When we reached Victoria, we stayed with my sister Michelle as Tricia's family was staying with my parents. This ended up working perfectly, as Michelle is so laid back and didn't seem to mind the fact that my clan was over-taking her home. And between the Wii and her cat, Esso, the kids were well entertained (for what little time we were actually home). Little did the kids know, but their Auntie Shelly was sending the Wii home with us since they never used it anymore. Needless to say the kids were just a little excited about that!
The next day we headed to the lake and met up with my mom, Trish and Maya. The kids were little fish and spent their entire time in the water.
That night we had dinner at my mom and dad's house. The kids by that point were pretty worn out.
The next day, we went downtown in Victoria to do some of the usual touristy things like shopping and taking a water taxi to get fish and chips at Fisherman's Wharf. It was SUCH a beautiful day and the weather couldn't have been better. It was such a great reminder of what a beautiful city Victoria is!
The following day I met much of my extended family at a restaurant to celebrate my grandfather's 101st birthday. I paid Maya to babysit my kiddos and enjoyed a nice little break from them. I was so happy to be there because I missed Grandpa's 100th birthday. I REALLY wanted an updated photo of the two of them and did a little furniture rearranging in the restaurant so I could facilitate a 3-minute photo shoot without having them to walk any distance. I'm so glad I did it and LOVE the resultant photo.
The next day we went back into Victoria and spent the day at the Royal B.C. Museum. The museum was hosting a special exhibit and IMAX movie on Vikings and I learned so much about an ancient culture that I knew very little about. The kids loved the natural history exhibits and First Nations rooms!
One highlight for me was being able to have a coffee with an old friend from BCIT! I haven't seen Andrew in MANY years, but it's nice to know that we both haven't aged.
The following day we visited a Raptor Refuge just outside of Duncan. My parents had received rave reviews on this place from some of their neighbors and they were right... it was such a cool place. They had a ton of raptors on exhibit and the kids were able to get close and personal with some HUGE birds.
But the highlight of this refuge was the show. The trainers were working to help rehabilitate several raptors by teaching them hunting skills. It was amazing to see them snatch chunks of meat out of mid-air and learn about each species.
On our last day there, Shell and I took the munchkins to Beacon Hill Park to the petting zoo. They have all kinds of farm animals there, but the highlight is always the peacocks who love to strut their stuff for the cameras.
The kids spent at least 45 minutes in the goat pen, oooh'ing and aaaah'ing over all the baby goats. They were so cute and friendly!
Finally we finished up our adventures by a trip to the beach and spent a good chunk of time exploring and poking around in tide pools. We found starfish, anemones, crabs and a variety of shellfish and the kids kept a variety of treasures for their shell and rock collections back home. Poking around tide pools defined much of my childhood, and it was really special to be able to share those kinds of experiences with my own children. I love their passion and interest in the natural world!
All in all, it was a really fabulous trip. I was a little scared about making the adventure without Steve, but was pleasantly surprised about how good the kids were. And of course I am extremely thankful for Michelle's help wrangling them!
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