October 2017

Nara broke her arm at bike camp this summer so she hasn't been allowed to bike until it healed well.  Today was the first day we let here bike.  Grandpa maintains a collection of kids bikes and we went for a ride along lochside trail.

When I lived in Victoria, I went out to East Sooke Park a few times.  We always went to the West side where the mine was.  After reading some reviews online, I decided to go for a walk at Aylard Farm on the eastern side of the park.  There is a large parking lot (which has been expanded twice over the years) and wide trails leaving in a few directions.  We decided to go down to the beach.
 

Just down the beach was a flock of birds resting on the rocks.  Among the seagulls were 5 Black Oyster catchers with very bright bills.  Normally there bright orange bills are contrast with their black bodies, but with the sun directly behind them their bills basically glowed.

Alternating between fishing and cleaning themselves on the rocks were a pair of river otters.  They were productive - it only took them a minute to come up with a decent sized fish to eat.  They pulled up some sort of small eel and there was no mercy - bites taken while the eel was still wriggling around.

It was getting closer to lunch time so we packed up and drove home.  Claira was home with Mom completing her Chinese homework so we swapped kids and I took Claira out for a walk.  Claira wanted her scoot bike even though she is good with a pedal bike now.  We rolled around Outerbirdge garden.  Claira found a caterpillar.

There are some traditions the kids really enjoy.  Going to a farm to pick pumpkins is a favorite, even though they have fall and hit themselves on the last two trips.  This time we picked a different farm (no tractor ride, better parking) so we could just walk out and get pumpkins before lunch time.

I ordered a new D850 shortly after it came out - not early enough to get an early model, but early enough.  Saturday morning, I got the new camera.  Saturday afternoon, I went for a walk in Stanley Park while the kids were in Chinese class.

When I was a kid, I don't remember ever getting facepaint.  Today facepaint is pretty much required to make a good costume.  The kids were happy with their outfits and we went out to play!  The kids spent most of their stamps on bouncy castle time which yields no tickets so we had to buy a second stamp card.  They found a few things they liked - mostly throwing games.

 
We live in a condo tower and which means there are limited (but a few) options to trick-or-treat on Halloween night in our neighborhood.  My hair stylist suggested we visit hers (Mount Pleasant) and we have for the last three years.  It's a crazy busy neighborhood on Halloween - houses are decorated, performance art happens in some yards and fireworks are pretty much continuously going off.  Our kids claim to be brave, but by the end of the night, anything that went bump made them run.

They had a really good time!