courtenay reunion

last weekend we boarded the ferry at horseshoe bay and visited our old friends matt and monique and their kids liam, torr and elise.  they have settled into a very relaxed space in the very relaxed town of courtenay.  all three kids were great with ty and zeke and we fell into old rhythms with old friends within moments.

this was ty's first ferry ride and he fully engaged with all aspects of it.  staring at the ocean, running on the deck, stomping in puddles, running on the car deck, running through the seating area... a ferry ride really breaks up a trip.  its a five hour journey, just like lethbridge to edmonton, but its a lot more fun.

once on the island, on our way north to courntey, we stopped just outside parksville to check out the beach.  we plan to stay there for a few days in april and were excited to find lots of fun rock and sand tidal formations.  ty takes to rock running naturally.

matt and monique are thriving in courtenay.  their kids are loving school, they are currently involved in a project called "we can" based on a song by jesse ruben and the singer flew out from the states to visit the schools involved and see the town.  he made a heartwarming music video at liam and torr's school and both of them are in it!  he also wrote an excellent and honest blog post about the experience from his perspective.  good for courtenay.  no wonder we wanted to live there.

ty and elise are very close in age and got along great.  they enjoyed a lot of the same things.

 

liam and torr valiantly led ty in adventurous activities.  he enjoyed tagging along with them and they cheerfully engaged with him and called hi ty-fighter after the ultramaneuverable spaceship of star wars fame.  fits with the hood.

a wonderful comfortable trip.  we are excited to return soon.  courtenay is beautiful and the bike trails there are calling already.

our ride home on the ferry was just as enjoyable.  we were comfortably early and enjoyed a coffee and half price breakfast sandwich while playing at the park.  on the boat we sat in the sunshine, ate chocolate covered cherries and almonds and looked for dolphins.

great road trip.  thanks matt and monique for an awesome weekend!