Saturday, August 7 to Sunday, August 22, 2021 (Peace Arch RV Park, Surrey, BC)

Saturday morning we woke to rain...not a heavy downpour, more like a heavy mist. Unfortunately, Steve discovered a small pool of water on the floor by the door. After tracing where it was coming from, he found that it was coming in through the cupboard...a leak in the roof. He put on his raingear and went up to see if he could figure out where it was. Based on the location, he thinks it was where the solar panels are screwed into the roof. He dried off any spots that looked iffy and applied some silicone as a temporary fix. 

I went out grocery shopping.  It was pouring by this time and totally socked in but by the time I got home a couple of hours later, the rain had stopped and  the sun was popping out...it was very humid and muggy out!

Before we went into Chris and Angela's place, Steve was back up on the roof with a tarp to cover the leak until he could fix it...hopefully tomorrow once it has dried.
We had a wonderful afternoon with Chris, Angela and Isaac. Isaac got his first bike this week...and a new helmet!
Outside on the driveway learning how to ride. It was a little hard for him to get his legs coordinated on a sloped driveway...
It rained a little more overnight, so Steve wasn't able to get out to fix the water leak on the roof Sunday (August 8). It was a pretty uneventful day, basically hunkered down inside.

Monday (August 9) morning Steve was out early to Traveland to buy some Dicor Self-Leveling Lap Sealant for fixing the roof leaks. He worked on the roof all morning scraping the old sealant off two of the 4 solar panels.

While he was doing that, I took care of some chores inside...defrosting the fridge, fun stuff like that!

Tuesday (August 10) morning (Steve here) I was back up on the roof to reseal the last two solar panels and the combiner box. I inspected and sealed some cracked sealant around some of the roof vents and the TV antenna as well. 
All solar panel mounts resealed including the screwed clips holding the wiring in place...
I was pretty sure the leak was coming from the combiner box...
There were fine cracks in the Dicor sealant so instead of scraping it all off it's much easier to use Eternabond Tape for this type of repair. My roll of tape was 4 inches wide so I cut it in half to make 2" wide strips. This is sticky stuff so you have to make sure to get it placed correctly the first time :)
Update...It has rained since and all seems fine...Yeah!!

I went out for a walk around the campground and then worked on a blog update. Steve was finished his work by noon and spent the afternoon editing the blog I had just done. I left him to do that and headed out to Costco.

Wednesday (August 11) morning we went to another favourite park for a walk...Sunnyside Acres Urban Forest. You'll remember it from our many walks there last summer.

Another heatwave has descended upon us so we spent most of the afternoon inside the trailer with the AC running! Unfortunately, smoke from the wildfires...both interior BC as well as up from Washington State...is supposed to roll in; likely within the next few days.

Thursday (August 12) morning we were on our way to Chris and Angela's....to watch Isaac while Angela goes out for an appointment. It was another super hot day so we spent our time there inside with the blinds closed and the fans going.

We had great fun with Isaac...
It was 37C/98.6F outside...thank goodness we had left the AC running in the trailer while we were gone!

The next few days were pretty routine...nothing particularly exciting. We got out for a drive...the heat and the smoke was just too much to want to do much of anything else. 

We drove through White Rock...look at the smoke! 


By Sunday, most of the smoke had cleared and we were able to get in a little pool time!

The highlight of the week was Tuesday (August 17) when we went to the Vancouver Aquarium with Chris, Angela and Isaac. It had just re-opened yesterday and since Chris is on vacation this week, we asked if they would like to join us. The Aquarium has on-line booking, so I purchased tickets and reserved our spots for 11:00 a.m.

Although they say...To ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for all, the Aquarium will be managing capacity through an online guest reservation system. This new reservation tool will make it easy for our guests to schedule their visit and ensure there is adequate capacity available...we were surprised to find it so busy! It was literally packed! Not what we expected to see, particularly when case numbers of COVID-19 Delta Variant are increasing...I think their "safe opening" went sideways! Thankfully, though, most folks were wearing masks, which made us feel better. 
Isaac was so excited! He spent the hour and a half we were there literally running from display to display...always holding onto one of our hands. He was so funny! We started off in the tropical section.
Piranha...
As you would expect it was very warm and humid in the jungle...
Turtles and a duck...

A small monkey...
Look at the size of this snake in the water!

Hundreds of jelly fish...
Lion Fish...

Puffer fish...

Hard to see in the photo but I think this is a Moray Eel...it has a hooked jaw and lots of teeth!
Manta Ray...


The was an amphibian section with frogs of all sizes and colour...

White Salamander...
Isaac climbed under and into the dome to check things out...


Pacific Canada Pavilion, divers were cleaning the glass...

A small sturgeon below the diver... 
Sea Anemones...
Not sure if this is a flounder or a halibut...



Lots of colourful starfish...




A sleepy seal...

At first glance Steve thought this was a giant video screen but nope, these were real...


Wednesday (August 18) and Thursday (August 19) we really didn't do much but go for our daily walks. Balancing rocks at Crescent Beach...




Friday (August 20) was a cool cloudy day with heavy mist on and off for a good part of the day. We were particularly lazy today 😁

So come Saturday (August 21), we were hoping for some sunshine and warmth for a family gathering that Steve's cousin's daughter and husband are having. Nicole and Nick moved into a beautiful home about a month or so ago and now have space outside to entertain a group of us. 

We headed to their place, only about 5 minutes away, at 3:00 and enjoyed a fabulous afternoon and evening!

Steve's cousin, Bev and her husband Rob, Angela and Steve...
In this picture are more kids of Steve's cousins...on the far left is Chris, with his fiancée Julia, and on the right is Nick, with girlfriend Celina. Chris and Nick are cousin Jamie's sons. Behind them on the left is our son, Chris and he is talking to Cam, son of cousin Don.
They had two rooms with a variety of snacks and food...delicious!
Cam (left) and Chris (right) with their Aunt Bev...
On the left, Steve is talking to Nick (our host)...and Rob is talking to Nick, Celina and Julia...Nicole (our hostess) is on the far right, hiding behind Julia...
Isaac...he was pretty shy with so many people and of course they were all strangers to him. Understandable after 18 months of COVID isolation, not being able to have family gatherings.
Me, Rob, Nicole (our hostess), Angela and Chris (son)....there are too many Chris's and Nick's LOL!
Rob, Grant (cousin Cheryl's husband) pouring shots of Tequila, and Nick...
I joined the guys in a shot of Tequila! Me, Nick, Chris, Grant and Rob, waiting for our host Nick to join in...
One tequila, two tequila, three tequila, floor...CHEERS!
Grant and Steve...
Bev, Chris, Rob, Nick, Nicole, Cam and Cheryl...(Bev and Cheryl are sisters)
After chasing Grampa around it was Gramma's turn...
Such a wonderful afternoon and evening...plenty of food, drinks and family time! Precious!💓

And that's it for now. We are heading out on another road trip tomorrow...over to Vancouver Island! We plan on spending time with our son, Rob (and Angie, Conner and Bryce, who get home from visiting family in Winnipeg on Thursday), and see friends...as well as take care of some appointments. After that, we'll drive "up island" (north) to visit more friends and family. Looking forward to it!