Tofino Family Vacation August 2016


I'm not even going to try to post anything else that happened in August because the main thing really was our family vacation to Tofino.


Terry and I boarded the ferry at Tsawwassen on August 7 at 8:30.  We didn't book our ferry early enough so our whole family couldn't travel on the same ferry.  We let the two families go from Horseshoe Bay together and we met them there on the Vancouver Island side at Nanaimo.  

Because of that... we had a very lovely and quiet last breakfast together before meeting our family!


As soon as we spotted these familiar bikes we pulled in behind and followed the long and windy road to Tofino British Columbia.  


It was not a race to get there and that was good because those corners seemed to go and go and go! 


We got to our Bella Pacifica Campground which is on Mackenzie Beach  mid afternoon and the kids literally all ran into the ocean with their clothes on!  


We set up camp and my flowers from Richard and Dorothy from the book launch graced our picnic table.  It was the perfect arrangement to take along!


We explored when the tide was out. 



The wagon and the buckets were always along. 



 This was not a tropical style ocean vacation.  Camping on the west coast of Vancouver Island is most often a bit chilly with the winds and the rain. 


No one cared!  

Everyone was happy and relaxed! 


The family hole ball game.  


The summer Olympics in Rio had nothing on fun compared to these contestants. 


T and B brought along their kayaks and the kids spent lots of time taking turns in them exploring the coast. 


We brought along the boys Tonka toys from the early 80's.  

Lots of fun with these toys in the sand that never ended.  


We were glad that our trailer had an outdoor shower for the end of the day before the kids went to the real showers. 


If you want mini bouquets while on vacation, take along children! 



If you want lots of appreciation while camping, take along leftover Paska from the freezer and ... children!


Somehow... the guys got into whittling spoons, knives, daggers, and what not all.



They had a good business set up and had no lack of buyers of their wares. 



The product reviews were always complimentary. 



Sometimes, I was just in the right spot at the right time.  I saw them coming up from the beach one day through the trees.  


We had campfires every night.  


I love to read and so I bought books for all the kids so that they would have something great to read too.  The book that was loved the most was The Boys Book of Adventure!  It got dragged around a lot! 


The kids enjoyed sitting around eating their breakfast.  Rules were really loose as long as they ate!


We brought along a chef for our breakfasts!

He had made sure that we would buy a Camp Chef Grill for the trip and was it ever a good investment. 



Every morning the eggs were cracked and I just showed up when the "breakfast is ready" call was made.


We had rain one day and so we all hopped on our bikes and rode the 15 minutes into Tofino. 


This one....
she rides like the wind! 


I of course, ride as fast as the guy in front of me decides!


Every once in awhile we would stop and count heads. 


We rode around Tofino town and had no problems with crowds. 
We did find a little ice cream joint that sold us cones that even they called tiny for a big cone price.
We did our part to support the local economy. 


We found a really skookum spot on the beach to find shells at low tide. 


Lots of "very special" and "one of a kind" shells were toted off to the campsite. 








We found some things that were left to enjoy another day at the ocean. 





The vegetation was just so beyond beautiful to me. 


We did some little hikes up through trails that could be accessed during low tide. 





I was always hollering... "get back"



And then... Barnacle Bob showed up at our campsite and try as we might, we couldn't lose him after that. 


It's not nice to call people a kook but this guy really was.


It was amazing how often we had the whole beach to ourselves. 








Beach games.


Beach digging....


almost to China. 


We were excited for the wiener roast on the beach. 


Mackenzie Beach allows fires and so we planned an evening to watch the sun set and roast hot dogs. 








The fog started to come in as it often did and it was just beautiful.  


I could understand easily, how the kids could eat dinner and then come back for snacks within an hour. 



We continued to enjoy the family summer Olympics! 


This was the sunset on the Wiener Roast on the beach evening.  



We all brought along lots of Smores ingredients so there was enough for everyone. 











Once it was dark enough, the kids ran around with sparklers. 







While the kids ran around with sparklers, the adults kept making their Smores. 


Grandpa has an app on his phone that tells you which stars you are looking at in the dark. It was a huge hit with the kids. 







Then there was the day that the big boys decided to build a grand canyon. 

Everyone got into it, digging and  hauling water. 



We brought our little binoculars along and watched for whales. 


What are those long tail type things found on beaches?  They used one to skip rope. 


Not to blow our own horn, but we did have the best food in the campsite. 

Pizza dough made in the morning and then topped after we were done at the beach for the day.
Three ovens! 
Lots of pizza! 
Happy tummy's!



The beautiful bouquet came along and graced our new campsite.  


 This beach is beyond beautiful and so long!  We never did even begin to attempt to walk one end to the other. 




The campsites are very wooded and can be quite dark even in the middle of the day. 


We went to two and got a couple of skim boards when we saw that the beach was just perfect for them. 


They are used to skim across the water as the waves go out. 


My beach boy had it mastered first.


We found one of the warm spots to sit was on the rocks.  Now I know why sea lions are often seen sleeping on the rocks during the day. 



We almost always had dinner late after the sun would go down. 
No one was anxious to leave the beach and it was cozy around the fire in the evenings. 
The kids went to bed late and  some even slept in! 


Those boxes of Jello instant cheesecake?  
Quite delicious with thawed strawberries. 



Again, breakfast. 
I'm taking you around and around just like our days were.
Breakfast, snacks, sunset, dinner, sleep repeat!








On the day we were having pulled pork which we had smoked at home, I got up before the rest of the crew and mixed up buns for the pulled pork sandwiches. 


They don't make those trailer ovens just for the fun of it. 


Bea taught the girls how to finger knit.  

There were meters of scarves produced.  


We decided to go to the rain forest walk through the old growth forest.  
It took two truck loads but we all got there. 


There were strict instructions to stay on the board walk at all times. 



And...
that is all fine and dandy unless you take a step back while taking a picture and end up on your tailbone.

This was the moment the trip became painful for me.  

Nothing broken but quite sore.
It's much better now.



The trees were almost beyond what I could have imagined.



 See him pointing to the sign?  
It says to be very careful on the boardwalks! 

Ok!



I rode the trip back to camp with a new group!

Always counting heads.



The beach is a never ending playground for new games. 

This day was a monster truck track day!



I kept talking about making doughnuts one night.



When I made them, they were enjoyed!


Most mornings started quiet and slow.

While breakfast was cooking the kids would just hang out and color or paint.






This was me babysitting the kite! 

And for the record...
this was me on the beach staying warm. 


The skim boarding continued. 






The fog came in almost every morning and every evening. 

It was chilly but oh so beautiful. 


This is how the mornings would often begin.

They would come one by one and we would invite them in until the trailer got too full and then they were all ushered back outside. 



We didn't eat bacon, eggs, and hashbrowns every morning.

We ate pancakes too! 



There was one day that I was trying to gain some brownie points.

I wanted us to take a family picture on the beach for our Christmas photo.

I started early in the morning with my efforts. 



They can be a little bit sassy when I ask for a family photo.



In the end, I got my wish and everyone got cleaned up and we met down at the beach before dinner.  

The fog that we wanted and was always there when we didn't want it, left us to squint in the sunshine. 

The picture was taken anyways and is now with our family photographer getting polished for the Christmas card. 



Photo's are not always what they seem.    This scene had a Grammie in the background hollering. 


One afternoon seemed particularly sunshiny so I got to work and made some  Rollkuchen to take down to the beach. 




It was a good plan, enjoyed by all!


Ok.. you get the message. 



Sometimes I sat close enough to listen to conversations and pretending I wasn't listening while they chatted about life and their own memories.  





We noticed that the family behind us was doing their traditional vacation selfie.
I offered to take it for them but then it is not a selfie!  
Apparently. 


So we did photo bombing in a strange Grammie kind of way. 



This was the campground road from site to site.
You can see how very little light would make it into the sites.  
They supply electricity for which we were very thankful.  



This was the walk down to the beach.  Wagons tended to topple on the rough trail.


They ended up having a rope pull while the wagon was slowly let down the trail. 
It looks like she has the hard job and it was not easy but what you can't see is how he has the wagon rope taut.  


This was the scene that we picked for our family photo.

This was the fog that I had ordered for the photo.  ;)




There was the day that we needed a coffee table and Little Oh rolled one over for us. 






Typical foggy beach scene.


He wears his letter with pride. 




He starts kindergarten next week!  
OYE!  Not the baby!!!


She didn't forget all her ballerina over summer. 








On our last day at Long Beach we all agreed that we needed to watch the sunset once more. 








So we did.





There were more than a few dinners that we ate after 9 PM.

We loved that routine and the sunsets were always worth the wait. 



On the morning we left, we woke to sunny skies.  Tofino reacted to our departure with a heat wave!

The ended up having a record high that day. 
Too funny!


On the journey home, we stopped at Cathedral Grove.


It is an amazing forest of old growth Douglas Fir Trees. 
I did a panorama shot and even that can



Some of the kids couldn't wake up from their dose of Gravol.


We all made it onto the same ferry home and we watched our last sunset together. 


This is when I realized that they are growing up very fast.

This vacation with our family was an investment of spending time together.


When we were close to docking at Horseshoe Bay in North Vancouver, we watched the full moon rise over the city. 



Eleven nights and twelve days of spending time with our family!

It was precious and I came home feeling incredibly blessed and thankful!

Thank you for coming along with me on this trip in review!  

all for now...
with love, 

Comments

  1. Oh my GOODNESSS!!! This looks so fantastic!! How amazing that your whole family can spend that much time together. It looks like you had a wonderful wonderful trip. What a blessing!!!!

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  2. Wow! Beautiful scenes and moments captured! How you kept track of it all and so well documented is amazing and such a keepsake! Your family has a wonderful sense of adventure and enjoyment for the woods, the ocean and the beach! I am sure your heart, at times, could hardly contain the blessing of such a time together! Now, if you could get this printed into a book, you'd be set!

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  3. This is amazing Lovella. What incredible memories you've all made. I agree with Anneliese - this deserves its own book. One I guarantee will be poured over with laughter and nostalgia for years to come. You truly are blessed to have taken this family vacation.

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  4. Magical moments all saved in memory now. I think you have one incredible, loving, and close family. Eleven nights and twelve days proves that! The children are all growing so fast...absolutely marvelous photo of them standing hand in hand watching the sun set.

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  5. That was a real mood-lifter, Lovella! I love Tofino but have never been there with the grands. You make camping with three generations look not just do-able, but the most fun ever. You and your Beloved are wonderful grandparents!

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  6. I think I've said it before...I'll only go camping if I can have the spot right next to yours with dining privileges! Wonderful photo log of your grand time together. Love those sunset shots silhouetted with your family...

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  7. What a fantastic, memory-making trip! Food is a big part of camping, and you guys did it superbly! Such deliciousness - it's a wonder the rest of the campers didn't line up at your door. The smells must have been tempting.

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  8. Enjoyed your pics immensely. Tofino is my neck of the woods and we had a real heat wave in late August. The beach was full of surfers. Glad you enjoyed Vancouver Island, an area of outstanding natural Beauty. PS. So did Prime Minister Trudeau,lol

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  9. Now that looks like a fantastic family vacation from beginning to end! Wonderful memories for all, I'm sure. And should they ever forget...they can come right here and re-visit all those wonderful moments! I'm smiling at Ellen's comment...about only camping if she can be next to you. :) Your camping fare looks 'second to none'!

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  10. I really enjoyed every picture and every camping detail! You ate so well! My memories of camping were a lot of sandy Pb&J sandwiches :) Your west coast is so very different than my east coast - yet equally beautiful! So glad you were blessed with this wonderful family vacation. I hope someday we can do something similar.

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  11. Aw Tofino - one of our favourite places! We were there 3 years ago, celebrating our 40th anniversary and enjoyed it so much! It looks like you made the best of it with your amazing family. Your pictures and stories are wonderful - felt like I was right there with you enjoying the hikes and all that great camp food! My favourite picture is the one of your daughter-in-law wearing the floppy hat with her precious daughter in sunglasses - it looks so vintage and beautiful!!!

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  12. Your camping food looks amazing! This vacation looks like it was an incredible time of connecting, and also appreciating the beauty of nature and family. Love the pic of your grands silhouetted by the sunset.

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  13. Looks like a wonderful vacation! Nice photos ♥

    summerdaisycottage.blogspot.com

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  14. What an amazing post of your summer family vacation. Looks and sounds like a most memorable time! I loved seeing your grandkids and kids in action with each other. The kids will never forget this summer holiday.

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