Wednesday, July 28th

Will took the kids to the beach this morning. They found this totem pole on the way.
So cute!!!

Inside the temperate rain forest.

On Long Beach. As you can see we did not have the nicest weather. Surprisingly, it was warmer by the water than in the forested campground.

They look so big in this picture.

The next day we were able to explore those rocks when the tide was out.

Playing with kelp is soooooo much fun.

He makes me think of Indiana Jones.

Not sure what comment to make about this face.

They were sooooo dirty when they got back.

Viewpoint picture.

Another shot from in the trees.

Our campsite, just before dinner. Peter fell asleep in my arms he was so tired.

Dad, making dinner. Thanks Dad!!!

This was the only campsite we were allowed to have a fire.

It helped us stay warm in the evenings.

Marshmellows were on the menu.

Notice cautious Peter's hand on Aleana's arm?

Having a fire is very calming.

Tuesday, July 27th

Leaving the Sunshine Coast.
This was the first ferry we had to take and in order to catch the next one, we would need a miracle. Otherwise, we would have to wait five hours for the next one and arrive in Tofino around 9pm. We had pretty much accepted our circumstances but as we drove along to the next terminal - I silently prayed that maybe maybe just maybe could the LORD please bless us to catch the next ferry. We didn't speed or anything. I didn't say anything to Will to pressure him. Once we got to town, I said "let's just drive to the terminal and see what happens". It was 11:59. The parking attendant waved us through to check out, and the lady there did our transaction quickly and said "off you go!!!" and we said to her "You just made our day".
We were the last ones on the ferry and it was already moving when we got out of the van.
Everyone in the family was very excited - we couldn't believe what had happened!!!
Matthew was the first to point out that God gave us a miracle and everyone agreed and we all continued to smile about it for the rest of the day.
A real answer to prayer!


We were really really happy to be on this ferry!

It was very windy on the top.

We missed a turn once we were off the ferry and driving on the east side of Vancouver Island.

I am so glad we did or I wouldn't have gotten these gorgeous beach shots.

This is Qualicum Beach. If you ever have the chance to go...it's beautiful.

Looking North.

Looking East.

Looking north - there is a nice walkway along the water.

On the road again.

The road into Pacific Rim National Park is windy and slow. Notice how sunny it is here. Once we arrived at the West side of the Island - it was nothing but soupy and cold.

As it was with our miracle we did not get to our campsite until 5pm!!

This made us appreciate our miracle even more - Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Monday, July 26th

We let the children play here for awhile in the morning.

Not much of a waterfront in town but the park was bonus.
It was cooler than the day before.

Across from the campground the natives own a gravel pit and they have these cool slides that send the finished product down to the water to these big barges.

More shrimp.

Peter thought this trick was absolutely hilarious.
All the helmets on Dad's head - hahahaha!!!!

It's fun just watching him laugh.

You can't see it here but Ethan's bike no longer has a handle bar. No problem says Ethan and he jambs a stick in there and makes due. The next day - the other handle falls off. He just found a bigger stick that goes all the way across. When we returned from holidays he still insisted on riding his bike until...the frame broke in half. Do you know what he said? "I can still fix it Mom!!" Man, I am so unreasonable sometimes :).

Being silly for the camara.

And another child being even sillier.

Finally! Sunday, July 25th

For our Sunday in Sechelt we planned ahead to listen to 2 church services.

So...on Sunday morning after all the clean-up was done, we all climbed in the van to have "church". We put in the "CD" and it kept popping out again. What could be the problem?

Well, I'll blame it on baby brain. I grabbed DVDs from the church library NOT CDs.

Almost everyone was disappointed :).

Instead, we had devotions on our own and then went for a drive.

We found alot of beautiful beaches along the way.

This is beach "I can't remember".

It starts with a "B".
We didn't stay long. Took a potty break and pictures.

This was our next stop - Half Moon Bay. It looks like we are holding hands again, but we're just walking close.

I love Peter's frown here.

Everyone but Mom climbed this rock formation on the beach.

I safely took pictures.

A jelly fish - there were alot of them swimming around.

Will and the two little guys.

Close-up.

My man.

Lots of starfish!!

The boatlaunch at Half Moon Bay

Shrimp bodies.

Our silly boys.

After lunch and naptime we headed out on a hike in the campground to the estuary (splg?).

What are they all looking at?

Tonnes of baby salmon running in the creek.

The road less travelled.

Beautiful weeds.

This is the last of me in the open field. Here I turned around and headed back for the creek in the forest. It was probably close to 30' that day. I put my feet in the creek and cooled off.

It reminded me of when we were kids and all the cousins would walk down the creek at William's Park and get soaking wet. Those were the days.

I love this shot because they are all together and Aleana is helping Peter cross.

Matthew said "I know what happened to this tree! Someone set the insides on fire so they could build a house in here". What an imagination.

This is our campsite at Porpoise Bay Prov. Park. It was great having the big kids sleep in the second tent because now we had room to keep our clothes in the tent and I didn't have to be so organized. Our neighbor kindly lent us his trailer and it was awesome!! Covered and lockable - a great combination. This campground was not overfull, and very well maintained. Highly recommended.

We only had to put a tarp up for shade because it was sooooo hot when we were there.

As long as I stayed out of the sun, and did everything really slow, I managed to stay comfortable.