Canada 150

This year Canada celebrates its 150th anniversary of Confederation, and as a result there are loads of free events and celebrations. It was just by sheer luck that we happened to find ourselves in Whistler on Canada Day, as there was so much going on.
The only downside was that the Whistler parkrun (only started here two weeks ago) was cancelled due to the celebrations which was a real shame. However I made the most of it and went for a lovely early morning run. I was out by 6am and the town was practically deserted at the time so I stopped to take some photos of the empty streets, before I continued onto the trails which were magnificent. I was a bit worried about running into a bear but thankfully it didn't happen!
After breakfast we walked up to the upper village where there was a kids zone with a multitude of activities. The kids chose to go on the water rollers and the luge and then we headed back to Whistler village to find a good spot to watch the parade. We waved our flags and wore our maple leaf tattoos (which were given to us at a tourist information kiosk yesterday), ate a couple of ice creams and then wandered back to our accommodation for a rest. We all had a lovely afternoon sleep and then the kids braved the freezing small outdoor pool until tea time.
In the evening we walked back into the town and went to the Olympic Plaza (Whistler hosted the 2010 Winter Olympics) to watch an outdoor concert by the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra. We took a blanket and nibbles and managed to get a great spot at the front. When the Canadian national anthem was played I got goose bumps as the music was wonderful and the atmosphere was electric. Both kids were into it, especially Olivia as she will be playing in the school band next year, so she was searching for the person playing the instrument she has chosen - the euphonium!

A great day - Happy Birthday Canada!