Day 12 - Victoria at Kevin & Cristy Thiessen's

We were treated to a breakfast of scones with raspberries which were scrumpdiddlyumpcious. We took our time getting moving, and even saw a black-tailed deer out the front window. Once we found our stride we ended up driving towards Victoria's inner harbour. On our way there, it occurred to me that we could actually drive to the furthest point of the Trans-Canada Highway, so I thought, "Why not?" We met a statue of Terry Fox there, wandered down to the rocky beach, and saw a harbour seal frolicking just out of reach. We then saw a cool sight - a little beacon out in the bay along a sea wall - so we thought we should walk out to it while holding tightly to little hands since there was no guardrail. The Ogden Point Breakwater was a lot longer than we thought. We got to see a Naval dive team performing some exercises while we walked along it.

It was about lunch time when we wandered into the inner harbour area. We bought smokies and hotdogs (and a chicken burger) from a street vendor for a great deal compared to everyone around us, and enjoyed them while looking out over the harbour where another seal poked his head up for a breather. We wandered around the Legislature and marveled at the craftsmanship in the stained glass, the tile work, the murals; everything was beautiful. Then we headed into the Empress Hotel of which we were only allowed to see a slight portion of. That was unfortunate. We know from previous visits that it equals the Legislature in opulence and grandeur, and it would have been a neat experience for the kids.

Beneath the Empress Hotel on the street side was an attraction aptly named Miniature World. Our kids called it the "diorama room" because of the scale models and displays that reminded them of the movie Night at the Museum. They even thought they might see Jed or Octavius there. Cute. There were so many scenes: Fort Whoop-Up, scenes from the World Wars of Canada's contributions and campaigns, American Independence and Civil War scenes, the railway from coast to coast (coolest in my opinion) fun castles, mansions, houses, a model car show, fairy tales and a circus world. I cannot tell you how difficult it was to keep the kids together in there. One was interested in this, one in that, then the other would come to see what someone else noticed that they hadn't. My toes were stepped on SO many times (you keep track a little bit more when you've had one toe recently broken). The littlest man was holding an adult hand at all times. He would, of course, skip from parent to parent trying to find some freedom from his shackles, but we were extreme in our consistency.

Being in the realm of miniatures was exhausting as we wrangled kids and we needed some space. We hopped back in the vehicle and passed by the Craigdarroch Castle, then back towards Kevin and Cristy's place. Just beyond their house was an amusement area with go-karts and mini golf. Not being one to pass up a good mini golf course, we enjoyed ourselves there and then headed back to the house.

We joined Thiessens for supper (pulled pork sandwiches) and then we all went together towards Ocean Boulevard in Esquimalt where there was a beach with a gorgeous view of the Olympia Mountains stateside. We could see the Fisgard Lighthouse which we had considered touring, and also saw Fort Rodd Hill from here which is a 19th century British coastal artillery post designed to protect the Esquimalt Naval Base. It was a pretty cool place for a beautiful evening sitting on the beach in the evening summer sunshine.

We saw a lot of other things too. Dozens of blue herons were standing across from us in a lagoon. Another harbour seal played in front of us as we threw stones and driftwood into the ocean. The kids played in the surf and sand as we watched. Judah found something interesting on the beach with Bo and Ben. He dragged it up to where his mom was sitting with Cristy. Dead porpoise we think. It was far enough decomposed that we couldn't make a positive identification. It reeked. So I dragged it off elsewhere. Micah and I also scouted for shells along the shore. Much more pleasant.

The van was smelling a lot like porpoise on the way home. That could be due to the rotting shellfish in the pail in the back from White Rock and Seattle. When we got back to the house I selectively weeded through the stash. The kids have no idea. No more festering crab leg, some of the more meaty portions of clam disappeared, and some of the seaweed that had tagged along. The van was no longer smelling of decomposition and we could again sit and visit with Kevin and Cristy. It was a great day.