Whisking them off to Whistler and More Happy Wishes

 So while their mom and dad are off on some needed time alone, the kids moved in, bringing with them a lot of energy we have forgotten about. I'm sure that if houses could keep memories, this house would have smiled. I won't make an excuse for this long post.

Friday, we took the beautiful highway toward Whistler, stopping in Squamish. 

This old town, just at the north end of Howe Sound, 

has its beginnings in the CN railway construction, milling and mining. 

Today it is an extension of the tourism industry that Whistler Village has brought about.

Here we took the Sea to Sky Gondola to take in the breathtaking views from the top.

At the top we walked the suspension bridge and beautiful trails.

It was not a very clear, bright day, a little on the chili side and I spent some time

in the cafeteria with Paeton, who was not feeling so good, 

while Papa went out and about with the girls.

By the smiles here, you would not tell that anyone was sick. 

Paeton is our boy who will never want to make us feel bad.

He said it was still fun,

At the hotel in Squamish, the girls swam while Paet sat in the hot tub. 

The next day we drove the rest of the way to Whistler. It was a bit of a drizzly day,

so we left the packed picnic lunch in the icebox 

and headed to a little sidewalk cafe in the village. 

Everyone was feeling good again after this cozy time 

with tasty food under an umbrella, by a heater.

Back in Squamish, it was the perfect kind of day to stop in at the Britannia Mine -

which we have often passed and never gone to check out.

The mine was an important source of copper ore for 70 years, closing in 1974. 

We donned our mining protection and got on a mine train that took us into some of the old tunnels.

The guided walking tour was an eye opening experience 

into the back breaking hard work and dangers that miners face.

The part of the tour that really surprised me was the sight behind the impressive and massive stepped building with all the windows. It looks nothing like it on the inside with its wooden stairways, crushing equipment and never ending intertwining pipes involved for the processing of the ore.

We ended with a little bit of panning for that illusive gold,

before heading for dinner and home again.

At home, one day we went to visit Oma

who was so happy to see these, her oldest great-grands.

She whipped up  slowly got around to making her much loved crepes

and they did not disappoint. 

Our back yard also kept calling them out.

Bare feet are a must for these kids

and trees were made for climbing!

They enjoyed finding their perfect perches!

Last night we took the round trip to Victoria 

to hand them over to the grandparents waiting on the other side.

There were smiles all around!

If only it were such a mini overseas all the time!