The Vancouver Edition

While normally I would wait several months before getting an update out, I figured I'd try to redeem myself by letting another one loose quite soon. Truth be known, so much stuff happened while Sarah and I were in Vancouver that there's enough for it's own section. Here we go:

Day 1: Wednesday, July 20

We arrived at the gate to find out our plane was delayed by a little bit... something about a part replacement. The flight consisted of me working on my toast for the wedding and Sarah reading me excerpts from the ever-popular Sky Mall Magazine. Riveting.

We arrived in Vancouver late, around 11:30pm. Straight home to bed.

Day 2: Thursday, July 21

Sarah and I started our day by visiting Pouria for lunch at Browntek. Notice Pouria's (lack of) facial hair.

Sarah then sporadically though we should go surprise Dave at work. Off we went downtown. Here we see Dave touching my wife... that creep.

After that, we went to Wal-Mart to do some shopping, zipping around in my mom's little Echo, which almost doesn't even need a parking stall... just an empty pocket.

As we pulled up to my parent's house, we received a call from Dave and Rick asking us to visit at the church. Why not... I got the chance to see Rick in his make-shift studio in the church preschool.

Right after that, it was time to get back to the lodge for the BBQ. Thanks to everyone who made it... what an awesome way to start a vacation and hang out with friends. There was food, fun and fishies as some swam in the pool and made just a little too much noise. These guys? Make noise? Never...

Day 3: Friday, July 22

Today was the day of a boat adventure. We went down to Sewell's Marina in Horseshoe Bay, hopped into our trusty little boat and took off. During our trip we darted around a few of the islands and headed over to Keats Camp.... just a look. That's all.

After showing Sarah their dock from a distance, we traveled to the lovely Anvil Island. There, we met with Serena and were able to hang out with her for a bit, as well as watch her go tubing.

Since Sarah couldn't make it to Anvil this year, it was great to have this opportunity to show her around the island, if only for a short while. I was able to give her a complete tour of the grounds.

The trip went incredibly well. We got to enjoy the sunshine, see some seals and test our skills with some fairly bumpy water...

Ships Ahoy!

After we got back it was pretty much a quick turnaround to get to Pouria's bachelor party. Before we went, however, the groomsmen needed to pick up our tuxedos, which we couldn't try on because the store was closing. So, we just took them and planned to try them on later.

As we gathered together in the Superstore parking lot to meet for the bachelor party, Dave got bored and sacked Shawn. Pretty funny..

Everyone at the party got to wear their very own commemorative Pouria pin.

For our first stop, we tried to surprise him with a trip to the Go Karts, but by the time we had gotten there, the cat was pretty much out of the bag. The highlight of the races? Pouria in a terrorist mask. :)

From there it was off to our favorite pasta place: Anton's. Good eats, plus Pouria finished his meal, so he got a free t-shirt. Oh, and the waitress wore a Pouria pin, too.

After dinner, we went to the Pasman's where we crashed (from being full and tired) and listened to a live performance of the Pouria Song.

WARNING: You should be at least 15 before viewing this, plus know Pouria (and gang) really, really well. :)

It is DEFINITELY not intended for all audiences.

The Pouria Song

Day 4: Saturday, July 23

Our day started with the wedding rehearsal at Sutherland,

Followed by us guys trying on our tuxes for the first time.
 

Although we tried to convince them otherwise, Pouria and Katharine were quite adamant that Shawn wore his shirt to the wedding. Personally, I think the ladies would have loved him like this:
 

Between the rehearsal and the Groom's Dinner/Lunch, we had a little bit of time to pop over to Shawn and Erin's house. I'll probably get in trouble for posting these, but here we see Dave rolling around in the living room....

and grabbing Shawn's face (which, apparently, is a fun thing to do... everyone should try it).

From Shawn's house we stopped at the Boyles for a brief moment, then it was off to the Spaghetti. Normally, the highlight of this gathering is to hang out with the couple, but in this case it was meeting Ali (Pouria's brother).

In the evening, there was a gathering loosely called a "Minnesota Reunion". It was basically a chance to have everyone over and show them some of the video footage from their trip to Minnesota. Oh, and for Shawn to try and "clean" Mike's computer.

More Shawn face grabbing. Seriously, try it sometime...

Day 5: Sunday, July 24

Today was the day of Pouria's wedding. I was really glad that Sarah and I could be there. The wedding went really well and it was such a privilege to be a part of it all. Since between Shawn and I there's almost 500 pictures, I'll just let you look through a few here (unless you had the time to go through all of Shawn's)

Congratulations, Pouria and Katharine!

Day 6: Monday, July 25

Sarah and I went to Pouria's apartment and picked up a spare key and saw the newlyweds before they left for their honeymoon. From there we went on a walk along Ambleside.
 

In the evening, we joined YAM for their weekly gathering to take food to the hungry downtown.

After YAM, there was an impromptu game of barefoot soccer. Although we weren't able to play, we caught the tail end of it.

Following that, the Camp 5 program team (with the addition of Sarah and Serena) met at Starbucks for a pre-camp meeting. Or first, really, which is a good thing to do considering camp was only 4 days away.

Day 7: Tuesday, July 26

After the meeting the previous evening, it was time to do some serious camp prep. One of our tasks was to find me a Peter Pan costume that I could use for one of the camp theme nights. We ended up at good ol' Value Village where we grabbed anything green. As you can see, some of what we found was not terribly flattering.

However, we did end up finding a woman's green outfit and a brown belt thing which ended up making a fairly convincing costume.

While Sarah and I were at home working on a few things, the Boyles and Mike came over for a little swim. This time, there was not aquatic show and no complaints. There were, however, some impressive jumps.

In the evening, Sarah and I were invited to the Boyle's for dinner at which we ended up playing XBox. Here is my XBox-playing-face which Sarah finds incredibly attractive, I'm sure.

For those in Minnesota, here's a familiar face found in the Boyle's downstairs bathroom.

Day 8: Wednesday, July 27

Sarah and I spent our last full day together on a walk around Stanley Park. We saw the hollow tree, ate lunch (bread and cheese) and, of course, worked on my nerd tan (which, I found out, didn't do much, even though I could feel the burn).
 

When we got back to our car, we found a parking ticket, claiming that we parked where we shouldn't have. I agree that it is a small corner lot, but if the car fits (which it did nicely), and they have no signage, why not park there? I took a few photos to build our case. :)

Day 9: Thursday, July 28

Sarah, Serena and I had lunch before taking Sarah to the airport.

 Sarah and I each had their strawberry lemonade beverage... Mmmm. Very tasty and very filling.

I then took Sarah to the airport where we said goodbye for the next 2 weeks. Even though the time apart wasn't nearly as long as it used to be when we were dating, it was still hard to see her go.

In the evening, I went and hung out with Dave as we both worked on camp-related things. We drank tea.


Day 10: Friday, July 29

I don't have any photos from this day. I spent it all running around getting ready for camp.

Day 11 - 18: Saturday, July 30 to Saturday, August 7

Ahhh. Camp 5. What a great time. It was definitely fun to be back there again, although it did take me a day or two to get adjusted.

I had the privilege of working with Krysta and Amanda again. It was awesome to be a team once more and we really felt like we bonded more than any other year, which was an added bonus.

To see some photos and video from the week, check out the Camp 5 website here:

http://camp5.anvilisland.org

Day 18: Saturday, August 7 (PM)

After getting back from Camp, the staff continued the long-standing tradition of dinner and fireworks. For me, it was really great to look over this large group of people from different places and walks of life, having all shared in the same camp experience.

I also got to make out with a Canadian flag, which is something I haven't been able to do for a while.

Day 19: Sunday, August 8

Church on Sunday. It was good to be back at Sutherland, if even working the computer in the sound booth. Here you can see all the staff from camp that were present this morning.

From Sutherland we went straight to the airport to see Andrew off as he flew home to Scotland. Needless to say, it's amazing how many silly adventures you can find yourself in at the airport. If parking wasn't so darn expensive, I'm sure we'd do it more often.

For dinner, we all gathered at Mike's house to share in a meal of tortillas and plain old goofiness.

Here's an odd sight:

But the evening didn't stop there, as there was a spontaneous game of hide-and-go-seek. Nowhere on this planet would you find a group of friends like us. Here is Jo's hiding spot...

From there, a few of us walked to the theatre to catch a viewing of "March of the Penguins". If you haven't seen it, I highly recommend it... truly fascinating.

It had such a profound impact on Krysta that she too wants to become a penguin...and march... through the snow and ice... and... mate. I guess.

Day 20: Monday, August 9

Thankfully, I had the chance to catch up with Jess before leaving. It worked out well that our paths would cross in Vancouver, since she's leaving for Australia within a month.

We had breakfast at a restaurant called "Bon's Off Broadway", a quaint mom-and-pop type place decorated with movie posters and other random paraphernalia. It took us a while to find it, but since they serve all-day breakfasts, we were in no hurry.

In the evening, the family celebrated Serena's 24th birthday. It was a great time spent together.

After dinner, I join YAM once again for a trek downtown to serve food. This time we had a ton of stuff, and it was a little chaotic serving, but still a great experience.

On the way back, we couldn't help but stop off for a drive-though Starbucks.

Now that's a HUGE drink!

Once back in North Van, there was a time of hanging out at the Pasman's.

Even Shawn's confused by the new growth on Pouria's face. Arrrr. Iranian Pirate!

And there you have it. Thank you to my friends and family for making this trip so awesome.

To the gang: Continue making awesome memories that will last forever. You guys rock!