Island Hopping

 

 It's days like today remind me that I a still capable of adventure as a mom of three. Somehow I managed to leave the house by 7:30am this morning with everything I needed for a full day on Gabriola Island with my children.

My friend Nicole had told me about an awesome VBS (Vacation Bible Camp) that was taking place there and had invited me to camp with her. Since the thought of camping with three children on my own made me shudder, I decided to do day trips instead.  The girls LOVED the VBS and we will definitely be attending next year. The theme this year "Taste and see that I am Good". This church must have spent months preparing for this camp. Everything had been hand painted and constructed out of cardboard, foam and wire. It was impressive.



They even had local chefs  preparing delicious cuisine for the children to try.

After camp we convened my friend's campsite for lunch and then headed to beach. It was good to spend two full days away from my muggy house with its clutter and distractions. I still changed diapers and administered snacks, but being with friends in the great outdoors made it more enjoyable.

Levi consumed a surprising amount of moss, sand and dirt and who knows what else, but he was happy. Thankfully, he managed to take two good naps between his car seat and my wrap.

 

 

Can't wait until next year!

 

Inspired

 

Dispute feeling half dead after  taking care of sweaty, vomiting children and a baby that decided to wake up at 4am, I am feeling pretty inspired this morning. I'm designing business cards in my head and daydreaming about re-doing my inspiration board downstairs. I know that I should be dealing with smelly sheets and grungy bathtubs and writing a packing list for our camping trip this coming weekend, but all I want to  do is create. I recently purchased a sweet little stamp set from stamping up and have been making loads of fun birthday cards. My craft room floor is covered with half painted frames awaiting chalkboards, and there are pictures all over my kitchen table as I scrambled to catch up on project life.

Tofino!

 

We recently went camping in Tofino at Bella Pacifica Campground on Mackenzie Beach. Nicole and Tyler booked our sites back in  January and we have been looking forward to it ever since.  On the whole, it was a pretty awesome trip, despite the rain and fact that Nathaniel forgot his sleeping bag. We completely underestimated how cold it would be at night. Either we forgot how chilly the fog zone on the west coast can be, or we couldn't fathom cooler temperatures when were packing in the heat. In any case, I think we all wore long pants and sweaters to bed most nights. Thankfully the sun eventually shone, there were hot showers a stone's throw from our campsite, and were able to buy Nathaniel a fleece blanket at the local  CO-OP. 

 

Camping is a strange notion when you take the time to consider it. We leave the comforts of our home, (flushing toilets, comfortable beds, clean clothes, electricity, refrigerators stocked with food), to huddle under tarps in the woods, often camped beside rowdy, irritating neighbors. We sleep in cramped quarters, wear wrinkled clothing and forgo the usual habit of showering and brushing our hair.  We sit around smoky fires, squinting at the flames  and poking at the embers like Neanderthals. We forget about timelines, meals, mirrors and instead find ourselves sunbathing at 6pm in the evening and stuffing our faces with chips.  It is ludicrous and wonderful!

 

 

 

 

Camping with a ten month old proved to be a little challenging. Especially at night when I found myself breastfeeding nearly every hour, my skin prickling against the cold in an attempt to get him back to sleep AND to avoid waking the neighbors. Other than that,  it was more or less what I expected. Levi was filthy, ate a great deal of sand and took all his naps in my arms.

 

 

 

Our girls had the time of their lives. They enjoyed scrambling around in the woods, boogie boarding, and playing in the waves with their friends. They slept like rocks at night.. their sweet little sun kissed bodies wrapped up in sleeping bags like caterpillars in their cocoons. It was fun watching the girls explore the woods around our campsite, create forts, interact with neighboring campers and watch the noisy the Stellar jays and squirrels. I love that my children are experiencing so many of the things that Nathaniel and I did as children.

 

 

We did a LOT of beachcombing.

 

 

 

Having an awesome tent makes camping in the rain easier.

The kiddos enjoyed watching Nathaniel try and make fire with a bow drill under these trees.

Oh, but when the sun decided to make an appearance, it was glorious!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They called this "slug pie".

 

 

The Zult family brought their bikes.

 

 

The girls did a lot of scrambling around on rocks with their dads.  

 

I learned that these gigantic jugs are called "growlers".

 

 

 

We explored some really neat botanical gardens.

 

 

 

 

 

The girls spent hours playing in this warm tidal pool

Talking a walk around town.

 

 

 

Nathaniel pretending to be a "ninja warrior" on the kids playground.

 

Somehow I neglected to take photos of us indulging in the mouthwateringly delicious Tacofino even though we were there on multiple occasions. Oh man, the food that comes out of this humble food trunk is astonishingly good.

(These are stock photos from Google)

 

 

 

 I did however take a photo of this fun pizza joint and the lovely New Zealand girl who served us.

 

Claire adored this friendly little squirrel.

 

Fueling up at the Tofitian before saying goodbye.

Isn't this river beautiful?

 

We hit up coombs for some fresh fruit and a yummy lunch on our way home.

 

 

Until next year!