Paradise in BC....

It finally arrived....one of my holidays for the summer. Much needed, much deserved.

J and I arranged the first of our holidays this summer around his friend from Holland, who was coming out to visit. J's friend flew in to Seattle on June 29, and on June 30, J and I headed to Victoria, to meet him there. We had arranged to stay in Victoria for the night, and then on Canada Day, head up to Campbell River, Salmon Capitol of the World (no kidding, that's what it's actually known for). We rented a cottage there until July 5. I was really looking forward to it, knowing I would have a few wonderful days of relaxing, reading, swimming, and soaking in the hot tub. I had no idea I would be living in paradise for 5 days, at least that's what it felt like.

Seeing as we were all up at 4:30 am on July 1st, mostly due to the Dutchie's severe jet lag and the three of us sharing a hotel room, we went for a VERY early breakfast and hit the road by 9:00am. Once we got to Qualicum Beach, we decided to take the coastal route up to Campbell River. What a great decision. We were greeted to spectacular scenery.....

Once we arrived in Campbell River, our "home" for the next 5 days exceeded our expectations. It was beautiful! We were given the "brighter" of the 2 bedrooms, so J's friend could spend some quality sleeping time in the "cave" to recover from jet lag the first few days. Our bedroom faced the ocean....so breathtaking....

The hot tub was well-used....both as a map table and for early morning relaxation and late night soaking as the sun went down.....

It's amazing what a difference being a bit farther north makes in the length of days....the sun rose a lot earlier and set a lot later. This, of course, made us get up a lot earlier, but the sunrises we got to see made it all worth it...

An early morning soak in the hot tub....how could you not love sitting there in the crisp morning air staring at the ocean?

The first day, we figured we'd drive to Gold River, the west coast of the island...incidentally, big mistake. Don't do it. However, on the way back, about 10 minutes outside of Campbell River is Elk Falls Provincial Park. Definitely worth the stop. We hiked down to the falls...it was beautiful!

Our weather was fantastic...it never got above 24 degrees, a nice breeze off the ocean...and another perk of being on the ocean....NO BUGS! :) I am happy to report that I only suffered one small mosquito bite on my baby toe.

We spent a lot of time just relaxing....I managed to get through 3 books in the five days...received a nice tan (and only one burn...a blistered one at that, but our traditional vacation drug store visit provided me with a half litre bottle of aloe that took care of it)...did some swimming...it was wonderful.

Our friend from Holland also enjoyed himself, spent a lot of time in this spot watching bald eagles feasting on the fish that were brave enough to come close to shore. Every morning we saw a neighbor fly fishing on the shores.

We also took the ferry across the Discovery passage to Quadra Island. Spent an afternoon at the beach there.......

.....and made a stop at the harbour on the way back to pick up dinner...salmon of course! I don't think I've ever eaten so much salmon in such a short period of time. Good thing I'm crazy about seafood.

Here we are, rested, tanned (okay, a little red), and happy. Notice J's friend's reflection in the window. As we didn't want to socialize with our neighbors, this was the only way to get the three of us in one picture. :)

J and I celebrated our 1 year anniversary on July 4th. With his friend, but that's okay, we all got along great. We started out the day with a huge pannekoek fest for breakfast and just hung around and relaxed through out the morning. In the afternoon, the boys went kayaking and I treated myself to a massage and a facial at the local spa. It was incredible!!! I realize it's not traditional to spend your 1 year anniversary doing different activities, but I was fine with it. We are going to celebrate just the 2 of us soon. We had actually picked out what looked like a nice fancy restaurant in Campbell River for dinner, but when we finally found the location, we realized it had closed down for business. We were all tired and hungry, so we stopped at the first place we saw....a really seedy looking pub. However, we all feasted on fresh halibut and chips....they were delicious! Definitely non-conventional.

We had a great time...I told I would love to go back there. It's so peaceful...and beautiful.

I am spoiled this month...I am 2 weeks back into work and I only have 3 days next week and I'm gone again for another 10 days....

ahh....the best part of summer is not the weather but the holidays!!! The madness just seems to melt away......

Happy Fathers Day!

Thank you, Dad.....

~for tucking me in when I was little

~for teaching me my prayers

~for reading books to me and teaching me to love reading.

~for creating a safe, loving home to grow up in

~for making me love my brothers and sister, no matter how much we fought

~for rushing me to the hospital or meeting me at the hospital the countless times your clumsy, accident-proned daughter needed medical attention

~for being proud of me when I brought home a good report card, or passed another piano exam

~for showing me how important family is, and how unimportant other things are when your family really needs you

~for working hard to support our family

~for being affectionate to Mom, and not being afraid to show us that being in love is an important part of being married

~for sending us to the best school you thought we needed

~for being loving, loyal, and faithful to everything and everyone around you

~for showing us how important having faith is, and how important it is to you

~for never wavering in your principles

~for setting a high standard in what a husband should be to a wife, and wanting the best man possible to be my partner in life

~for accepting and loving my husband as your own son

~for continuing to love and support me as an adult

Words can't possibly begin to express how deeply grateful I am that God gave me you as a Father.

To the first man I ever loved,

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD!!!

Whistler or Bust...(part II)

So here it is....the Whistler trip. It's been a while since I've been able to sit down and write...or more like since I've been motivated to sit down and write (I've had a reading obsession lately, as my husband would undoubtably agree...). We had a wonderful weekend. Even though I had sort of let the secret slip the night before that we were going to Whistler, J told me that he had secretly hoped that meant that we were taking the train. He was grinning ear to ear when I turned off Highway 1 and took out my map on how to get to the train station. Very strange, the train station being in a completely industrial area in the CP Rail yard in North Vancouver. We got lost a bit trying to find it on the way there but J was so excited that he was very patient and forgiving of my inability to read a map properly. LOL. It was a beautiful day....made the wait at the train station very relaxing as we sat and enjoyed the morning sun with a cup of coffee....and as I awkwardly "posed" in front of our train car when the train pulled up....

The sky couldn't have been more perfect for taking pictures along the way. It really humbled me as I sat and looked at our beautiful province through "tourists' eyes".

This was not my first train ride....I've taken a train in Ontario before, and last year with J on our honeymoon from Quebec City to Montreal. This was the first one, however, that I actually got as excited as a child to be on a train....I loved the look of the train rounding the bend in front of us....

Most of my pictures were taken from the cubby between cars, as that was the least busy for other passengers to stand and taken pictures. However, J and I meandered through a few cars to visit the Heritage Open Air car. J enjoying the view in the Heritage Car.

There's a large gap in my pictures here....my camera batteries died when we got to Whistler just before we went up the gondola. Too bad....the view was magnificent, especially once we got to the top. We did, however, get to see a mama bear and three cubs about half way up the mountain, frolicking in a grassy area....right around the mountain bike areas. We did take a walk later that day around Whistler/Blackcomb and enjoyed the river and trails...and the gorgeous weather!

On the way back, I had us upgraded to the "Glacier Dome"...and boy was I glad we did that on the way back! They treat you like royalty, and the dome itself is great because there are windows up the sides and part of the roof. Made the view even more spectacular. Of course, there were other perks that we enjoyed....

The Chekamus Canyon was so beautiful...I managed to get a few good pictures on the way back.

Okay, so another great part about the way back was the people watching. This was our neighbor lady. There's so much entertainment here....I guess you had to be there.

So....the best part of the way back...they served "afternoon tea"...in 3 courses. The first course, finger sandwiches...which were fantastic. Off too the left of my plate is the devonshire cream and preserves for Course #2....fresh hot scones........

Okay, so I REALLY enjoyed Course#2...so much so that I didn't stop to take a picture. This was the first time I'd ever had that classic English treat...the devonshire cream, well, there are no words. Definitely not the last time I'll have it. So I didn't get a picture of the actual scone, but I took a picture of the empty cream dish....had I a spatula, I would have scraped it out.

And...for course #3....dessert. The lemon tarts were great....I actually had 2 when they came along the second time....(WW was not on my mind this weekend, obviously). Those are J's "thumbs up"...he enjoyed it as well, obviously.

I had to get a picture of this waterfall in here, it's apparently also a sort of "fountain of youth"...if you get sprayed by the mist it's supposed to make you 10 years younger. It doesn't work. Lol...I didn't try it but the fall was pretty.

A picture of the inside of the "Glacier Dome". Note that we vacationed with Santa Claus....left corner. Still recouping from the heavy snow this past Christmas, I guess.

And a few more pictures of the last part of the trip....arriving back into Howe Sound and Horseshoe Bay.....

........seriously, my breath was taken away....seeing this scenery makes me realize how small we are in God's big plan. And this is all another gift for us to enjoy.

Absolutely no sense of madness this weekend. What a treat for us to have this opportunity! If you ever have the chance to experience this, it makes a great weekend. They have another train called the Rocky Mountaineer that takes you through the Rockies.....that's going to be our next train trip!

a Preview....

The weekend was successful...not as a surprise, of course, but we had a blast nonetheless. Here's a preview of what we saw from the train...more to follow in future posts.

Whistler or Bust!

Yup, that's right. I'm Whistler-bound this weekend....on the Whistler Mountaineer Train. In 9 hours, to be exact.

Funny story about that. It's a surprise for J. He knows we're going away for a night, but he doesn't know where.

At least he didn't...until tonight.

Yup, a few weeks ago I booked us in Whistler for the night...and told him not to plan anything for this weekend because it was a surprise for him. His first reaction was "Yeah right...like you'll be able to keep a secret that long!"

I had 12 hours left.

12 HOURS LEFT!!!!

And I blew it.

Let the cat out of the bag.

Spilled the beans.

Can't even explain really how it came out...but it did.

Booger.

On the plus side, he still doesn't know we're taking the train. YAY!!! Hopefully I can keep that a secret for another 9 hours.

Cross your fingers.

Proud Aunty...

I am a proud aunty. I have 2 beautiful nieces and 2 adorable nephews. My oldest brother lives in Alberta, so one niece and nephew I don't see too often. My sister, however, lives 1o minutes away and I have the privilege of being a "favourite aunty" to these 2 adorable children. I know I'm biased, but seriously, how could you not love these faces?

My sister and I have the same in-laws. What I mean is, my sister's husband is my brother-in-law twice over. Okay, simpler: I married the brother of my sister's husband. Where am I going with this, you ask? I'm hoping my kids are adorable as these children. (I figure it's a pretty good chance seeing as the genetics are basically the same). I said to my husband this week, "I can't imagine being able to love my children more than I love those kids." How can you not love a child that gets so excited to see "Aunty Kim's car!!", has never not let me hug her whenever I want to, and climbs all over your lap to have another book read (or, as it has been lately: "help find Waldo"). In the same way a 5 month old baby can melt your heart with his beautiful smile and happy giggle. (I must say, my sister has been blessed with 2 very happy, easy going children).
So, I dream of the day I can have my own children, in the meantime, I'm basking in the limelight of being a "favourite aunty". Makes the madness seem a lot less extreme.

Just 10 more minutes...

I've been having trouble getting a good night's sleep these days. Maybe it's the busyness at work, not being able to unwind at night, I don't know. But I find myself begging my husband in the morning, "10 more minutes...please?" I thought about that as I was driving to work. Like 10 minutes is really going to make me feel that much more rested, that I'll be able to spring out of bed like a poptart from a toaster, ready to greet the day. I'm starting to think that those 10 minutes are more of a teaser, making me feel once again, like I'm hit over the head, my head in a fog like some nasty hangover. Maybe I should lay off the chai lattes at night and get to bed a lot earlier, reclaiming my 9:00 bedtime from the days where I (yes, voluntarily) got up at 5:30 to hit the gym before work. Maybe I should change my weekend morning routine to let myself sleep longer, let the cat in right away so he can play in the room rather than hearing his incessant meows at the crack of dawn. These are all great ideas, I know, but putting them into practice is another battle. I'm 30 already, it's hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Aahh, to be a kid again....early bedtimes, early rising to watch cartoons, nap times, not a care in the world. You wouldn't hear a 4 year old begging for 10 more minutes of sleep. Of course, that's before he has really experienced the madness of life.