all five us got into the car, i of course assumed my usual position of the back middle, a “privilege” of being the smallest i guess. within 5 minutes of driving both steph and peter were leaning in on me so much that i felt completely sandwiched and i jokingly yelled out to mom and dad in the front seat “they’re touching me!!!”. for a moment it felt like we were little again. we laughed as steph made her usual witty comments the whole way to the ferry terminal. 5 hours that flew by with hysterical laughing fits and good conversation. we took the ferry across to naniamo on vancouver island before we realized how absolutely starving we all were, and that started our insane seafood eating binge that lasted for the next 4 days.

we spent a day in cowichan valley and attended my aunts wedding. it was so wonderful to see family that i hadn’t seen in forever. it had been about 8 years since we had all been together, and the look on my grandma’s face when she saw us arrive made the whole trip worth it. it’s definitely something i have to remind myself since living so far away these days, when you have the opportunity to spend time with family, take it.

the next day we traveled another 4 hours to tofino with a few stops on the way. we ate more oysters than i can count, had delicious cocktails and crab boils and 5 course meals. we took photographs of the sunset, explored beaches and of course experienced the best fish-taco of our lives at tacofino. what a treat to get to spend 5 days with my entire family with undivided attention. my sister kept us laughing the whole time while peter kept us exploring around every corner. mom and dad kept us inspired in love by holding hands wherever they went and i kept it all documented in photographs. on monday we were supposed to head back to bikini town for the last couple days of summer, but about 2 hours into our 12 hour drive we passed a lake that looked really nice so we rented a boat and played there instead. guess i know where i get my “no plan” genes from ;).

i know i haven’t been blogging or posting much on facebook lately but i’ve really been learning that there is no better time spent then time spent with the people you love, and i’ve really been trying to be present and not on my computer while i am in canada and we are all together. so, here are a few photographs from our adventures, and to see more check out instagram!