A Trip to the BIG City

Last weekend, we surprised the kids with an International Trip. For some people, an "International Trip" means a long airplane ride. For others, it means a 2 or 3 day road trip. But ... for the Big D Family ... an "International Trip", means a 10 minute drive North. We didn't tell the kids where we were headed for the day, just that we were taking a little trip to see some place NEW. The border crossing was so quick today, that the children didn't even question what we were doing. So, a couple of minutes down the road, I turned to the back of our BIG van and said, "Oh ... Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel ... we are not in America anymore. We are now in Canada." They said, "Is this where Louvee lives?" (Our friend from the Guest House in Accra) "Yes, Louvee lives in Canada, but he doesn't live near here. Sorry." After arriving in Canada, we headed West for about an hour, until we arrived in ...

Vancouver




Cassie was home for the weekend, so she was excited to go to Stanley Park with us.



When we arrived at the park, I told the kids that we had a surprise for them ... they were going to see someone they knew from Africa. "What???"""

Yes ... when we were in Mole National Park (in Ghana), we met a group of young ladies that were also traveling that weekend. Two of the young ladies were from Toronto, Canada, and they told us that they would be traveling to Vancouver for a cousin's wedding in May. So, last week, Kelly contacted us to see if we could get together. Thus ... the surprise trip to the big city.

They got to the park about 5 minutes after us ... we showed them our African Adventure Scrapbook ... and then we all took a walk along the walkway bordering the bay. But ... it wasn't just Kelly that showed up to see us, she brought many members of her family also. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her dad & mom, uncle, and several cousins as we walked and chatted for over an hour. It was a beautiful day, at a beautiful park, with wonderful company.

When Rachel's little legs got tired ... Hosanna offered a piggyback ride.




When Elijah's little legs got tired ... he decided to rest for a bit.




Papa and Jacob ...




After our beautiful walk, and saying good-bye to Kelly and her family, we drove around the park until we found a place to play.

Cassie wanted a picture of the kids ...



JUMPING!




Then we found the swings ...






and did some more JUMPING!




We also found flowers ...




and Dandylions ...




A fun day was had by all ...

(Can you believe this is only 1/2 of our kids?)




On our way home, we explored Vancouver a bit more, and had a yummy dinner at The Old Spaghetti Factory, in Gas Town.

Then ... we got to experience the U.S. Border crossing (MUCH more difficult than entering Canada). While the border guards were very nice and helpful (not always the case) ... we did encounter a PROBLEM. Jacob, Sarah, and Rachel's Ghanaian passports were missing a critical stamp which validated the visa, that should have been applied when they entered the country at JFK (airport in New York).

After spending a significant amount of time with the guard at the booth (thus creating quite a back up of cars with correct passports), we were finally directed to go inside and re-tell our story to the inside border guards. They confirmed that the passports were valid, and that the children were in the U.S. computer system ... and finally decided to just add the stamp that should have been added in March. Oh well ...