More Drama from Janae (The Good Kind....)

Janae has been going to Bard on the Beach every year since she was 8 years old, and throughout all of those years, she has been dreaming of the day when she could attend a Bard summer camp and perform on the big stage. (That's just the way she thinks ... I, on the other hand, am content to be an audience member.)

When she was finally old enough, the program shut down for two years due to Covid.

This year, we were watching the website to see if Bard on the Beach would offer its summer camps again, and they were on! Registration started early in March, so we made this two-week experience Janae's birthday present.

This meant that weekdays from August 15-26, we'd be driving to Vanier Park in the Kitsilano area of Vancouver so Janae could attend the camp from 1-4 p.m. We left home every morning at 11 a.m. and arrived home at around 6 p.m. Eric got really good at reading in the car, and we had fun listening to lots of Elvis, Grease Live, 80s music--and we finally finished our Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire audio book (17 discs!). 

But what did we do during the three hours Janae spent in her camp?

Well.....

1st Monday: We went to a nearby beach that turned out to be an off-leash dog beach. As you might have guessed, Eric fit right in--digging holes and fetching sticks :)

1st Tuesday: We found a more peaceful stretch of nearby beach! This spot was so beautiful that we felt like we were on vacation.

1st Wednesday: We went to Science World to escape the 34-degree heat! We saw exhibits on the T-Rex and the human body.

 

1st Thursday: We went to the H.R. McMillan Space Center. This is also where we parked most days, since it was right beside Janae's camp. We learned about space and saw a live rocket show and a galaxy show on the big planetarium screen.

 

 

1st Friday: We went to Granville Island. This was a lot of fun ... after we parked. (The area was not well suited to large vans.) We visited the Kids Market, water park and lots of shops.

 

 

2nd Monday: We went to Van Dusen Gardens. Unfortunately, most of the blooms had passed and Alaina got bitten by a spider (we think), but both Alaina and Eric loved the hedge maze (which they saw as a Harry Potter tie in!).

 

2nd Tuesday: We went back to Granville Island to buy Harry Potter wands for Alaina and Eric (they'd seen them the first time and we'd regretted not buying them). Eric chose Sirius Black's wand and Alaina picked Cedric Diggory's.

 

2nd Wednesday: We got Ben to come out with us to the Vancouver Aquarium. We had annual passes here when the kids were little but hadn't been for a long time. We saw a 4-D sea lion show and then a live show with actual sea lions outside!

 

2nd Thursday: We went back to the beach ... Janae wanted to come, too, so we stayed longer after her camp and had a nice time together.

2nd Friday: Jason and Ben came with us for Janae's performance! During her last rehearsal, we went to the Vancouver Maritime Museum, where we got to explore an enormous ship. The museum is actually built around this amazing ship (Saint Roche), which had been stranded in the Arctic when it went there on an expedition. This was one of my favorite places we visited--there was so much to see and do, and it wasn't as crowded as some of the other places we'd been.

And then it was time to see Janae's group perform scenes from Twelfth Night. Janae was so good at delivering lines in Shakespearean English and bringing out the play's comedy! (They asked us not to post pictures of the group, so these are just of Janae.) 

 

 

Janae enjoyed the camp from beginning to end and even wants to do it again next year (hmmm).

On Saturday we drove into Vancouver one last time to see A Midsummer Night's Dream at Bard on the Beach. This was Eric's first time seeing a Shakespeare play, and he really loved it. He was laughing and clapping, just getting right into it. 

There was a little difficulty right at the beginning, though--it turns out that our tickets were for Sunday rather than Saturday. Janae got two tickets with her camp, and I asked to buy four more so we could all go together. Somehow, I thought they were for Saturday. When we arrived, someone scanned our tickets and directed us to our seats, but then a group came in claiming to have the same seats. Finally, we discovered the mistake. Luckily the performance wasn't sold out, and we sat just two rows back from our original seats. I felt kind of embarrassed, but very grateful that it all worked out okay.

Looking back over the past two weeks, we have all had so many memorable experiences--from Shakespeare to the dog beach and almost everything in between. And now ... we'll all be happy to stay home for a few days until school starts! 

Yes, I Am the Emergency Evacuation Unit

Last week, Janae was "away" at a youth conference held at UBC. (You'll understand the quotation marks in a minute.)

During this time, I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post from a distant acquaintance whose teenagers were attending the same event. Her statement was something like this: "My kids are having a great time at our church's youth conference, making friends and learning new things--I'm so grateful they're having this experience." 

This stung a little as I wondered what it must be like. Our experience was a bit different, or at least it seemed to be. Here's a glimpse: 

Monday morning--I dropped Janae and two friends off at UBC for the youth conference. 

Alaina, Eric and I made the most of our time in Vancouver by visiting Second Beach--we weren't planning to come back, since Janae's friend's mom would be picking the girls up on Saturday morning.

 

Monday afternoon--I received this message: "I want to go home."

Tuesday morning: "I hate it so much here. I want to go home. I'm so done."

Later Tuesday morning: "I'm literally crying in the bathrooms."

Later Tuesday morning: "They said you can come and pick me up."

Tuesday afternoon--I drove the almost 2 hours back to UBC to pick Janae up (then 2 hours back home). 

Wednesday morning--I took Janae to a walk-in medical clinic.

Wednesday afternoon--Janae wanted to go back to the youth conference, so I drove her back to UBC (did I mention this takes two hours?).

Thursday afternoon--I got this message: "I AM DYING. I REPEAT I AM DYING."

Friday morning: "I think you might have to pick me up because I think I have the stomach flu."

Later Friday morning: "I can't do this anymore."

Later Friday morning: "My counsellor said you should call the site office and notify them that you are going to pick me up."

Friday afternoon--I drove back to UBC (2 hours) to pick up Janae, as well as her friend who was also sick. On the way, I found out that my nephew was sick, too, so we brought him home as well. Jason asked, "What are you, the emergency evac unit?"

I think I was, although no one extended the title officially.

When we arrived at UBC, Janae's first reaction was irritation: Alaina was wearing a UBC sweatshirt, meaning we had gone to the bookstore without her. (Eric was holding a "bendy pen," also from the bookstore, but Janae didn't seem to notice that.)

So, we dragged all the legitimately sick kids back over to the bookstore (leaving one in the car), and Janae looked at the UBC-logoed merchandise. In the end, she left with nothing, commenting "I didn't even like it here." 

But talking to her later, she said she actually had a really good time. She didn't like getting up early, starved because she hated the cafeteria food, and didn't feel well the whole time, but overall, it was pretty fun.

I'm so confused....

Anyway, I now have a lot more experience driving in Vancouver, our van has accumulated substantial mileage, and I have realized that Janae should NOT live in cafeteria dorms when she goes to college. 

Camping with Covid

I was a bit late making summer plans this year. We started hearing about passport delays and knew we wouldn't be able to do anything in the States, then I looked into places closer to home and found that everything was booked until late into the fall. So ... camping? 

Two years ago we'd camped in Mount Robson, which was beautiful but very cold. My girls had only one objective: swimming, but swimming in the icy mountain water was not enjoyable--or possible to do for very long.

So ... camping somewhere warmer?

With most sites already taken in the coastal and interior regions of B.C., we settled on the last spot in an Okanagan Lake campgrounds. It was actually a double spot, but we took it anyway, thinking it would give us the option to bring two tents.

Plus, the town was called Peachland, and our cat is named Peaches :)

The week before our trip was unbearably hot. Temperatures were getting up to 35+ degrees C, and our house was not dropping below 30 degrees, even late at night. We were spending as much time as possible away from home--at the library, at the mall, in public swimming pools or restaurants, on long drives in the van, anywhere that had air conditioning.

I started to feel unwell, which wasn't surprising considering the heat. My throat was sore, and I started to lose my voice--then I developed a bit of a cough. 

And that weekend I had my first positive Covid test. The house was still 35 degrees, and we were scheduled for camping. How was I going to make this happen? Should I even try? 

In the end, we decided to go ahead. I'd wear a mask in the van and sleep in my own tent. Plus, we'd be out in the open air most of the time, where I was unlikely to infect anyone.

So, I got the food organized, Jason packed up all the gear, and we drove up to Peachland--where it was even hotter than home!

We set up in our double spot, which was very nice and spacious.

(You can see my little quarantine tent below. It was kind of scary to sleep alone in a tent, but I survived!)

And then we headed down to the lake, where we would spend most of our time over then next couple of days.

The water was much warmer than I'd ever experienced in B.C. lakes--it didn't take long to get in, and once we were in, the water kept us cool and comfortable.

The scenery was unique and beautiful, too, with the nice, clear lake, the dry Okanagan mountains, and Ponderosa Pine trees everywhere.

We were surprised to learn that there wasn't a fire ban, so we were able to roast marshmallows and hot dogs, make foil dinners and sit by the fire in the evenings.

On Tuesday we drove into the little town of Peachland, but of course we couldn't go into anywhere because of my Covid. Still, it was nice to see some of the attractions, even from the outside. 

And oddly enough, we couldn't find any peaches in Peachland! We had to drive into West Kelowna to find an orchard and a place to buy fruit, which we did on our way home.

When we finally made it home Wednesday afternoon, it was much cooler, and I felt quite a bit better. Still, I don't think I'll be up for another camping trip anytime soon!