steveprattfamily.com The adventures of the Pratt family in Vancouver - Steve, Lisa, Cedar, Dawson, and Sandy (the dog).

At low tide, a cave opened up on the beach near the place we were renting - here’s the slimers that were inside…

Posted under Travel

While on Quadra Island last week, our host was showing us how to catch a carp or cod off his dock.  He got a good yank on the rod and commented that it was a real fighter - maybe because it turned out to be a shark!

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While on vacation in B.C.’s Discovery Islands, I shot this video of a bald eagle swooping in and snatching a fish from the water a couple feet away from us.  It’s pretty cool, so WATCH IT!

Download Bald_Eagle.mov (864.4K)

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On our trip home from Harrison, we passed this guy, who reminded us of TV’s Mr. Belvedere, the beloved (and now regretably deceased) English butler to a family of Americans.  I’m sure this driver is a fine and upstanding gentleman, but he truly looked like a complete jackass with a leather driving hat (head cone?) in his classic convertible.  We slowed down and let him catch up to get more pics, just in case he actually WAS Mr. Belvedere, returned from the grave.

Posted under Humour, Travel

We took a day trip today to Harrison, where we went swimming in two spectacularly scenic lakes: Harrison Lake and Lake of the Woods.  Lake of the Woods was only slightly tarnished by the fact that it is actually a rest-stop on the side of a highway and many of our fellow sunbathers were drunken yahoos.

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I am a geek - I was on a plane to Saskatoon recently and spent half the flight taking pictures of mountains and cloud formations out the window.  Got some neat stuff though…

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While visiting our friends George and Helena in Victoria this past weekend, we all checked out the 100th edition of the Oak Bay Parade.  Cedar had a great time, as most of the floats hucked out lollipops and candy to all the kids.
While much of the action was fairly normal and predictable (marching bands, the mayor on an old-fashioned fire truck), there were a few notable oddities.  First up, the Star Wars Imperial Forces Legion.  They had a full banner doctored up to look like a union local, and they all walked the parade route in full Imperial Star Wars regalia.  Why they joined the parade, I have no idea, but the Force was clearly with them.

Next up, there was the walking turd.  Seriously.  The legendary “Mr. Floatie” was on hand to participate in the parade and protest the dumping of doodie into the ocean in Victoria.  My wife, Lisa, thought it was Mr. Peanut from the Planters Nut corporation and was quite shocked and horrified to find out that while he may indeed contain chunks of nuts, he was in fact a walking turd.
Finally, we had the men’s fitness float.  Their display kicked off with a banner touting a men’s fitness busines that would get guys in shape in 30 minutes a day - kind of like a ‘Curves’ for men.  BUT, the dudes holding the banner were shockingly old out-of-shape lardies.  Even better, following them was a pickup truck with exercise equiment in the back.  On one set of weights, a senior citizen almost had a stroke (see below), and the other machine was manned by this chunky biker-gang looking chap… Not exactly a stellar set of “After” photos.

Posted under Travel

I just got back from a trip to Montreal for the 5th Anniversary party of Bande A Part, the french cousins of Radio 3.  The party was fantastic, with some great music from Akido, Karkwa, Les Dale Hawerchuks, and Malajube.  Here’s the odd part… although I was in Montreal for only 18 hours, the ONLY food that I ate the entire time was from Schwartz’s.  I went twice (dinner and early lunch) and gorged on smoked meat, pickles, and fries both times.  I had a total of four fatty, dripping wet smoked meat sandwiches and have rarely been happier or more satisfied.  The only downside?  I sweated meat on the plane home for six hours.  Soooo worth it…

Posted under Travel

We made our first family trip to Ottawa to see Brian and Kerri-Lynn’s new place in Kanata (which is amazing!).  The highlight was a trip to the Rideau Canal on a warm, sunny day.  Cedar and Harrison skated on cheesecutters, and everything culminated in a snowball fight in which Cedar kicked the crap out of her Uncle Beef.  We even have proof…

Posted under Travel

Had a real banner day this week.  Drove from Toronto to Ottawa in a minivan with a 3 year old and 4 month old.   The normally 4 hour drive took about 6 ½ hours due to numerous pee breaks, snack breaks, breastfeeding breaks, and diaper changing breaks.

Got into Ottawa at about 3pm and had to call a cab at 3:15pm to take me to the airport to catch a flight to New York.  The cab didn’t show up until 4:15pm because he got lost.  I got to the airport and the automated check-in wasn’t working, so I waited ½ hour to see an agent, who informed me that the CBC travel agent booked my flights and hotels for NEXT week instead of this week.  She directed me to a new line to wait in to change my tickets.

While waiting another 45 minutes to get tickets for the flight I would soon be late for, I called the travel agent and changed my hotel booking in New York to tonight.  Then found out the 6:05pm flight was delayed until 6:25pm.  At 6:30pm, we boarded, but because of high winds in La Guardia, they only had a couple runways open, so we didn’t attempt to take off until 7:15pm.

I say “attempt” to take off, because a warning light went off as soon as they began accelerating telling them something was wrong with the brakes.  So we went back to the gate and after 15 minutes of sitting and picking our asses, were escorted off the plane while they tested it.   

Just as we arrived back at the gate, all the bars and restaurants were shutting, so no one could anything to eat or drink.  We had the option of waiting to get on a 9:30pm flight, or switching to take a flight the next morning.  Sensing further doom, I opted for a 6:45am flight.   I had to wait 20 minutes to get ‘escorted’ out of the U.S. area of the airport and get a cab chit to head back to my brother’s place in Kanata. 

BUT, the good news is that because I was the first pessimist to pull the plug on traveling, I was also the only one free and clear, getting my cab chit, when they announced that the 9:30 flight was also cancelled because there were no free gates at La Guardia… so at least I avoided waiting in a giant 2 hour line to get a cab chit with everyone else on the flight ahead of me.

Mmmmmm.  Thanks, Air Canada!

Posted under Travel