It was a beautiful sunny day today! Perfect weather for the Summer Live event at Stanley Park. I skytrained downtown and had intended to take the bus or the free shuttle down to Stanley Park but the lineups for both of them were horrendously long! So I started walking instead. It took a while since it's quite far and I also took the scenic route. Lots of people seemed to have the same idea as well. If you are going tomorrow, you might want to walk or ride a bike there instead.
When I finally got to Brockton Point, music was playing on several stages and field was full of people enjoying the sun. Sponsor and activities boothes were set up around the perimeter. There was a big kids zone where all the family activities were being held. Public Dreams had giant Jenga and Twister games going on and there were people teaching guests how to juggle and spin plates. Several booths were dedicated to kite making and other craft activities. In one of them invasive plant species were being used to create art. Most people were weaving them into wreaths.
Later I saw Bollywood dance performance and a giant robotic snake, which I thought was so cool! The BC Lions mascot and other costumed characters were walking around taking pictures with kids. If you get thirsty, no sweat! There were water fountains set up around the site and Dairyland was also there giving away small cartons of chocolate milk and Armstrong Cheese was offering cheese samples to people. The chocolate milk was very popular since it was so hot out. It was great to just kick back in the shade and enjoy the cool milk.
The Mint had there own booth and was hosting a giveaway of a prize pack which includes a Sasquatch coin. You are suppose to find the answers to a quiz which are located on Sasquatch coin signs around the kid zone. But in reality, you only need to fill out the form since they don't check the answers to the quiz.
All the food vendors were located in another area and there the Vancouver Aquarium was giving away coupons and also tickets to the aquarium but only if you manage to spin onto the WIN slot on the wheel. Two players from the BC Lions were at the next booth signing autographs.
After I walked around the entire site, the bus lines heading out of the park was long too so I walked back downtown. I passed by the Rose Garden and snapped a few photos. So pretty and they smelled nice too.
Now I'm pooped! I did so much walking my feet hurt. I had fun though and enjoyed the awesome weather.

With the movie coming out next week, Disney has uploaded three videos with the animators themselves teaching you how to draw the characters from Winnie the Pooh: Winnie, Tigger and Eeyore. You can see my attempt at Pooh Bear above. It's harder than it looks! Haha. Why don't you try drawing them yourselves? It's fun!





Winnie the Pooh opens in theatres next week June 15.

Summer Live in Stanley Park

Date
Friday July 8 - Sunday July 10, 2011
Time
12:00pm - 11:00pm
Location
Brockton Point in Stanley Park

A free three day festival to celebrate Vancouver's 125th anniversary starts today. There will be over 180 performances featuring Mother Mother, Daniel Wesley, The New Pornographers, Neko Case, Dan Mangan, Dr. L. Subramaniam, the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra conducted by Bramwell Tovey and Spirit of the Wes. All sorts of activities including Kite-making, boat-building, and juggling workshops, canoe races, giant board games and family sports. For those taking the transit, a free shuttle bus from Waterfront Station runs from 11am to 11pm each day, and a free, secure bicycle compound will be available for cyclists.
I might go check it out on Saturday. It sounds like quite a fun summer event!
 
Fish for the Future
Date
Saturday July 9th, 2011
Time
10:00am - 2:00pm
Location
No. 2 Road Pier, London's Landing, Steveston

Fish for Future promotes sportfishing and other outdoor activities to youth and families in BC. Participants will get to learn tasks such as fishing for local fish species, flycasting, fly tying, fish identification and much more. If you are under 16, then all the fishing activities are free. There will also be prize giveaways for kids. Free juvenile saltwater fishing licences will be available for participants under the age of 16. If you are older you will need to purchase a Tidal license which can be obtained at Nikka Fishing & Marine, 3551 Moncton Street Richmond or online: http://www.pac.dfo-mpo.gc.ca/fm-gp/rec/licence-permis/index-eng.htm
You can RVSP on Facebook but it is not necessary to participate in the event.

Mascot Racing

Date
Sunday July 10th, 2011
Time
12:30pm - ???
Location
Hastings Racecourse, Vancouver

The 3rd annual Mascot Race is being held again at Hastings Racecourse. It is a fundraising event benefiting the Variety the Children's Charity and family friendly. Company mascots gather to race including including BeBop from the Vancouver Aquarium and Philbert from Purdy's Chocolate. Cobs Bread’s mascot, Breadhead is the defending champion who won two years in a row! Will he be able to win it three years straight?

Here was video of last year's race. Poor Philbert tripped and fell when he mistimed a jump. I'll be rooting for him on Sunday! See you there!



Movies
There are always movies to watch. Out today is Horrible Bosses and Zookeeper. Both are comedies. And while I haven't seen Zookeeper but I'm pretty sure Horrible Bosses > Zookeeper. You can read my review of Horrible Bosses here.

Nick (Jason Bateman), Kurt (Jason Sudeikis) and Dale (Charlie Day) are three guys stuck in their jobs where their bosses (Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell, Jennifer Aniston) are making their lives miserable. One day while having drinks after work, Kurt proposes a question to the others: if somehow, hypothetically, they can eliminate their bosses and get away with it, would they? Everyone agrees that they would except Dale but the next day, after Dale's boss' sexual harassment behaviour drives him over the tipping point, he convinces the others to go through with their hypothetically plans. They decided to hire a hit-man only to get some dubious advice from a "murder consultant" (Jamie Foxx).  The friends concoct a seemingly foolproof plan to get rid of one another's bosses...permanently. However, murder may not be the friends' thing as their plans keep going awry and they keep digging themselves deeper into a hole of problems with their bosses...and the police.

After seeing the movie in an advance screening, I have only praise for Horrible Bosses! It was super hilarious, the audience were laughing their butts off the entire movie. In comparison with other comedies that were in theatres recently, it is on par with Bridemaids. Kevin Spacey, Colin Farrell and Jennifer Aniston play characters you love to hate and they were superb in their roles. Jennifer Aniston's character is so skanky! All the bosses' behaviour were outrageous and probably not realistic for real life but in the movie it works. You instantly feel for the main characters and root for them as they struggle to murder their bosses. I loved the dynamic between the three and bantering between them is very funny. They had me laughing the entire time.

Horrible Bosses opens in theatres this Friday, July 8, 2011. Go see it - you'll leave the theatre laughing guaranteed.

It is hard to believe but this is the first time that I've been downtown Canada Place during Canada Day and the first time I've stayed to watch the fireworks! It was very crowded and there were a lot of people dressed up in red and white and had their faces painted with maple leafs. Bands were playing music on the main stage and there were a lot of food stalls around. We spent the day walking around looking at the various booths then headed to toward the city centre in preparation for the parade. Apparently it was also Cannibis Day at the Vancouver Art Gallery and the weed smoke was stinking up the area. People seemed to be selling weed right in the open with the police just a few feet away! The nerve!    The parade was enjoyable. It was about an hour long and had many of different groups participate: multicultural groups, theatre, dancers, singers, cheerleaders, bands. There was even a Star Wars group of Stormtroopers! Translink had a bus in the parade but it said "Not in Service"! I laughed. They should have displayed a "Happy Canada Day!" instead of that. After the parade it was very hard to find a washroom that did not have a humongous line because everyone then headed over to the waterfront to wait for the fireworks! Thankfully, we had tickets to the View for a Change viewing area courtesy of a Canada Place contest so we weren't packed like sardines like at the new Convention Centre.  

We found a place against the rail next to a woman who's daughter's boyfriend was in charge of the fireworks! She let us know that they have been preparing since Tuesday for the show and all sorts of other interesting tidbits about his company. The fireworks were spectacular as expected. The colours were beautiful and the height of the explosions were amazing! It was definitely worth going down for and I plant to go again next year! Happy 144th birthday Canada!

Canada turns 144 years old tomorrow so it's time to dress up in your patriotic red and white colours and celebrate! There is no shortage of celebratory events happening around the Lower Mainland - it's hard to choose which ones to attend!

Here's some of the events happening around Vancouver:

1. Canada Day at Canada Place
   
   It's the largest Canada Day celebration in Western Canada and includes all sorts of free concerts, kid-friendly activities, a parade and fireworks. There is even a mobile app for people with smart phones to plan their experience and keep up to date with the schedule of events. The celebration starts at 10am and goes on until 6pm. After the festivities are over, the 3rd Annual Canada Day Parade will begin at 7pm starting at Georgia & Broughton Street. The Burrard Inlet Fireworks Show will follow at 10:30pm.

2. Canada Day at Granville Island
   Starting at 8am and going on 'til midnight, there will be lots of food, free jazz performances, kid-friendly activities, and a parade. The 12th Annual Canada Day Parade is begins at  1:30pm starting at Ocean Construction and ending at Ron Basford Park.

3. Canada Day at the Olympic Village
   Celebrate Sustainability on Canada Day with WE CANADA in a multi-city event. There will be food, music, dance, documentary films and sustainability workshops and much more.

4. Stevenston Salmon Festival
   Starts at 6:30am with pancake breakfast, 10am Canada Day parade, then the famous salmon barbecue starts at 11am. 1200 lbs of wild salmon are going to be grilled over over fire pits in Stenston village in Richmond

5. North Vancouver Canada Day Celebrations at Waterfront Park
   Lots of performances and kid-friendly activities

6. North Shore Canada Day Parade
   Pancake breakfast starting at 8am-9:30am and a parade at 10am.

7. Free Pancake Breakfast at Park Royal
   10am-11am free pancakes, music and balloon artists for the kids.

8. Lonsdale Quay Market
   Music, face painting, balloons for kids.