Let's carry on.....New Years and more!!

Ok, so when i left you last, i was on my way back from Winnipeg to Abby. Had a few flight delays, got in to Abby mid-afternoon, Pam picked me up from the airport, I quickly went home, unpacked and repacked my suitcase, and Pammer and I headed to the ferry! More waiting and and many hours later, we finally arrived in Courtenay to visit my cousin and family for New Years! I love visiting my cousin....it's a time complete with hanging out, eating good food and enjoying the company of one of the cutest kids i know. And dang can he talk well for a 2 yr old!!!Technically i'm a cousin once removed or something to him (how does that work? anybody know? my cousin's kid would be what relation to me??) but i'm trying to teach him to call me Auntie Laura....if he thinks about it enough, he can say it...but otherwise, i was "auntie Aurla". Meh, either way works for me!! We watched enough Shrek to last a lifetime, but how can you say no to that curly mop and big blue eyes that keep saying "I watch Shrek!!" and "Again!!"

After just a brief stay in Courtenay (night of Dec 30th till the morning of Jan 1st) Pammer and I loaded up the car again and headed west, cross island to Ucluelet, to meet up with our friends Kim and Jaco. They had already been renting a cabin for a couple of days, and we joined them till Jan 3rd. I was looking forward to spending time on the west coast of the island, seeing Tofino, the beaches, the waves, and hopefully some pretty skies....we lucked out and didn't have solid rain, so i managed to get a few pics i'm pretty happy with! (by the way, if you've seen my pics on Facebook, these will mostly be the same ones)

Down by the water in Tofino, with some low level clouds that looked pretty neat!

We spent some time walking the Lighthouse Loop of this great trail in Ucluelet called the Wild Pacific Trail...it gave us great views of the crashing waves

Long Beach (between Ucluelet and Tofino)....famous for surfing....

These guys looked pretty hardcore in their wetsuits...it was COLD!!

And back to the Wild Pacific Trail....in search for the lighthouse....and a sunset...

and THEN i got to celebrate my birthday!!! My dear sweet friends made me brownies and everything!!! (the icing reads 'Hap B Laura'...that was all the icing we had...lol) This was the night before my bday, as we had to get up, pack up and drive back to the ferry on the 3rd, but it was still super special...and i got presents too!!

On the 3rd, we spent the afternoon in Nanaimo, and had lunch on the waterfront before catching our ferry. And here's one final pic....the ferry terminal and the lights of Nanaimo in the distance, just before we set sail

And then i got home, went to bed, and woke up Monday morning and headed to work! Whew...it was an exhausing "Christmas break"....but a whole lotta fun!