TOFINO!

My third weekend away from  my kids in the month of May... this never happens! But when my sister called and said her and Adam were coming to Tofino for their anniversary again, I decided Steve and I would join them! There is a couple in our church, who have been offering to take the girls, so I took them up on it! The girls were excited to be able to spend the weekend at a dairy farm and were very well taken care of! We were super looking forward to our weekend away. I booked at the Cox Bay beach resort right on Cox Bay in Tofino. We stayed there with Steve's parents and it is a beautiful little condo room with a full kitchen. The beauty of Tofino always amazes me, and I took too many pictures- here they are... 

Our first night we arrived was Adam and Linsey's 11 anniversary so we went out for a nice dinner in Tofino after a beautiful walk on the beach. So nice to see them! I decided to order a caeser because I always see people drinking them. But my first sip confirmed that I DO NOT enjoy them. Yuck!

Saturday morning we decided to take a water taxi to the Hot Springs. It was gorgeous, and a definite highlight. We had our very own private boat and during the hour and a half trip we saw giant sea otters, porpoises, many fish farms and heard some history of the Natives. He took us inside the channels as Steve gets sea sick and we wanted calm water.

It has been 30 degrees on our side of the island for a long time, but not Tofino... it is always chilly! But thankfully the sun was out and we had an awesome boat trip to the island.

Love my sister! So happy to spend time with them without our kids... such a nice treat!

Captain Sam.. he literally lives in the woods and takes his boat to work... which is driving boat all day. He had some good stories for us and was sharing his fishing secrets with Steve. While we hiked to the hot springs, he went fishing and caught himself a nice sized halibut!

Beautiful board walk built the 30 minute hike in to the springs. It was gorgeous!

There were numerous names carved into the boardwalk... assuming people had donated some because there were some intricately designed ones.

The Hot springs were not what I expected. It was basically a crack in between two big rocks, and it was super hard to get into and very slippery. When we arrived the springs were pretty full... but we squished ourselves down there. The waterfall was unbearably hot and the springs were also burning. But such a cool experience!

It flows into the ocean

Gorgeous! We packed in an amazing picnic with cider, amazing cheeses, meats, crackers and the most amazing donuts ever purchased at a bakery in Tofino. There was a couple that walked by saying they wished they were our friends! It was lovely!

On our beach there was the rip curl surf competition all weekend so it was neat to walk along the beach and check that out. We had such a nice little getaway, with delicious food and awesome company! Short but sweet!

The Girls Go Fishing!

One afternoon after church we met the Olson family to go fishing at Chemainus lake. Adessa tried for a few minutes, but was quickly bored and wanted to play with the already caught fish in the bucket!

Amara gave me a heartache... no resting for this momma! She was leaning as far over the edge as she could to try and see all the fishes!

This girl... she keeps me on my toes! 

And this is Ms Fisher-woman! Seriously... she fished ALL afternoon with the men. She caught about 5 little fish and was so excited... I think Steve found himself a little fishing partner. The perfect one... They both love to fish and her love language is quality time, so sitting on a boat with her dad while she talks, is the perfect day for this girl! 

The littlest of the bunch... happy to sit and eat!

Adessa loved holding the fish... but quickly learned that fish belong in the water!

Yes that is a fish falling to the ground, but thankfully we saved it! 

Happy girl!

Why so serious little one
The little kids got bored quickly so we moved our fishing to Fuller lake where the other kids could swim and play at the park.

Fun on the teeter totter!

Best buds 

Haha our cheese face!

SO MUCH FUN!

Putting her worm on to catch the big one!

This little beauty

We ended the evening by ordering and eating pizza on the beach! Perfect afternoon with some tired out little girlies!

Girls mesmerized by Mark giving the cow a needle

Lazy days... going to miss these days when Adessa goes full time in the fall :(

Averaging once a week hiking the dogs to the cross with a baby on my back

The only girl committed to working out with me... very hard to find friends in the same stage of life with kids and committed to an active life style. Crystal has become that friend! And I am so thankful!

Taken the boat out to Galiano once this year so far... it was a gorgeous day and I cant wait to get back out there! 

These two... seriously going to miss this! A quick stop at transfer beach in ladysmith after a costco run and both girls ran through the water park with their clothes on

This girl! She hates water on her head and screams like someone is hurting her in the bath- yet she stands under the bucket at the park and runs over and high fives me afterwards! Love it! 

The girls were all in a talent contest at their school one evening. Adessa was in choir and Danika and her friends put on a magic show! It was so cute! And Danika said she wasn't scared at all... she was so excited she felt like jumping! 

And had to snap a quick pic of the tow truck coming to my rescue... I locked Amara, my keys, cell phone, purse.. everything in the van at the school one extremely hot morning and it took him 45 minutes to get there. Thankfully everyone at the school was super helpful and supportive but I was pretty shook up when I pulled my sweaty baby out of the van.