Guess what??? On our random walk to Jericho beach last Saturday, we
found a museum. We've seen this place before but it never occurred to
me that it's a full on museum, managed privately by the Native
Daughters of Vancouver! How cool is that? You know that I love old
things and history (which explains why we are using the Sonlight
curriculum) so it was such a treat! It's a 5 mins walk from our home.

It's called Old Hastings Mill Store Museum. It was built in 1865. 

Toys from days of old

Sophie, this was what we used before computers. I remember using a
typewriter to type my essays in 1st year of uni!

This is the oldest building in Vancouver.

It was the Hastings Mill Store at the bank of Gastown where everyone bought their stuff from.
In those days, only one store in town. It actually survived the Great
Vancouver Fire in 1886 because it was so near the water. One of the few
downtown buildings which did. Subsequently in 1930, they moved the whole
building to its current location to retire it as a museum. I love how
they do conservation here.

They even have a video running (black and white, tried to explain to
Sophie that in those days, TV was black and white, she was like
"what?!") on how the building was moved. A big deal in those days.

This was my favorite display. A wooden washing machine!

After that, we went to the playground and then to the park near the
beach. Beautiful day (subsequently the week after it rained day after
day...). One lesson I'm learning, when the sun, run out to play!

After two major tests, we decided that the boys needed a BREAK! Both
Richard and Michito are also first year MDiv students at Regent, just
like James. They have all been working so hard, like 7am-10pm at the
library some days!

So we hosted dinner at our home for our friends last weekend. It's
funny how Sophie kept trying to tell me that Akari is Singaporean
because she has got black hair like us. We all look kinda the same but
yet culturally different. It was really nice having all of them over
and just having a meal together. James cooked Singaporean Chicken
Curry (got our Prima Taste stash), Chicken Heart with tomatoes and
salty veg, oyster omelette, salad and fried pork. And Aki brought beef sukiyaki, a Japanese dish with veggies and beef. Simple but oh so good to share a meal together.

It's so good to have a photographer friend at parties. :) Sarah takes
great photos in the style that we like! She was a photographer in HK
before she came here and she's looking to expand her portfolio here in
Vancouver, how exciting! So all the photos here are taken
professionally :), yay! Check out her portfolio here.

That's Sarah in red.

I love this picture of Sophie, looks all grown up

Levi being read to

I love this picture of Akari reading

Our duplo set arrived just in time

Love this picture, shows Sophie's cheeky face

Thank you God for new friends :)

We've shipped quite a bit over this time round, considering we'll be
staying for at least 4 years. We've learnt from the past few years of
moving around that it is worth investing in shipping our stuff over
right from the start. In fact, we make all our big purchases right
from the start so that it will last us the whole duration that we are
here instead of buying them later. It also helps us to feel more at
home, very important for our soul.

So our last boxes from Singapore arrived over the weekend! We were so
stoked because I packed most of our toys, shoes, winter clothes,
homeschooling materials, and my jewellery in them. Oh and plus some of
Sophie birthday presents that people gave before we left.

The kids were thrilled!

Thank you Mama, Yeye!

Thank you Auntie Sue and Uncle Esmond!

My stash. When I was in Singapore packing this time, I found the
frame for my earrings that I love. I got it from the markets in
Brisbane years ago. I also found the trinket box that I got from Germany when I was backpacking! It's all these little things from home that makes
living away feel a little bit more like home.

And of course, our winter coats! Thank you Yipo for this lovely coat
that will last Sophie thru winter. Although it seems like Sophie has
grown!

Oh and we're so used to doing this that we unpacked 9 boxes of stuff
in 3 hours. Ha!

James was studying in school yesterday so I brought both the kiddos to
the library. Sophie's paradise. Did you know I can borrow up to 50
books/DVDs/mags etc on 1 card? Now I just need to figure out how to
carry them home. Ha.

Fridays are our family outing day. We homeschool only 4 days a week
and James studies on Saturday instead so we can go places/shopping and
not fight with the weekend crowd. Vancouver is big but still pretty
much like Singapore on the weekend, very crowded.

But it was POURING yesterday. So, we decided to go to the Vancouver
Aquarium. We've been wanting to go. We haven't done anything touristy
other than Granville Island coz we've just been so busy. We got into
our warm gear and braved the rain to take the bus.

It is the largest aquarium in Canada and they have dolphins and Belugas!

We also got to see strawberry anemones and pink starfish.

And the scary Amazon creatures like bats and a huge arapaima.

Even Levi was very thrilled to see the movement in the tanks. :)

They also have a little kids' corner for dress up to be little animal
rescuers. Super cute.

And guess who's this?

It was nice to be out after the busy week of studying and test.

It's so nice to see familiar faces. Hsia Ling and us had a really nice time at Granville Island - our most recommended place for visitors. Our new home is only a 5 mins drive away! Sweet!