Our second (maybe annual?) trip to Tofino has come and gone... And what a blast it was. Much like I previously posted about the summer, it felt like this was Lacey's first experience on holiday even though it really wasn't. We did two trips while I was as on leave last year, but Lacey sat up for the first time when we were on the West Coast, so she was barely mobile. And she had been crawling for only a week or so on our second trip.
Let's take this from the top.
We flew out to Comox on my birthday, September 16! The flight went well. It was early enough that it was before Lacey's nap time. And since we flew with my inlaws, Barb and Dave, and Lacey's Auntie Ashley and Uncle Andy, the moment she got a bit squirrely, we would hand her off to the next set of hands to get distracted. Lacey did great on the plane. She colored, she played with plastic bugs, she ready books and she drew on Auntie's tablet app.
She did even better during the three hour drive. We ended up with the world's crappiest Dodge Caravan car rental, but Lacey loved it, because she could see grandma and grandpa in the back seat with her. She slept for about forty minutes (about all we can expect on a travel day),but we all arrived at the Cox Bay Resort in good spirits.
After ditching our bags in our rooms, we all headed out for a beach walk to stretch our travel weary legs. And what a beach walk it was! There was a wall of fog that had moved in to the beach, and you could barely see 15m in front of you! It made for some very interesting photos.
Walking on sand only gave Lacey a moment of pause before she was off exploring. She also didn't mind the water coming in and out. She seemed to like the sensation of when the surf comes in, and whisks away the sand from underneath your feet.
After our first afternoon in Tofino, we started every day the same way. We slept until Lacey woke up. Then Lacey asked for:
1) Milk
2) Grandma and grandpa
3) Auntie and Uncle
4) Beach
On the following days, we tried to find indoor activities, because it poured and poured and poured. Although it wasn't great for our holiday, it was just what Tofino needed - - they had had a dry summer, and were on water restrictions. In the neighboring town of Ucluelet, they have a small aquarium with many touch tanks. Lacey was very interested in looking at the fish, crabs and jellyfish. However, she was not brave enough to touch any of the starfish anenome or other creatures in the touch tanks.
Grandpa has a memory from when he was a kid, of getting a stuffed bear when he was in Jasper. So when he saw the perfect bear for Lacey, he picked it up and gifted it to her. As you can imagine, Lacey was a big fan of bear (or Bee-ear, as she says). Bear is now another full time resident of her crib at bedtime.
We watched Auntie and Uncle go surfing, we visited a park in town, and we went on a hike on the Wild Pacific Trail outside of Ucluelet. We beach walked every day and investigated kelp, and on the last day, it was even nice enough for us to get out some sand toys for Lacey to do some digging. We wore Tofino's latest fashion (metal bowls) on our heads, and practiced our balance by drinking milk on those bowls.
We ate good food, and enjoyed the company of our family! It was a very nice trip, and I can see us doing it again! And if you don't mind me saying... We ARE a pretty good looking family unit!
Still... According to Lacey, vacations and the beach are the Worst. Day. Ever.
