The holiday has begun...

It's sunny. That's enough of a treat, but you add in seeing friends and family and enjoying Mom's cooking and Clamato and I am a happy little girl.

Arrived on Friday in BC to stay with Grandpa and Joan for the night. It was great to see them; they both look really good. Grandpa didn't miss a beat on the whole drive to and from the airport and around town. Well, maybe one red light that we almost went through, but Joan quietly reminded him about. But otherwise, he is the best, safest 89 1/2 year old driver I have ever seen. Put a lot of worries at ease for me.... : )

We went out to the Boathouse for dinner with my Uncle Bob and Aunt Lynette to celebrate their birthdays, Grandpa and Joan's anniversary and my visit. The Boathouse is a beautiful restaurant on the water in Horseshoe Bay where people catch the ferry across to Vancounver island. It's a very picturesque setting with tall rock walls that go up away from the trees, and a marina right beside the restaurant. Yummy steak and seafood meals too and 'fat as' wine glasses, which suited us just fine!

We went and visited my cousin Janet and her kids Zach, Rachel and Nathan after that and enjoyed some more family catchup time. Zach just had his bar mitsvah weekend and we saw all the photos from the huge event. I had not seen the family in over two years. The kids were all so much bigger and fully into soccer season here. Vancouver seems to have some nice soccer fields to play on. Everything is being renovated and cleaned up to make the city look good for the world to see it when the Olympics come in 2010.

Grandpa and Joan and I had a great Tim Horton's breakfast on Saturday morning and then went off to search for a rain jacket for Daisy (their Lhasa Apso dog). Daisy was not a fan of the one we picked out, which was a cute little down type vest, but Joan said Daisy will come around to it. They have other little jackets for Daisy, and Daisy wears them with pride so maybe the fashion will just have to wear in.

I left for Toronto soon after and was quite proud that I held back my tears. Decided to be hard this trip and not a softy. Lasted well too, until today, when I had to say good bye to Robyn, after a long day chatting here with her. We only had this one day to hang out between her trip back from Austria with her Mom cycle touring, and her flying back to Canmore. Great day though, with lots of sunshine and shopping. The way a holiday should be!

Sarah came to visit me after church yesterday and we got to catch up as well. Looking foward to seeing how big her daughter has grown since December.

So not sure exactly what the next few weeks hold for me; lots of family visits for sure, and catching up with friends. And getting sunshine, and running. Lots of Clamato's and lots of running. Oh, and Mom's ceaser salad. And..... : )