beachcombing

Last week we took a family trip up to Tofino, BC's surf town. No surfing for us (alas, we will have to wait until Jasper is a little older)... but we still had some good times with nice long beach walks, puddle splashing, wave watching, and lots of eating. (*note to go to the local taco truck, Tacofino, if you visit there... so good!). Here are some pics from our trip. :)

forest fun

I love walking in the woods... the fresh air, the smell of trees, the birds chirping... ahhh, makes me want to sing to all the forest creatures like Snow White did (but I will spare you, since I haven't had time to warm up... memememe). These are some pics from the walks we took while on Vancouver Island - at Pacific Rim Provincial Park and Cathedral Grove MacMillan Provincal Park in case you're wondering. And not to worry... the bear was spotted from our car while we were on the drive back... he was just walking on the side of the road.. maybe he was hitchhiking?

ps. don't forget to enter my giveaway here!

tofino time

As promised, some pics of Tofino today from our trip this past weekend... see, Canada isn't just the great white north after all... we do have sun, sand and surf here on the west coast... heehee.

We went for some lovely walks on the sandy beaches (wow, that sounds like a personals' ad cliché).
There was a mystery structure/sculpture someone had built on the beach... no entry way into it though. Hmmm... maybe it's a giant game of Jenga?
There were quite a lot of people surfing that day... unfortunately, not including us (so, yes, that is a stranger in the photo). We are still trying to get stronger at swimming before attempting to surf... but I have put it on my list as one of the things I want to learn.
Here is the view of the Pacific Ocean with crashing waves and all... apparently the waves get larger as winter gets near, which makes for some good storm watching... but that will have to be a future trip. Will post another batch of photos soon!

ps. stay tuned for my September giveaway this coming Monday!

island bound

This past weekend, we ventured on a family trip to Vancouver Island (Tofino to be exact)... took a lot of pics, so I will post them in batches over the next few days. Sit back, relax, and enjoy...
This is the view from the ferry deck.... there were a lot of Poseidon Adventure and Titanic jokes from all the family, while we were enjoying the ride... I'm positive we got the stink eye from some people around us.
From the ferry, it is about a 4 hour drive to Tofino, so we stopped on the way in Coombs, a small little town with cute, and some odd, shops. So if you are in the market for giant cement lawn sculptures, you might want to stop here.
This one was my favorite... I don't think dragging it onto the ferry and then having this on our apartment balcony (the entire balcony) was an option though. So, alas,the psychotic owl family statue had to stay.

Here is a shot of the Coombs Old Country Market, one of the coolest markets ever... you will see why in the next picture.
Ok, so the market is known for their grassy roof that houses goats. Yes, you read right... there are cute little goats that walk around and graze on the grassy roof. There is even a little house for them up there as well.
And here is a close-up shot of one of the little fellas... I think he was looking at the apple tree that was in the distance, either that or he has got the modeling for tourists thing down. Ok, so I haven't posted any pics of Tofino yet... to be continued!