This morning the older girls carry out their very first fight over who can use the bathroom to get ready for the day. “It’s my turn!” “You’re taking too long!” Our big girls! (sniff)
Anya horses around a bit before her Saturday soccer game.
All the girls (and Angela!) wear rain boots so they can stomp in puddles on our way to Starbucks.
Liya’s birthday trip to Victoria, BC. For her seventh birthday back in August, Jan’s present to Liya was a weekend trip away with him. She knows the trip will entail going somewhere on a seaplane, but she doesn’t know exactly where we’re going. Now the weekend has finally rolled around.
Jan picks up Liya just a little bit early from school, and they head to the seaplane terminal just a few minutes away. They check in, and Jan lets Liya in on their destination: Victoria, BC, on the southern end of Vancouver Island.
We have a perfect sunny day for the flight up, and even get to see Liya and Anya’s school from the air. When we dock in Victoria, we walk a couple of blocks down the waterfront and check in at the Empress Hotel. We have dinner at the Bon Rouge Bistro around the corner, and after dinner take a swim in the hotel pool. We finish up the day by reading some more of the “Akiko” comic book series Liya’s in the middle of.
Victoria, Day 2. Jan and Liya walk up Government Street for a breakfast of hot cocoa and croissants at Murchie’s. We pop next door for book shopping at Munro’s. Liya picks out two more “Rainbow Magic” books, but Jan picks out something more substantial for her as well: a copy of Anne of Green Gables.
We stop at the Roots store to see if we can get a sweatshirt there for Bree (to replace the one she’s outgrowing), but no luck. We try some other stores, and can’t find anything in Bree’s size, or Liya’s for that matter.
We have a late morning snack at Sam’s Deli, then walk across the street to Miniature World (a collection of dioramas) which is actually pretty interesting. We rest a bit in the hotel room, during which we finish the Akiko comic books Liya’s brought. We walk down the hotel’s tea room and enjoy the traditional high tea service.
In the afternoon we shop around a bit so Liya can find a birthday gift for Anya. On the street, we end up watching a tribal woodcarver at his craft. He introduces himself as Jackson Richards, and Liya takes a long time looking at his carvings. She finally selects a nice carved hummingbird for Anya.
We’re near the Royal BC Musuem, but Liya wants to check out the wharfside Undersea Gardens aquarium first. It’s small but interesting, and we catch a talk narrated by a scuba diver. An octopus steals the show by swimming in front of the diver. Afterwards, we stop at the museum, which is almost closing, but there’s still time to see an IMAX movie about the Hubble space telescope.
Dinner is at Milestones on the quay. Back at the hotel, Liya picks up a hotel quiz for kids: she’ll get some free cookies if she answers all the questions. We manage to finish the page of questions in less than 10 minutes, and happily go back so Liya can claim her prize. As she’s handing over the quiz, we discover that there are more questions on the back! We spend some more time on it, and are almost done but it’s nearly time for bed. We end the day with a quick swim, and some bedtime reading from the opening of Anne of Green Gables.
Victoria, Day 3. Jan and Liya have breakfast at the Empress restaurant. We race off to catch the bus to Butchart Gardens, only to find the bus times we were given only apply to the summer; we have another hour until we can take a tour bus. We use the extra time to finish the hotel’s quiz and Liya gets her promised prize of cookies. We pass the time by reading more of Anne of Green Gables. Both Jan and Liya enjoy the character of Matthew Cuthbert, who’s prone to answer all questions with, “Well, now…”
The bus driver to Butchart Gardens gives a pretty good narrated tour of Victoria as we go along. When we arrive at the gardens, our first stop is Japanese garden so that we can be sure to have time to check out the stepping stones that cross a small pond. We have lunch at the coffee shop, then visit the sunken garden. It’s getting somewhat chilly here in Victoria, but only a few trees have begun to change color—just a few Japanese maples. It’s still a great day to visit the gardens.
Back in Victoria, we spend a while at the Royal BC Museum again, this time in the First Peoples exhibit, and then in the natural history hall. The giant sculpture of a woolly mammoth is probably the most memorable bit there.
Then it’s time for a snack, and a walk back down the waterside to the seaplane terminal. Just as we’re about to board, there’s a big splash in the water—a harbor seal. We say goodbye to the seal, and Victoria, and head home.
Anya’s grade holds their annual Wax Museum. Each student in the 3rd grade picks a character from history, researches that person, then dresses up as that person and holds a pose for twenty minutes while their parents and entire K-3 lower school mill around them. (“The only time your child may ever stand still for twenty minutes”, quips Anya’s teacher.) Anya chooses abolitionist Harriet Tubman, donning an apron and head-wrap outfit to play the part.
Anya has this new shtick where she plays the part of a “fashionable lady”. Mostly it involves her talking in a high-pitched snooty voice about how she’s a fashionable lady. Apparently fashionable ladies these days wear ruffles, and trill their r’s when they say the word “ruffles”.
Jan’s cousin Lexy and his 3 year-old boy Gus stop by. They’re in Seattle with Lexy’s wife, Molly, who’s attending a conference here. Lexy and Gus first stop by the house, and Gus and Sabriya have a fun time playing together (well, next to each other, anyway). Then Lexy and Gus swing by Jan’s office in Pioneer Square, where they check out the Cozi office and have lunch with Jan at the nearby Collins Pub.
Anya and Liya’s school holds their annual Halloween parade. Several people in Anya’s class have decided to go as idioms. One girl goes as “raining cats and dogs” (umbrella with cats and dogs on it). Anya goes as someone who’s feeling “blue”. She adds a sign to clarify matters. Liya dresses as “Number 2” from the Mysterious Benedict Society books: a woman with a yellow dress and red hair who looks vaguely pencil-like.
Trick-or-treating!
Cyclops