A little reminder from Rhys to stop and smell the roses…..erm daffodils 😉

 

 

 

We woke up early on our final day in Victoria and had a nice lazy morning in the hotel. We were planning to catch the 1pm ferry back to Vancouver but first we had something very exciting to do with the kids….

Meet Papa Bob at the model engineers track and go for a train ride! The kids were so excited to see Papa Bob as evidenced below:

After the very fun train ride we toured around the Saanich Historical Artifacts site which is adjacent to the model engineers site. Claire & Rhys are BIG into trucks and things so this was a very fun adventure.

A little video of our train ride that Jimmy edited 🙂

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Our second day on our Island trip was excellent. The weather was quite nice and it didn’t rain – lucky us.

Auntie Wendy, Cousin Senna and Uncle Chris met us at the hotel where we shared a nice breakfast. Then it was off to the petting zoo in Beacon Hill park to meet some friends. But first we had to stop by Fan Tan alley and get a nice coffee from Bean Around the World in China Town.

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We met up with Jimmy’s old friend Art and his family. Having two year-olds who love to run around and be wild definitely makes it tricky to have a decent conversation. We did have a great visit though and the kids love going to the petting zoo. Rhys enjoyed stomping in a puddle (and sitting in one too – good thing we always keep back-up clothes in our van) and brushing the goats. Claire wasn’t interested in the baby goats at all instead she wanted to see the bunnies – her favorite.

moments before Rhys sat in the mud puddle:

It was so nice outside so we all decided to go wander over to the playground for some more fun!

Uncle Chris with Claire & Senna:

Such a cute picture! :

After we said good-bye o our family & friends we went back to the hotel for lunch and nap-time. Once the kids woke up we spent the afternoon walking around downtown Victoria, the Inner Harbour and through The Empress Hotel. It was so nice to walk through the city where Jimmy & I first met and we had fun reminiscing.

A few weeks ago we embarked on a Spring road trip to Vancouver Island to visit friends, family and to use a hotel Groupon that we bought months earlier.

We caught the ferry from Horseshoe Bay to Nanaimo which is a route that we don’t travel on too often. It was a nice change! We caught an early morning ferry so once boarded we headed to the cafeteria to get some food for the kids. I have to say that I do not like eating out with the kids because it is pure chaos. We managed….or I should say Jimmy managed to get some food into the kids and off we went to play and wander about the ferry:

Once we were safely docked in Nanaimo we started our drive up island to get to Parksville where we were going to meet up with some good friends who we haven’t seen for a very long time. It was also our chance to meet their darling little baby girl for the first time!

Shannon and I went to University together and we were room-mates for a year along with 3 other girls in a big house. Those were some mighty fun times 🙂 Now we are all grown up with families of our own. We had  such a great visit and did not want to leave at all. The thing about good friends is even if you don’t see each other very often you pick right back up where you left off.

Next trip to the island we plan to have another visit and this time give lots of notice so we can see Corry and her family who also live in Parksville. Looking forward to it!

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Shannon, Jeff and Eloise:

squeezing Claire’s wonderfully chubby cheeks 🙂

We departed Parksville just in time for Claire & Rhys’ nap. Our big plan was for them to nap in the van while we drove a few hours to Victoria with a quick stop in Langford to visit Auntie Debbie. It was a good drive and a nice visit with Debbie. The kids could have slept longer but that’s what happens when you travel. So hard to keep to a schedule!

Our final destination for the day was Swan’s Hotel. There is a great pub located below the hotel rooms which we frequented when we lived in Victoria. It was a nice boutique hotel, large rooms, and a great location… it just wasn’t very kid friendly.

We set-up shop in our room, Jimmy headed downstairs to have a meeting about his upcoming skate contest he will be hosting in June and the kids and I settled in and had some fun. Then…. it was bedtime for us all. Phew! Long day.

Our friend, Jim Fenton, came by a few months ago for a visit after he returned from working with Chimpanzees in Uganda, Africa.

It was his first time meeting Claire & Rhys. He brought the kids some cute little elephant stuffies that they really like.

He recently sent us one of the photos he took while visiting – I think the kids were saying ‘Cheese!’

🙂

As of late, Claire & Rhys have a real penchant for anything bunnies….

It all started a few months ago when we were at the pediatricians for a regular checkup. The doctor told the kids that she needed to look in their ears for bunnies. Claire & Rhys loved the idea that bunnies were living in their ears and for weeks afterwards they kept looking in our ears, in each others ears, in their stuffies/ doll ears. It was really funny. Claire’s favorite stuffy right now is a bunny that Auntie Debbie gave her and all the great books we have about bunnies are their top choice for reading time.

I think Easter will be very exciting for them this year 🙂

To the kids delight, last weekend when we were at a new playground two elementary aged kids came up to us with a basket. Inside was their pet bunny ‘Ruby’ that they were allowed to bring to the playground before dinner time. Claire & Rhys were so excited as was I since I grew up with a pet bunny – It was a great surprise for us all.

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Claire making her ‘bunny’ face

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Recently, Jimmy had a one night get-away to Victoria for a city meeting about a pending skateboard contest and to visit his sisters and their families. He enjoyed his trip over and had some great skate time with his nephew, Grant. It is so energizing taking a break from ones regular routine. A well deserved get-away!

He caught a float plane home so he could get back in order for us to spend a little bit of time together as a family before I headed back to work the next morning. Catching a seaplane versus catching a ferry saves almost 5 hours in travel time! So worth it…

I told the kids all day that we were going to see daddy fly in on an airplane. After their nap I quickly got them dressed warmly and into our van. We made our way downtown to the seaplane terminal and waited in the cold along the seawall so we could watch the landing on the water. After watching many planes take off and land we could hear his plane approach and then spotted it high in the air. We ran up a ramp to a great look-out point and had an amazing view of the plane land. Claire & Rhys were so excited to see Jimmy fly in on the float plane and ever since when they see an airplane they say ‘dada airplane’.

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Jimmy took a stroll with Wendy in Sooke:

Sooke Inlet View:

Grant smashing a barrier wallie- a trick he learned this day:

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Departing from the Inner Harbour in Victoria:

Oak Bay Golf Course, Victoria:

Lions Gate Bridge – Vancouver

Waiting for Dada:

Brrr – cold!

Jimmy’s plane landing: