Friday -the last day (warning....heavy photo day)

And so the last day is already here. Time went so fast, too fast. So nice to be away, truly away from all the busy world we live in most of the time.

While we offered to take the kids out to the park or something special, everyone wanted to stay at the beach. And today, we would build our best sandcastle ever. At the end of the day, the kids like to get to the highest point of the castle and wait for the water to win......she always does.

It's been nice to have one on one time we each family member as the week went along. Some Kaylee time for me. Some Braydon time for me. Some Chris time for me, and even some me time for me. I polished off a 600 page novel and enjoyed every moment of it. I even snuck out to the LSS for just a couple pieces of paper....just for me.

One thing I did not get was a great photo of Chris and I....this is why....

The kids were also into letting me take photos of them today, of course of which I jumped at the chance. I know there will be a time soon where I am denied photo ops, but until that day comes, I will continue to take excessive amounts of pictures.

It's truly been a great vacation. We all enjoyed it, and are all looking forward to coming back soon.

Wednesday and Thursday

Days like these are why I know I would be fine if I were to retire now.

More beach hours for Wednesday. Dig, walk, relax, read. Repeat.

Thursday back to Coombs in morning, picked up a couple of Christmas gifts and then lunch beach side in Quallicum .Back to the "golf course" to play Kaylee's free round for the afternoon and more ice cream to end the adventure.

More smoked salmon, more beer, more moon. Nice life.

Day Four - Tuesday

Coombs day. Coombs is this little....well....blip in the map 25 minutes northish from Parksville. A handful of families settled here around 1910 under the leadership of the Salvation Army's Ensign Crego. The community was named after the Army's Canadian Commissioner, Captain Thomas Coombs.

Ecliptic would be the best term. One day I would love to go and just wander the day without the kids, it's my kinda place. Lots of junk and stuff you don't need, but lots of crafts and knick knack stuff that always inspires me too.

We headed up for lunch and some wandering. There are all these status, well I guess more like carvings, that the kids climb all over.

And of course, there are the goats on the roof. Here is the story on that:

The idea for the grass roof came from then owner, Kristian Graaten. He emigrated here from Norway with his family in the mid 1950’s and longed to see some of the buildings from his home country. Many homes in Norway were built from the sides and slopes of the hills with the roofs built as an extension of the hillside.

After the grass had rooted a family of goats appeared. Legend has it that a “few glasses” of wine inspired the idea of putting the goats up on the roof, but you will have to come in and ask Larry about that.

We spent some time wandering through the stores and deciding what we should buy and what Christmas gifts we could pick up, knowing we would come back later in the week and do some shopping.

Later afternoon was back on the beach and building ourselves some sandcastles. The kids have big ideas of what these things should look like, but are at least willing to settle for big and not so beautiful. Lots more time in the water and relaxing by the sea.

Both Chris and I are getting lots of time to read, which is such a nice change. Need to remember how much I like reading when I get back home.

Another STUNNING moon tonight. We sat right on the beach and enjoyed the moon rise. Such a beautiful place.

Day Three - Monday

Mondays on vacation are just fine with me.

Today we set off on a couple of adventures - up first was the playground in Parksville. This is a playground like no other, it has just about everything. Tons of swings, millions of things to climb on, teeter totters for big and small, mini zip lines....lots and lots to have fun with.

It was good to just let the kids run in any direction and chance them around.

A quick trip back "home" for lunch, then the adventure that they were both REALLY waiting for was up next. Each year, we go mini golfing, and I know it's at the top of the list of fun things to do.

18 rounds and guess who gets a hole in one at the end??? Yup, the ever mature 5 year old. She's just a little proud.

An ice cream to end the day and walk back to the beach for some more digging in the sand.

The kids couldn't wait till it got dark to play with the gift my parents sent for Braydon, some glow in the dark lights. They even shared them with the kids next door.

One of the reasons Chris and I really wanted to be right on the beach again this year was so that once the kids went up to bed, we could just sit out and relax - get some quality grown up time together.

Each night we got to do this, and it was such a nice change from the running in and out that our regular lives have. With views like this, it's pretty easy just to sit back and enjoy.

Day Two - Sunday

We knew that our plan was to spend a lot of beach time on our vacation, but could not control the weather. However, when you wake up to this, you know it's going to be a good day.

The only thing better than that - is this....our big five year old!!

I cannot believe how fast these five years have happened....and how much our lives are better because of her lively spirit.

As our first full day of vacation came to be, the kids took their time getting up - but KJ just wanted to open the gifts that she knew came along for the trip. We decided that we would open a gift here and there throughout the day, enjoying them as they happened.

The other plan for the day was exploring the beach. One of the best things about this beach, is when the tide is out, you can walk forever and explore sandy tide pools along the way.

The waters edge seems a million miles away, but the walk along the sandy beach is nothing by enjoyable (well, it was a little windy).

More presents (including gifts send by Grandma and Grandpa for both kids) flowed through the day, as well as throwing in a sand castle or two.

One cannot have a birthday without a birthday cake - so KJ and I headed out to let her pick one out. While the triple chocolate cake on it's own seemed divine, the idea of adding smarties to it just could not be argued, so we did a little decorating to help it along.

My baby turned five, and the whole family had a great day. Life is grand.