Took both the kids and their grandpa for their vaccines one morning this week. S was very quiet while waiting in line, and refused to take off her jacket and sweater ahead of time. The kind lady who took our ID recommended we strip the kids down ahead of time, so that there's no fussing when we sit down with the nurse or whoever gives us the vaccine. 

I was slightly nervous that S would have a meltdown because there were a few other children crying and screaming around us. One little girl could be heard across the entire room, and probably outside the building as well, and she hadn't even had the needle near her yet (future anti-vaxxer in the making?). 

I got my vaccines first. Then, it was S's turn. 

Amid the chaos around us, S just sat in my lap, quietly observed the lady preparing the vaccine, had the shot, and we went over to the colouring station. Baby P was cool as a cuke, as per usual. 

A few days later, unrelated to the vaccine, and probably because we exposed ourselves to other sick children, both kids are once again sick. Their symptoms are mild, only runny noses, so I'm hoping it will run its course in the next few days. It's extra tough right before mealtimes, because both of them are hungry and want to be held. I only have one pair of arms and barely enough strength to carry one of them because they're growing so fast. Somebody will always be left on the ground, screaming and kicking. Usually, somebody will be sad, and that is often me.

Thankfully, we live in a great city with lots of food options to refuel after an exhausting day of being patient with the kids. H and I decided to visit Downlow Chicken after an especially gruelling week: 

We ordered three pieces of chicken thigh by the piece, which were served with pickles over a piece of white bread. We ordered three separate flavors - the jerk, the lemon pepper, and the cool ranch. The flavors tasted the same to me, maybe the seasonings intermingled into a hot mess of spices. 

This was so so so delicious, and the best fried chicken in town. 

The skin was crispy like a potato chip, yet the insides were juicy and tender, the perfect piece of fried chicken. How do they make the skin so crispy?! What is in their oil? And how come it's not greasy at all??

Things seem to be looking up! My COVID-19 restrictions are loosening up (I say "my" because other people have different comfort levels with the constantly evolving rules and regulations), because we now have our first vaccine and the case numbers have taken a deep dive, so we had a few friends over for lunch.  P brought over some fried chicken from Chirpyhut Fried Chicken , which just opened up a location in Burnaby, relatively closer than the other locations around the Lower Mainland. You can see a sliver of the Salted Egg Yolk whole chicken in the top corner, and a full box of the black meteorite fried chicken wings:   

The salted egg yolk is not actually infused into the chicken. The flavor comes from a separate container of salted egg yolk dipping sauce, which was brutally underwhelming. Not much flavor in the chicken itself. 

The meteorite chicken looks impressive, but it didn't taste very special, just like regular fried chicken. It didn't taste bad, and it did create a wow moment when we opened up the lid, because it looked like we would be eating lumps of coal. I would probably repurchase this for a future dinner party or potluck, but it's not a staple everyday fried chicken option for me. There are plenty of juicier, crispier, and tastier fried chicken shops around town.  

I had originally hoped PVVJ would come over after the completion of our kitchen reno, but it was right in the middle, when we didn't have a backsplash or working sink. They completely missed the original chartreuse tile backsplash, which was falling apart at the edges:   

They had this view for the afternoon: 

And then they missed the (almost) final product, which came together about 2 weeks after: 

FINALLY! 

From start to finish, it took about 2 months. The backsplash was first removed in mid March, and we had to wait for our contractors to take a special class before they could start working with the original type of stone we had picked out for the backsplash and countertop (Dekton...). We ended up changing our minds, because the print on that man made stone wouldn't look as nice, and by April, we had picked out the quartz style that we currently have installed. Then, we found out that the sink we originally wanted to order from Costco actually has awful reviews, and it was eventually removed from the Costco website before we got around to ordering it. This was the beginning of the hunt for a white sink and faucet set. 

The first sink we picked out was a Blanco white granite material. Because the plumbing for our sink has special slow drainage in order for it to fit into its current configuration, the dimensions of the sink are very specific, and it took a while before we found one that could arrive quickly. Sadly, it cracked in transit, and we were devastated with the delay. We ended up going to Home Depot, picked up a regular sturdy, reliable stainless steel sink, for half the price. 

Then, the old faucet started leaking! We had planned on using the old faucet until the new white one arrived, but now, we would have to replace the whole thing. The previous faucet was made with copper, and it must've been at least a decade old, so it rusted through.  Hopefully, our Brita filter has helped us keep these any old minerals and chemicals out of our body... 

We're going to change out the cabinet handles, maybe swap out the wine bottle holder screwed into the back set of cabinets, and then, I'll be satisfied.  This space no longer looks like this though - we've already cluttered up the countertops with our rice cooker, hot water boiler, and our trusty Brita filter. 

Follow along for more updates of our almost 100 year old house!