Vancouver Sights
This is my summary of our sightseeing in Vancouver. We did and saw a lot of stuff in just a couple days outside of the wedding day. Amongst the Canucks/NHL craziness, we managed to visit most of Vancouver.
On Sunday (6/12), the day after the wedding, we wandered downtown and found Canada Place and the cruise ship that Jes’ parents were going to board that afternoon. The sun was out with some residual clouds hanging over, which made my photos much more interesting.
Later in the afternoon, Amy and Jay picked us up from the hotel and took us to Gastown before Jason’s flight back to California. It’s a cute little street with some boutiques and streetside bars.
After dropping Jason off at the airport, we went to Granville Island where they had an indoor Public Market with lots to eat and browse. Before dinner, we had drinks and oysters at Bridges with an outdoor seat on the patio.
Dinner was at Guu with Garlic and they managed to cram all 15 of us in a tiny sit-on-the-floor room that was super stuffy and hot. Somehow we managed to have a good meal and a lot of fun hanging out.
On Monday (6/13), I got up early and went for a run. It was fun to explore the area on foot and in the rain. Yep, it was raining. I ran past Rogers Arena where the Canucks were playing a couple days ago.
I ran along Quebec St. and got a nice view of BC Place where the Winter Olympics were held last year. I found False Creek and the Olympic Village, which is now a very nice but empty cluster of brand-new condos. To get back, I ran across Cambie St. Bridge for a total of 3 miles completed.
Later that morning, we took the bus to Stanley Park. It was a short walk to the aquarium and we made use of the umbrellas that we packed.
The aquarium itself was worth the trip. It also helped that Eric hooked us up with free tickets. This aquarium had lots to see including marine mammals such as dolphins and beluga whales.
There were maple trees everywhere and I got some pretty cool shots of the leaves in the rain.
Afterward, Amy and Elaine picked us up and took us around Stanley Park. There were famous statues in the park and they were all dressed in Canucks gear for the weekend. Canadians are funny.
We saw the totem poles and the Lions Gate Bridge from Prospect Point. That’s the bridge that we would take to Whistler. Ah Whistler…we will meet one day.
Before dinner, we stopped at Queen Elizabeth Park. It’s at the top of a hill and there’s a beautiful garden to explore.
The last stop after dinner was the beach park near the University of British Columbia. The view was really pretty and the sun was just setting at 8:30 pm! Vancouver has some really long summer days.
Oh man. I’m so behind. I’m JUST posting photos from Amy and Jay’s wedding in Vancouver. They married on June 11th at an old mansion up on the hill. 
Jes’ dad was the officiant and the back patio was decorated with the prettiest peonies and hydrangeas. Amy does wedding flowers so she knew exactly what she wanted. 
The wedding was held in the morning and the weather cooperated. There was a chance of rain that day and luckily it stayed overcast in the morning and the sun came out later in the afternoon.
Later that day, we met up with the bridal party at their hotel where they had a private dining room where they all hung out and had some drinks.
Once it was time to head out to the reception, we all piled into the limo bus that drove us a good 20 miles to the Chinese restaurant. Champagne was flowing all the way there.
At dinner, we met Jesse’s oldest living relative who is supposedly 100 years old. I still don’t actually know who she is exactly.
Here’s the last photo taken of the night before I turned into a hot mess.
On July 16th, Dayantha married the love of his life and we were all there to celebrate with them at Lakewood Country Club. The ceremony was outside on the lawn and still had a very traditional Catholic touch.
All the babies were included in the wedding including Titus, who had started walking just in time for the ceremony.
They had a cocktail hour inside the clubhouse and in the patio. It was so fun to have all my old friends together in one place again.
Jes was also reunited with his little friend Makenzie.
With all free-flowing drinks and long night of dancing, we also witnessed the progressive deconstruction of Victor: jacket off, tie off, unbuttoned, untucked, and finally shoes off. Classic.
This afternoon, we packed a picnic and took Muni to Golden Gate Park. The San Francisco Symphony had a free concert in Sharon Meadow and the weather cooperated. When we got off the street car, it was kinda cold and windy but the sun came out by the time we got to the park.
We enjoyed some Mt. Tam, crackers, salami, and olives with our Bandit box of wine and classical music.
After a short little nap in the sun, we also had some of the pasta salad that I made at home using a rotisserie chicken, bowtie pasta, tomato, basil, olive oil, and salt/pepper. Yummy.
On Saturday, I had a slow start and was feeling EXTRA lazy but somehow I got my butt out the door and ran 5 miles in under 50 minutes. I was shocked. So, I stopped at the Ferry Plaza Farmers Market and bought some fresh produce and cheese.
Later that afternoon, the Sokol-Juns came over to play in the pool for a bit. It was fun to watch Jack and Reese play in the water while I got some sunshine.
I caught this photo of Reese and Jack together at the end of their swim. So cute.
On Sunday, Jason came over and we went to the Fillmore Jazz Festival. We watched a few performers including Kim Nalley and also stopped by Matt’s apartment down the street for some respite from the sun and Jes borrowed a pair of shorts.
When we got home that evening, we met up down in the courtyard for a Korean BBQ with the Masayas. Susie’s mom packed her a huge cooler of spicy pork and kimchi last weekend and we were lucky enough to enjoy it. Susie prepared and bought all the sides for a complete meal.
On Monday, it was July 4th and I actually had the day off. We had a lazy morning and afternoon while I made chicken tortilla soup for Jes who has been sick all week. Then around 7:00, we walked over to the Caltrain station where a shuttle drove us all the way to Pier 39. 
We walked down to Aquatic Park and Ghiradelli Square and found a small spot on the lawn. We’ve tried to watch fireworks a few times in the past but always ended up with colored fog.
This year, it was clear and we were situated in the middle of the action with music and a perfect view of the show.
On Wednesday night (6/29), I hung out with Little J while his parents went out on a date. After enjoying a McNugget Happy Meal, we
played baseball,
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