In Balance

The past few weeks have been pretty busy around the Cool House. Daycamps or swimming lessons every weekday for the past month, deck improvements for the past couple weeks, and--as per usual--Sean's been very busy at work. After running ourselves ragged (personally, I've been painting the deck to the point of allergic reaction), it was time for a day off.

We took our bikes up to Stanley Park in Vancouver, BC. It's a very large city park right the the heart of Vancouver, kind of Central Park-esque, with a Canadian twist. A very nice paved bike and pedestrian path goes all around it, about 8 km total (conversion please? about 5 miles). I borrowed a bike from the neighbors, Guyan used the bike Sean had refinished for him, and Owen rode on a bike ride-along trailer behind Sean.

A highlight of the bike ride was the balanced rocks. On the west side of Stanley Park, just after coming around a corner, there was a large field of balanced rocks. You could hear or see several cyclists coming around the corner and skidding to a stop with a "Wow!"

Initially, Sean was a skeptic and said there had to be glue or rods holding them together. After chatting with the artist (below) and watching him balance three rocks, even Sean was (mostly) convinced it was all real.

I, calm in mind and body (ha!), was a believer from the get-go. Tree pose in tennis shoes is not comfortable.

And finally, the reason why we really do it. Ice cream!!! Thank you, Sean, for standing in line with the boys for 20 minutes and struggling through the order (a busy day--they were out of the first three choices) while I watched the bikes (a.k.a. laid on the grass and took a short snooze). A perfect day!