We’ve become quite aware that our time here, in this place, is coming to an end. We’ll be moving out of this area soon. Thinking about that helped us to remember all the things we have loved about being here, in this part of British Columbia.
There are things here that we wanted our kids to remember, so we’ve been playing ‘tourist’ in our own town.
The kiddos remember other things about Vancouver already, like Science World, and the Gastown Steam Clock. So, this week we visited Stanley Park and Granville Island in Vancouver, two of the most popular and famous attractions in Vancouver. They got to see the great big totem poles in the middle of the park, Brockton Cricket Oval, the Royal Vancouver Yacht Club, the 9PM Cannon, Canada Place, The Lion’s Gate Bridge, the Sea Buses, the statue of “The Girl in a Wetsuit”, a big portion of the Sea Wall, the Aqua Buses on False Creek, The Kids’ Market… Lots of fun and memorable things. (Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera!)
What kinds of things are there in your area/community that you might not think about doing, going to, or seeing, because you live right there with them all the time? What are the things that you always send your friends and relatives who visit your area to see? What are on the postcards from your area? Why not pick a few of these things to do with your family, maybe once a month? You can be local tourists!
And it doesn’t have to cost a lot of money… we chose Stanley Park and Granville island over going to the PNE (Pacific National Exhibition). It was going to cost us $75 to get into the PNE, plus at least $15 for parking. We brought our own lunch to the park and spent $7 total in parking at both places (we ran into a very friendly gentleman who had paid for all day parking at Granville Island and was leaving when we came so he gave us his ticket!).
For your next Family Time, have a look for local tourist attractions or famous things in your area and do something ‘touristy’. Then, when/if you move away, you won’t be saying something like, “Yah, we lived right there, 45 minutes from one of the largest and most famous ‘urban parks’ in Canada and we never went to see it.”
Check out more Family Time Fridays here at my blog, and over at Tidbits of Tammy, too!
