Trips: Camping on Vancouver Island

Hello!

It's been a while.


I go through phases with the blog....sometimes I'm johnny-on-the-spot when it comes to posting, other times it's like I've fallen off the face of the earth.

In other words, it's been a bit of a blogging dry spell.

We've been outside taking advantage of this beautiful Spring weather and trying to keep our lives only moderately crazy.

We went camping up in Tofino, British Columbia this weekend. Tofino is located about halfway up Vancouver Island on the western (Pacific) coast. We drove up to Canada and then hopped aboard a ferry over to the island. Upon landing in Nanaimo, it was a three hour drive across the island to the small towns of Tofino and Ucluelet. Vancouver Island is huge; it's the largest island in the Pacific Ocean east of New Zealand.

We stayed at the Green Point Campground at the Pacific Rim National Park and it quickly became one of my favorite campgrounds due to the secluded spots and proximity to both hiking trails and beaches. Also, Canadians seem to be a bit more respectful of personal space and noise. There wasn't a single night in which fellow campers were playing their music too loudly or causing disturbances.

 Chris and I are still figuring out our perfect camping situation. We'd love to have a location where the kids can run absolutely wild. Ben and Emma, at 5 and 2, are loud rambunctious kids and there are very few places that they are allowed to be completely free. Even at the campground we are constantly setting rules in regards to noise, destruction of vegetation, and Ben's yearning to visit all the other campsites and have a fireside chat with the occupants.

That said, we're still deciding if we're entirely comfortable striking off into the wilderness by ourselves and wild camping. It seems lovely....but also a bit risky, considering that we have two very young children. Perhaps Chris and I have seen too many horror movies about crazies lurking in the woods. You know, ax murders and shady folk intent on defending their illicit pot grow operations. 

What do you think? Would you go camping off the grid with your little ones? Would you do it if you had friends (ie additional adults) with you? If so, any recommendations for spots in Washington State? I'm of two minds on this one. 

Ben is avidly interested in wildlife and we need to start keeping notes so he can record all his critters. He's careful to list the lowly slug right next to the bears and whales. That's my boy. 

The highlight of the weekend for me was the whale watching trip that we took amongst the islands. It ended up just being the captain, our family, and another family that had two boys, ages 4 and 6. All three boys had an absolute hoot running around the boat, nagging the pilot, and playing wildly. I still can't believe that nobody went overboard.

In total, we were lucky to see 4 humpbacks feeding in a shallow cove. Ben was enthralled.

Ack. Sorry for the blurry pictures. Still haven't pulled the trigger on a new camera and my old lens is suffering.

Here was a larger crustacean, farther out in the bay.

Bottoms up!

Emma did her best to hang with the big kids but she was having a rough day, as her nap schedule was thrown into disarray. We definitely struggled this trip to get a good routine set up for Emma. A month ago we took a similar camping trip down to Central Oregon and she seemed to do just fine. But she hasn't been napping well in the car during the long hours on the road and that, combined with the late nights around the campfire, were hard for our littlest babe. So we'll have to work on that for future trips.

After the whales it was time for a visit to the local Stellar sea lion colony.

Playing? Fighting? Who knows.

If you're planning a visit, we especially enjoyed the inland Rainforest Trail and the Lighthouse Loop near Ucluelet. Long Beach (as accessed via Green Point Campground) also had nice tide pools where we spotted fish, anemones, and jellyfish. 

We went to Chesterman Beach to watch the surfers, but decided that a game of soccer was more entertaining (and warmer). Those surfers were hard core; I was freezing just watching them paddling about in the frigid waters.

The tide pools at Long Beach. I nearly dipped my phone in the water trying to get this picture. 

Ben and his dead sea lion. "Whoa Mama, check out all the flies!!!"

And to top it all off, we ran into this guy. Love them bears. 

And that, my dears, was our trip to Tofino. Definitely worth a visit.

xo,
Sonja

Flamingo Birthday Party

So, let's me confess right up front: I adore party planning. Which is a bit weird given that I'm not a details person. I'm definitely a big picture kinda gal. Chris is the nuts and bolts half of the relationship. We joke that I dream up the vision and he makes it a reality. Which, if you know us, is so true. 

I think I'm going to start telling Chris that my grand vision for our daily lives does not include a tidy house. Life, especially with kids, is gloriously messy. This is a great idea, yes?! All in favor of adopting, shout 'aye'!

Anyway, back to the party. Since Ben and Emma have birthdays that are only separated by two weeks, it makes sense to smoosh them together into one glorious fiesta. I plan to do this until they stage a revolt. Frankly, we expected Ben to protest vociferously  but we appeased him with the promise of his Treasure Hunt (aka his buddy birthday) party and he happily went out of his way to tell everyone that he was having two birthday parties. Dude is spoiled rotten, it's true. 

So, now that we were planning Un Gran Fiesta (can you tell that I've been practicing my spanish on Duolingo?!), we needed to pack a birthday punch. 

And really, are there any other birds on the planet that can rival the flamingo for sheer showy gaudyness? (Parents and other birders: don't answer that. Save your blue mot mots, birds of paradise, and other feathered friends for next year's party) 

I found this geometric flamingo file (instant download) for $1.50 on Etsy and then set about crafting a proper invitation. 

Eh. It was ok. But who can resist messing around a bit more? 

(And I just noticed that there was a typo in the first invitation. Eek. Where is my detail-oriented husband?!)

 Or adding pink bunting? Peeps, the world needs more pink bunting.

I also added a few feathered models to the birthday cake. Bad picture, I know. Wind + dying camera does not make for good photographic evidence. Plus I was trying to balance the entire thing on top of a paint bucket (yes, we're still in construction mode) 10 minutes before guests walked in the door. Welcome to my hectic life. Which clearly has no time for tidying. Flamingos always take precedence over house chores, yes?

Here is the cake right before we dug in. This is when I started singing Happy Birthday but Ben halted the proceedings because I'd neglected to turn off every single last light in the house and it wasn't dark enough for him. Got to follow the rules and the rules say that light go OFF. Yes sir.

Ben requested an ice cream cake which was good since our oven wasn't hooked up and thus we had no way to bake a cake. This one was based off of an Ombre Cake and it got high scores from family members. Basically you whip up a whole bunch of whipped cream and layer it in between ice cream flavors of your choice. I picked chocolate, raspberry, and mango. YUM. It was an excellent combo, if I do say so myself.

Give yourself a day to make this cake. You put the bottom ice cream layer down, then a whipped cream layer and then stick it in the freezer to harden for half an hour. Then you put down another layer of ice cream and a second layer of whipped cream. Then harden. And repeat for as many layers as necessary. And then you cloak the entire thing in more whipped cream that takes the place of an exterior frosting.

Next time I'd try to make my whipped cream layers thinner. Or perhaps nix them entirely. Whipped cream simply doesn't it do it for me when compared to a good gelato. 

For the past few years we've done birthday shirts for the kids but I lied shamelessly to Ben and told him that they don't make shirts big enough for five year-olds. The tradition was cute for the first few years but I don't want my sixteen-year-old throwing a fit when he doesn't receive his annual birthday vestment. So we cut it off at age four. Sorry, Bubba. 

This is what I sent to the gal on Etsy that makes the shirts:

And...we got kind of close. It all depends on what she has in stock and I'm not surprised that her stash of oranges is a little thin.  Eh. I can live with it. Don't sweat the details, remember? :) I'm just grateful that she's willing to do custom orders. The one she made last year for Em was perfect. 

The birthday girl was happy and proceeded to show her appreciation by smearing chocolate ice cream over the front. It's my party and I do what I want to.

Sometimes it seems a bit silly to make such a to-do for what is a very small birthday party for only the kids' closest family members. But I remember quite vividly the parties my mom staged every February: the kite flying party. The high heel races. The tea party. They were great fun, even when things went wrong. Ahem. Like the time I lit the house on fire. In hindsight, that one was less fun for my parents, perhaps.

So in the meantime we're going to make a fuss over the kids and let them enjoy (jointly!) their special day. And really, it's also just an awesome opportunity to make delicious cakes.

xo,

Sonja

Happy Holidays

Hullo Peeps, 

It’s been a hectic winter for us and I didn’t have a chance to make a family holiday card. Boo. Perhaps next year. 

In the meantime, I’m picking out kitchen faucets and wondering just how little of Christmas dinner I can eat so that I have plenty of stomach room for apple pie. Priorities, people. There is a (tiny) chance that we might have snow tomorrow. A white Christmas!! Whoa. I’m sure I’ve jinxed us by just mentioning snow but..how exciting! I’ll be the one in my skivvies doing snow angels if we are so blessed with the frozen precip. 

Happy Holidays

xo, Sonja

My Dears,

May you have a wonderful holiday, filled with the laughter and joy of friends and family. May your 2016 be filled with good health and grand adventures. And lastly, may our world be a more peaceful and equitable place for everyone.

Much love,

Sonja, Chris, Ben, & Emma

Teachers on Strike! (and a few News and Reviews)

For the past two weeks our Seattle School District teachers have been on strike. This is a strike that has been a long time coming; frankly, our schools here in Seattle have suffered from insufficient funds, too many tests, poor teacher salaries, and too-high student/teacher ratios.

Yesterday I was reading the Humans of New York blog and photographer Brandon interviewed a man who described his job as thus: 

“I’m a rare book librarian. I get to touch books every single day. My colleague and I have a joke that we are Defenders of Wonder. A physical book assigns a sense of reverence to the content inside. It’s the same feeling you get when you look at a painting or hear a piece of music. And I think that’s something worth defending. And just like a book gives reverence to it’s content, I think the library gives reverence to books. The building itself is a masterpiece. So many famous thinkers have come here to study and write. Just being here connects you to that lineage.”

"Defenders of Wonder.” Perfect, right? The phrase has stuck with me the past few days and I realize that this is how I also view our local teachers. Defenders of Wonder, with the most important job in the world. 

The teacher’s union and the district came to a tentative agreement yesterday. It wasn’t a home-run hit for the teachers and I’m left feeling like the hard liners in the district have lost their sense of purpose. They are no longer Defenders of Wonder. We need to support our teachers so that they may continue their important work shaping our children into wonderful, caring citizens. 

Which is why I sent off some missives yesterday to Jay Inslee, Washington’s governor, urging him to re-think our state’s approach to education, particularly in the area of funding. We can’t afford to let our schools continue in crisis mode. Feel like doing the same? Here is the email link. 

Interestingly enough, Jay Inslee is a graduate of Willamette University School of Law. Chris and I both went to Willamette. I told the gov that he needed to step up his game and do a better job of representing all Bearcat alums out there. Especially since my kids first have to get through public school before joining Willamette’s esteemed ranks (as graduates of the classes of 2033 and 2036).  I’m sure he’ll get right on it. :)

Anyway, regardless, let’s have a jolly hurrah! for our local teachers and librarians. Because they are wonderful and their work critical. 

 Ok, moving on...

Last weekend we went fruit picking at the Jones Creek Farm up near Sedro-Wooley. We gorged ourselves silly on pears and apples. 

Ben and I also made an apple pie, which turned out really well. I’d made a pie last year for Thanksgiving and to be honest, it was kind of a bust. The top was crispy and the bottom crust was mushy. It shook my confidence in my pie-making abilities so it was nice to finally produce a perfect specimen. Which we promptly devoured. Apple pie for breakfast? Heck yeah. Chris got home from a business trip to Boston and discovered that there was only a solitary piece remaining.

Speaking of apple pies, how is this for a insanely fast way to peel a whole peck of apples?

In other news, would you eat at this new Seattle restaurant? Beatles? yes. Barnacles? yes. Duck embryos? umm....yes? maybe?

This documentary looks interesting: Meet the Patels: One man’s quest to find to find love the old-school Indian way. 

Speaking of stuff to watch: My mother-in-law recommended that we watch the PBS show “Call the Midwife” . I love it, but I watch it alone (no Chris!) as I end up sobbing every single time. 

xo, 

Sonja