5 days in May

After many a late night moving all of our belongings into Bumpa's garage we were really looking forward to our trip to Tofino. On the way we stopped in Nanaimo just long enough to find another house (a great one this time!), but the rest was spent just enjoying a much needed holiday as a family.

Grant & Drew went whale watching, we visited Cathedral Grove & spent lots of time on the beach & in the hot tub. We also got to experience a "live" crab dinner thanks to Kevin, the owner of the home we stayed in. There were no close encounters with bears this time, but we did see three from the safety of our truck. There are almost 400 photos of our trip - here are just a few...

Kai & Mara in the biggest bubble bath ever!

Cathedral Grove

"The trees aren't THAT big" says Drew as he sits on the roots

Drew's photo while whale watching with Dad

Hunting for hermit crabs

The view from our rental

Down at the crab dock - not too sure who Drew is calling

Fishing for crabs

Playing with my best boy on Long Beach. He won 3-1.

Mara-no-shoes on Long Beach

Grant's "bulbed d'eagle" shot while whale watching

Not too bad...for an amateur

Drew was a "little bit creeped out" at first - but he sure liked to eat him afterwards!

Drew's portrait of our dinner

Who says babies can't eat shellfish?

Movin' & Sellin'

Drew's sign for our multi-family garage sale

The last few weeks have been a blur. Our house is almost empty & we are spending our last night here tomorrow night. There is still so much to do before we move to our halfway house, but thanks to a fairly successful garage sale with the Rigbys & Taplins, we now have a few less things to haul across the ocean. Last Sunday afternoon the 3 brave dads took seven kids to Scandia while Jen, Brandwyn & I relaxed in the sun & made a few dollars.

Next week we are heading to the island for 6 days & we are really looking forward to our mini vacation. We'll be house-hunting for one day on the way out, but the rest of the time we are hoping to just relax (wha?) & explore the west side of the island while we stay in Tofino.

I'm sure there might be one or two new photos to post when we return. In the meantime here are a couple new ones of Mara. Her and I had a sleepover at Donna's in Kamloops this week. Poor girl was sporting a strange eye 'issue' while we were there. It came & went quickly but it looked pretty bad for 2 days. (Kai: "Mum, us kids got the goop"). She was still in good spirits & enjoyed Sydney & Kiley's hospitality - we just hope we managed to keep it away from the girls!

Nap time

First slice of cantaloupe! She had 3 in total.

Puffy-eyed Mara hangin' out with Sydney & Kiley

Just in time to leave she started to feel (& look) more human. Poor girl!