Canada: Week 1

I think I mentioned before that we were in Canada for a work conference for Nate. That meant that from about 8:30 to 4:00 each day he was in class and I was with the kids. I was daunted, let's be serious. It's scary for me to adventure without my chief adventure buddy, especially in another country (even if it is just Canada). Nate had prepared pages upon pages of options of places for me to take the kids exploring, so day 1 came, he headed to class, and I figured we might as well give something a shot. We started with an easy one, within walking distance of our house. Summit Park was the name, and let me tell you by the time we were done, we were grumpy. It was hot as blazes, and the highlight of the park was this creepy retaining pond surrounded by high fences complete with barbed wire and metal spikes on the top.

At the end, the kids and I had a frank discussion about how this was the dumbest park ever and we needed to try something else that afternoon. That was the beginning of a really fun and special time for me and the kiddos. For the rest of the vacation, we were honest with each other. I let my guard down a little and told them when I was nervous or needed extra help, and boy those kids responded. They told me what they liked and what they didn't. It was fantastic. And we went and did!

Monday's afternoon outing was so much better. A trip to the octopus park (aka Cadboro Gyro park.) I drove all by myself. In Canada. Awesome toys and on the beach!! We revisited this one probably three more times.

Nate met us there when school was done for the day.

On the way home we went the long way and took in some sights. Who knew my dad is famous in Canada!?

The British Columbia Parliament. Every time we drove by this, Asa exclaimed, "Temple!"

The iconic Empress hotel. Fancy schmancy.

 Afterwards we headed back to our house and all four kids piled into the gigantic bath tub and took the bubbliest bath of their lives to get all the sand off. We made every bath a bubble bath while we were there because, heck, we were on vacation after all. The kids loved it. 

The next morning I found this in the kids' room. Snuggled together in bed reading. They caught the vision of vacation. And my heart was a mushy mess, let's be serious.

I was itching to get to some tide pools. I think that was the thing I was most excited about going into the vacation. So that day we went to Cattle Point to check them out. The tide was extremely low, so the tide pools were awesome. There were two school groups there also, which was less awesome. 

I eavesdropped on the field trip and got to see a jellyfish!

Asa did not love this outing. It was really rocky and slippery and he kept falling, so after a bit of exploring, he and I headed back to the car and "drove"/ate pretzels while Addison, Bryn, and Leah explored to their hearts' content. I love to see them filled with wonder.

The tide pool outing was so cool for the kids that we extended it at home and they drew pictures of what they'd seen, while Asa napped that afternoon. They worked hard on their drawings and they turned out so neat!

Addison's

Bryn's

Leah's

That night once we had Daddy back, we hiked a big one at Goldstream Park. This hike featured a waterfall, named Niagara Falls (not the actual one) and ended up high at a railroad tressle. There was a lot of elevation gain, and it was humid and woodsy. Also, the trail was pretty exposed in parts. But we did it! 

The facial expressions in this one destine it to be a classic.

Cool cave close to the waterfall.

Niagara Falls

We made it! Mommy was having a panic attack about kids falling over the sides, so that's as far out 

as they went. (It was several hundred feet off the trestle to the bottom of the ravine.)

On the way home we stopped at a little shack on the side of the road called the "Ice Cream Mountain," where they didn't even offer kid-sized or single scoops. Double was the smallest. That is my kind of ice cream store! Asa was a major pumpkin by then and not even the ice cream helped, poor little guy. Luckily the next stop was the bathtub and bed.

The next morning was drizzly, so the kids and I decided it'd be good to do an indoor adventure. We headed to the Victoria Bug Zoo. I am still so proud of myself for driving and parking right downtown. 

At the bug zoo, you pay and then go in where all the bugs are. There is always a tour going on, so you just jump in wherever they are and follow them around to hear all about all the bugs. You even get to touch some of them!

Asa was a trooper. This was not the ideal activity for him, because he lacked the freedom to roam and explore, but he did really like the water bugs. They were super cool. They swim to the surface and grab an air bubble, which they use as scuba gear so they can stay underwater for up to 20 minutes!

Leah touching the millipede! SICK! All the kids did it, but Mama opted out. They said the legs felt like velcro.

They had the most amazing ant farm on the planet. It made me think of my sister Amber, who is an entomologist on the inside. Who knew that ants are gardeners!? They take plants down into garden chambers and use them to grow fungus to feed their colony. Incredible.

I think they said it housed like 2 million ants, all of them female!

Addison took this sweet video.

Bryn holding a nymph from the jungle.

 Giant Brazilian cockroaches. Blech.

Asa went down for a nap and the big kids and I laid waste to a cupcake puzzle.

We were going to take a triumphant picture with the finished product, but Leah was the only one who was in the mood. Goofballs!

About that time Asa emerged. I get the sense that he slept hard.

For dinner that night we went downtown and got some fish and chips right on the harbor at Red Fish Blue Fish. We tried all kinds of seafood there. Addison really wanted to try the oysters, which we all did and all agreed were disgusting. This was my favorite seafood of the whole trip. So yummy!

We had lots of quality time with this guy while Nate was getting the food.

And also these people. Numerous tourists took photos of our kids playing on this one, which was a little weird.

We did a little sightseeing on foot after that. The hydrangeas at the Empress Hotel were beautiful!

Then we walked over to Beacon Hill park. (All in all, we walked about two miles downtown.) The herons were nesting, and we saw their giant nests high in the trees. They are such big birds! It was cool to hear them all "talking" to each other up there. Quite the commotion. Watching them swoop down into their nests was pretty incredible too.

We were glad to spot the peacocks. They put on quite the show. A kind old man with a French accent gave the kids peanuts from his pocket to feed to them, and even held a peanut in his lips and let a peacock grab it. He showed us a few places to come back and visit the next day, and mentioned modestly that he had carved the wooden turtle statue that we'd see if we came back to visit the goats. It had been a long day, and his kindness was just what this worn-out mama needed.

Winding down for bed.

Nate finished a little early on Friday, so we met him at the University of Victoria and headed to Witty's Lagoon in search of a beach and more tide pools. We were there while the tide was coming in. There were small and big tide pools there, some so big there were schools of little fish in them! Lots of crabs of all sizes.

There's a jellyfish in the net! 

 

 

We found a clam! We tried so hard to pry it open, with no luck. So the kids remembered that otters and birds break the shells on rocks to eat what's inside. So Bryn tried it out. Here's the clam. She was really sad and felt very sorry when she found out that the shell would be broken forever after that. Poor girl.

The weather hung around 65 for most of our vacation.

Bonus footage of general goofiness in the afternoons.

That evening we went down the street to play at the Quadra School playground. Addison saw his first homeless person there, and was very disturbed about it. Also I think we had to run back to the house twice to go potty during the first five minutes we were there.

Then we headed home to await Grandma and Grandpa's grand arrival and the start of week 2!