Cathedral Grove Photos

Here is Cathedral Grove. I'm not going to explain anything. Just look. It's beautiful. (& pretty cool if you know that they filmed part of Star Wars here!)

Enjoy!!

2 surprises in 1 post!!!!

When we took the Ferry to Salt Spring (or SaltSpring) Island the first time last month, we were overjoyed with what we saw. We were only there for a few days, but we nearly took it all in within the first day!

The Island is only about 185 sq km, & in the slow season there is a population of about 10'000 people (in the Summer it balloons to about 20-25000).  There are 3 main 'cities' on the Island; Ganges (the biggest) is South~Central, Fulford is on the Southern tip, & Vesuvius is at the North~Western end. There are 3 ferry ports as well, Fulford, Vesuvius & Long Harbour. 

Back to my story.....

When we were taking our tour around the Island, we picked up a 'passport' of sorts, it was a Christmas Contest they were having in which we were suppose to get a stamp from a number of retailers all around the Island & there were a prizes you could win. Well, needless to say we forgot all about it until the last day (after we toured everything already)! So what's a family to do? Well, we took another tour around the Island!!!! There were a bunch of different prizes~ but I honestly can't remember what any of them were... I think there was a helicopter ride, maybe dinner out somewhere..... So, we re~toured the Island & got the entire passport stamped & dropped it off before we took a ferry back to Chemainus. I'm pretty sure we all forgot about it until............

they called us on Dec 27th to tell us that we won.

WE WON!!!!!!

Lucky Lukies Strike Again!!!

So excited, we've been waiting & waiting for the prize to come in the mail (because while they were telling me everything on the phone, I was not listening..... I was jumping up & down at Chapters like a goof!)
We received the Prize in the mail this week & here is what we won!

2 Adult admissions to the Movie Theatre on the Island
2 night stay at the Skipping Stone Beach B&B
&
Lunch for 2 at the Raven Street Market (apparently the BEST Wood Fired Pizza Place around ~ & only a 5 minute walk from our new rental...... oh ya, didn't I tell you.......)

WE'RE MOVING TO SALT SPRING ISLAND FEB 1ST!!!!
And we are SO SO SOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

Here's more on our move......

Last week we took another trip to SSI (SaltSpring Island). We wanted to go & either take it off the list, or consider it with Sooke or Shawnigan Lake. We had gone to Qualicum Beach the week before & decided 100% that we didn't want to move there. We wanted the feeling of

"WOW, This place is amazing. I am willing to do ANYTHING to live here"

So we get off the Ferry & headed straight to one of the schools to see what it was all about. As soon as we entered we were made to feel completely at home. The Principle didn't think twice to take our family on an impromptu tour. I don't know if we interrupted him in anything, he just saw us & took us in! The school only has 101 kids from Kindergarten to grade 5. Oscar's class has 12 kids, but Callyms is maxed out at 24 (including him) It was such a wonderful experience that the boys begged us not to go see any of the other schools! They said they HAD to go to this school & they didn't care about anything else (and that was before they found out they could bring nuts & peanut butter sandwiches to school ~ which blew their minds & made them so much more excited)!!!!! Bus transportation & the lunch stay is included too which is nice. Chris & I had some trouble with not seeing any other schools, we really thought we should check them all out, but then we remembered what happened with our car (we went out one day to test drive a bunch, & ended up buying the first one we test~drove without seeing any others. I guess when you know, you know). So we left the school to look at Ganges again. There were a few rentals that we wanted to check out as part of our research, take a look again at the stores they did have (& didn't have) & just get an over all feel. At this point we hadn't decided (at least out loud, but the look on any of our faces would have told you straight up, we were in love). When we made a stop at the park for the boys to play, I ran into a rental agency to see what they had available. We had already driven by a few of the rentals & weren't really impressed. I was so disappointed that the rental agency (& the papers) had nothing in our price range. As I was leaving the lady suddenly jumped up & told me she had the perfect place. She hadn't thought about it because they were re-flooring it & it would be ready until Feb1. (perfect for us) She also said it was on the northern end of the Island not near the 'big' city, it turns out it's a block away from the school the boys HAVE to go to! (again, perfect). How does this always happen to us?
Anyways, needless to say, we have a place, we found a school, there may even be a job on the Island for me (cross your fingers).
We've found it. This is where we are willing to do whatever to try to make it happen!!!!

(btw, our place is a 3 bedroom, so come on by for a visit)!!!

Crazy~Lukies!

Trip to Victoria!

We took another day trip to Victoria. I had to exchange some jeans & Chris wanted to stop by a few Breweries! We decided to take the boys to the Victoria Bug Zoo (they keep asking, but we've never had the chance). So, this time we did!


It was pretty chilly out that day, so we didn't walk around (such a shame, it's so beautiful), but we had a blast at the Bug Zoo, check out the photos!

 These were the different kind of Leaf-Bugs. They were hard to find because they look just like a leaf!

 These were really cool Stick-Bugs, they look just like a stick, & when they get really scared they can 'drop' (loose) a leg.

 My dad held a Tarantula, it was pretty cool, but really gross at the same time.

 Here is a tarantula that just molted out of it's skin, how crazy it that!

 Here was another kind of Leaf-Bug, the Girl was super heavy! My dad needed 2 hands to hold her!

 Here are some of their egg sacks.

 Here is a HUGE millipede. When the legs move it looks like a wave in the Ocean.

 Here is a centipede, it has a bunch of venom in it so we can't hold it.

 There was a blue Cray Fish in the tank, they only turn Blue if the water is pure.
Here is a cool Praying Mantis, they were so cool & no matter where you go, they would always stare at you.

 Here are a few more different Leaf-Bugs, the Mama & a Baby!

 This guy looks like one of the mean guys from An Ants Life. He was pretty cute, but he can hurt when he bites.

Here is a Spider/Beetle thingy that looks like the bug from Harry Potter. It was pretty cool to see! And they had a wolf spider!!

Some Blue Beetles that play dead when they are scared.

 And more Stick Bugs crawling up our arms! CRAZY!!

 Here's a funny shirt they were selling in the Gift Store, it made us think of Winnipeg!

After the Bug Zoo we didn't know what else to do, so we decided to go to the UnderSea Gardens!!! It's an actual boat that has aquariums underneath it. They also have a diver that goes into the tanks to do part of the show for you. Here are some pictures!

 Going down the freaky stairs down 500 feet under water.

 A Big StarFish (they also had little StarFish, Sun Stars, Vermillion Stars, Rose Star, & Sunflower Stars)

 Two Crabs Kissing!

 A really pretty sponge.

 And here is the Diver bringing an Octopus in front of all of us to see! It was so cool ~ because the underwater animals know here & are use to her, they didn't attack or anything!

 Here are 2 photos of a close up of the suckers.

 They also had a Wolf Eel. He looks SO scary, & if we were diving, we would for sure swim away ~ but the diver was actually petting it & it was swimming around her like a pet. The Wolf Eel liked it! It was super cool.

 Here is the Octopus swimming away, they are so amazing !!

After a yummy Vegan dinner we headed home. Of course we were allowed to play 3D~DS & iPod all the way home. We are the luckiest kids ever!

How is Winnipeg, did you all have a good Christmas? Thank you grade 1 & 3's for all the presents & pictures you sent us. We loved them!!
Is there snow there yet? Is it cold? We heard it was pretty warm there. Here it's nice, but rainy. We miss you all. Please skip school & come visit us soon ok?

Callym & Oscar