As the reality of our upcoming complex reno – particularly its cost – becomes more suppressing, we’ve tried to do a lot more at home and less out and about. Still, we had a few activities come up in April. Here’s what the Sip Family got up to:

For Easter weekend imbibing, I picked up the Verve Gin Smash pack, which was only $20, as part of a flash sale at BC Liquor Stores. I really enjoyed the variety of flavours, which included Grapefruit Spritz, Blood Orange Tonic, Cucumber Melon and Blackberry Lemon. Even at only $20, once you add in taxes and deposit fees, you’re handing over around $25.

For the second year in a row, I created an original Easter cocktail, devising the Mischievous Bunny, which combined Tequila, Black Cherry-Cranberry Juice, Club Soda, Coconut Cream, and Lime Juice. The blend of flavours all worked together well for a enjoyable beverage.

Mrs. Sip and I swapped Easter baskets with each other this year, based on a podcast we heard where a couple did something similar. Mrs. Sip put together a great package for me, including treats sweet, sour and savoury, headlined by a bottle of Kraken Gold Spiced Rum. This is a new tradition of ours that I look forward to continuing in the future.

With the Siplings now having swimming lessons in Port Coquitlam and Mrs. Sip having work that way sometimes, we met up at Patina Brewing one afternoon. I had wanted to try their Maple Amber Ale, but it was no longer available. I settled for the Amber Lager, which was a happy hour option. To eat, I ordered the Nashville Crispy Chicken Sandwich, which was really good. I liked the crunch of the chicken, the pickles and the sauce.

That weekend, Cousin Sip came over and over the course of drinks, I was challenged to create a cocktail using ranch. I decided to start with a ranch dressing rim, to go with Whiskey, Pickle Juice and Lemonade. While I wouldn’t have this drink regularly, it wasn’t offensive in any way, reminding me a bit of a Pickleback with a few additional flavours.

The next day, myself and a couple friends had our long-awaited All Elite Wrestling: Dynasty live event to attend. We began the festivities by meeting up at Devil’s Elbow, where I started with the North Point Strawberry Blonde. This was followed by a pair of Parallel 49 IPAs, which were on happy hour pricing. Looking for a bit of an energy boost, I next had two Rum and Pepsi servings. To eat, I tried both the Pulled Pork and Brisket Sliders, with the brisket being my favourite of the two. At the show, I had a couple Granville Island Pale Ales, which were far more expensive than they should be.

Over two Burger King trips through the month, I was able to try the chain’s new Whopper and fries. While I don’t really notice any difference in the Whopper, among my favourite fast food burgers, the new version fries are fantastic and a definite upgrade over the previous version.

Towards the end of the month, Mrs. Sip and I were invited to the Canucks member open house. It should be noted Mrs. Sip and I both cancelled our season ticket memberships, not happy with rising costs and decreased benefits, while also cautious with our limited expendable income. I think we’ll still try to go to one game per season with the Siplings, but finding ways to fulfill our membership games was becoming quite difficult.

Anyway, at the open house, where we were armed with one food and one drink ticket, food options included: Triple Os (burgers), Sante (bowls), Steamers (hotdogs), Melt (quesadillas and grilled cheese), and Panago (pizza). Drink options were limited and disappointing: Molson Canadian, Coors, house wine, and a couple canned cocktails. I paired a Triple Os burger platter with a Molson Canadian, which made for a decent combo. Another member sitting next to us as we ate mentioned remembering events where folks got at least two drink tickets each. At least we were able to bring home some good Vancouver Warriors freebies for the Siplings, although we believe we should have been able to bring them with us as guests, even at a small price (say $5 each), given how many child-centric activities were running during the event.

On our way home, we stopped into the Howe Sound Taphouse. We selected this bar as we wanted to check out their rock and roll bingo, but upon arrival, we learned they no longer do that event. We decided to still sit down for a drink, the Sip Advisor going with the Paloma, a $10 Tuesday daily special, before we finished the journey home.

To wrap the month, the Siplings and I popped into Camp Brewing, as we waited for Mrs. Sip to finish a meal at the adjacent Haven Kitchen + Bar. I selected the Crosswinds Maibock, a collaboration between Camp and Four Winds, which I enjoyed while playing a phone game with Girl Sip.

May looks like it will largely be a homebody month, with not a whole lot going on. I think that can be a good thing sometimes, allowing folks to recharge the batteries, especially before what promises to be a busy summer!