Mmm mmm Good!

Until I left Edmonton, I grew up in Edmonton's Vietnamese Alliance Church. My pastor, who I call Muc Su, is still pastoring the Vietnamese ministries there (there are English ministries for English-speakers). Anyway, we were treated to a special lunch today at his house. He made a traditional Vietnamese meal called
Banh Xeo, also known as Vietnamese Pancakes, or Saigon Crepes. It has been at least eight years since I've had them. I'm including a link of the closest recipe I could find to what Muc Su made. It was delicious! Here are some pictures of Muc Su showing us how to make Banh Xeo.

The end result!

In the evening, we met up with some friends at A Taste of Edmonton. Basically, Sir Winston Churchill Square is packed with over 35 restaurants, each one with different menu items. Tickets are used to purchase the items. Let's see... Some of the things we tried: Creole Jambalaya, Calamari, Pad Thai, Wasabi Beef on a Bun, Lobster & Shrimp Rotini, Sweet Potato Fries, Ginger Beef, Pork Dumplings, Alberta Beef Mini Burgers, Green Papaya Salad, and Lemongrass Beef Skewer. The desserts were to die for! Crepes with Icecream and Chocolate, Mocha Pie, Green Tea Icecream, Chocolate Mango Raspberry Cake, Belgian Chocolate Pear, and Tiramisu. Hopefully, you can see why this festival is one we look forward to every year!

Capital Ex

We had a really busy day yesterday! Early in the morning, we hurried to get downtown in time to find a great spot to catch Edmonton's Capital Ex Parade. The Capital Ex is Edmonton's yearly fair, and the parade kicks off the whole thing. While Jason and Gracie saved our spot, I went off to find the nearest Tim Hortons. In case you didn't know, Tim Hortons is kind of like America's Krispy Kreme, except that it's also known for its coffee and lunches. You know how we always joke that there's a Starbucks on every corner? Well, the same could be said about Tim Hortons up here. The closest one that I went to yesterday morning had about 30 people in line. Yes, I was crazy enough to stand and wait my turn! The parade was ok- it was much better than last year, but there were so many long gaps between some of the floats that people started leaving because they thought it was over. On the whole, Gracie enjoyed seeing all of the horses and seeing the marching bands. By the end, she was really tired and ready for her nap.
Later in the evening, we went with my mom to Capital Ex. Gracie went on a few rides by herself, and Jason joined her on the ones where she was still too small. Before leaving, we were able to go into the Global Connections exhibit hall to view some of the cultural displays, including a Russian dance. We were also able to catch a part of the Peking Acrobats show. Yikes, it creeped me out to see what those people were able to do with their bodies! Seeing these two shows made Jason and I bummed out that this year, we're missing out on our favorite festival! Edmonton has what's called the Heritage Festival every August. Over 60 cultures participate- they each have their own pavilion with food samples, cultural shows, crafts/clothes/artwork and displays about their country. I always leave with a great appreciation for the diversity that exists here. It's a great way to learn more about other people's heritages. Anyway, we're off to Taste of Edmonton later tonight, so I'll share more about that festival when I get a chance.

Edmonton Valley Zoo

Every time that we've visited the Fresno Zoo, we've often felt bad for some of the animals after seeing their habitats... You should know that the things could be worse. We visited the Edmonton Valley Zoo today. I left feeling so bad for those animals. I imagine that it must be really hard for the Valley Zoo! Edmonton is snow-covered for so much of the year. My question is, where do those animals go when it gets to be freezing cold? Maybe that's why there isn't really a variety of animals, and why their habitats are so depressing. Anyway, it was still an enjoyable experience for Gracie. We took Sam, our friends' daughter with us. In these last few days, Gracie's been really hyper and rambunctious. I think Gracie's getting tired of being with us all the time. Either that or we're back in our terrible two's phase. It was nice to have someone else she could spend time with. On another note: I haven't had bubble tea in a week! How did that happen?

Anyways, here's my 6th bubble tea!

Peter's Birthday

It was my brother's birthday on Friday, and he flew up from Calgary yesterday so we could celebrate with a BBQ. Growing up, our family was very close to the Tran family. Over the years, we have been able to maintain our bonds and have remained close. We've been through a lot together, that's for sure! I don't remember ever being without them in my life. They're practically family. Here are us six "kids": Sarah, Binh, Linda, Peter, Thao, Jane (look at how huge I have gotten!)
For Peter's birthday, the guys decided to go golfing (his favorite thing to do) on Monday. Instead of the regular 18 holes, they're actually going for 36 holes. To get a head start, they decided to take some practice shots in the backyard after dinner. It turned into a competition... Jason and competitions! The things guys will do to keep themselves entertained. I think it's funny that the last time Jason golfed was here in Edmonton last summer. In fact, last summer, he went about 6 times during our month long visit. He's only been twice this year. After it got too dark for the guys to see the golf balls, we played Scrabble in teams. Jason and I ended up playing together. Wouldn't you know it, we won! For those of you who don't know, Jason and I can get really competitive, so it was probably for the best that we were on the same team!

International Street Performers Festival

Edmonton is well-known for its many festivals throughout the summer. In fact, it is nicknamed, Festival City. It seems as if there's a new festival of some sort every week. Sir Winston Churchill Square is the location of most of the festivals. It is across the street from Edmonton's City Hall. The one thing I really like about the City Hall is that it really feels as if it's for the community. In the winter, the front is transformed into a public skating rink. In the summer, it's a huge wading pool and every so often, fountains turn on. We're thinking of taking Gracie there later this week. It can get pretty crowded, so we'll see. On Friday, we dropped by downtown for the International Street Performers Festival. We only saw two acts because it was too hot outside to just stand around. To cool off, we found some shade in the Kids World area that was set up to entertain younger kids.

Here's a street performer who got a guy in the audience to join his act

City Hall in the background

The fountains cooling everyone off

Grace passed!

Today was Gracie's last day of swimming lessons at the local rec center. Okay, technically, I guess they're not "swimming" lessons since her whole class was centered around doing things that would help the kids feel comfortable in the water. Sorry, there was restricted camera use allowed at the pool. I was only given a brief moment to take a few pictures and they didn't really turn out. Anyway, after a really rough start, she has made progress every day and today she got her very first report card. She passed the "Duck" level! Yay for Gracie!!! The next level is "Sea Turtle," but since we're actually going to be leaving Edmonton next Sunday (hard to believe!), we won't be able to enroll in that class. It has been fun watching Grace gain confidence in the water. Hopefully, this will transfer to our pool when we get back. Also, it's back to bath time in the bathtub... Remember how two weeks ago, she suddenly developed this intense fear of taking baths?! Hopefully, she has gotten over that and bath time will return to being a fun time!

Gracie's showing off her report card!

Spending Time with Friends

I never in a million years would have thought that someday, someone that I knew in Fresno would end up in Edmonton... Well, it's happened! Our friends, James and Ann Siebert moved in June from Fresno to Edmonton and today, we got a chance to meet up with each other. I have to admit that it's a little strange. Their new home is in the same area as my parents' home. Isn't that funny? Anyway, it was a gorgeous day here in Edmonton, so we decided to take our girls for a picnic in Kinsmen Park. This park is in Edmonton's river valley and aside from the actual playground, also houses one of Edmonton's biggest recreation centers. I used to go play volleyball there quite frequently in my university days. The girls had a wonderful time playing together, and it was nice to spend some time with James and Ann. This past weekend, we went to watch Sam, our friends' daughter play soccer. Well, Jason and I watched the game. Gracie ended up spending most of the game blowing bubbles with "Uncle Peter" (Okay kind of confusing, but I know two Peters: one is my brother, and one is a friend. This Uncle Peter isn't my brother... Actually, we're teaching Gracie to call my brother Peter, Cau Son. We've decided that all of my family members are going to be addressed in Vietnamese. Hey, the girl's gotta learn some Vietnamese somehow!). Anyway, here are some pictures I forgot to post earlier. My 5th bubble tea

Random Stuff

One of our projects this past week was weeding the flower bed in the front of my parents' house, planting some flowers, and trimming their huge tree out front. I will say that it was really hard to plant flowers being 6 months pregnant! My belly was definitely getting in the way!

Yum- one of my very favorite Vietnamese dishes: Bun Bo Hue (it's a spicy beef noodle soup that originates from Central Vietnam)

Gracie has learned how to do a "silly face" and now her first instinct when we get out our camera is to do this!

This is Sam, Thao and Peter's daughter. Gracie has loved spending time with her.

Gracie with her Ba (Vietnamese for Grandma)

Pick 4!

If you don't know about Pick 4 yet, you are totally missing out!!! It's completely addictive and so much fun! (Actually, I do have to say that if you don't like word games, you probably won't like Pick 4). I don't know how the game came about, but we learned how to play the game last year with our friends, Thao and Peter. We have been looking forward to spending some late nights playing Pick 4 with them. We got our first chance on Friday night. You can't really tell, but in the picture, Peter's holding up Scrabble tiles- the whole game is based on Scrabble tiles. Who won?! I can't even say that it was close- I am the champion!!! Woo hoo! (I better not rub it in- Jason and I can get pretty competitive against each other!)

West Edmonton Mall

Most people have heard of the Mall of America, but have you heard of West Edmonton Mall? Aside from the Edmonton Oilers, I'd say that the mall is one of the reasons why people have even heard of Edmonton. By square footage, it is the world's largest mall and boasts attractions such as an indoor waterpark, amusement park, ice rink, and sea lion shows. Of course there are also tons of stores for plenty of shopping- in fact, over 800! No trip to Edmonton is complete without visiting "West Ed!"

For the past two years, my parents have loved taking Gracie to the amusement park to ride the kiddie rides. My dad insists on going on the carousel with Gracie- I guess you could say it's their special thing.
After spending time on some kiddie rides, we walked around the mall for a little bit. There was a super novice (9-10 year olds) hockey tournament going on at the ice rink and we spent some time watching the game. We were impressed by how good they were. Can it be said that only in Canada would there be a hockey tournament in July?! Actually, some of the teams were from the U.S. as well as Canada.

Before heading out, we stopped by the Chinatown part of the mall and grabbed my 4th bubble tea. This time though, I barely got any because Gracie hogged it! She wouldn't even look up long enough for us to take a picture.

Gracie's a Duck

Americans in Canada

Today was 4th of July, but really, it was just like any other day for us over here. We didn't do anything to celebrate aside from Jason and Gracie proudly wearing their "American" shirts. It must have been a weird day for Jason. That's not even the worst of it- we felt like having Mexican food and couldn't find fresh salsa at the grocery store... The horror!!! :) We're going to try some other stores tomorrow and if we still can't find it, we'll make our own!

Anyway, we still have been up to pretty much nothing. We went to a nearby park today after dinner. It seems as though every neighborhood has its own playground here in Edmonton. They're not fenced in- the playgrounds are completely open. That's one thing that annoys us about Fresno- the lack of green, parks (that you don't have to pay to get into), and playgrounds.

Another neat thing that about Edmonton is its recreation program. There are rec centers in almost every community and they offer excellent programs for really reasonable prices. We went to the rec center near my parents' house and they were great about letting us sign Gracie up for swim lessons even though we aren't residents. Gracie is considered a "duck" and it's a parent-tot class that helps the kids to build confidence in the water. Obviously, Jason's the one who's been going with Gracie since I'm scared of water. I would've considered going with her, but in the last two weeks, Gracie has also suddenly developed a fear of water. Just think- what if we both panicked in the pool?! We think Gracie's fear started when she got some shampoo in her eyes a few weeks ago. Some people we've talked to have said that this is just a phase... Bath time has become miserable for us! Anyway, the lessons are for a half hour everyday for two weeks. The first lesson was this past Monday. Gracie was hysterical- she screamed and cried for the entire half hour, and wanted to get out of the pool. Jason didn't give up on her. They were in the pool the whole time. I was on the verge of tears because I totally understand that fear and to see her go through that was difficult to take. But, I also know how important it is that she not go through life the way I have. I know how important it is that she learn how to swim. Next day, I was so nervous and anxious for her. I was in shock the whole half hour- she gathered up courage from somewhere because she didn't cry! She still clung onto Jason and it took a lot of coaxing for her to try some of the things they were asking for, but she eventually did. We celebrated her efforts by going for an ice cream cone afterwards. Today was the third day and she did wonderfully! She was willing to try almost everything, and she didn't want to go when it was time to leave. I am so proud of her! I'm also proud of Jason. He has been incredibly patient and not once has he shown any frustration. When she was screaming and crying, he sang to her and held her, trying to reassure her... He's been so encouraging and has showered her with praises when she finally takes a risk. He's such an amazing dad! I don't have any pictures- keep forgetting to bring my camera, but when I get some, I'll post them. And for the record, yes, I know that I need to also get over my fear and learn how to swim... If my 2 year old can do it... then I should be able to do it, right?!

My 3rd bubble tea!

Happy Canada Day!

I was looking forward to today because I always enjoy the chance to visit the church I grew up in (Edmonton Vietnamese Alliance). It was great to see some familiar faces, to say hello, and get updates. It's been a while since I've spoken as much Vietnamese as I did today! I'm a little rusty- I'm actually surprised I remembered as much as I did. After church, we went back to our good friends', Peter and Thao's new home (Jason helped them move yesterday) so Gracie could nap. I went to IKEA (love that store!!!) with some of my girlfriends, while Jason got a chance to play Nintendo Wii with Peter. My brother, also named Peter, and his girlfriend, Teresa, (pictured above) drove up from Calgary to spend some time with our family. After we went out to dinner, we went home and got Gracie ready for bed. It was great that Peter and Teresa got a chance to read Gracie her night-time story.

The people I spend time with here in Canada didn't really do anything out of the ordinary to celebrate today, so to feel somewhat celebratory with it being Canada's birthday and all, Jason and I headed out to Edmonton's river valley for a fireworks show. It was nice! They were supposed to start at 11pm, but the sun hadn't fully gone down yet, so it actually was past 11pm when the fireworks started. Tons of people came out to see them, and just being a part of the crowd really made it feel like we were celebrating! Happy Birthday, Canada! Now if we can only figure out how to celebrate 4th of July here in Canada... By the way, I had my second bubble tea today!