On July 5
th,
Kaes and I left
Revelstoke for Vancouver. We spent the night at Josh, Monica and Maddy's new house in Burnaby. The next morning,
Oma and
Opa joined us in our van and we convoyed to the border. Let the
Blommestein Family Camping Trip begin!! It is surprising how short the drive was to be in a different country, with different scenery and at the ocean.
Uncle Joe and
Tante Maria were waiting for us when we arrived. It looked like rain, so we began to set up camp. Rain you say? Seems to be a
Blommestein family camping trip requirement. Although the weather wasn't the greatest, with Herman's spiffy new cook tent shelter we were prepared for anything; let it pour!
The beach was awesome. That salty smell and the waves lapping on the shore were just so welcoming. I hadn't been to the ocean in quite a while, and it was Kaes' first trip. We looked for rocks, shells and ocean life. The beach was also great for kite flying.
Thank goodness I managed to squeeze Kaes' bike into the van. The state park was huge, and I don't think I would have had the patience or strength to walk/carry him everywhere. Our last night there Kaes and I went walking to look for the outdoor amphitheatre and got completely lost. I finally found a trail that I could hear the ocean from and bushwhacked to get there and get my bearings back. We definitely deserved our marshmallows that night.
I don't know what it is, but
Kaes and I never photograph well. This is the best picture out of the three that
Mieke took a the beach one morning; kinda sad but we've just accepted it I guess!
Wednesday morning the weather didn't look great at all, so we decided to go on a little excursion. We went over to Whidby Island and did a little shopping, went to a great thrift shop, and stopped at a must-see farm, although none of us could really figure out what the big deal was. We also stopped at Fort Ebey State Park. A slightly different setting and totally different stuff on the beach. Poor Kaes was still looking for a live crab with no success, but we did find some neat shells.
The sun did finally show itself on the day we left to head back to Vancouver, so we had one more stop at the beach before hitting the road. Soaking up the sunshine while wading in the water was the perfect end to such a fantastic trip. So nice to spend time with family in such a beautiful setting. I still can't believe how much Maddy has changed and can still hear her saying "Hi Auntie Kim, Hi Uncle Joe". Thank you for driving Herman, getting to sit in the back with
Kaes and
sight see along the way was a vacation in itself. Next year we plan on staying closer to home so that Pascal and Evelyn can join us, but I really hope to go back one day.
Man was the ocean COLD!!!
WOO-HOO!!! We are sooo happy with the way our house turned out. I only say 'almost' done as we are waiting for the roofers to come back to finish the gable flashing. The rest is up to us and will consist of porch and landscaping. The boards are stained for the porch, but its been a little hot to do any actual work lately. Truthfully it has been nice to have a little break!!
I love how all the neat angles of our house stand out with that bright white trim. 
The bathroom window is now the only window that was never replaced, but a coat of white paint did wonders.
New basement windows on the far side of the house. The space was always there, carved out of the foundation and covered over with the old siding. It will be nice to have some ventilation down there. 
