not. quite. over.

we might be just over an hour away from home right now. we might be at my parents and sleeping in the house... but since we haven't actually been home yet.... we're technically STILL on our trip! therefore... i must fulfill my duty as dedicated blogstress and keep you up to date with our late summer vantasy adventures!!!(however small they may be)

so here goes...

waking up to the sounds of my parents playing away on the guitar and piano was so wonderful! infact it made me want to lie in bed forever, just taking it all in... groggily listening in glee.
but alas.. the call of coffee was too strong. as was the urge to hug my talented predecessors.

we had such a lovely morning and then grant had to ruin everything by bringing me back to reality(stupid reality!)
.... cleaning out wally (our car) to sell.. and to start unloading tall guy....
tomorrow we'll have to clean him and finish taking everything out. it's gonna be a sad, sad day...
so let's not think about that until we absolutely haaave to....
on with the fun...
and the fun i'm talking about is family. food and music!
my brother and sister in law came out today with their girls. their cute adorable endlessly energized girls. i swear i must be the proudest aunt ever!this is belle showing off the awesome bookmark she made!!! I LOVE doing crafts with her!
and arielle and her dad having waaay too much fun!!!

food was eaten. music was played. and love was everywhere. it's not a bad way to end a magical month long trip. infact it's probably the best way possible.

the fort

oh thank you sun for coming out today and warming us up and making everything shiny and bright!
after a stroll on the sunny beach, a quick trip into ucuelet we popped in at the rainforest. no hike for us today as we we'ren't willing to put down the 16 dollars to walk in nature. i mean seriously. looking back i see that we probably should have done that. but at the time. we were appalled. plus we had breakfast on our mind.

so we stopped on in on mamma G's for some eats and showers. thank goodness for parents!!!
not only did she feed our bellies. but sent us off with a box full of preserves, freshly made butter tarts and these flowers from their garden... xo

now we've made it safely to my parents place (only a couple hours to home from here.) and lucky us... we got to go to the fort with them! the fort is a wonderful place where musicians and music lovers get together every friday night and play and sing their heart out. how awesome it was to be in there, surrounded by their amazing energy! it was really something (special!) even my brother was there!!!






we've come back to the house. made ourselves a delicious free range turkey dog slathered with melted cheese and fried onions. and ma and pa are still out there rocking the night away. it's an incredible thing. and they are incredible people.
and the urge i have right now to lay down and snuggle with grant is getting quite incredible too!!!

goodnight!

oh and these apples.... my mamma picked from the trees outside. YUM!

giddy up.

bet you can't guess what we had for breakfast today......

banana dog!

banana in a hot dog bun with peanut butter. nutella and honey!
bun was toasted up (of course) to provide a wonderful crispy texture.
it wasn't bad really. infact it was kinda good.


after that elegant breakfast we headed over to chesterman beach to relive our memories.

the beach was gorgeous. and the wickanninnish was irresistible as we found ourselves being drawn closer and closer to the actual building.... climbing the steps and walking into the point restaurant. i'm not sure exactly how that happened. but there were were. sitting in the same place where we where two years ago as newly weds. sipping on caffeinated beverages and sparkling water. it was beyond amazing!!!! i don't know how the staff manage to make you feel that special but they do.

after getting sufficiently hyper. (double americanos and lattes) we giddy'd around the place. hung out in the library and even got to look at one of the rooms. it was sort of like we stayed there in a little way. if the room that we had last time wasn't occupied they would have let us check it out....have a peak at what we wrote in their visitors book.
now that would be interesting....

we reluctantly left and slowly, very slowly headed back....

absorbing every bit of the beautiful beach. the beautiful view. and our beautiful memories.

our days here have been so fantastic.

tofiNO i mean YES!

well hello there internet! what a surprise you are! we're pretty much on the beach in TOFINO (mackenzie beach) and just decided to try out the internet. and here you are! (thank you middle beach lodge for having yr signal just within our reach!)it's been almost exactly 2 years since we've been here. on october 11th 2007 we got married right on chesterman beach outside the wickaninnish inn. and although we're not at that exact spot right now. not staying in the greatest hotel that has ever exsisted(in our very important opinions!) we are together. we are married. we are happy. and we are at home in tall guy.

speaking of being in tall guy.... this is the view that we have from sitting in bed...

the fact that there are rv's 3 feet on either side of us is almost forgotten.... almost....

just when we were starting to get settled we were greeted by burney/jeffery the cat who was very very pleased to see us. oh kitty. where do you belong? is it with us? if it is.. yr welcome to stay....
before and during the rain we started to explore the beach and our surroundings. and i'm betting there'll be another jaunt down there for the sunset.

it doesn't matter that it's raining. cuz we're all cozy together and the noise of rain on the roof is one of the most magical sounds that there could be. just please don't get any more of our books wet. pretty pretty please.

family matters.

we're still sleeping in "tall guy". still "on the road" so therefore our trip is NOT finished. which also means i can continue eating the way we have been for the last few weeks. more specifically.. i'm still gonna be eating yummy food (regardless of the fat content, calorie intake, or nutritional value) and love every bite of it! cuz once vacations over. then i really can't guiltlessly do this anymore. (oh late summer vantasy.... please don't ever end!!!!!)
today was no exception in scrumptious foodland. after picking strawberries and blackberries right out of momma and pappa G's garden... grant whipped up a delicious crumble that we gobbled up with vanilla ice cream!!! mmmmmmm (notice how i go straight to the sweet sugary goodness!?!)



i guess i'm getting too ahead of myself....

what was on the make for pretty much the entire day was beef bourguignon, mash potatoes and green onion and cheese soda bread.
much work was to be done and i made sure to supervise in between naps!


i did however partake in the post feeding cleanup. (i'm not entirely useless!!)

this whole day was lovely. it rained. it stopped. it sunned. it rained. it stopped. it sunned... and again...

throughout all the moody weather. our day stayed bright and sunny..... in love and sillyness!
goodbye to another perfect day. and hello to whats to come...

xo anna and grant.

kisses.

this cracked egg keychain represents how we felt about leaving our dear beloved friends in vancouver. (sniffle sniffle) oh how lovely it's been seeing so many of you!
katie and shane we're amazing (like always) and let us help ourselves to their shower, laundry, and fancy coffee machine! which we took full advantage of!
we spent alot of time walking around main street! that was super fun! and of course we had to stop at the best bubble tea place and get some! (two mango's!!!)





sunday morning chelsea and drue threw a delightful tea party! with the most delicious breakfast that i've had all trip! fruit salad, muffins, bananna bread, scones, and holy smokes... these incredable chocolate cheesecake cupcakes that joanna made. woweeee. we NEED that recipe. (or maybe it's better that we don't get it!)

sister love!

dinner that night was at kingyo izakaya!! a japanese restaurant downtown we've been dying to eat at for MONTHS!! we were lucky enough to go with the wonderful randy and shena!
first plate up was the beef tounge. (guess who ordered that?!) the hot rock on the side was for cooking it. i LOVED LOVED LOVED the spring rolls. not only we're they probably the best ones we've ever eaten but... they had the cutest little images stamped onto them! brilliant!!!! we had such a good time eating and talking and laughing.






our super good friends neil and laura are moving away into the kooteny's in a couple days... (which is the reason we came back to vancouver so fast!) we tryed to spend as much time as we could with them (soak up thier company before they leave us....) and bless thier hearts.. they let us... amongst the packing. and cleaning. and finishing up work. and moving arangements. and general stress! neko and hensly(neil and lauras fabulous dogs!) were terrific company and kept grant supplied with hords of kisses (which he greedily ate up!) WE MISS YOU ALREADY GUYS!!!!!


this is the food they eat. nothing like a raw turkey neck for dinner! lucky guys!


our dear talented friend jesse who works at the hive recording studio took time out of his busy work day to give grant his old fourtrack!!! seriously.. how nice is that?!!!TOTALLY made his day!!!! thanks jesse!


we'll now it's after midnight... and we're at momma and papps G's on the island of vancouver! the rain is pouring down, we've had a long day and it's time to shut our eyes.... (we'll at least our eyes seem to think so!)
we need our rest so that tomorrow we can enjoy every minute with these beautiful people!!! so good to be with family!

yay parents!
yay friends!
yay everything!!!!!

thank you life.
now please let me sleep well.
talk to you tomorrow.


love


ps. this dosa was SOO GOOOD!!!!