Vancouver Island, Day Two

After our first full day here on the island, we are all fantasizing about moving up here. It's so peaceful and unspoilt.

Today was a fairly lazy day. We didn't have any particular agenda, and we took our time getting up and getting out of the house. The adults took turns watching the little ones and partaking in the outdoor hot tub. Chris joined us in the hot tub, but Kieran and Nicholas were worried it would be too hot. After we had all showered and lazed around for most of the morning, we piled into one car (thank goodness for the Toyota Camry Wagon, which seats 7) and headed into Sooke.

We saw a few otters playing on the dock this morning, but then they got skittish and swam off.

As we were preparing to head out the door, Nick thought he'd try on Grandpa's boots:

We headed to Mom's Cafe in Sooke for lunch--we had a brief wait, during which time Nicholas and Kieran made themselves at home:

We all enjoyed Mom's--burgers and French dips were consumed, as well as corn and salmon chowder (Mike and me). We ordered some pieces of pie for dessert this evening.

After lunch, we went to the quaint Sooke Regional Museum, full of indoor exhibits as well as grounds filled with antique tools, tractors, and such. And a great swing:

After looking at the indoor exhibits, I took the little ones outside to explore. Here is Nicholas in a 1,000+-year-old tree!

And Kieran posing with an antique tool and in the tree:

And on a younger tree specimen:

Then we walked out onto the Whiffen Spit, which we were amazed to see took us within sight of the house we were staying in! We had seen what we thought was an island with a lighthouse out in the water...but it turned out to be the end of the spit! A 1-kilometer walk took us to the lighthouse and within view of Kingfisher Manor and its dock:

Here are the boys at the end of the spit:

And my parents:

Then a very nice Canadian woman offered to take a photo of our whole group--she had two younger children, and she moved up here from Victoria and loves it. She said she loves the way that hippies, loggers, and surfers all hang out together here peacefully.

The walk along the spit was gorgeous. Nicholas and I had fun turning over rocks near the water and discovering all sorts of sea life underneath them. And of course, throwing rocks into the water!!

Another view of the spit

Walking back to the car

Poor Kieran was complaining about his feet hurting (both Chris and Kieran have inherited Mike's flat feet and must wear orthotics...and Kieran's need to be replaced). Grandpa came up with an ingenius way to distract Kieran from his foot pain...challenge him to see if he can walk balancing a piece of wood on his head! They had a contest, apparently. I can't imagine what the Canadians thought about those weird Americans!

After buying a few groceries, we headed back to the house (which seems to be more accessible the more we drive the route). Dinner was sole, rice, and broccoli. After dinner we gave the kids a bath in the jacuzzi-jetted bathtub. I put just a bit of baby shampoo in the bathtub, and when we turned the jets on, the bubbles went crazy. Kieran had a blast--I have never seen him have so much fun in the bath!!