Meet Cocoa Bean

Last Saturday, we increased our family by one. We'd been looking at rescue dog websites for a couple of weeks and had applied to adopt two puppies online.... with very little response from either agency. So, we called one, PetsHaven, and they invited us out to Sunbury to meet their puppies, some of them rescued from rural communities in Western Australia. We were greeted by a wriggling, jumping, licking mass of rollicking little bodies, and this one was the most chilled, just sitting down beside Scott and waiting to mooch a cuddle. We knew she was the one!

She's a good little girl, a 13 week old Staffordshire Terrier crossed with a bunch of other things..we're not sure yet. She's very smoochy, though. She can come on command, sit and is learning "stay" (not an easy one!).

Everyone has fallen in love with her, and all are very consistent with training and teaching her not to bite, (which is hard, because her little nibbles on your ear are cute...but won't be cute when she's older.) 

J&K Visit: Thanksgiving

Kathie and John were in Australasia on a lecture tour. Kathie was sharing her Dissertation at Monash University, and we were able to catch up with them for a dinner with us at ours. (They landed on Canadian Thanksgiving Sunday, so we shared Indian take away and alcoholic ginger beer with them that evening.) And I got to go out to brekkie with them too. Here's a cute pic in front of an Aussie icon: the Charcoal chicken shop:

BBQ

The hardest thing about coming back home after 3 years overseas is trying to fit in visits with so many special people. Darcy and Lori hosted a great evening at Maureen and Trevor's place with these awesome people....

 

 

 

 

Tim Horton's

I made Scott "wait" for the Timmy's experience until our last weekend in Victoria. Here, he's  smelling the beautiful scent that is the chocolate glazed Boston Cream. 

Camping

After returning from Seattle, we hopped in the truck and headed up to Cowichan Lake for an overnight with Darcy, Brad, Maureen, Trevor and all the Calkins kids, Lori and Aubrey.

Highlights included hanging with so many adorable kids, tall trees, swimming in a lake, tent sleeping,  log balancing and lunch on the beach.

Max, Aubrey, Sam and Katie

Hello, Ian! 

Family in Seattle

We had quick and lovely visits with some of the Pflager pfamily...

Rockin' Seattle

We loved being able to zip down to Seattle and load up on culture and visit my brither Dan and his family. We spent an intense day in the Experience Music Project. My nephews Robin and Christian joined us as we wandered around the Museum.

 

The Pic Collage commemorating the EMP. I love the picture in the bottom right hand corner. That's me taking a selfie in the reflection of the building.

The Jimi Hendrix exhibit was awesome.

We took as many pictures outside as we did inside.

Eddie Van Halen's guitar.

 

"If 6 was 9". The massive musical instrument installation in the atrium of the EMP.

Guitars

No trip to North America would be complete for Scott without a trip or two to a music shop. He was astounded by the sheer volume of guitars, and the ridiculously low price of boutique amps....  

 

Glenn loaned him a Jazzmaster to noodle on while we were in Victoria. When we had dinner with Jacqui and Glenn, the guys talked in "guitar" while Jacqui and I spoke English.  When we stopped by the Demmings' for drinks and a catch-up, Ross handed him his acoustic to strum randomly while we sipped ridiculously tasty cocktails.

 

When we were in Seattle, we experienced rock and roll immersion at the Expreience Music Project,  and my brother gave Scott a tour of his guitar collection.

 

 

 

Dinner with the Kind-Willis Clan

Dinner at Lori, Peter and Aubrey's means really tasty food, great company and lots of great conversation. I wish it were possible to pop 'round every  week.

 

Aubrey is ready to swim.

....and yes, there was  some science.

 

...and there were Ribs....

 

A Glimpse into my Trip Food Diary

Along with thousands of other smartphone users, I compulsively photograph my food and make it pretty with Instagram. 

There were heaps of great photo opportunities on our trip because we ate well. 

Some memorable moments were...

A&W on Canada Day. There is nothing like a well done Teen Burger and Rootbeer! They've introduced Sweet Potato Fries and hipster-cut (Kennebuc?) potato fries since I've been in Canada. Yum! 

Lori and Peter and Aubrey made us my favourite Kind-Willis meal: Ribs! 

Not only  did we sample the local craft beers, we also sampled some designer root beers and ginger beers. These ones had awesome labels! 

Best coffee in Victoria. 

Summer fruits. 

 

When we were in Vancouver with Darcy and Brad, we had a mind blowing Breakfast at the Red Wagon Cafe. Once again, I introduce you to the Buttermilk Pancakes with Pulled Pork and JD infused maple syrup. 

For us, Breakfast and coffee in Seattle was enjoyed at Citizen, up the way from our hotel. We had fruit, yogurt and homemade granola....tasty! 

 

I always had a macchiato chaser to my latte. Their Lavender-infused latte is interesting too.

Darcy BBQ-ing the yummiest and chunkiest hamburgers ever!