Babymoon a little late :)

Hi there- Remember me?! I'm back and I have about a million pictures in this post so consider yourself warned! 

Back in August, Steve and I went to British Columbia for a second honeymoon/five year anniversary/babymoon extravaganza. We spent the first couple of days with Steve's relatives and stayed with his Grandma and Grandpa Ursaki. We were fortunate to pack a lot of activities into a couple of days with his relatives.  I hadn't met all his Canadian relatives so it was great to meet some and spend more time with the others. We played several games of extremely competitive Bocce Ball. I am proud to say that Steve's Grandma and I beat Steve and his Grandpa! 

We also got to meet baby Adam- just a few days old! He is so precious 

Steve and his cousin Dave went on this crazy hike the Grouse Grind which is like miles of climbing up stone steps- I didn't go thank goodness! They had a great time and I think they had a better time since I didn't go- ha!

Steve's Uncle Len took us and Dave on a tour of Vancouver one afternoon. We got some delicious Indian food and then went out for a bike ride around Stanley Park. Stanley Park is like the Central Park of Vancouver. It is HUGE and really beautiful. We rented bikes and spend a few hours riding around the seawall and exploring different parts of the park. 

This is Grandma and Grandpa Ursaki's backyard- they kept saying how disappointing their garden had been that year- Steve and I thought it was a beautiful oasis- Isn't it lovely?

From Vancouver, we took off on our own up the Sunshine Coast north of Vancouver. It is full of cute beachy towns that are chock full of bed and breakfasts and beautiful scenery. On our way up the coast we stopped at a sandcastle building competition and here are just a couple of the works of art we saw...

I had never seen a bald eagle before this trip- We saw tons of them and they really are cool looking creatures. They are also really good at posing for pictures- they stay in the same spot for long periods of time and change positions frequently to give you a really good look :) 

We stayed in a cute bed and breakfast- the Beacon B and B. This place was own by some of the most eccentric people I've ever met by far. We stayed for a couple of days with them and enjoyed it. They definitely made Powell River BC an unforgettable place for us!

Another Bald Eagle

We took a Zodiak boat tour of the Desolation Sound. It was a breathtakingly beautiful place with glacier carved mountains and low hanging clouds. I loved this boat tour!

We got to see some seals from afar on this trip the tour guides don't like to spook them by getting too close- from our vantage point without a camera or binoculars we couldn't really see them clearly- they kind of looked like rocks 

Our Zodiac tour left from Lund, BC. I felt particularly fond of this teeny tiny town just because of the name!

Some more of the scenery in Powell River

The biggest, grossest slug I've ever seen in my whole life- These guys were everywhere! 

One of the amazingly delightful breakfasts served by our hosts- ham, asparagus and mushrooms served over poached eggs and toast. YUM!

After we finished up in Powell River, we drove south to Egmont, BC and stayed in a lovely hotel there. We had a nice room with a private balcony, from which you could see the ocean. We had a raccoon try to get into our room a couple of times- this little critter was not shy at all. He would climb up the tree next to our balcony and try to jump onto the balcony! Steve would get mad at me every time I squealed because it scared the raccoon away but this thing was seriously so unafraid of us it made me more scared of him!

We took a hike to see the largest salt water rapids in North America- the Skookumchuck Narrows. Skookumchuck means "strong water" or "strong flow" in the native language. Let me tell you- this place is aptly named! Twice a day- each time the tides change this place gets crazy! These pictures really don't do them justice. It was definitely one of the coolest things we saw on our trip. It doesn't hurt that Steve really latched on to the word Skookumchuck and referred to EVERYTHING for the rest of the week as "____ Skookumchuck". He felt like it was a universal word that could be used in any situation. I thought he was a little crazy and pretty cute too :)

We went sea kayaking one day and had a fun time looking at the sea life and trying to figure out how to maneuver our kayaks- those things weren't easy to steer! Steve also had a seal pop up out of the water like 5 feet from where he was paddling- this seal followed our group around for a while and was pretty cute when he poked his little head out of the water

These last few pictures were after our special anniversary dinner. We ate at the restaurant at our hotel and had delicious meals- like to die for food! We enjoyed the view from our table outside overlooking the mountains and ocean. This vacation was so great for us. I'm so happy we were able to get away just the two of us and make fun happy memories in a new place. I love you Steve!!!