Twenty-Four Hours Of Fun!

Because Lee Lee and I haven't done much together this summer, we decided that this was the weekend for us! So I drove out to her place late Friday afternoon to spend the night and this is what we did.

First of all Mark, Lee Lee and I went to the creek at "just before dusk". I gotta say that it was a little nerve racking because just the evening before Lee Lee had spotted some bear tracks. But I had my trusty bear bell and a stick so I felt fine. Sort of.

Here I am with my stick and Mark's oversized water shoes over my slippers (thongs, flip flops or whatever you call them in your neck of the woods).

When Lee Lee and Mark go to the creek, he goes fishing and she takes pictures.

Yah, I know. A face shot. But they are so fun to take right?

The next morning we drove out to the ski hill to pick huckleberries! They have a festival there every year with crafts, Bbq, silent auction, live music and of course berry picking! You pay $10.00 for a ride up to the top of the mountain on the chair lift and then away you go with your buckets.

Yep. Another face shot on our way up to the mountain. You just gotta do it.

If you click on this picture you can see Lee Lee picking away. She is in the yellow t-shirt. Look at that scenery!

Here I am picking my huckleberries and loving every minute of it. The weather was perfectly sunny and hot with a breeze.

Lee Lee picking her huckleberries. She didn't end up with quite as much as I did however. She sort of lost her balance coming down off the side of the mountain. Oops! But we picked up as many as we could out of the dirt and rocks. Those little berries are worth it!

I took this picture as we were waiting in line to take the chair lift back down the mountain. It's where we had just finished picking. Quite steep. Especially when you are bending down looking for huckleberries. We both got about 3 cups give (me) or take (Lee Lee). Hopefully next year will be a better year for huckleberries because we are definetly going back!

Vancouver Island - Part 2

After we sadly left Sean in Victoria we travelled up the coast to Nanaimo to visit my good friend Jo-Ann who moved there from Regina almost 9 years ago. I had visited her there 2 1/2 years ago so I knew we were in for a good time! We were not disappointed although I am a little disappointed that I didnt take more pictures of the beaches because that is one of my favorite things to do there.

On our way to Nanaimo we saw this tree which is called an Arbutus tree. It's quite picturesque. You are'nt suppose to cut them down or anything but on the way home while we were driving out of Vancouver I am pretty sure I saw a huge branch attached to the back of a trailer amongst some bikes!

On our way to Nanaimo we also stopped for a few minutes to take in some of the scenery. Just so pretty!

This is Jo-Ann. We lived down the street from each other and we met because of our kids. I would call Jo-Ann and tell her that Caleb was walking out the door and as I watched him walk down the street Jo-Ann kept her eyes open for him. Caleb would play with her son Trevor and when it was time for Caleb to come home, she would call me and we would do the same thing again. Caleb and Trevor were only about 3 years old. Maybe 4.

Now, I know this is an odd picture but it's really pretty cool. What you are looking at is seaweed and some shells we found on the beach. The cool thing about this seaweed is that once it is dried you can then use it as a natural exfoliator for your skin. It's super cool when you first use it because it smells just like the ocean!

After walking along the beach after dinner Chris took this picture of the full moon. He was testing out the "night mode" option on the camera for the first time and this happened. A heart shaped moon!

The next day Brad (her husband) and Jo-Ann took us to Cathedral Grove and man was it neat!

Here is Seth and I inside one of the tree trunks. Cool eh?

Seth is pretending that he is King Of The Forrest. You can't really see it much but he was sitting on a tree trunk that looked like a throne.

Here is Jo-Ann and I standing (duh!) in front of an 800 year old tree!! Can you even get your head around the thought of looking at a 800 year old tree?
It's pretty wild to think about.

After Cathedral Grove we drove to Parksville Beach where they had a sand building competition but why I did'nt take any pictures I'll never know. There were about a dozen or so that you could vote on to pick the crowd favorite. Anyway, after walking around there we walked down to the beach. It's very cool when the tide is out because you can walk out "forever". That's Brad. Jo-Ann's husband. He was nice enough to take the day off of work to show us around.

Now this is cool! You are looking at a peach tree in Brad and Jo-Ann's backyard. But what's neat about this peach tree is that is is flat. Flat right up against the back of the house!

On our drive back home we had a flat tire. I went and bought treats at the gas station store while Chris and Seth did all the dirty work.

Like I mentioned in the Vancouver Island Part 1 post, we weren't able to find an open camp ground but we did on the way home. We stayed just outside of a little place called Golden. The view behind us was nice but our "neighbors" kept me up until 2:30am. As I was laying there feeling mad I wished I had taken a picture of the full moon outside the tent door because boy, was it pretty.



That concludes one of the best vacations ever! Thank you so much Brad and Jo-Ann for showing us around and feeding us outstanding food! Another great time!

Vancouver Island - Part 1

WARNING......lots of pictures!

Chris, Seth and I just returned from a great trip to Victoria on Vancouver Island in British Columbia. Our main purpose was to visit Sean but as an added bonus we also visited my good friend Jo-Ann in Nanaimo. Our visit to Nanaimo will be Part 2 of our vacation.....coming soon.

We decided to drive a different route so we could see country that we hadn't seen before. So we drove down thru the states and took the Ferry at Anacortes, Washington over to Victoria. Our first day of driving was a long 14 hour day (no open campgrounds so we just kept on driving...and driving...and driving until we were all too tired and stopped at the Dutch Cup Motel) so the next day was quite nice and MUCH shorter.

First tourist stop. There are lots of trees in Washington!

We got to the Ferry early and much to our surprise there was a really great festival going on so we walked around there for a couple of hours looking at all the great arts and crafts, entertainment and food. Although my salmon burger did not match at all the salmon burger I had in Tofino B.C. with Sean and Kelly over 2 1/2 years ago.

We also walked around the Pier as Chris dreamed and dreamed about one day owning a sail boat.

Here we are on the Ferry. Seth never wanted to look at the camera but the man in the orange shirt was sure looking at something! (click to enlarge the picture because it's funny)

Chris on the Ferry and Seth still not looking at the camera!

"I spy with my little eye"......Seth. Can you see him in that crowd below? He hung out there as the Ferry docked in Victoria.

The night we arrived in Victoria Sean called us not more than 5 minutes after we arrived at our hotel room and asked, "have you eaten yet"? We said, "nope". And he said, "good. Come on over because I am making stir fry for all of us"! So off we went and enjoyed a home cooked meal that was most excellent! After dinner we gave Sean his birthday gifts and so here he is opening the card and gifts that Kelly gave him.

The next morning Sean and Andrea (Sean's girlfriend) took us to Floyds for breakfast. How can you beat french toast with saute'd banana's, sugared pecan clusters and toffee sauce? You cant!

Sean and Andrea both had to work so we went sightseeing and walked around Beacon Hill Park for a couple of hours but we didn't see the Peacocks walking around like we had heard about.

Another shot of what Beacon Hill Park has to offer.

It seems I took a lot of "together" pictures becuase well........we arent together very often. Here is Sean and Seth trying out the drums at Long and McQuade.

Sean with his DJ equipment. He has found a new interest that he really enjoys and even makes money at. Can't beat a hobby like that!

Seth was enjoying Sean's equipment too!

Another "together" picture. I love it. But I loved having Sean sit next to me even more!

We all went to the Shaw Aquarium in Sidney one morning. It was a nice time to be together. Oh, there is that word again! Together.

Just looking at all the interesting creatures.......

.....like the Jelly Fish and......

....the Octopus which was our favorite creature of all.

Chris and Sean. A really great father/son picture if I do say so myself.

Outside the Aquarium.

We went back to Victoria and ate at a place called Red Fish Blue Fish. You wait in line for at least 45 minutes on any given day and it's worth it.

We ordered a side dish of deep fried pickles to share and boy were they good.

Now this lovely dessert was alomost to die for! Sean and Andrea found this Gellato place downtown and once I saw this frozen cheesecake on a stick that was it. I had to have it! And wow was it good!!

Andrea suggested we take a drive up Mt. Doug. (Douglas Park) for a little hike. Once at the top you can see all of Victoria.

A shot of our partial family. It sure would have been perfect to have Kelly and Caleb with us.

Last picture. I promise. On our last night in Victoria we went to a Japanese Restaurant and sat inside one of the private rooms where you sit on the floor. It was so fun and yummy.
We had so much fun food while we were in Victoria that it became a highlight for us...especially me I think.


This trip was one of the greatest trips. We saw and did things we had never done before but the very best part was seeing Sean after 2 years. Sean is doing well and we enjoyed meeting Andrea. We hope that it won't be another 2 years before we see him again!