I've learned my lesson from the megapost for the Vancouver trip: I'll be chopping this one up into smaller portions. Our visit to Vancouver Island was the longest stay in one place throughout the entire trip so we naturally got up to quite a few things. But, as per usual, let's begin at the beginning:
After wrapping things up at Science World on the mainland, we headed south to Tsawwassen to hop the ferry over to Swartz Bay. It was a beautiful afternoon ride over with great weather (by now, this was to be expected every day), but the kids were fixated on the fact that an on-board TV was running kids' shows. They all parked it in front of the tube for most of the trip until we forced them outside right at the end of the sailing for some pictures to prove that they were actually there.
We drove straight from the terminal to Auntie Jan and Uncle Brian's place where we would be graciously put up over the course of our stay. We had one parent upstairs with one boy and another parent on the main floor with the other two boys - getting them to sleep in separate spaces helped us squeeze in some grown-up visiting time at the ends of days. The kids were over the moon to find that our hosts had talked to some friends and borrowed some wonderful toys including a massive pile of Lego for building (big thanks to Theresa!). Henry was also really excited to hang out with more dogs. Here are some pictures from our time spent at the house:
Lego stations! Auntie Jan is a huge fan of Lego too.
A frequent happening throughout the trip: passed out kids.
Gee, are we in BC? LOL.
Seriously, he's 6 and not 10, right?
We can't visit without taking a couple of shots of the spectacular yard...
The boys found this cool snail in the backyard.
A typical morning tableau: Brian and the boys enjoying some early-morning cartoons.
One evening, we went out to the White Spot and the kids each got the kids' meals. Each one came packaged up inside this giant cardboard pirate ship. Henry was particularly fond of his ship and kept it around for a few days until it got (inevitably) maimed in the van.
This picture kills me. A pleasant game of dominoes in the backyard and Max is a hoodie short of pulling off a perfect impression of a professional poker player.
The emperor, surveying his empire.
Zooming in on this picture is sooooo worth it.
One of our many yummy dinner nights.
Dear Uncle Brian, you are the man. I'm not entirely sure how you made this happen, but it was amazing. Love, John.
Henry, getting ready to tackle a puzzle.
On our first full day on the Island, we got up to some high-quality beachcombing. We drove out south from the house just about 5-10 minutes and then went looking for sand dollars. Not only did we find a pile of sand dollars, but we found some balanced-rock creations, a new pair of (women's, ahem) sunglasses for me and a bunch of other marine life. The boys loved it.
TREASURES!
Somewhere along the way during this trip, Max turned into a bit of a ham in front of the camera. Some of the pictures are pretty funny.
On our second full day on the Island, we took a trip into Sydney to see the
Shaw Ocean Discovery Centre. Max and Leo had both been to the aquarium four years prior but probably didn't remember anything about it. This time, they were pretty psyched...so psyched, in fact, that they ran into the holding room elevator between the lobby and the aquarium before we could catch up with them. The doors closed and they were essentially stranded in an elevator for a few minutes until we could catch up. The boys picked up scavenger hunt sheet in the interactive lab area and we spent most of the time hunting for answers to the questions in order to get a free gift at the end. The kids loved the whole experience and were particularly fond of the touch pool.
I seem to remember that this was some sort of Kiwanis barbecue for a seniors centre in the background, replete with a dude singing Edith Piaf with an accordion accompaniment. The boys ran screaming through it a couple of times.
It was a beautiful, clear day and we had a fantastic view of Mount Baker!
After the aquarium, tummies were rumbling and so we nipped over to
Fish on 5th for some grub. The kids loved the puzzles, colouring and vintage games while waiting. The food did not disappoint either!
I believe this was Max's first run-in with an Etch-a-Sketch.
Fried oysters!!! HEAVEN!!!
After returning home for a nap, we bounced back into Sydney to hit the Sydney market. This is another nostalgic event for us as we came here with the boys on our
previous trip out west. I'm not sure we hit the mini-donuts this time, but we did revisit the marimba jam and tried something new with a giant sno-cone. Henry and Max took down a giant container of raspberries too. A wonderful, warm evening spent in a place we love.
The kids are definitely into buskers!
That about wraps it up for our first few days on the Island; next up is heading into the big city of Victoria and adventures with Holly's sister April and her family.
