Living in Harmony

We decided to participate in the Be A Tourist in Your Own Hometown event this year. A great friend had some extra tickets and there were several places that we thought would be a lot of fun, so we took the opportunity.

We went to Butchart Gardens first, which to be honest were a bit of a let down. I have been to Butchart in the late spring and summer when everything is in bloom, and it is gorgeous. The beginning of March was very bare and there was very little to see. The Japanese Garden was nice though and Fiona especially liked all the fountains.

Moss bunnies

A 78 year old Sequoia

Stopping to smell the flowers

Catching a ride

Then we went to the nearby Butterfly Gardens, which were much more what we were hoping for. The sun was out and the butterflies were very active. Two butterflies landed on Fiona, which actually kind of scared her, and upset Meredith because Meredith had been hoping so badly to have one land on her! Oh well, maybe next year.

There was a station with microscopes set up to look at various items they had arranged. The girls both took a turn. I don’t remember that from last time we had visited, so that was a neat addition!

They had little hair clips for sale that turned colour out in the sun, but you couldn’t tell what colour they were until you’d bought them and brought them out. The girls loved them, but three of the first four were a pale orange colour. So we went back and got a few more. Meredith decided she should wear them all at once (there are more at the back!).

After the Gardens, we went downtown. Everything downtown had crazy long line ups though. Meredith really wanted to do the Harbour Ferry tour and said she didn’t mind waiting in line for it, so we got into line.

The boats only take 12 people at a time and they are out for a half hour each, so we ended up waiting for just over an hour. Meredith made friends with a little boy in front of her and they were able to pass the time pretty well, even in the cold wind that started up.

Fiona had fallen asleep by then, and I decided to keep my feet on dry land and went off to see what deals Roger’s Chocolate had for the “tourists” (free chocolate!) while Kris and Meredith did the harbour tour.

Meredith had been looking forward to a bus ride (so much so, that she’d packed a backpack specifically for the bus four days ahead of time (since we first mentioned the possibility) and had been counting down the days). Originally we were going to take one of the bus tours, but decided it would make more sense to just take a city bus. We were heading out to meet some friends for dinner, so I drove while Kris and Meredith caught a bus.

Despite off and on periods of cold and wind, it turned out to be a pretty fun day. As the girls get older, there are other events that would be fun to do as well.

Click any pictures to see them bigger. These are taken with a five year old camera that we gave to the girls to use as their camera, because I have two nicer, more expensive cameras. The two that are mine, that I take extremely good care of, are both broken. The old camera that gets dropped, thrown around, and used constantly, still works (mostly) perfectly. Go figure…