Wednesday, March 27 to Friday, April 5, 2013 (North Saanich, BC)

Our time here visiting Rob, Angie and Conner is just flying by!  And we certainly have been enjoying our time with our grandson...we have noticed so many changes in the short time we have been here.  They grow so quickly!

Wednesday (March 27) was Rob and Angie's third wedding anniversary.  Rob took the day off and Gramma and Grampa got to babysit Conner for the afternoon while Mom and Dad had a mini-retreat by themselves. 

We drove into Sidney and went for a nice long walk along the waterfront...

We got a picture of the HMCS Ottawa sailing the waters off of Sidney.

It was such a beautiful sunny day...and it continued on for the Easter long weekend (we figured it was so nice out because we didn't go camping...it is never this sunny and warm on any of the Easter weekends when we have camped!)

Good Friday (March 29) was the start of lots of company and entertaining.  Conner started the day off just chillin' with daddy...

Steve's cousin (and one of my "girls get-away buds"), Bev came over from Burnaby for a visit and to meet Conner...

A little later in the afternoon, good family friends of Angie's, Emery and Glenda, arrived from Campbell River.  We had a great visit with them, sitting out on the sundeck...


This is the first time Conner had his sunglasses on...I don't think he liked them much...

The guys back out on the deck for an "after dinner cigar and drink"...

...while the rest of us stay warm inside...

We had a great visit with Emery and Glenda...so good to see them again!

Saturday was a busy day for Rob, Angie and Conner.  They went to get their first family portraits taken and then were off to a birthday party. 
While they were gone, we got ready for more dinner guests...my brother and sister-in-law, Dwight and Helen were coming over, along with my niece and her husband, Vanessa and Nathaniel.  It was another gorgeous day so we were able to sit out on the deck again...

Helen with daughter, Vanessa, holding Conner...

Conner having "a chat" with great-uncle Dwight...

Another great visit with family!

Sunday morning Steve and I were up bright and early and in the truck on our way up island by 7:00.  We were joining the Cowichan Valley ATV Club for a ride just northwest of Duncan. 
It was another beautiful day...that is the Chemainus River in this picture...

 

A little different than riding in Arizona!

The snow covered mountains were beautiful!

Cassidy Airport (near Nanaimo) way down there...

Nanoose Bay...

We went through a lot of interesting areas...

A few rough spots to get through (especially for this 4-seater Razr...he was a little bigger than the rest of us!)...

We stopped at a couple of old cabins that had been built way out in the middle of no-where...this is the Dog House cabin.











This one was by a nice little creek...

...unfortunately vandals have left it in pretty poor shape...

We stopped at a couple of little lakes.  This is Coronation Lake...with only one narrow access point, it was a busy place with people who had driven trucks over a very rough road to get to it...

Jim, me, Chris and Dave (our ride leader)...

This is Heart Lake...with a fly fisherman in the distance.

Steve and his buddy, Jim...

We were back at the trucks just after 6:30...after a 9 hour ride!  We were exhausted but we had had a fabulous day...thanks for the great ride, Dave!!

Monday we had more family over for dinner...this time it was Steve's sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew...Nadine, Mike, Amanda and Matthew...along with an old family friend, Sylvia (she's 96 years young!!).
In this picture...Nadine (holding Conner), Matthew, Rob, Steve, Sylvia, Mike, Amanda (holding Charlie) and Angie...





 We sat down to a big turkey dinner...

We had a fabulous long 4-day weekend...lots of family, friends and food...doesn't get any better!

The rest of the week was spent on appointments and errands...income tax stuff, truck insurance...and getting ready for our trip to Mexico.  We leave tomorrow morning so I will sign off for now...we'll be back in two weeks!

Sunday to Tuesday, March 17 to 26, 2013 (North Saanich, BC)

Wow, another week+ has gone by!  It was a much busier week with various appointments and outings.  Sunday we did something that we wouldn't normally do...since we are retired, we finally decided to take advantage of some last minute deals and booked a 2 week vacation to the Mayan Riviera, Mexico!  We have booked one week at The Grand Mayan Riviera Maya and one week at The Mayan Palace Riviera Maya...both resorts are in the same complex and just outside of Playa del Carmen.  To top it off...we even managed a direct flight from Victoria to Cancun, one of the last return direct flights for the season. Steve's Uncle Gord and Aunt Esther from Edmonton AB will be joining us. We had a great time with them in Los Cabos in 2011.

Sunday afternoon, Angie, Conner, Steve and I decided to go for a hike around Durrance Lake.  It was a busy place this lovely afternoon...lots of fishermen on shore and out on boats as well as hikers.  We got the last parking spot in the small parking lot and after loading Conner in the snuggly...and onto Grampa...we were on our way.

It is a beautiful walk around the lake...

It was a nice hike around the lake taking less than an hour.  We stopped at the boat launch...








...and took Conner out of the snuggly...

After a stop at the Red Barn Market, we headed home...








Conner was happy to see his Daddy...

Monday Steve had a dentist appointment then stopped in at Pacific Controls Ltd to visit his former co-workers. Then he dropped off our quads at SG Power for servicing plus Steve's quad had been making a strange clicking sound from the right rear tire area when turning sharply to the right.

Tuesday I had a doctors appointment.  We also met my brother, Dwight, at noon on Tuesday for lunch and he sharpened our kitchen knives (he owns a mobile knife sharpening company...KnifePro) . When we got back to the house there was a phone message from SG Power that our quads were ready... being so late in the day that would have to wait until tomorrow.

Wednesday Steve went to pick up the quads and was told there was a brake switch on order for my quad and they hadn't taken anything apart on Steve's quad to further investigate the clicking noise.
Steve was miffed...a wasted 40 mile/60 km return trip at 7mpg! The mechanic said that many people don't want to pay for the time to investigate any further. Steve told him that a phone call would have been nice to discuss that,  plus he doesn't want a breakdown in the middle of nowhere. If Steve wanted to hang around for a bit the mechanic said he would start tearing things apart. So he went to hang around the parts dept. and ordered spare spark plugs and air filters. The mechanic had found that the bearings in the CV joint was the source of the clicking noise so that whole assembly had to be ordered in. Should be ready early next week. When Steve returned to the truck he discovered that he had been ticketed 10 minutes before. $40.00 reduced to $20.00 if paid within 14 days...Sheesh! Being a little flustered about the whole fiasco with the quads he forgot about the 1 hour parking. You'll get our money on the 14th day and not a day sooner!

My day went much better...Angie, Conner and I met "the girls" for lunch at Fifth Street Bar and Grill in Victoria.  Lynn (holding Conner), Gwen, Janet, Me and Angie...

Friday evening (March 22), our son and his girlfriend (Chris and Angela) came over from Burnaby for the weekend...a visit with us...and of course, to see Conner!  Grampa and Conner waiting patiently for them to arrive...

Saturday was a very relaxing day...just spending time together as a family was wonderful!  We went for a walk in the neighbourhood...after getting Conner secured in the carrier on Rob, we were off down the driveway...

We headed up the hill and took a trail that we haven't been on in a long while.  There used to be a nice view over the rooftops over looking the ocean and Salt Spring Island but the vegetation has grown so much...now there is just a bit of a view through the tree branches...and there probably won't even be that once the leaves are on the trees!

We continued to the end of the trail and to the top of the hill...the homes up here have lovely views...

After going into Sidney for coffee with Steve's Dad, we enjoyed a relaxing evening at home...good family time!  Here is Auntie Angela with Conner...

...Uncle Chris...

Chris is comforting Conner while Mom quickly finishes up in the kitchen...

Since we are going to Mexico on April 6, we needed our summer clothes and, of course, they were all in the fifth-wheel...in storage...in Langley!  But we had a plan...I would go back to Burnaby with Chris and Angela; spend the night (and see Chris' new basement suite); drop Chris off at work Monday morning and then have the car for the day...he would then drive me back out to the ferry after work Monday.  Before we left, Steve took a picture of Chris, Angela, Conner, Angie and Rob...

I enjoyed a great visit with Chris and Angela on the way back to the mainland...and even met Angela's parents when we dropped her off...very nice! 

Monday morning, I dropped Chris off at work just before 9:00 and then drove out to Econo Storage in Langley.  The first thing I noticed was that two of the sliders had again creeped out a couple of inches. Guaranty RV had told us to put the slider switches in the off position after the sliders were in so that they don't creep out. Well that didn't work!  It didn't take long to pack up our summer things and once that was done, I drove to the mall and had a great time shopping and wandering around.  I ended up with a new swim suit for Mexico!  It has been a long time since I have had a day to myself and I really enjoyed it!

I was back in Burnaby around 2:40 and decided to go to Brentwood Mall.  I knew it was fairly close to where Angela worked and Chris had said that she was off work at 3:00, so I texted her and she met me at Starbucks at 3:30.  Before we knew it, it was time for me to go pick up Chris and head out to the ferry. 
He dropped me off in plenty of time for the 7:00 ferry...I took this picture from the foot-passenger waiting area as the ferry was coming in...





Steve picked me up and when I got home, I found Conner and Rob just chillin' together on the couch...

Tuesday, Steve, Conner, Angie and I had a quiet morning (Rob was up early and off to work).  It was just after 1:00 when Steve headed outside to putter around on the truck and Angie, Conner and I headed into Victoria.  We were going to check out the stores at the new UpTown Development.   I found a pair of white shorts and some flip-flops for Mexico.  Angie tried on a few things but nothing really took her fancy other than a pair of nice sandals. 

It was after 5:00 by the time we got home.  While we were gone, Steve found out that his ATV was ready so he had gone in to pick it up.  So no more dusty desert trails...we are now all set to go out riding with the Cowichan Valley ATV Club this weekend in the mud and water!