Aside from astronomical real estate prices, the rainy weather is perhaps one of the most common complaints about Vancouver. After our recent heat wave and with all the forest fires in the area, though, I think most Vancouverites welcomed the rain on Saturday with open arms (and open umbrellas). There are few things quite as refreshing as a rainy Vancouver, right?

As true Vancouverites, we didn’t let a little rain put a damper on our weekend plans as a family. We were all a little sad late last month when we heard that French Made Baking on Main Street was closing its doors for good. As you might recall, it was one of our stops on the Vancouver Hot Chocolate Festival earlier this year and we popped by every now and then for a crepe.

Well, they had a stand set up at the Trout Lake Farmers Market on Saturday, so we wanted to take this (potentially last) opportunity to pick up a few croissants. After doing a lap of the lake in the rain, we found a bit of cover to enjoy our brunch… but not before Addie decided that smushing around on a wet beach was a brilliant idea.

A lesson that I’ve tried to internalize from Dr. Scott Sampson on raising “a wild child” is that we need to encourage kids to “get into nature and make your own discoveries.” Thankfully, clean-up wasn’t terribly messy and the rain let up just in time for Addie’s birthday party the next day.

See! It all works out in the end.