♪could you whisper in my ear ♬

Today I had drums (because of BBQ yesterday) in the early afternoon. Then, I went to Laura's for a while and we walked in the woods behind her house: first the gate wouldn't open, then it wouldn't shut; I almost got lost except I left arrows; and we saw Cottle Creek. All in all, it was a grand adventure and tons of fun.

I spent a while getting my dad set up with MSN messenger on his computer. He's got it figured out now I think. Dinner was pretty good, basically chicken nuggets & fries in the oven. After dinner I went downtown to meet Laura & her dad at the HarbourLynx terminal. We all got on the ferry to go see the fireworks in Vancouver. Here's a picture of the Coast Mountains across Georgia Strait:

We played Scrabble while we sat, as it was windy and noisy outside, and the trip was longer than the show. Once we got there, we headed out to the front deck, but I didn't get a very good spot. Laura was having a little trouble because she couldn't see over the people as well as I could. The show was pretty good, though we couldn't hear the music well. Vancouver's skyline looked pretty cool, but I didn't get a good picture of it; I was struggling a lot with my camera to get good night shots, and I had major camera shake issues. Here is a picture of the fireworks:

All in all, it was pretty neat, though I would have rather been on a sturdier boat or land (to hear the music) as my vantage point afforded neither seat nor easy photographing. We went to Laura's house, had tea as she packed for Naramata tomorrow, and chatted with her mom. I may not see her again for a year, but I may have a chance on the 15th; she's one of the people I'll miss a lot. Anyway, now I am tired & hungry so I'm going to bed (with a little bit of eating).

Liftoff to Taiwan: 12 days