This morning Todd woke up feeling MUCH better. His fever had abated and his appetite had returned. After a leisurely breakfast, we got dressed and I called valet for our car (valet costs only $3 more per day than the regular self-park pass, so we might as well use it :-P) and when I got in I took a little while to adjust myself, as it was the first time since we'd gotten the car, that I'd driven it.

We drove down to Granville Island, and hoo-boy, the traffic in downtown Vancouver is VERY remniscent of your typical big city, crowded and congested. At least I haven't encountered any idiot drivers yet. When we got to the island itself, I was reminded of Isla Vista, the college town surrounding UCSB. Small, narrow roads full of pedestrians, and scarce parking spots. I lucked out-- someone pulled out of a spot just as I came up to them, and I managed to squeeze our gigantic rental car in (that's another story-- we reserved a midsize car, but as they were out by the time we got there [gee, out of cars at 2am? Imagine that :-P] so we got a full-size car instead: a Dodge Charger).

Public parking was limited to 3 hours, but since it was nearly lunchtime I knew we wouldn't need longer than that. We immediately made a beeline for the Kids Market section of Granville Island, which was full of all kinds of toy shops, an arcade, and a play area. We ate at a place called "Beanstalk Bistro", which featured your basic hot dog and sandwich fare, and then Todd got his face painted with a heart on one cheek and a turtle on the other. Afterward, he got lost playing with all the toys in all the different toy shops :-) Who needs an arcade when you're surrounded by toys? We also visited the playground and the water park behind the Kids Market. If only the weather had been warmer I would've let Todd strip down and splash around.

We drove back to the hotel and Todd's currently napping while I type this. And now Mommy needs to lie down for a bit, I hope I'm not coming down with whatever ailed Todd earlier, my throat's feeling a bit scratchy :-(