Canada Day Weekend 2007

Our Canada Day weekend was spent at Keats this year. It was probably one of the best trips that we have had to Keats, ever! I don't really know why, it was just so much fun! Maybe it was because I wasn't really looking forward to it that much, and so it ended up flying past my expectations!

We were only going to go up for one night originally, and our plan was to head up with James and Andrea in their boat on Saturday morning. We met them at the local Starbucks to inject our caffeine IV before we left. As we were standing in line James said, "Hey, why don't you guys just come up until Monday and then you can just ride with us and you don't have to take your car?"

I'm not sure why, but suddenly, at that moment, I just really wanted to go for more than one night! My husband was bewildered. "What? At first you didn't even think you wanted to go for one night and now you want to stay until Monday?" After a bit of debate, we decided to go until Monday. We quickly ran home, dropped our car off, grabbed a few more clothes, and hopped in the truck with James and Andrea...we were off!

At one point on the drive Kev was looking around and he said, "Hey, this is what James and I always dreamed about....heading up to Keats together with our wives, and now that dream has come true!" I thought it was really sweet, and it set the tone for the whole weekend.

I love going up to Keats on James' boat. He drives fast, and it is such a fun speed boat. He's totally in control, but there is something about sitting in the back of the boat, sailing over the water, sun beating down on my face, wind whipping through my hair that makes me just feel so...happy!

The weekend was a lot of fun. We got to spend a lot of time with James and Andrea, which was probably one of my highlights. They just got married in April and we haven't had much of a chance to connect with them since then. I just love them! We went into Gibsons both days and got Starbucks, Gelato, and just had fun talking, walking and hanging out. We even managed to get our guys to walk up the "Gibsons Hill" and they didn't complain too much!

One of my favourite parts was when Andrea and I braved the woods and hiked-I'm not kidding, we were blazing our own trail-up to one of the peaks of the island on Sunday morning. On our way down we figured there must be an actual path somewhere, so we took a different route and ended up at Plumper's Cove. We were both sure that we were on Sandy Beach, which is on the other side of the island! Needless to say, after some time walking through some backyards and getting directions from friendly islanders, we made our way back home. I think I loved it so much because it was a chance for Andrea and I to really talk and share our hearts. She is one amazing girl!

Mom made great food, as always. I'm not sure how she manages to do it. She had no idea that Kev and I were coming for that long, but we managed to be well fed all the way through the weekend. Her baking powder biscuits were to die for!

One of the highlights of the weekend was getting a new bed! After waking up on Sunday morning with some major knots in our backs, Kev and I decided to broach the topic of a new bed with Mom and Dad. They jumped right on board and today we went over to Gibsons and picked out a new bed! Mr. Davies came over and picked it up in his boat, and then we carried it up from the wharf. I can hardly wait to go back and try it out!

I love Keats. I'm so thankful to have a place like that wonderful island in my life. I love how it works much like a small town. Everyone knows everyone else. Everybody is nice. It's so common to walk down the little grass path to visit the neighbours. Everywhere I look I see beautiful ocean views, and I am surrounded by the wonderful scent of flowers, trees, and grass. Whenever I step on that island, I can practically feel the stress and pressure just fade away.

I can't wait to go back!