Alaska Cruise: Day 1 Leaving Vancouver

Neil and I joined our friends, Bonnie and Mark, on a seven day Alaska cruise on Holland America's ship Zuiderdam, sister ship to the Oosterdam which we sailed on last year.  We had glorious weather, and beautiful scenery.

Here we are leaving Vancouver and starting up the inside passage on Saturday, July 27:

Views of Canada Place and Stanley Park

 

 

 

Going under the Lion's Gate Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

Views of Mt Baker

 

 

 

Heading Up Towards the Sunshine Coast

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dylan's Graduation Celebration

Dylan's high school graduation was on Wednesday, June 26.  We did not attend the grad ceremony at the school but here are some family pictures from that afternoon:

That evening, we were delighted to be with all the family (both Vince's and Shannon's) at the Cactus Club Restaurant for a celebratory dinner. The setting in the solarium at the back of the restaurant was perfect - bright and overlooking the back garden.We started with a wonderful selection of appies and wines, followed by our choice of main course off the menu and then a lovely cake.

 

Dylan won many awards from the school, displayed here:

 

 

Dylan will be going to the University of Ottawa this fall to continue his studies.

 

 

 

 

Newest Addition to our Family

Please welcome Chloe Pearl into the world - she was born yesterday to Neil's niece, Gillian, and her husband, Adrian (see their wedding pictures from my August, 2012 blog below).  Chloe weighed 7 lbs, 13 ounces and was born in Montreal.  Neil's brother, Jack, is a first time grandfather and is over the moon with delight.

Chloe is such a beautiful baby:

 

 

 

 

Walk at Van Dusen Gardens with Ellen

Today Ellen and I met at Van Dusen Botanical Gardens for a walk,  a visit and afternoon tea.  Lovely to see her and hear about all her dragon boating and outrigging.  She works so hard at it.

I practised with my new camera again and took a few pictures:

Wooden Squid Sculptures

Wine & Dine for Africa - 2nd Annual Dinner

Attended a Wine & Dine for Africa Dinner this past Thursday evening, presented by various Metro Vancouver "GoGo" women's groups, featuring an African theme dinner.  Each of the sponsoring groups had a booth to sell their home made crafts and talk about their projects.

All of the net profits go to the Stephen Lewis Foundation's "Grandmothers to Grandmothers" project.  This project assists African grandmothers to raise and support their grandchildren, orphaned due to the death of their parents from AIDS.  Here is an explanation from the website:

"Canadians have raised an astonishing $16.5 million for African grandmothers through the Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign. Resources from the Campaign are invested directly at community level, with grassroots organizations that provide grandmothers and the children in their care with supports that include food, educational supplies, uniforms and school fees, medical care, HIV counselling and testing, adequate housing and bedding, counselling and support groups, home visits, and much more."

Tote Bags

The buffet dinner featured many African dishes, from fish, chicken, beans, bananas and more beans.  Very tasty, but my GI system wasn't used to the new foods and I suffered for a few days with discomfort.

More Pictures with New Camera

Sunday, Neil and I went for a walk at Queen Elizabeth Park, and of course I took my new camera to practice the various settings.  Here are some of the shots:

Dogwood Tree in full bloom

Using the "Poster" setting

New Camera

Decided a few weeks ago that I wanted to buy a new camera as my old one, a Panasonic Lumix is 5 years old and there have been so many advances since then.  Trying to decide what I needed in a camera, and what features I would realistically use, was the first step.  The new cameras have WiiFi and GPS and I decided against those features.

I really wanted a longer zoom, and a bigger width for landscapes, as most of my pictures are taken on our vacations.  I also decided that I did not want a DSLR because my tastes and needs are much simpler at this time.  Probably later.

So after talking to many people, and researching online, I decided on a point and shoot Canon SX 240 which is 12 megapixels, 20 x zoom (40 x zoom digitally) and 24 mm for wider shots.  I loved the Canon I owned about 10 years or so ago.  I always found the pictures to be so clear and sharp.  This SX 240 model was being cleared out at a fabulous price because the next model,  SX 280, has come into the stores, but I decided to stick with the SX 240.

Over the last few days I have downloaded everything, and studied all the features, which is plenty.  Took some photos for practice in my home and back garden.

Part of my grandmother's collection of pottery from England

This bookcase shot was taken in the Auto Setting

This bookcase shot was taken in "Super Vivid" which intensifies the colours

Peonies in my back garden - taken in "macro"

A large hosta plant in my back garden, shot in "auto"

Another shot of the large hosta, this time shot in the "poster" format, 

which intensifies the contrast between the colours - interesting

Still so very much to learn, but it will be fun.