycyrrhiza (licorice fern)
Altitude: 53m (173 feet)
Location: Go To...
Nara With Bigger Tree
Altitude: 1m (3 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: human for scale, tree
Two Lions Dancing
Tags: lion dance, Vancouver Chinatown
Rooftop Tent
Purple Finch Female Eating Dried Fruit
Species: Haemorhous purpureus (Purple Finch)
Altitude: 104m (341 feet)
Location: Go To...
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park
Snowballs Under Bridges
Person: Claira, Nara
Tags: bridge, snow, snowball, underneath
Claira Walking To Granville Island
Tags: bridge, Granville Island, snow, underneath
Muted Colours With Great Blue Heron
Altitude: 22m (72 feet)
Location: Go To...
Claira And Nara Playing In Downtown Snow
Person: Claira, Nara
Tags: commute, snow, snowball, Vancouver
Tags: Queen Elizabeth Park(8), Vancouver Chinatown(8), snow(6), lion dance(5), dragon(3), parade(3)
People: Claira(7), Nara(7), Helen(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > February 2019

Leave a Comment

Some HTML allowed: <b>, <code> <em> <i> <strike> <strong>, but most isn't.  Text length is limited.  comments from first time authors will be reviewed before being posted. comments with swearing or painfully poor spelling will probably be rejected.


Last Modified Sunday, January 22nd, 2023 at 00:03:25 Edit
Copyright and Contact Information.