How to have fun with a sick kid

The Dear Sweet Husband and I found the perfect rainy day activity to enjoy today despite Abner's lingering cold. We hopped on the bus and headed out to the Bloedel Conservatory in Queen Elizabeth Park. Not only were the plants and birds beautiful to look at, but it was warm and the moist air under the dome helped Abner's snarfley breathing to boot!

It's been years since I've been to Queen Elizabeth Park. In fact, the last time I was there was for an adventure race that TDSH and I did about seven years ago [note to self: really must do another one of those races...good fun]. Even in today's crappy weather we took our time making our way to the conservatory which sits at the top of a large hill in a dome at the centre of the park. It seems we were just in time to see the last of the beautiful fall colours on the trees.

Our timing under the dome coincided perfectly with a major downpour, so we dragged out our visit with an extra lap around the dome. If you haven't been before, the conservatory is basically like walking through a tropical rainforest. It houses a collection of exotic plants from around the world and a menagerie of exotic birds. We had a lot of fun hearing some of the birds and then trying to spot them in the lush foliage. Some of them were a little easier to spot than others.

We ended the day with a walk all the way down Main Street with a few stops for lunch and coffee. Of course, I also took a few minutes to explore one of my favorite little shops: The Regional Assembly of Text. I seriously cannot get over how cute this store is. You can make your own buttons, use old fashioned typewriters or buy fill-in-the-blank forms for an array of random purposes (I particularly liked the one for letting someone know you're not interested in them). If you're like me a get a little rush when you enter a stationery store, you have to check this place out.