As Gwen mentioned on her Being Savvy Vancouver blog, the Surrey Fusion Festival is happening this weekend.  This is the sort of thing that appeals to both Gwen and I so we decided to drag the kids down to it too.  We made quite an adventure out of it: we took the bus to the Broadway Skytrain station and then rode the Skytrain to the end of the line (King George station).  From there it was a short walk to Holland Park, the venue for the festival.

The Fusion Festival is a multicultural festival celebrating the local ethnic diversity.  It had many pavilions showcasing food and products from diverse ethnic origins.

In addition, there were four stages set up around the park featuring music and dancing from different cultures.

As you can imagine, there was a lot of South and South-East Asian ethnic groups represented (ie, India, Pakistan, Iran, Indonesia) and China had a big presence too.  Did you know that they’re hosting the Summer Olympics this year?  >snort<  However, there were other groups represented too.  The Jamaicans had a surprisingly large presence.  The Chieftans are playing there, as is Jully Black.

There were a surprising number of RCMP there too.  They were there in typical ‘street’ uniforms, the Red Serge, bike patrols, ATV patrols, and I’m sure they had some plainclothes ones too.  I think it was all in the spirit of community outreach, but I bet the number of RCMP was in the dozens.

Gwen and Kayla stopped by one of the pavillions (ok, they were tents) and got some mendhi put on them.  WOW, Aidan sure didn’t like that.  Every time (yes, *every* time) he saw Gwen’s hand, he broke into tears and told us he didn’t like mud on Mommy’s hand.  And she couldn’t touch him with that hand either.  Our boy gets some weird ideas sometimes.

By the middle of the afternoon, the boy was beat and cranky so we headed back to Vancouver.  Since we were at the start of the Skytrain line, we got some primo seats.  In fact, Aidan and I got to sit in the very front of the first Skytrain car, so for the whole ride from King George to Broadway, Aidan sat on my lap and chatted insessantly about the trip and all the things he could see.  Given the length of the trip (about 30 km, about 30 mins on the train) and the fact that he got antsy on the ride *to* Surrey, this was priceless.  Oh, and that ride to Surrey?  Once again Vancouver proves how inconsiderate it is.  I mean, hello?  A pregnant woman gets on the Skytrain with a toddler in tow and is forced to stand because no one offers her a seat?  I was steamed.  So freaking typical for this city and its typically self-centred inhabitants.

We also had a cool, chatty bus driver on the trip from Broadway station back to Willow Street.  Translink gets a big double-plus good today.

And so does Surrey, for that matter.  Surrey knows how to do these things right.  The Surrey Children’s Festival is much better than the one in Vancouver, and I can’t imagine the Fusion Festival happening anywhere in Vancouver with the quality, diversity, or price that Surrey had.  In Vancouver, it would have cost $30 at the gate and sucked. :)

Record breaking heat this weekend.  Cold and wet start to June (the local weather personalities were calling it “June-uary” — which got real old, real quick) and now blue sky and scorching heat.  Welcome to the dry season.

This weekend was busy doing an assortment of things.  Saturday was chores and errands in the morning, a quick trip (hah!) to Highview Lookout in Cypress Provincial Park for some photos and cache placement scouting, and then over to the COINANZA geocaching event in the Barnet Marine Park in north Burnaby.  Aidan had a good time playing in the sand and watching the trains whiz by as we socialized.  If you go through the photos at the event, you’ll see Aidan made it again. :) Grocery shopping after that, and then Aidan and I went by bike back to the grocery store because I forgot to get the one thing we were supposed to get — hamburger buns (for supper).  Doh!

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And, oh, we also picked up a travel bug at the event:

Today was a bit more of the same.  Back to Cypress to drop off a geocache that we’re placing (not published yet, link to come) and then to the Wal*mart in North Van to get The Boy some summer jammies.  Back home for a nap that didn’t come and then we beat it down to Spanish Banks for a picnic on the beach.  Whew.

What kind of bug is this?  Anyone?  It was on the beach where we were trying to picnic:

You know, the views in Vancouver never get old.

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On Saturday, partying it up with the Girl Guides.

Aidan took quite a shine to this one:

The girls took turns hitting a pinata, and of course, Aidan wanted a turn too:

This girl beat the stuffing out of it with a power-swing:

On Sunday, first off to Stanley Park.  They have a miniature train:

Then to the children’s farm:

Then the playground:

Back home for a nap, then off to the Car Free Day party on Main Street:

Supper at our favourite Fish ‘n Chips restaurant:

Then back home:

Whew, what a weekend.

The weeks fly by but the weekends are family time. As such, here’s another weekend update…

We went and got Aidan’s hair cut yesterday. It wasn’t exactly planned; I mean he certainly needed it, but Gwen has developed a phobia about taking him to get his hair cut so it hasn’t been done on the weekdays. I desperately needed to get my hair cut too, so when I announced my attention to get my hair cut yesterday, Gwen & The Boy tagged along. We got to my barber’s shop, which was completely empty when we got there. Well, the barber and another hair-cutter (aside: what’s the noun describing a woman who works at a barbershop that exclusively cuts men’s hair? Barber? I guess, but it’s one of those nouns that I exclusively associate with a man. Weird.) were there but no customers.

So, we had a quick discussion (that involved the barber) and we decided that I’d get my hair cut while Gwen & The Boy watched, and then we’d get Aidan’s hair cut too. My haircut went well, without any tears. As soon as we tried to put Aidan in the barber’s chair, though, the hysteronics began. Once again, I sat him on my lap and the barber did the best he could. There were less tears than in previous times, but calm is the wrong word to use.

The haircut isn’t great, but it’s better than what it was when it was long. There are some pictures a bit further below.

On Sunday, we had brunch with our friends Ali and Nooshin. We biked over to Ali’s Yaletown condo and ate brunch while the Vancouver Marathon passed on the street below. Aidan had a chance to help with breakfast, and seemed to enjoy himself.

After brunch, we all got on bikes and pedalled over to Stanley Park. There’s a nice new playground there near Second Beach, and one of those old firetrucks-turned-into-playground-climbing-equipment that seem strangely popular in Vancouver.

After parting ways with Ali and Nooshin we took the Aquabus from the foot of Hornby Street to Granville Island and biked home. It was a nice way to start the day. The rest of the day sort of got away from us, but it started well!