We get a family
membership to VanDusen basically every other year. We got our
current pass last July to see the Corpse flower and the pass was
going to expire soon so we decided to have one last visit before it
did. The kids have a whole bunch of traditions they like to do
at VanDusen and right at the top is going for a run in the
Maze. After they had done three runs through the maze
(starting at the entrance or the exit), I chased them a
little. They really liked that.
Not on their list of favorite things to do is
get photos taken with the flowers. I basically had to make
unreasonable promises to get them to walk at a reasonable pace and
smile while surrounded by flowers. That bit didn't last long.
VanDusen does mix up the art and features from time to time.
This time we found these giant Adirondack chairs in the
garden. There used to be a cottage development in Osoyoos that
used Giant Adirondack chairs on private property near the highway to
advertise their project, and I wondered if they just repainted those
chairs. The kids thought they were fun to climb on - there
were no signs saying don't climb so I assume it was okay.
I have a soft spot for native wildlife that
shows up in the park. We saw a butterflies going plant to
plant with the occasional stop in the gravel. I very slowly
got closer to get a photo, only to have the butterfly land on me.
The kids have a few more favorites - they like the waterfalls, they
like the Japanese garden (because of the stone bridges) and they
like the smaller trails. Eventually the got tired and we said
goodby for another year.
Haircuts
It's
been something like a year since the girls last had their hair
cut. Of course the kids want hair down to their bums, but we
don't have the time to spend to brush it out every morning.
Today we got a trim to make it more reasonable.
Claira used to have bangs. Her bangs are grown out enough that
she can mostly get by without a hair clip to keep them out of her
eyes.
Really, the kids are just thrilled to get pocky and some attention
to their hair.
Fireworks!
We sometimes have a hard time fitting in
the fireworks. There are 3 nights of fireworks -
Saturday, Wednesday, Saturday and it's no uncommon for us
to be away both weekends. Helen dropped us off near
the bridge and we walked up and parked with iPads and
chairs until the fireworks started.
I tried something new this year. Last year, I took a long
time lapse up until the fireworks started and then switched over
to regular photography - trying to capture the best timing and
framing as I saw the shots go. This year, I decided to let
the time lapse just play and then "capture in post" - take the
best frames from the video and compose by cropping.
It was a bit tough to watch sometimes because
the camera would start too late or stay open to long, but the
time lapse did get some nice photos. The fireworks go on
for about 25 minutes and you can really only show a handful of
shots so really there was enough material to work with.
The camera continued taking pictures after the fireworks stopped and
I probably should have let it run longer to see all the boats rush
home, but a little girl needed to go pee so we packed up and walked
off the bridge. Helen was waiting for us outside one of the
car dealerships and everyone got home with dry pants.
A Busy Summer
