Vacation – wee little lovelys

Salt Spring Island – camping!

August 30, 2018

To date our camping experience has been isolated to the safety and comfort of our back yard and Wendy’s house in Sooke. If somebody was scared, we could go inside. If someone had to go to the washroom, it was right there complete with a flushing toilet.

We thought we would venture further this summer as we recently acquired two tents. We decided to camp at Ruckle Park on Salt Spring Island. On the day that we choose to depart, Jimmy had to go into his school for an early pre-school work date. That left me and the kids to ferry over by ourselves, find the campsite and set up the tents.

It was fun. Rhys was terrified of the small ferry and was impossible to get him out of the van but once we made it to the island all was good. It was sunny and hot. We parked at Ruckle Park and had to walk around to find out reserved site which turned out to be next to the outhouses- ewww. So we found a first come first serve spot (#11) that was nestled in the woods with a view of the ocean.

Claire & Rhys were amazing with helping to carry everything from the van. They had wheel barrows that we used to haul everything. It was a lot of work but we got it done and still had ample time to adventure before we had to go pick up Jimmy at the ferry. It is a very pretty camping location- right on the water with the ferries passing by. We went for a long hike to a historical farm. We saw turkeys, sheep, birds and chickens. It was a nice hike along the water. Then we returned to camp and cleaned everything up before we departed to get Jimmy. At the terminal we bumped into my Mom’s best friend (Crystal) and her family which was so nice. We snacked on gummy bears while we waited.

The kids were so excited to see daddy! We drove into town for dinner which was yummy. Before it got dark we drove back to the campsite and got settled in for the night. Jimmy had to take Claire to the outhouse in the middle of the night because she refused to go earlier. Outhouses were a new thing! Jimmy’s mattress deflated but not before he squeaked and honked on the taut, slippery surface throughout the night 🙂

We awoke early,packed up and headed to the ferry terminal to return home. Our one night camping trip was a blast 🙂

Tofino! summer trip

August 8, 2018

Last August we arranged a group trip to Tofino with some really wonderful friends and their children.

There were six families with each family having 2 to 3 children. We were a large group! We stayed at the Tofino botanical gardens where you can rent out a large house. It was perfect. The kids roamed freely and had fun together. There was a fire pit outside so after bedtime the adults could get together and have some drinks and catch up. Of course we visited the wonderful beaches and the local skate park.

It was so great that we are booked in for this September 🙂

Port Alberni

Beach day!

Tofino harbour
Tofino skate park
Cathedral Grove

Annual Sooke trip!

July 8, 2018

Every year we do a night or two in Sooke at Wendy & Chris’ house. Normally we camp out in a tent but the past two years we have been traumatized by their cat named Joe! Joe loves to attack the tents which doesn’t work well for us camping out 😉 We tried this year again and set up the tent and the attack happened. Claire & Rhys went inside the tent to read and Joe with his sharp claws attacked. We quickly abandoned that idea and we stayed in the Boler instead.

We ate, we went swimming in the local river and we relaxed 🙂 Always a fun time! Thanks Wendy, Chris & Senna!

Caithlin’s grade 12 graduation!

May 16, 2018

My niece Caithlin, who is also my godchild, graduated this June! They do things a little differently in Medicine Hat, AB … her graduation ceremony and prom was in May. Since my parents were still living with us in Victoria and my Dad was unable to travel, I flew to Medicine Hat to celebrate the wonderful lady that my niece is.

We are so proud of her. I spent some really wonderful quality time with Caithlin that I will treasure. Her group of friends were pretty amazing too. I love Caithlin’s personality and funky nature. I mean she wore red converse high tops to her graduation ceremony & prom. She is way cooler than me.

Congratulations Caithlin!

Airport good-bye:

Caithlin & her Mom- my sister Sarah:

pre-ceremony celebration at Caithlin’s home (top right= my nephew Ethan & Caithlin, bottom left= Caithlin & step-mom Amanda, bottom right= Caithlin & her grandparents):

Police Point park- my favorite park in Medicine Hat, AB:

Graduation:

Prom:

New Years 2018!

January 2, 2018

After the Christmas holidays we needed a little get-away. New Years seemed like a great time to celebrate with friends.

We headed up island to Parksville to celebrate with our friend Corry & Shannon and their families. It was a quick one night trip. To make the drive a bit more fun we took a ferry from Brentwood Bay to Mill Bay to avoid the Malahat. We visited the Coombs old country market and visited the famous goats there. Lucky us we visited on the last day the market was open for the season! We ventured into Parksille and had a fun and rambunctious late night with the kids and our friends.

Summer in Sooke

August 29, 2017

Towards the end of our summer vacation we organized a trip to Sooke. Every summer we spend a weekend with Wendy, Chris & Senna out at their home in Sooke. There is so much to do and see. Jimmy wasn’t with us this year as he had a skate board event in Port Alberni. While he had his fun we had some as well.

So the kids & I packed up and went on a mini adventure! We had such a fun time in Sooke…making delicious homemade ice cream, playing with Senna’s old toys, visiting the Sheringham lighthouse, camping out on the back porch, hitting a fun playground, walking Whiffen Spit. I cannot forget our epic movie marathon once Claire & Rhys went to sleep… the cheesiest but oh so good vampire movies–> The Twilight Saga. Getting called out by my niece for using my phone was pretty funny too!

We did SO much in just two days. I am so grateful to have such a great sister-in-law, brother-in-law and niece so close by. We always have a good time.

Ice cream- Yum!:

Sheringham Lighthouse:

Playmobil/ Lego & playground fun:

Camping out:

Whiffen Spit:

Mama’s solo Medicine Hat visit!

August 12, 2016

I traveled home to Medicine Hat in August to spend time with my family and to help my parents sort out their retirement plans. I miss being the kid and having my parents all to myself. A pretty rare occurrence since we live in different provinces. I cherish all the time I have with my parents and with my sister and nieces and nephews. I do not see them as often as I would like.

My niece, Michaela, had her birthday when I was visiting so I hosted a BBQ party at my parents house and was able to get all my family together to celebrate. I was able to spend time with my older niece and nephew, Caithlin & Ethan. So great to hang out with them. I was also invited to a very nice night out with my godparents, Aunt Linda & Uncle Norman. They took us out for a delicious dinner and we had great conversation at their home before & after dinner. … pretty much an all-niter. My parents and godparents are good friends from long ago when they lived in Maple Creek Sask. Their party stories and the shenanigans they got up to as young parents living in a small town are so great. I loved growing up hearing the same stories. Aunt Linda & Uncle Norman have been such a good influence in my life and I so enjoyed spending time with them.

I had a great time & I was able to help my parents as well 🙂

Leaving YVR:

Arriving to Medicine Hat:

My nephew Ethan and niece Caithlin:

Dinner out with my parents & Godparents:

My Dad (aka Vern):

Aunt Linda & Uncle Norman:

Hayden (Michaela’s significant other), Mango the cat, Mom, and my sister Sarah:

My niece (Michaela’s daughter) Aubree:

L to R: Michaela (my niece), Dad, Hayden, Mango the cat, Mom and Sarah:

My nieces: Sophie and Aubree:

Sarah & Michaela:

Happy Birthday Michaela:

Face time with my family:

Dad & his Mercedes:

Vancouver summer trip

July 30, 2016

Last summer we traveled to Vancouver for a mini vacation. We wanted to spend time checking out all the fun tourist things and to visit old friends. We stayed downtown for two nights so we could catch the sky-train and walk around the city. We visited the Aquarium, did some shopping, visited Science World and had a blast.

After our stay downtown we drove over to North Vancouver to stay with our good friends Faye & Niels. I have known Faye since my first year at University. She was my roommate in residence! The University placed us together randomly and have been friends since. We had a great two nights spending time with Faye and her family. We also visited with our friends and the kids surrogate grandmother, Evelyn, who was our neighbor in our old condo building when we lived in North Vancouver. We spent some time with her and her boyfriend Barney. They were so sweet and it was nice to catch up on all the condo gossip 😉 We also had some time to have a picnic with our South African friends Kim, Ryan and their two sons Kye and Fin. We spent a lot of time together when Claire & Rhys were babies as Kim and I worked together and had an overlap with our maternity leaves. We used to swap child minding which I miss so much! A bonus of staying with Faye & Niels is we tagged along to another friends big BBQ so we were able to see lots of old friends and they have the best backyard that Claire & Rhys made the most of.

We had a great trip and we are excited to make it an annual summer adventure.