WOA Kayak Trip - Gulf Islands 2018

We found Jon early morning prepping for the Kayak trip on Thursday morning .....

 My plans for Thursday was to pick up all the ladies from the Nanaimo airport but their flight was cancelled and now they were coming in later that evening ... so I was able to enjoy the final sunny day for just a little while!!  Hard to believe that heavy rains were expected the very next morning ....

 Carrie and I worked on labels for the mugs that Jon agreed would be a fun addition to the trip.  I am so glad because drinking out of these mugs over plastic ones I knew would be so good.  It will be the little things this weekend given the crappy weather that we were all going to have to endure ....

 Ah ... the fresh faces ... not yet weathered by a rainy, outdoor weekend!!!

 Here we go!!

 Karen was such a wonderful addition to the weekend ..... such a great attitude that I think helped to keep everyone's spirits up.....

 The tide was out SO far .. everyone had to drag the boats WAY out ... and then they had to load them and by the time they were loaded, they then had to drag really heavy boats out even further .....

 Mom and Carrie starting out!  The first few hours was brutal they said ... with the heavy boats to drag out and then the windy conditions on the water .... I was so impressed with everyones great attitudes ...... Chris and I were busy loading and driving the support boat out to the island with all the extra gear. 

 I didn't even see Chris .... that is how loaded down we were .... we learned a lot from this trip ... one big one being "NO PRIVATE BOATS" ... you are in the double kayak provided, or you don't come .... dragging Janes kayak with us so she could use it for a one hour paddle Saturday was dumb ....

 We made it to the island .....with a super heavy heavy boat .....

 After unloading the boat and dragging all the gear across the beach and up to the campsites, Chris and I had a little break ... me in the hammock .....

 And him with his metal detector ..... he found a silver dime and silver quarter (1968)

 The water/wind weary paddlers arrived!!   They were so tired .... it was a tough paddle ... the last few hours they said was beautiful but they were so tired by then ....

 So it rained, a lot .... here we raced to the outhouse ..... this is us .... in the outhouse .... when it was my turn, I yelled "turn around and sing!! I can't pee with you people so close to me!!" ....it's been awhile since I have laughed that hard ....

 Oh these two sweet guys presented Jane with a birthday cheesecake for Jane who turned 58 that day!

 It was a beautiful night on the beach that night ....

 Sister and I took it all in .... love this girl ....

 Oh my goodness those lashes were SO ridiculous .... haha ..... here is mom and I on the morning hike Saturday morning!

 Jon entertaining the ladies with his beguiling stories! lol  The women think he is quite charming ;-)

 HIKING!  We did the whole beautiful perimeter of Portland Island!

 Break time .... isn't my mom beautiful ?

 When we got back from the hike, Chris and Cassia had lunch laid out for us ... so we ate and crawled into our separate tents ... before long mom crawled in for a cuddle ... and then sister .... all of us in my little one man tent while it poured outside .... making memories!!!!!

 Carrie stated at the beginning of the weekend 'this will all be fine if I am dry' .... well ... she was pretty much the only one who got completely soaked on the paddle to the island ... like a rogue ferry wave dumped a huge wave of water ONLY in her kayak hole ... soaking everything!  She borrowed dry stuff for the rest of the weekend...we laughed because her past mantra of "don't have it, don't need it" ... turns out she didn't have it and she did need it ... she is one of the only people in the world who can make me laugh so hard ...

 We had the fire pit on the point, with a beautiful view of the ocean, but we soon moved it to a more protected area and it became "THE" place to be .... that firepit saved the weekend ..... such a gross, rainy weekend ... but everyone had such great attitudes and the guides kept everyone so well fed!!!!!

 Carrie and Mama depart for the paddle home!!!  Mom, as always, so graceful ;-)  Like a gazelle!

 Karen and Elo ...

 Mission Accomplished:  To get Karen to facetime .... here she is facetiming with her daughter!

First day of School 2018!! Grade 7 and Grade 9

Off they go ....


This afternoon when we were all home from our days, I tested out the sleeping mat that I am taking on the kayak trip this weekend!!  I am feeling less unhappy about the fact that I am sleeping on the ground now ... its is a sweet mat!!


I also love my yard at this time of year ....

First time on the boat this summer!

That's a wrap on Summer 2018!!

Final night at camp .... A dance party inside, and 9-square outside .... some very happy campers ....

Laura slept over, we love our little mini-retreats, and she arrived a little later than planned because I wanted to take Isaac to the new shark movie (The Meg) that just came out and so she came around 7 ... she ended up biking out from Crofton!!  We wandered around the party and then headed home for a hot tub ... and then sleep!!  The next morning, we headed out to Wild Side, where the Winslows were all alone (since campers left the day before) ... Mike made everyone breakfast and coffee.  We arrived to see Susan sitting happily in the sun while Mike cooked.




Elliot didn't remove this onesie all week I don't think ... here he is grudgingly out of the house when we made him come with us for breakfast ;-)




I had to prep for the staff dinner in my yard for that night, so Laura left on her bike a little after lunch ....








Almost over ... final lunch on the final day ... campers JUST left!!


Didn't get any pictures of the staff dinner ... it was a record breaking 1.5 hours long from start to finish.  Pretty sure nobody wanted to be there other than to eat their food and get out of there!  So, they ate, and they got out of there!  They headed to the hot tub, and then Lisa, Zalinkos and Chris and I sat around the propane fire ... it was a strange and awkward evening and I was happy to have it over.  The evening started by Spock (the Taylors cat), attacking Mittens by her cat down (not sure if she was coming or going), but with everyone around, I see Mittens on her back screaming and trying to paw at Spock to get away from him.  So, I jump in and grab Mittens and put her safely inside and I am now seeing red....great way to start the evening hey?  I didn't even dress up and it was funny to see that Lisa didn't dress up either .... she normally always does ... but it was a big sign that things are not good when Lisa just 'shows up' to do her thing and help, but doesn't dress up.  Vanessa and Matt came and ate and left to catch a ferry ..... then we had Taylors on one end of the table visiting with the Zalinkos and then summer staff at the far end of the table .... it was a weird sight.  So, no pictures of the evening ... but here are the camp boys all displaying their happiness at summer being over!  That's a wrap on Summer 2018.




New appreciation for this girl through all this turmoil ... very nice friend.