Nutmeg has another operation. Last fall we discovered a small lump in her belly that turned out to be a tumor. It was removed, but we recently found another. She’s doing well following the operation. The bad news is that during the procedure they found a third lump that will also need to be removed in yet another operation.
Anya gets a new bike for her birthday. Her 11th birthday was back in October, and she wanted a new bike, but it seemed pointless to buy one at the very beginning of the long months of cold and wet. Now that the weather’s warming up, it seemed like the time was right. Jan and Anya headed to Gregg’s Cycle in Greenlake, where we’ve bought many bikes over the past 20+ years. Anya’s too big for the kids’ bikes, so we look at extra-small women’s bikes. She likes a teal blue Trek model that she’s just barely big enough to ride. We make a test ride around part of Green Lake, and she’s pretty happy with it. The first thing she wants to do with it when we get home is ride to the home of her friend Kaila, but by the time we get the bike in the car, it’s started to rain again.
Jan is reading a book to Bree on a Saturday afternoon when there’s a bright flash, followed shortly afterwards by an thunderous boom. The thundering gets closer and closer, and finally a roaring hailstorm begins beating down on our roof. Bree’s reaction: “Let’s go outside!” So we suit up and walk around the backyard in the pelting hail.
Angela officiates at the wedding of our friend Yuri and her fiance Aaron. Angela and Jan have known Yuri since she was a young teenager, so Angela’s delighted when Yuri asks her to marry Yuri and Aaron.
By some miracle, the April clouds clear for the afternoon, so the wedding ceremony is actually held outside. At the reception dinner, we share a table with Aaron’s mother and sister. We all enjoy dancing afterwards, but the girls are most excited by the candy “bar” set up alongside a tower of cupcakes.
For Anya and Liya’s Spring Break, we make a short trip up to Vancouver, BC. On the way, we stop for lunch in Mt. Vernon, WA, at the Calico Cupboard, which turns out to be a nice (and very popular) bakery and cafe. Since it’s the height of the Skagit Valley tulip season, we make a detour out to one of the tulip farms, and spend a nice hour walking around the huge fields of red, yellow, orange, and purple.
We make our first trip to Capilano Suspension Bridge Park. It’s very close to downtown Vancouver, but we’ve somehow missed it on our previous trips. The main draw has been the titular suspension bridge over a deep gorge, but a more recent addition of a walkway high up in the forest is more fun.
Slippery When Wet
Tree pose
We take one of Vancouver’s cute boat taxis over to Granville Island. After poking around the market and shops there, Bree discovers the joy of chasing pigeons around the plaza. Anya also enjoys chasing the pigeons, just like she did when she was here as a toddler.
Liya narrates a boat tour for Fireball, her stuffed phoenix.
The Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park is a good way to spend a rainy afternoon. The girls clown around in a bubble dome that goes up inside one of the fish tanks.
Liya and a giant arapaina (a freshwater fish from South America) check each other out.
Breakfast at Sciué, a stylish Italian cafe around the corner from our hotel.
The pool at our hotel is unfortunately being remodeled — but they’ve made arrangements to let the guests use the pool at the hotel across the street. That pool has an odd feature: big glass shapes at the bottom of the pool surrounded by lights that change colors. Looking down at one of them, we’re surprised to discover that the shapes are actually windows: we can see people and cars going by below us. The pool turns out to sit over the hotel’s porte-cochère. On our second trip to the pool, Jan takes a shot of Liya from below.
Jan: Anya, why are there two — not one, but TWO — pairs of scissors on the floor of your room?
Anya (on her bed, looking casually over from her book): There aren’t two.
Jan: Yes, there are! Right there!
Anya: No, there aren’t.
Jan: Anya!
Anya: There are three.
Today’s our 15th wedding anniversary! We celebrate with dinner at Rover’s, a fantastic French restaurant just a few minutes away. We’ve eaten there many times over the years, but the chef is closing it down to start a new restaurant in another location, so we’re glad we’re able to squeeze in one last occasion there before they close.
Yesterday was our wedding anniversary; today is the anniversary of the day we met back in 1994 — 19 years ago. We were both attending a computer conference in Boston, and ended up sitting near each other at the beginning of the first session. Jan decided to sit in on that particular session instead of a different one, even though the other was more directly applicable to his work. It’s funny to think that such a tiny decision led to a chance encounter, which led to a friendship, which led to our life together!
Baby powder makeup explosion. Sabriya has her good and longtime friend Jack over for a playdate in the afternoon. We haven’t seen Jack and his parents, Sherry and Steve, for a while, so we invite the three of them to stay for dinner. Following the nice meal, the kids all disappear upstairs. Bree and Jack reappear a while later with white baby powder “makeup” applied to a few spots on their faces. They disappear, then reappear laughing with more baby powder on more parts of their faces. They go, they come back, each time laughing harder and with more baby powder. Finally they’re shrieking and covered in baby powder. The upstairs bathroom is, of course, a disaster area, with a layer of white powder covering every horizontal surface, but at least it’s pretty easy to clean up. We have to throw all the kids in the shower and hose them off.