Epic Trip Part 3

Okay, so when I left off describing our trip, we had finished up a lovely day on Miracle Beach with fishing at dusk and some cool deer shots.  I was on the beach while the boys were fishing, lying in the sand with Amarys, when I heard crashing in the bush behind me.  There were signs up all over the campground warning people that there was a recent bear sighting; of a momma bear with cubs (!!!) in the area, so immediately I scooped Amarys up and prepared to dive in the ocean fully clothed.  I was certain it was the bears.

Lo and behold, it was the deers.  =P

Amarys looked up at the noise, opened her eyes REALLY big, and yelled, "HI!!!"  And waved.  She won't look her grampa in the eye or let him touch her but she's super friendly with animals.  She's hysterical.  Earlier in the day I took her with me to the tap and there was a HUGE banana slug on the ground near the drain.  

(not these ones)

No lie, the first time I saw one of these suckers
I thought someone took a shit on the path.
Where I grew up, slugs are the size of a fingernail.

She was fascinated, scrunched down to its level, and kept yelling, "HI!!" and waving at it.

Have you ever seen anything so cute?  Me neither.  Sorry, no photo.

The next morning we ate breakfast and packed up our stuff, took turns showering, packed the kids in the van, and..... it wouldn't start.  Hawesome!  Brent had to go from campsite to campsite looking for someone with jumper cables who could give us a jump before we could hit the road.
YES WE ARE THAT FAMILY!

We now carry jumper cables in the back of our van, just in case.  =P

We hit the road (finally), and fell in love with some awesome towns on the way up to Port Hardy on the Northern tip of Vancouver Island, where Brent's brother and his family live.  Here's Port Hardy;

So pretty!  Fishing town.

And here are my nephews and niece.  It's so funny that the most gorgeous kids on the planet are all related to me.  Isn't that weird?

Ruben, 3.  Energy.  Blur. Wild.  Reminds me of Matthew. Cute as a button =)

Ella, 5. Amazing.  Smart. Cute. Adventurous. Brave. Enthusiastic. Hilarious.

Miles, 6 months. Adorable. Serious. Intent. Observant. Sweet. Delicious.

So we spent the evening and next day indoors as it rained (it rains a LOT in Port Hardy), and the kids had so much fun making Brian and Billie's house into a natural disaster zone.  The following day was dry so we went to the park in the morning, and Brent and Brian took off to do something Very Guy.  What was it?  Oh yes, shooting guns.  Sheesh.

I make a concentrated effort to take photos of my older kids, but they
are so often out of range.  Because, free range is awesome, yo. Here is
a rare closeup...

It was Ella's birthday that day, so we had individual pizzas and cupcakes.
A huge hit.

Mug shot of Brian.

If a Vose is not goofing around, he is sleeping.

Now, Ayden has been fishing for three years now with no luck.
Port Hardy has a kid's fishing hole on their main pier so Brent and
Brian took the boys down to give it a try.  No luck, but still fun!

What, me?  Touch something squishy that might get my hands dirty???!!!  I'd rather smile cute for a photo, thanks....

We had so much fun.  Road trips are awesome.  Camping is awesome.  More to come....