Greetings from Victoria! Josh and I made the trek north for Miriam's wedding and we had such a wonderful time. We stayed with Daniel, Nancee and their sweet little Lily - Daniel and Josh were each other's best men in our weddings and Miriam even sang at ours. It was incredibly special to be invited.
Daniel, Me, Nancee and Josh - Nancee is due with baby #2 in the fall and no, she isn't finding out if it's a girl or boy...
Victoria is known for it's lush botanical landscape. These tulips are in their backyard. It's amazing.
Miriam asked Josh to sing at the wedding and I was treated to a practice as soon as we landed:
Paola is Daniel and Miriam's sister and has an unbelievable voice - I also got to meet Sharon, who is another one of those Canadians that you meet and immediately want to be friends with.
On Friday, we took a (long) walk (well, long for us - we're used to driving everywhere) to downtown Victoria for coffee.
Lily and her soymilk
We had lunch on the dock at a place called Red Fish, Blue Fish. Check out the link, it's pretty interesting.
Friday evening was the rehearsal and dinner
Nancee's mom and dad flew in from Calgary. Josh and I had stayed at their home 7 years ago when we came up for Daniel and Nancee's wedding - a short month before our own.
The church...
...and the view
The dinner was held at a friend's house and it was pretty impressive. This is the "driveway."
Miriam is on the left in the jean jacket, and Drew, the guitarist for Switchfoot is on the right by Nancee. Josh was excited to meet him - to say the least. Drew's wife, Jenna, is one of Miriam's best friends and they had come up from California for the wedding. We actually ran into them on Thursday evening at a coffee shop where Daniel introduced us. The conversation turned to music and Josh asked Drew if he sang. He said, "I play a little guitar." It wasn't until we left that Daniel mentioned that he played for Switchfoot. A little guitar, huh?
Daniel saved us all from a random topiary fire.
I found these spiders by the window and Josh found the right setting on the camera to make them look huge and gross.
WEDDING DAY!
Josh and Luke (another sibling of Daniel's)
Hannah (Paola's daughter)
Lily
Just munchin' on some sushi
Miriam and Roger
Josh took this as we were driving away.
We enjoyed every minute and, Canada, we adore you - even though you didn't stamp my passport and I did meet my first mean Canadian* while in Aveda - we can't wait to come back.
Nancee and Daniel, thank you for the great food and hospitality. We wish you would get down here already! Lily, Kate and Miles are itching to love on you... and maybe you could get them to try a chickpea.
* I suppose she could have been American, I didn't really ask.
Schnepf Farms held their annual Peach Festival this month, so we took advantage of the cooler weather last week and headed over there.
The farm has acres of peach trees and other organic food, but they've also added some amusement rides and a petting zoo. This was the top of a make-shift slide. They stuck a long tube on a hill and voila!
Ah, landing in wet hay. They loved it.
Look closely. Who took off their seat belt? Yes, they stopped the ride after this.
What other safe rides does Schepf Farms have, you ask? Well, they have a super roller coaster that sometimes stops halfway up and a nice lady worker who will climb up and get you. You're too scared to climb down, you say? No problem! They'll get the crane. or the lift. or whatever that's called. Josh said, "That's blogworthy," and took the picture.
I'm not sure what's happening here...
Welcome back, Buddy.
For all of you who are kicking yourself for missing the Peach Festival, rest easy. They'll have the Pumpkin Festival in the fall. No, really, I saw the lighted bats and everything.
