Retroblogging the megatrip: part 7c

OK, this is it. The last instalment in part 7: our longest one-place stay on the whole trip. We'd already gotten up to a lot on the Island, from beach time to an ecotour to strolling in downtown Victoria...but there was a big adventure left before we'd set sail for another country. When we were visiting April and co. in Sooke, they showed us their amazing camping trailer and mentioned that they'd be going camping on the weekend. Better yet, they mentioned that they'd have a spare tent so that if we wanted to crash for an evening, we could join them at the campsite. SCORE!
The morning of July 14th, we set out for one of Holly's favourite spots in BC, East Sooke Park. The park is on the south shore of the Island, just across the Juan de Fuca strait from Washington State. We were treated to another day of fantastic weather and we had the opportunity to play on the beach a bit, explore the coastline and, best of all, do some rock-pooling. Here's a look at what we did:

Nutrition factor: 0. Quiet in the van factor: infinite. Neither the first nor last time that we resorted to the slushie-as-pacifier on the road.

Four year prior, we used this exact carrier to trek Max down to the same beach. It was pretty cool to see Henry in there this time around.

Two boys, a beach and a pizza bun. Sounds like a good afternoon to me.

Leo loved the beach...

...Henry seemed to think it was OK too.

Holly in her happy place.

Henry and I tackled some tide pools amongst the rocks while Leo and Max went with Holly. Max was determined to find the biggest anemones and it frustrated him to no end that Leo actually found the biggest specimens (not pictured here). Surprisingly nobody brained themselves while clambering across the rocks.

Henry got a big kick out of recognizing his name anywhere - scrawling it in the sand blew his mind. He still loves writing and reading the letter H as much as possible.

Leo got to go on a special expedition with Holly and they took this picture at a lookout.

Max was so sad that he couldn't bring his seaweed skipping rope in the van. Sorry bud, there was NO WAY that was happening.

After getting our fill of East Sooke Park (OK, maybe not our "fill" as we could have stayed a lot longer!), we headed up the highway to go meet up with everybody else at the campsite. I made a slight detour on the way to show Holly and the boys where I spent a number of camping trips back when I was much younger: Sunny Shores Campground. As with most everything in life, it seemed a lot smaller than I remembered. I think this was my first time back since a camping trip with my dad and brother back in 1993. Lots of memories, from crab fishing to mini golf to flinging flaming marshmallows at trees to crib competitions with my brother to see who would have to sleep closer to the snore machine (a.k.a. my dad) in the tent to almost losing my hand to a seal (not quite like Buster Bluth). Good times.

Carrying on up the road, we arrived at our destination: French Beach Campground in French Beach Provincial Park. I've done a lot of camping in BC in my time and I have to say that this was a gorgeous little spot. There were beautiful, tall trees forming a nice canopy over everything, a fairly large play structure for the kids, some nice trails for walking and a massive rocky/sandy beach area with a view of the Olympic mountains. Plus, the others arrived with an insane amount of amenities so our camping ended up being upgraded to glamping. Here are some of the things we did in those 24 hours.

When we showed up, a card game was going on and I was invited to sub in at one point. What is this card game, you say? Crib Wars. Essentially triple-length crib crossed with Snakes 'n Ladders. Insanity.

Rick brought a craft project. If memory serves, it was mini crossbows made of popsicle sticks (you can see the glue gun, plugged into the lighter, kind of by the beer.

So, oceans are cold. The kids went down to the water a few times on the afternoon of day 1, but it was pretty breezy and the water wasn't very warm so this is pretty much what everyone looked like when they took a dip.

The kids had a great time clambering all over this tree.

No, Max, it's still cold.

Yes, Max, it's warmer up there.

Henry and Dad exploring the seaside.

Sisters...sisters...Those who've seen us know that not a thing could come between us...

I think this was Max's first up-close-and-personal with a wavy ocean beach. Clearly, he was impressed.

No, really, kids find these comfortable.

A boy, his mom and the waves.

Max, Leo and Scarlett decided that they would try to go around the campsite offering highlighter tattoos to anyone who wanted one. Shockingly, not everyone said no and it was certainly a good way to meet the other people at the campsite.

In particular, we would have never stopped to talk to these Nerf gun fanatics who let the kids take a few shots. Max and Leo certainly love their firearms (WHY!?!??!)

The food at the campsite was FANTASTIC. Dinner involved make your own shish kabobs with beef, pork AND chicken done over the campfire (this is leftover meat cooking for the next day) and breakfast in the morning was crepes (!!!) with all sorts of fruit, custard, Nutella and whipped cream. Rick's sister Lindsay whipped up the crepe feast early in the morning after a very late night of playing games by the fire - she was a rock star. High five glamping!

Later on that night, we stuffed the kids in the camper and they watched a movie until the wee hours. Then they cranked the radio and had a rave up while the grown ups played a board game and enjoyed some refreshments outside. This is Leo, equipped for the late-night dance party.

And this is the scene of the crime: THE CAMPER.

The next morning, it was a bit chilly. Leo got to borrow my shirt.

Mister "I'm never tired" and "I get up at 6 a.m. no matter what" turned heads by staggering out of bed at 9:00. More fresh air/rave combinations in the future, I guess.

Henry was also a happy camper in the morning.

Nom, nom, nom.

Too much sleep! So punchy!!

At some point, it appears we did up some marshmallows.

Now that's a fine mallowselfie.

Henry and Mom back at the campsite.

Leo learning how to play Simpsons UNO.

Some play structure time was in order before heading down to the beach.

I think this was my favourite picture that I took that day. It reminded me of The Walking Dead.

Max and Henry monkeying around with rocks.

Oh come on, it's not that heavy.

Yes, this is foreshadowing for the next few pictures. People got close to the water. Then they got too close to the water. Off came a layer of clothes. Repeat.

Yeah Henry, this is fun! Get a little closer!

Yay, your feet are wet! Try a little closer!

Oh shoot, now what?

Aha!

A beautiful day on the ocean. We are very lucky people.

The sun, glittering on some wet rocks.

This kid and his dad were building rock barricades, trying to create dams, streams and diversions. It reminded me a lot of doing the same thing at Jordan River when I was young.

Introducing....Leo! Sabato! Junior!!!

A quick snack stop and...

...one more selfie before packing up and moving out.

It really was a wonderful (albeit brief) stay. I'm not sure we'll ever get back and I'm not sure how long the kids will hold on to the memories of that camp-out, but it clearly had a big impact on them. In fact, once we got back to the North Saanich homestead, Max insisted on sleeping on the floor of his bedroom so that it would be like he was still camping. But before we got back to the house, we had one more stop to make: the Sooke Potholes. The Potholes are these connected, shallow lagoons where some good swimming can be had. Unfortunately, it was a very hot day and, now that summer holidays had started, it didn't matter that it was a Tuesday - the place was very crowded. We did get a good dip in though - it was significantly warmer than the ocean. Pro: Max got to slide into the water off the side of a rock. Con: Holly gouged her hand pretty badly on the washroom door bolt. Ouch.

I don't think many of the swimming areas we saw were much deeper than 8 feet. Most was much shallower, but still rocky so you'd rather swim than walk around.

A very far away shot of Max sliding into the water.

Henry cruising the shoreline.

Leo wasn't too fond of swimming at this point. He was just fine on the shore. It was hard work to keep him from throwing rocks into the water (near swimmers, not at them).

This was it - the goodbye picture!

On our last day on Vancouver Island, we had a couple more things we wanted to do before leaving. Our hosts, Auntie Jan and Uncle Brian, recommended a trip down to the waterfront in Sidney. The strange thing about the waterfront is that on one side of the pier, there is almost no beach glass. On the other side however:

I love it - now I remember why some kids are semi-sockless in these pictures. They were using their socks to hold their booty. I just know that some shady deal is going down in this picture.

We had a great time hunting for treasures. Although we called any piece of blue glass "the prize in the popcorn", the real trophy was one beer bottle bottom that Holly found with the word CANADA still clearly legible. After combing the beach, we headed into town to check out the petting zoo at Beacon Hill Park. The kids had a great time seeing some animals other than what can typically be seen at local fairs or Ray's Reptiles. In particular, they liked grooming the goats.

Yes, that is a peacock very high up in a tree.

Well, that pretty much wraps up a week's worth of pictures at the westernmost point of our journey. The only thing left in our day was for me to get home and pack everything up while Max and his mom went out for a swim. Once we all got back together, we drove into Sidney to hop on the ferry to Anacortes, Washington. So that's what I'll tackle next time.

A HUGE THANKS to Auntie Jan and Uncle Brian and to April, Rick, Chandler, Scarlett and family for their hospitality and generosity. We had so many wonderful adventures over the course of our stay on the Island and can't wait to get back out there!!