Our trip on Tuesday

To answer a few questions about our trip:

The drive was 5 1/2 hours from our house to the ferry. After getting off the ferry the drive to our resort was 20-25 minutes depending on traffic. Everything that we did on our trip was within a 25 minute drive with most activities it only took about 5 minutes to get where we were going. The water was just right (in both the Ocean Bay and the River)...it felt slightly cool at first but it was perfect for playing in the sun.

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I hadn't been on Vancouver Island since I was little and then it was on the Southern side. This trip took us to the East side of the Island toward the center. John was given a huge discount on the resort and we didn't know much about the area when we reserved our dates. I did get on the Internet before leaving home and checked out the local attractions. It is the perfect vacation site for families and couples. At this time you don't need a passport to get through the border. Adults need two forms of I.D, usually a drivers license and your birth certificate. Children simply need their birth certificate. I am not sure when they will be only allowing those with passports to cross, but I think it may be 2009.

The ferry ride was rather spendy. You had to pay according to the size of your car. Our Suburban was considered an undersized vehicle and it cost us $43. You then have to pay per person in the car and they counted Anderson as an adult for the grand total of $95.65 in Canadian money, each way. To answer your next question...right now the exchange rate between U.S. and Canadian money is only different by a matter of pennies. But for a family vacation this amazing it was worth the money. (Plus you have to figure that is two hours that your car is not using up a ton of gas and with gas prices the way they are that counts for something)

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Tuesday was a relaxing day for me. Before lunch John, Anderson and Cayden took a bike ride and played basketball. Branson took a much needed nap while Sydney and I watched the Spiderwick Chronicles. I had yet to see it and she had been asking every day for the past week when I was going to sit down and watch it with her. Why does it take a vacation for a mom to be able to relax with her kids?

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I only took one picture on Tuesday! While the guys were gone I tidied up the rooms and then started to look for the book I was reading. It was the same book I had been reading at the beach the day before and I had got a very cool picture of it sitting on the sand. But instead of keeping that photo I am showing you this one...




The background is rather plain you say? Well, I couldn't find my book anywhere and then it dawned on me... I had spent rather a lot of time reading in the last 48 hours and I wondered if John may have hid my book! He did. I found it in the night stand drawer, and we never use the drawers when we stay some place. So that is what the background is...the bottom of a drawer. He said that next time he will have to hide it better.

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On Tuesday we also swam in the outside pools and later our niece and nephew, Kirsten and Trevor, joined us for the week. While the older ones went to see Dark Night, Sydney, Branson and I went on a Nature walk. Our resort was a Nature Resort. The outside was not flashy like many of the other resorts in the area and at first glance I was a bit worried. But the buildings were designed to blend in with the surrounding landscape and the insides were beautiful and equipped with washer, dryer, full kitchens etc. A large part of the property is an actual preserve with a salmon hatchery and beautiful trails. I opted to leave my camera behind and simply enjoy.

Last Christmas Anderson got a Rubik's Cube Revolution. After playing it a few times the stickers all started to come off and I had to reattach them with craft adhesive. This, however, gave me an idea...I bought a regular Rubik's Cube (they now come with a handy base)I took pictures of our trip, cropped them square and colorized them (Thanks Kim for that idea!). I trimmed them to fit the little cubes...

And now John has a cool toy/family memento for his desk at school!