Today was BC Spirit Day, the first anniversary celebrations of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympics Winter Games, and we headed downtown Vancouver to surprise Bryce with a day full of festivities of his favourite thing ever, the Olympics!

First stop was Robson Square where we saw Fin, the Vancouver Canucks mascot, skating in the covered, open-air ice rink and watched the First Nations welcoming ceremony and performance with Tsatsu Stalqayu (Coastal Wolfpack). The CEO of VANOC, John Furlong, the Premiere of British Columbia, Gordon Campbell, and the mayor of Vancouver, Gregor Robertson, and a couple of Olympians and Paralympians athletes were just a few of the guest speakers at the welcoming ceremony.

Next stop was the Vancouver Art Gallery which had free admission for the day and we saw Vancouver-based artist Ken Lum’s exhibition which included the Mirror Maze with 12 Signs of Depression, which was really reflecting. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures in the gallery.

Afterwards, we headed to the West End Community Centre where one of the big surprises for Bryce was at. The centre was having a ‘2010 All Over Again! Golden Memories’ event where they had kids crafts, Olympic trivia (which I rocked at, by the way), and an opportunity to take your picture with a real Olympic and Paralympics torch! Bryce draws Olympic torch carriers and Olympic torches all the time, but he had never seen one in person before. We knew this would be something special for Bryce and it was the prime reason we spent the entire day in the pouring Vancouver rain, so he could hold a torch.

We would like to thank the staff at West End Community Centre who were very considerate and generous and let us take a dozen and a half billion pictures of Bryce holding the torch. It really means a lot to us, and you definitely made him the happiest little boy ever in the world, so thank you so very much!

The day didn’t end there. We walked to the Vancouver Convention Centre for the grand finale of our trip - to visit the Olympic Cauldron as it was getting relit for the one year anniversary of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games!

The whole day was an incredible experience and the energy of everyone was just amazing! You Gotta Be Here!

Thanks for reading,
Tanaya