Family Vacation!

We're going to Disneyland! Our little family turned 100 (our current ages added together equals 100) and we are going to celebrate by heading down to Anaheim, California.

While our children knew we were going to go on a trip, the husband and I decided to keep the exact location a surprise. When we told them we were going somewhere special to celebrate our family's 100th birthday, and that it was somewhere warm in the United States, my middle child inexplicably exclaimed "WE'RE GOING TO LAS VEGAS!".

He's eight. We've never been to Las Vegas, or talked with him about going. Who knew he had a desire to go there?

And a shout-out to all my fellow photographers enjoying the party that is WPPI next week. Hopefully I'll see you there next year!


The famed sign rendered in Lego bricks.

We eventually did see a bit of Vegas, except through the eyes of some talented Lego artists.





I can't even imaging the planning that must go into re-creating famous landmarks in Lego bricks. The displays at Legoland were truly mind boggling!









Update: We made it through Alaska Airlines check-in (they even graciously called ahead to make sure that the plane wasn't one of the ones wrapped in Disney characters & the staff teased the kids about going to Edmonton), Vancouver Airport Authority security, US Customs (who teased the kids about going to China), and the flight attendants (who gave the kids Disney colouring books). The children realized our destination when the Disney wrapped airport transfer pulled up. Success!

Disneyland Budget Tip: The Disneyland Resort Express was a good value for our transfer from LA airport to our hotel. As of today's date, it was $22 one way/$32 roundtrip for an adult; $19 one way/$25 roundtrip for a child, plus tip. An average taxi ride (depending on traffic) is about $80-$90. They made one stop ahead of our hotel. Alternately we could have rented a car for the week at roughly the same price as the transfers (if you booked ahead with a special and have a Visa card that covered insurance).

Disneyland Luxury Tip: You can have your travel agent arrange a Limo transfer to your hotel. We arrived late, and the sight of a uniformed driver with a card with my name on it would have been a welcome sight!

In an effort to post a few more storyboards, and to be a better blogger - I want to tell you about a wonderful local find for kids. I discovered4Cats Arts Studio while looking for a Vincent Van Gogh art class for my kids. This art studio focusses on hands-on art education for little ones ages 2-15.



The five day class was enjoyed by each of my children (they were 5, 7 and 9). The studio was in a great location, and was attractive, orderly and interesting. The participants heard stories about Van Gogh, examined his work, and studied about his style by creating their own art using Van Gogh's techniques. They produced a silk-screened tote bag, a charming watercolour self-portrait (using the basics of portraiture), a canvas painting (based on Van Gogh's Sunflowers), and a textured acrylic painting a la Van Gogh's Starry Night.
The teachers were engaging and patient, and my kids were eager to go back every day. The kids were very interested in 4Cats' other offerings, including the stop animation Star Wars class.

4Cats has just released their Holiday/Winter schedule. Go go go check it out!

Bad blogger! Bad blogger!

A client asked me ever so nicely about storyboards - so I've been looking around my archives for examples. Here is a favorite one from this summer - this is a 10x20" storyboard featuring snippets from 7 images.


The images were taken on Dunbar Street in Vancouver - the kids and I had a busy week swirling around this area during our lovely summer. I can't wait to write about it!

Earth Day - The Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company



In honour of Earth Day, I'd like to share with you a company that provides a "community and organising dining experience" - the Rocky Mountain Flatbread Company.

This lovely restaurant located between Cypress and Burrard on 1st in Vancouver (and one in Canmore, AB) aims to revolutionize pizza. Their pizzas are handcrafted on site, with locally sourced organic ingredients. They extend their commitment to the environment and their community on many fronts, included local school involvement, neighbourhood nights, use of reclaimed materials in their decor. Read all about their achievements in sustainability here.

A lovely thing they do is have family nights on Sunday and Monday evenings.
Your kids get to go into the back kitchen and make their own pizzas!

The exceptionally patient and kind Jade helped our group out.
You start with a thorough hand washing, and then get instruction on rolling out their delicious pizza dough.






After a thorough saucing, you get to choose your own organic pizza toppings. Favorites from our visit were the mangoes, prosciutto, green peppers, tomatoes and olives. Not all on the same pizza.






They are then brought to the clay oven for firing. You can feel the heat from it, it was a pretty dramatic way to cook!





The yummy finished product! I can tell you that it tastes amazing - crispy, chewy crust with perfect toppings.

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They have a fun little play kitchen (from the cool store Natural Pod - check out the cardboard rocket ship!)where kids can don aprons and chef's hats and pretend to make pizzas. No plastic toys here!







Part of their commitment to sustainability is their use of biodegradable pizza boxes, cutlery and straws. The kids were incredulous that the pizza boxes and take-away cutlery was made of potatoes and the straws were made from corn. No pizza boxes were harmed in the making of this photo.




We highly recommend it for both dining and entertainment. We're excited to try out their curry night soon . . .

And if you are inspired to increase your own commitment to the sustainability of our planet, check out their list of simple things to change the world.

Happy Earth Day!

Chick Pea Children's Boutique



Remember this post? The same fabulous shop - Chick Pea Children's Boutique - in New Westminster is having a grand opening celebration TODAY, Sunday, March 9th from 12-4.

Check out their new blog for the invitation.

If you have little ones in your life (whether your own or not!), this is the place be! They have the most wonderful and fabulous assortment of clothes, shoes, books and toys.

See you there!

The Seattle Woodland Park Zoo is amazing!

A tip: the exhibits are almost all outside, so dress for the weather. It was COLD on Sunday, but still well worth the effort.

The tiger - we saw him as a newborn a few years ago. Definitely adult-sized now.


They have something new since our last visit: the Willawong station, where they have literally hundreds of budgies (Budgerigar-Melopsittacus undulatus) in a large enclosed area that you can hand feed.

The kids were thrilled - but if you don't like birds, or are a Hitchcock fan, I don't think this is the exhibit for you.





Correction: hundreds of budgies and two other parrots (Eastern Rosella - Platycercus eximius) . The latin is for my ornithologist sister-inlaw. Did I spell it correctly, K?


Other highlights include the komodo dragons, the birds of prey display, the giraffes, the African village, the penguins, the sound of the roaring lion (we never did see him), zeebras, and the tapir. Definitely a must-see if you are visiting the Seattle area!

We love science at our house, so predictably a visit to the Pacific Science Center in Seattle was a total hit.

We caught the last day of their special dinosaur exhibit. They had a temporary exhibit of many fossils and models, from tiny


to huge.




There was a special section on dinosaur eggs, complete with models of baby dinosaurs.





Some other highlights included the gigantic table and chairs,


the news broadcasting exhibit,


a great toddler/preschool play area,


a music section,





and an amazing bug exhibit



complete with a butterfly pavillion.











No butterflies were touched in the making of this photo.


We also took an exciting ride on the Monorail from our hotel to the center.

A member of our party was underwhelmed until he realized the one-mile monorail dated back to the 1962 Seattle World's Fair and is the only self-funding transit system in the US.

Did you know that if you your local science center belongs to the Association of Science-Technology centers, you have free or reduced entry fees to member science centers?

A few weeks ago, I was stuck in traffic on Front Street in New Westminster (we were headed to IKEA), and I looked over to my left, and low and behold, there was the cutest little children's boutique. Traffic started moving again, so I didn't have time to get the name, but they had some sweet dresses and toys in the window.

So today I took a quick drive back to Front Street, and entered Chick Pea Children's Boutique. What a great place! It is filled with the loveliest things for small children - from the softest newborn clothes, funky shoes, fancy Trish Scully Dresses, to feeding journals and funny Jaffa T-Shirts for my older boys. Many items are locally sourced, and would make wonderful gifts to welcome a new baby.

It is nestled in an interesting area inbetween some antique and retro furniture shops. It was like stumbling on a little treasure box - well worth the trip. And besides, it is very close to Army & Navy, and their shoe sale is coming up!

Sarah, the owner, is wonderful, and I'm looking forward to many big things from this charming boutique!