Andrew keeps on asking me when I am going to continue our summer vacation travelog, but the truth of it is that not much happened the first few days we were there, and I liked it that way. We had an uneventful landing in Seattle, a long taxi ride to Pier 69. Erm, wait. No - the taxi driver misunderstood our directions and dropped us off at Pier 9, so we had to walk a few miles to check in our luggage at the Victoria Clipper at Pier 69. No matter - it was a beautiful day, and after being cooped up on an airplane for 5+ hours, it was nice to stretch our legs and walk a bit.
My parents were waiting for us in Victoria, and we got in my parents' new minivan and headed back up to Honeymoon Bay. We had wanted to stop in Victoria for some fish and chips, but all the places were crowded, so we ended up going to Willow's favourite place to eat in Canada (oh, I kid you not) - A&W. Yes, we have A&Ws in the US, but in Canada the menu is a little different. McDonald's is different, too, for that matter - you can get a grilled cheese kids meal at McDonald's in Canada. We finally arrived in Honeymoon Bay after over 18 hours of traveling, and promptly fell asleep.
My sister Jaime, and her two boys Will and Hunter, arrived the next day and Willow was so excited to see her cousins again. Will and Willow are thick as thieves - poor Hunter is not quite 3 and so was left out of most of their games. Hunter is very confused by me - Jaime and I don't have faces that look much alike, but we are roughly the same height and size, and both have curly dark hair. He would come running up to me yelling, "Mama Mama Mama!" and stop dead, looking at me sideways. We finally had to explain that Mama had blue eyes and Auntie Jo had brown eyes. If he was upset, he didn't really care - he would come up to me crying, wanting to get picked up, and then when he noticed I was not Mama he would get a little shy, but wouldn't let me go.
The funniest story came from the last day Jaime and the boys were at my parents' house. I was cutting up stuff for breakfast and gave Hunter a piece of cheese. He goes back into the living room and Jaime asks him who gave him the cheese. He said, "Mama did." Jaime says, "Oh really? Your mother gave you some cheese?" He replies, "Not you Mama." He points at me and says, "Other Mama."
Here's a pic of Hunter - he had woken up while we were driving and was very unhappy - so I snapped his picture. He immediately stopped crying and demanded to see his picture!
We had a wonderful time in Honeymoon Bay - as I mentioned earlier, a lot of relaxation. At the beginning of the week it was warm enough to swim in the lake, and I swam out to the barrier for the first time. I'm a little embarrassed to admit I had been too chicken to do that for the last 6 years, and I am a strong swimmer. We went for walks, tried to pick blackberries (although they weren't at their peak yet), and ate lots of food. Oddly enough, I didn't take many pictures this time - I think I was just enjoying being with my family too much to bother with the camera.
Last Day on the Island:
Saying goodbye to Gramma and Papa at the Victoria Clipper ferry terminal in the Inner Harbour.
I have one more post from our trip to put up - from our daytrip to Victoria - and trust me, it will be picture heavy. It was a beautiful day and I was determined to be a tourist!
2 comments:
You're talking about a part of the world that is dear to me and I've never been. I have good friend that lives across the bay in British Columbia that I have written to for years. They are natives and their lives revolve around salmon. They have a richer love for family than I have ever experienced in the USA. A lot of the families in the tribe have last names that sound like it should the first. Their last name is Fred. Being in NC it is a world away. I really enjoyed the part of you being a second mama. That was so cute. Have a great day.
Odie
The mama confusion reminds me of a time I was at a big, family-friendly sort of party. One of the men there had a daughter who was maybe two, or maybe even a little younger. This man doesn't really look like my dad, but I guess they're a similar height, and they both had dark hair and beards at the time, and they happened to be wearing similarly-coloured outfits.
So my dad is playing croquet, and just as he's about to take his shot, this tiny child comes barrelling at him, and wraps herself around his leg. Her actual father looked like he wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry, and my dad looked utterly terrified while the rest of us all held our breath, knowing that if this kid looked up and saw that she was wrapped around someone who was definitely NOT daddy, there would be waterworks to rival Old Faithful.
Fortunately, after a moment or so, she detached, toddled back off to her mother amid gales of laughter, and all was well.
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