we are the folk

Another wonderful year at the Vancouver Folk Fest! Mark and I enjoyed the Friday nite show and all day Saturday as some quality couple time relaxin' at a number of great workshop stages. When a diverse group of artists get together and start jamming to each others music for an hour I am always in heaven...add the beauty of Jericho beach park and a wide array of fabulous folk to the mix and you have the recipe for my ultimate summer addiction ;)


Though I liked every performance and group we saw, I'd say my two new faves from this year were Mr. Something Something and Bellowhead - amazing stage performers and great music!

The other thing we took advantage of was an item of great contraversy for the folk fest fans...the beer garden! After more than 30 years as a dry event (aside from all the mixed drinks smuggled in discretely every year by many) the Vancouver Folk Fest finally included a beer garden as an extra source of revenue. Some years of bad management (at least this is my impression) left the fest in some dire financial straights, and though they have bounced back, they are still quite in the hole. So, even though many were opposed to the idea it happened anyway. Mark and I are totally the kind of people who will enjoy a drink or two in a beer garden when we are at events sans children...so we weren't as opposed as some to the trial this year.

And we didn't find it really interfered much for us. Some people told us they were bothered by the extra police presence on top of the usual volunteer security staff we're used to seeing around. I only noticed them near the entrance to the beer garden, but I understand the concerns of others who felt their presence more than I did. I think the important thing though is that it really didn't interfere with the overall safe and fun environment for all ages we've come to love...so if it helps the fest stay afloat I'm very much in favour if it staying on. And if we're lucky enough to have a grown up play day again next year we will likely be in the garden for one or two bevvies while enjoying the music on the main stage.

Our family day was Sunday and we had a great time with Sasha running around - not so much a relaxin day with the little one...but still wonderfull fun :D


Sasha loved it when we ran into our friends Joanne and Dan and their daughter Saskia. The two of them hugged each other a bunch and chased each other around and were generally too adorable for words.

We had some beach time fun in the sand and chasing waves (though Sasha really doesn't like seaweed touching her feet so that was a short game). My highlight was some quality time with Kristina at a workshop stage featuring a great line up of female artists titled "A Wise Woman Once Told Me"...and when I came back to meet Mark and Sasha I found her snoozing in his arms in the shade of Stage 2. sweet.

Sasha will hang out a stage now and then with us, especially when she's in the mood to boogy, but otherwise we spent a lot of time following her lead. Playing in the water area (I love that the folk fest has so much to do for the little ones!), ring-around-the-rosy in the food area while mommy waits in line, and more fun with Saskia later in the day...2 children + a ball = fun for other children to join in too!






We were welcomed onto the giant tarp near the stage that was staked out by our co-op neighbours (including Kristina, Thomas and Keyan) and grooving with all of them was a great end to the family day at the fest for another year. :)

quality island time

what a wonderful way to spend a couple of days...

Since we moved out of our old neighbourhood, one of the folks I have missed the most is Susan. She moved with her family to Victoria not long after we moved...and I haven't seen her since! Time for that to change - and so Sasha and I had some mother daughter adventure time for a visit to Sue's new digs and quality time with a good friend :)

After a smooth bus and ferry adventure to the island, we were picked up by Susan who, after giving us big welcome to the island hugs, says to me "So I thought I'd take you through all the old Saanich roads and we can stop at a local winery to pick up a bottle for this evening"...can you tell why I love her?? hehe. Five minutes in the car and Sasha sacked out from all our running around and around and up and down on the ferry and she barely noticed our stop at the vineyard.



We were not the only houseguests for the weekend as Sue's son had a couple of his friends over (who had been there all week). The boys made us a great taco dinner and Sasha fell in love with all of them. Mostly Kje, but she's still talking about the older boys too. lol.

Gotta say my fave thing to do while we were there was hangin in the hammock, and Sasha just loved pushing me in it like a swing so here you have one of those win win activities...we have got to get one of these for our home!!

Aside from hanging around we also had music and games, a trampoline to bounce on, a hot tub to soak in and plenty of space for just chillin'...what more could you ask for from a vacation destination ;)



Here are 2 pics that Sasha took:


My other fave thing to do is hiking - check! Bluffs near her home provide some pretty stellar views of the straight! Though I didn't actually get any pics of that view this time. Sasha climbed all the way up no problems, but tuckered out on the way down so I helped her out of course.

And we also fit in some quality beach exploration time while all the boys slept on sunday morning. You may have noticed many of the pics so far have susan@rybar.ca on them, and that is because I am lucky enough to have a gifted photographer share her pics with me...and she got so many great ones at the beach I had a hard time choosing which to share with you all! I told Sasha "Mommy likes to take lots of pictures, but Susan is a photographer and her pictures are like art". I got a few nice ones, but hers are fabulous :)






I ended up cutting my foot open on a barnacle covered rock (not the one I'm pictured on) though I only thought I had bruised it initially so kept walking and walking. I didn't realize it was an actual wound of many gashes of varied sizes until we got all the way back to our shoes...having carried Sasha just about the whole way back. Apperently salt water is good for wounds (that, and I was super lucky to have Penny's car for the next few days after our return which allowed me to take proper care and not walk on it too much) and I only limped for a few days over all, and within a week the wound is almost fully healed! gotta love skin :)

As she promised, we got to see quite a few deer (these three are frequent visitors to her backyard) and the best pic is the fuzzy antlered deer we just happen to find grazing near a fallen sign. hahahaha - i love it!

Splendid scenery with never having to go farther than the deck for a nice view, and check out this beauty shot of the moon that I asked Susan to capture for me after failing to get it with my camera...and that extra glass of wine probably didn't help my ability, hehe.


Before catching our ferry home Sasha had her first thrills in a skatepark! Watching the boys do some tricks on their boards and bikes was pretty exciting. And Sasha braved her first rides on a board too! I loved watching all of them at play and also loved having a few turns own the little hill with Sasha - wheeeeee! Brilliant end to our amazing island time with Susan and all of her boys :)












I was quite pampered by my friend this visit...she better put me to work next time or I might grow accustomed to the spoiling, hehe. Not that I wasn't convinced of her solidness as a true friend already, but here's the clincher moment of gratitude for me: to give me 15 minutes to myself Susan, who experiences motion sickness and rarely gets into the hammock, used the hammock swing game to distract Sasha for me to get away for my moment of peace. Potentially making herself sick for my benefit...that is the best!

To top it all off I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how easy, and affordable, the bus/ferry combo is and will now consider this for more frequent short trips to the island in the future. Look out Sue...you've got us hooked now ;)

Next time I will pack the travel back pack instead of the suitcase (what was I thinking??) and then the 20 minute walk to the bus terminal won't seem like a lifetime. Only cranky moment of the whole adventure was limping home with suitcase, car seat, child and no money for a cab...and no ATM's between the terminal and our home in operation!!! Even this moment of tension was not long as Mark came and met us half way and relieved much of the burden...and Sasha and I both slept like champs when we finally arrived at home.

To end, one of my all time fave memories from the visit was watching Sasha and Sue playing Go Fish, and here's a little clip of my invitation to join them - who could resist?