Our Digs

Living in Victoria was our seventh home since we've been married.  It was definitely the smallest place we've ever lived in, but certainly not the worst!  When we went there we looked for something furnished and cheap.  Anything cheap in Victoria has to be very small, and that's exactly what we found.

The entrance to our castle:

 Our kitchen, which was too small to even open the cupboards with more than one person in there:

 Looking back toward the door:

Here's looking from the kitchen into our "bedroom/family room"; notice the tiny table with only two chairs:

 

 Here's a 360 degree tour or our room!  The couch, which was barely big enough for Eli to lie across it:

 Our queen size bed that we all ended up sleeping on together every night:

The closet and TV, on the one dresser:

Here's the window, which was actually pretty cool because the walls were two feet thick, so the window sill made a great climbing spot and shelf:

And our bathroom, which wasn't bad at all, and actually pretty cute:

There you have it. Awesome, eh?  What did we learn from it?  That we can live in 450 square feet, but that we never want to again.  And, that we no longer fit in a queen sized bed.  And, that we can easily live without all the junk that we have.  We went to Value Village for toys, spent $10, and were just as happy as we are with all the hundreds of dollars of toys we have at home.  Although, with a beach two blocks away, I'll admit that's a little easier. We'd do it all over again, if that's worth anything.

Mohawks

Okay, for a month you've been seeing pictures of my kids with some rad white-trash mohawks.  I never did post about the mohawk process, which was pretty awesome.  My boys are dang cute! And, hopefully, one day in the future when they think about doing something silly like a mohawk, they will just think about how cool mom thinks it is, and decide it probably isn't that awesome!

A Great Big Western Wednesday

Today we went to the Calgary Stampede: The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth!  We showed up at 8:45 am, and didn't leave until 5:30 pm.  My feet are sore, but the boys are asleep and we all had tons of fun.  Who doesn't love a crappy pancake breakfast, torrential rain fall, Icecapades to Metallica, and SUPER DOGS!!!  And that's not even mentioning the Live My Little Pony show.  We didn't take many pictures, but I wore cowboy boots all day and felt like a real cowgirl.  Check out our Stampede visit last year, and if you wanted to know exactly what The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth is, go read my history of the Stampede here.

Botanical Beach

Okay, before our adventures in Victoria there was very little that I knew about Vancouver Island, but I had heard of Botanical Beach.  So, despite it being 2 hours away, we decided to load up and spend a day exploring the tide pools there, which were supposed to be amazing!

I'll be honest, it wasn't as cool as I had hoped. Maybe the tides were not in our favour, but I thought we had seen just as many cool things at other beaches closer to home.  Still, it's always fun to spend a day out in nature with my boys.  We picnicked on the beach, hung out with all the retirees that were there, and Eli found enough crabs to entertain him for a lifetime.  

Okay, I'll admit, this crab was pretty cool.  Bigger and prettier than any other we'd seen. 

Remember the gross snotty anemones on our sea star beach?   This is what they look like under water.

 

Eli is always so interested.  It makes everything so much more exciting. 

Hermit crabs!

Family picture!  We don't get enough of these. 

Silas exploring, too.

Okay, he was way more interested in lifting this log than in the crabs. 

And, on the way home, we saw not one, but TWO black bears!!!  You don't see that every day, no you don't!

Okay, maybe I am wrong. Maybe Botanical Beach was super cool and I was just really tired that day.  From the pictures it looks like it was pretty awesome. I guess I'll have to go back one day to decide.  Maybe.

A Visit to Paradise

Not everyone was as lucky as I was to have a place to call home every summer doing something I absolutely loved!  I was able to work (can you call it work when you are doing everything you ever dreamed of doing?) on a farm in Bragg Creek, Alberta, helping with a riding school and farm camp.  Honestly, I loved every minute of it. I still call Flying Goose Farm home!  Carmen Pearson, who ran The Goose, for as long as I remember has been a teacher, mentor, boss, mother and friend.  A few years ago Carmen and her family moved from the beautiful Foothills of Alberta to the incredible Gulf Island of Mayne, in the Strait of Georgia.  So, while in Victoria, I just had to take the trip to visit her on her little bit of paradise!

We stayed at the resort Carmen now owns, Blue Vista Resort. Honestly, if you've ever wanted to visit the Gulf Islands, go to Mayne and stay at Blue Vista. It was charming, beautiful, and I fell totally in love!

We stopped at the Mayne Island Farmers Market, where Eli bought a real quill and ink to write with and I bought a delicious raspberry pie for dinner at the Pearson's. I love small town farmer's markets more than anything!

Once we met up with Carmen, she took us straight to the beach to shuck oysters for dinner.  Guess what? I didn't eat them, but it was fun to "harvest" them.  Apparently there is something about the ocean streams, or the tides, or something, that makes the oysters and clams on the beaches of Mayne edible and not chalk full of toxins.  We also learned that when you harvest the oysters you have to throw the shells back to the beach, because the baby oysters live on the backs of the big ones, so to keep the population up, you just throw back the shells.  There is also something about the ocean streams that make the Mayne climate much more mild than other places. We watched the rain pour in Vancouver while the sun was shinning on Mayne. It was beautiful. 

 

Eli thought the beach was pretty cool.  We found the only sea star that wasn't firmly stuck to a boulder.  Eli wanted to take it home as a pet, but we convinced him to leave it there with his family.

This crab also almost came home with us. 

Andrew, Carmen's husband, and one of my favourite British men in the whole world because as long as I can remember he has always called me "Love,"  took us for a ride in his boat to see the Sea Lions on an island just off Mayne.

We sat and watched them bark at each other for half an hour, fighting for a place on that rock, disappearing in the rising tide. It was pretty cool.

It was so nice to just explore the island. The 21 square km didn't take long at all to cover, but we enjoyed every bit of it.  Carmen told us all about the sordid past of the island, from the rum runs during American Prohibition (Carmen's house sits on "Smugglers Cove" where the rum runners would beach when runnig from the US authorities), to the deportation of the Japanese settlers during WWII.  She also told us about all the islands around, many of which were privately owned by people much more wealthy than me!  Oh to own an island just to throw some peacocks and goats on it.  In another life...  The greatest part though was being able to enjoy the company of dear old friends!

Carmen's kids, who I watched grow up on the farm, were both there for the summer. I can't believe how grown up and wonderful they both are!  Love them. 

Kay, this could have possibly been my favourite thing on Mayne Island: Car Stops. They were all over the island, places where you could stand to hitch hike to wherever you needed to be.  No place was very far, but if you didn't want to walk, you could just catch a ride with whomever came along.  Awesome.

Honestly, pack up right now and go.  If you are going to fly, fly into Victoria though, because the ferries are cheaper to and from there (and maybe you'll be as lucky as we were and see killer whales from the ferry as you travel!).  However you get there, you will love it, I promise!

Here's a video I made years ago with all my pictures from Flying Goose Farm.  There are a few of you out there who will appreciate the memories!

Cap'n Eli's Buccaneer Party

Okay, I promise, this is the very last pirate birthday post.  Seriously, can you believe how ridiculous we have been?  Still, it's been fun, and Eli has loved every minute of it, and that makes me happy.

Back home in Calgary we decided that we would share all the pirating fun with our friends and family in Calgary.


Because of a postal strike in Canada we had to send out invites on Facebook.  While not nearly as cute as I might have done (not saying I would have...) here's the wording for our invite:

Ahoy Matey Ye be invited to Cap'n Eli's Buccaneer Bash to celebrate his 4 years of sailing! Chart your course for: Eli's Ship, on July 9th, dressed in your best pirate garb. We be meetin' at: 1 pm fer some swashbuckling fun, grub and kiddie spirits! Raise yer flag if ye be attending. Sees ye thar, or we'll throw you to Davey Jones' Locker.......Arrgghh!

So, the crowds came over and the party began.

Searching for booty!

This little guy was probably the cutest pirate there.  I was there when he was born just a few months ago. I love him!!!

Popping the ball and chains.

Make that scallywag walk the plank!

The Bung Hole. 

And no pirate party would be complete without a pirate cake.  

A Pirate Adventure

On Eli's actual birthday we tried really hard to go on a Pirate Adventure, the only thing he asked for.  We got to the ship only to find that the pirates were out plundering!

However, on our last day in Victoria, after we had packed up our little house and were ready to head out, we decided that we would try again, and this time the pirates were waiting for us to join their crew.  We went on the greatest pirate adventure of all time!!!

The boys got dressed up, with skulls and scars, just like proper pirates.

Oh, we were so excited!!!

Silas did have to take a break from all the excitement for a little refreshment.

Eli, quite honestly, thought he had died and gone to heaven!

Eli surely proved himself the greatest pirate on the sea!