25 Jul 2008
Vancouver Island Vacation
As promised, here is a little bit about what’s been going on in the past weeks. May and June were busy with end of school field trips and activities as the kids wound up the school year (Alyssa finished kindergarten, Mark finished Grade 2 and Steven finished Grade 5). All 3 kids did well and we are quite proud of how they’ve grown and how much they’ve learned this year.
On the 20th of June we were up to Rocky Mountain House for the Langendoen cousins birthday bash with Brenda’s Mom and Dad, her two brothers and their families. There were 12 cousins in all and we’ve decided that once each summer the kids can draw names and give birthday gifts to each other – it’s much simpler than trying to have 12 separate birthday parties and it’s a great family get together. This year we had access to a boat and held the bash at Cow Lake, so all the kids got to go tubing and had a blast. The next day Brenda and the boys went up to Pioneer Ranch Camp on Crimson Lake for an open house and the boys got to do some wall climbing and horseback riding.
Sadly, just a couple of weeks after the cousin’s bash, Ronny and Carla and their boys experienced a tragedy in the family as their 6th child, a daughter they’d named Cora Grace, was stillborn just 2 weeks prior to Carla’s due date. We made a couple of trips up to RMH, the first 2 weekends in July, just to be together as a family and then to mourn Cora’s passing at a memorial service on 12 July. It was a somber way to begin our holiday to the coast and our thoughts remained with Ronny, Carla and the boys right through our vacation.
Our time out on the coast was spent on Thetis island at Capernwray Harbour Bible Centre, attending one of their Holiday Bible weeks. It was a great time in a spectacular location – the staff there take great care to ensure that everyone has a wonderful time, with lots of good food and great activities to keep the whole family busy all week. Brenda and I had attended school and worked at Capernwray for about 5 months back in 1996 while we were waiting for our Australian visas before we moved to Sydney for a couple of years. We’d been back once for a short visit when Mark was a baby, but not since. It was great to be back and to meet up with some old friends. We even were billeted in the very same cabin that Brenda and I had been in back in 1996! The kids thought that was pretty neat!
Unfortunately for me, I came down with a pretty nasty cold on the Wednesday and only recovered just enough to survive the drive back home on the weekend. At least no one else caught what I had and Brenda and the kids enjoyed the rest of the week. The beach was the biggest hit, whenever we were missing a child we be able to find them down by the water flipping over rocks and looking for crabs and other sealife. Steven got pretty handy with a little net and caught a couple of flatfish and other more elusive prey.
On the way home we spent a day at the Vancouver Aquarium (Yea! more sea creatures!) and saw the 5 week old beluga whale baby as well as the seals, otters, dolphins and all the other great exhibits. It’s pretty easy to spend a day there as a family – the kids really enoyed it.
