Hello October, my what beautiful colors your wearing.

hello october :)
i simply love fall, and all the goodies it brings
i love the crisp mornings
i love scarfs
i love wool socks
i love sweaters
i love the sunshine burning off the frost
i love the many shades of yellow and orange everywhere
i love when the leaves dance down the street
i love how soup tastes SO much better for lunch
i love that trick or treating is right around the corner =)

septembers are hard for me - the excess of emotions are unnerving. so before i say goodbye to another september, here is a recap.

i blew out an extra candle... making me officially IN my forties. starting another year with CaRrOt CaKe :) "carrot cake is our FaVorITe, mema" -max tells me =)

this birthday had an extra hiccup. this was the first year i didn't receive a card from my grams. the predictable card that would show up in my mail box either the day before or the day of. she was old school like that. picking out the perfect card, underlining words to emphasize her message...

my older sister, niece and i celebrated my fathers bday

he would have been 65

My oldest blew out bday candles too

...23...

you know what this means?!?!?! only 2 more years and he gets a break on his car insurance =)

we had a little superhero action

i just have to note putting him into the spiderman suit was a whole lot easier than getting him out of it lol

and a anniversary

11 years we have been without pop (i came across a picture my niece brandi made back in 2000)

my pop taught me

• how to keep things simple
• to slow down
• to look around
• to MAKE time to smell the flowers
• he tried to teach me not to worry about things, but i still struggle with this one.

so, i say goodbye to september

and embrace all the comforts october brings me. 

my epic "ca-ca-tion" part THREE

19AUG11

vancouver  island

tofino

tofino is a beautiful place. the beaches are like white silk almost.

this is the day we went whale watching

grey whale

hump back whale

these creatures are simply breathtaking...

my epic "ca-ca-tion" part TWO

lets see where was i.... OH YEAH, the ferry ride over to vancouver island.

17AUG11

vancouver

vancouver island

st. pauls church with his feathered friends

we stayed in nanaimo. this too is an incredible place i will be coming back to :)

18AUG11

vancouver island

nanaimo

tofino

these is where we stayed and had breakfast

a nanaimo bar

its 3000 calories of goodness!!

more beaches

(qualicum beach)

I almost went cave exploring :)

(horne lake caves provincial park)

this made me laugh

cathedral grove

macmillian provincial park

this is one of the many examples of the circle of life. when a tree falls, new ones grow.

this was such an amazing sight. the road was two lanes and pulling off to the side was not an option. the mist circling the mountains was breathtaking.

"pacific rim"

later in the trip i learned that the locals called august "fog-ust" the fog would be thick and then in a moment the sun would burn it all off and there would be a blue skies.

19AUG11

tifino

and the fog could roll back in, just like that