The calm before the storm...

So a week ago, we flew out for a quick little long weekend trip to North Van. It's crossed my mind a number of times that it was the calm (weather wise) before the storm (what the heck is this weather we've got going on here today?!).

We hit the weather just right. Fab weather. A bit ch-ch-chilly, but not a single droplet of rain while we were there. Hello? Is this Vancouver in December? We were going non-stop the entire time. Visiting friends, visiting favourite places, a Christmas dinner for Keith and I (which equalled a sleepover for Max at his friend Jack's house) and...I can't even remember half the stuff we did.

I do know that Max and I spent the majority of Friday at our favourite spots - mostly having to do with the water.  So lets kick this off... We are mighty happy to be in North Van, can'tcha tell?!

Exploring down by the water area that looks over at downtown Vancouver.

Deep Cove...

It was still a bit frosty there when we arrived....unusually chilly for them, but almost downright balmy for Max and I!

We spotted a whimsical Christmas tree outside the shops in Deep Cove. Isn't it fun?! A hint of Dr. Suess, perhaps?

Cates Park is our hands down favourite. The tide was high, so we didn't have a chance to search for sea stars or crabs.

Lettuce anyone? Oops! I think it's sea weed.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....Not sure how a cedar wreath came to be on this old driftwood log down by the water. Festive!

Meeting friends for playdates at the park - this time it was with my friend Kelly and her little girls.

All over the city, you will see these eagles. Each one is painted differently. I suspect they'll be auctioned off for charity at some point. We had fun trying to see how many we could find. I think we spy'd about 5 different ones.

Remember how I talked about Max loving his name? He was so excited to find this sign outside the grocery store.

We managed to squeeze in a Santa visit and afterwards when we got back to our hotel room, Max studiously wrote a letter to him.

Lots of visits with friends...some visits were short and sweet and others were for the whole evening. But they were all good! Juli, it was fabulous to see you. I wish we would have taken a photo of the two of us together. Next time. Seems I always say next time though!

We saw Bob & Patti and their kids...

David & Ailish and their girls...(what's with my son and his posing skills? Ugh!)

I have a bunch more photos on our other camera that I'll try to download tomorrow and post.  I'll leave you with this last picture tonight...playing on the beach. Does it get any better then that? I think not. Especially when I look out the window and see what I see. Seriously. I need to know how we make the wind and white stuff magically disappear??? LOL!