BrickCan 2017 - LEGO Public Exhibition

BrickCan is finally here after a year long wait and I checked out the public exhibition today which had tons of amazing LEGO builds on display. It was amazing and awe-inspiring to see the creativity and what you can do with a box of LEGO bricks. I'm definitely going to be opening up some more sets to build this weekend! Check out some of cool builds below! 

There was a pretty large winter scene that I really liked! There were a lot of people around so I couldn't take a full picture but here are some parts of the build.

The lit up ice rink was very cool!

The Vancouver 2010 Olympic cauldron!

The Burrard St bridge.

I thought this Victoria bus build was very nice and detailed!

Arch of Constantine. I really liked this one.

Some miniature versions of modulars that LEGO has out.

The steam clock in Gastown.

You will be assimilated; resistance is futile.

I really like any LEGO builds with trees so this one was probably my favourite.

For Game of Thrones fans - Pyke Castle! If you look closely, you can spot a banner with the house Greyjoy sigil.

There were some amazing LEGO mosaics as well. They're all made of 1x1 tiles. Amazing!

One of the fan favourites was this house from Up.

Jurassic World.

I really like the use of LEGO croissants in this build!

Batman and Robin to the rescue!

Dragon dance.

The Fallout Shelter was a huge hit last year. Each person gets to build one scene and it gets put together. The lights make this build stand out and it's so interesting to see the creativity behind each scene.

This aquarium scene was very cool.

I only just learned about Fabuland this year so it was nice to see a display using these characters.

There were a lot of different steampunk and mech builds.

A grayscale modular build.

Canada 150 in the flower bed. This is pretty amazing!

There were lots of vendors selling LEGO and LEGO related products, including engraved bricks, jewelry, soap, pillows and art. I didn't end up getting anything today, but I really enjoyed looking at the minifigures for sale.

Classic space.

Star Wars.

At the end of the session, any child with a ticket can get a free bear build. It's very cute!

BrickCan will be at the River Rock Casino for one more day so grab your tickets now! A ticket is valid for a 2 hour time slot to look at all the builds and check out the vendors.

Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2017 - The Boathouse

Wow, a record five restaurants during the Dine Out Vancouver Festival period this year! I took my family out to The Boathouse because I received a promotional email and I got sucked in by the dessert on their $30 menu. I guess advertising does work! A $40 menu is also available but I didn't like the options as much. We braved the snow last night and after driving at a snail's pace for an hour, we all feasted on delicious seafood.

We started with a sourdough bread basket.

West coast seafood chowder. This really hit the spot after being in the cold!

Coconut Pacific cod with quinoa.

Mocha ice cream pie. The whole reason we came to eat here!

I thought the food was delicious! I've also decided I am not that big a fan of cod, which seemed to be the fish that most restaurants were serving this year. The Vancouver Dine Out Festival ends this weekend, so make your reservations now!

Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2017 - C Prime

It was girl's night again with some other friends and we decided to try C Prime, located inside the Century Plaza Hotel downtown. The menu was a tad different than what was posted on the Dine Out Vancouver website, but the choices were delicious still!

We started with some delicious garlic bread and olives.

Grilled clamari steak on a bed of arugula.  

Mediterranean octopus with heirloom tomatoes and fingerling potatoes.

Arctic char with chickpeas and chorizo.

Gnocchi, wild BC mushrooms and porcini truffle cream sauce.

Lemon tart and Italian meringue. This was a little odd, since the filling was super runny and just poured into the tart shell. I'm not sure if it wasn't finished setting yet.

Spiced pumpkin bread pudding with salted caramel gelato.

I really enjoyed this meal! This is the last weekend of the Dine Out Vancouver Festival so make sure to book soon!

Dine Out Vancouver Festival 2017 - WildTale Coastal Grill

It was girl's night last week at WildTale Coastal Grill in Yaletown. The Dine Out Festival menu sounded delicious for $30, so we all went with that. We tried to order one of each dish on the menu so we could try it all.

Organic beets and watercress with toasted almonds, crisp apples, horseradish crème fraîche.

Albacore tuna carpaccio with baby gem citrus salad.

WildTale seafood chowder corn and crab fritter.

7-hour braised Alberta beef short rib celeriac pomme puree, roasted bone marrow jus.

Herb-Crusted wild coho salmon on bay scallop risotto, brown butter caper sauce.

Bittersweet chocolate mousse - no biscotti?

We sat near the kitchen so were able to watch the chefs prepare the food, which was really cool. The food was delicious! The chocolate mousse was suppose to come with a housemade biscotti but we didn't get one and it seemed like none of the desserts coming out of the kitchen had it. Maybe they ran out :( We looked at the regular menu and the dishes sounded yummy, so we all might go back another day!

The Dine Out Vancouver Festival is on for another week, so make sure to make your reservations soon!