A Weekend Away

The Willing family headed over to Vancouver Island on early Saturday morning. It was a long weekend in Canada last weekend, in 1974 British Columbia decided that the residents of BC should have a holiday in August (as every other province did) and so proclaimed the 1st Monday in August to be a civic holiday, it was called BC Day to celebrate the early settlers of the province. Anyway, back to the weekend, we all arose bright and early and headed out to the ferry terminal in Tsawwassen. We ended up missing the 8am ferry and so waited on a grassy knoll for the 9am boat. Ben tried to take advantage of this wait to take a nap, but I guess we were too noisy for him as he kept piping up from under the sleeping bag (he was getting some strange looks from passer-bys as well.



We made it over in time for the wedding which was in Sooke. It was held in someone's backyard and it was a beautiful spot! There was a fog rolling in, but luckily we were sheltered in the yard as up on the road it was a wee bit chilly and everyone was dressed in summer wedding clothes.

Our traditional partial family photo






The reception was held in the Ranger club house and there was a lot of family there. The Willing family is quite large as Ben's dad has 5 brothers and sisters. Uncle Peter and his band provided the music and Sandra (Ben's sister), Kim (cousin) and Jewels (the bride) got up to provide the back-up for Mustand Sally. I, luckily, had gone to the bathroom otherwise everyone's ears would have suffered.



Ben's cousin, Brian (who we were staying with) is quite the fisherman, so he took us out on Sunday morning to go salmon fishing.



This is me reeling in a fish, there wasn't a lot of room to move around in the boat and take photos.



So beautiful!



Ben's parents also went out with Uncle Glen (Brian's dad).



It was amazing! We only caught Pink Salmon on Sunday, but we caught 16 5-7 lb salmon in about 1.5 hours. We were pretty much putting lines into the water and catching fish instantly. Both Sandra and I complained of sore arms the next day as our muscles are not trained for this type of activity.
We saw some seals!






We canned some of the salmon and gave 2 away but our freezer is still full of fish.






The rest of the weekend was spent with the greater Willing family at the Farm and Monday, Ben and Brian went out fishing again and managed to catch only one fish worth keeping - a Spring though, so nicer than Pink. Then we all went to the Sooke Potholes. for a quick dip before heading back on the ferry carrying our bags, a cooler full of fish and a box of apples from the Farm.



Ben wanted me to photoshop a photo of him with extended arms from the weight of the cooler and the apples, but I'm sure when we're enjoying tasty apple treats he won't be complaining.

Gotta run to go have lunch with Sandy!
Erin

Feeling hot, hot hot!

That classic song is running through my head this early Friday afternoon. Everyone is feeling hot, hot, hot in Vancouver, where it was 34 degrees yesterday and then even hotter with the humidity. I was able to spend my afternoon at Kits beach (apparently that's where all the sexy people go so I fit right in :) )

Anyways, with the temperature still high and the sun still shining, sometimes I like to take a lesson in relaxation from a master...Taz.



Feel the zen!




Not that Soot is any stranger to relaxation but his style is a bit more unorthodox.





Looks like he's ready for a day at the office, and no I did not pose him, he's this weird all on his own.



Ok, two posts in one day, I'm sure you're tired of hearing from me now. Off to get ready for our trip to Vancouver Island. Family wedding to attend, I will report next week on the shindig.

Ciao,
Erin

Smiles in Seattle

News! I got a job, however, my funemployment lingers on for a couple more weeks while I wait for my new colleagues to return from their vacations. I start on the 17th of August and I will be working as a Government Relations Officer at the University in a communications role. I'm stoked about the job (and about having some remaining time off - although my bank account is not as stoked).

I took advantage of this time to go visit my friend Terumi down in Seattle. Terumi and her husband recently moved house (on Saturday), and I thought I would lend a hand this week as they also have one year old twin boys to take care of. We didn't get to see a lot of Seattle - not that we wanted to spend much time outside as it was something like 105F/39C on Wednesday and it felt like we were walking through pea soup - but I did get to see a lot of smiles.

For example...



And this one...



And then there was this one...



Oh and this was a prize winner...



As was this one...



Not to be outdone by this one...



And to wrap things up...



I'm sending you smiles from Vancouver!
Erin

Happy (Belated) Canada Day!

Yesterday was Canada Day and it got me thinking about Canada Day's of years gone by.

You'll recall (for people who have followed this blog) that last year we hosted a Canada Day Party for friends in Sweden, complete with a tipspromenad (trivia game)that stumped our non-Canadian friends.


Hard Core Canadian Partier!

Ben and Soot are ready to celebrate!

In 2007, the day was spent at our friend's Joni and Kent's and it was a dual purpose celebration, as we also celebrated Ben's successful defense of his PhD.





In 2006, we celebrated with my sister, Meaghan and her now husband, Brock. It was their first visit to Saskatoon and we spent the weekend hanging out at the jazz festival, playing golf, and showing them the city.



Some Canada Day's were more uneventful and less memorable. The typical Canadian celebration would include a backyard/patio bbq at someone's place, and sometimes with a sprinkling of fireworks thrown in.

In 2003, we spent our first Canada Day in Saskatoon. After a weekend away camping with Shon and Josefin to Cypress Hills Provincial Park, we ended up spending Canada Day evening with our friends and neighbours, Lorne and Lisa. That was a weekend of extremes, extreme cold one night, extreme heat the next, and an extreme number of mosquitoes (a typical Canadian experience :) ). (This was before we had a digital camera so no photos to share).

In 2002, I was in San Sebastian, Spain on Canada Day. My best friend, Alex, and I were travelling around Europe. We met up with some other Canadian travellers and the "Canadian Contingent" hit up some bars in that town, complete with maple leaf pins and tee-shirts from home.

Yesterday, Ben and I had a laid back day complete with some sunbathing and a walk down to the windy beach. We ended up at a bbq hosted by our American friends, Kristie and Dave (yeah, go figure that it was left to the Americans to organize the party).



So Happy 142nd Birthday Canada (I know we're so young!). And to all my American friends, Happy 4th of July to you too!

Ciao,
Erin