Weekend in Victoria

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to visit a friend from Edmonton who was in Victoria for the week. I went out for the weekend and had a blast, despite the weekend starting off like a bad 3 Stooges film! After I worked a night shift, I drove to the ferry terminal, and waited for the 9am ferry. As the cars started to go, I went to start my car and was met with a terrible sound..er er er..Ahh! My battery was dead! (Lesson learned: do not sit and listen to your radio with out your car running..being kind to the environment gets you punished!) So, I pound on my steering wheel a few times, try again, hear the same sound, start running to cars around me asking for cables and came up short. I had to sit there and direct cars around my car and think about what to do. So, I sprint to the ticket booth in the pouring rain(which was not close, by the way) and have them call someone to boost me. I get the jump, and make it on the ferry with 5 min. to spare. But, with driving so little of a distance to get on the ferry, I was confident I would run into the same problem. And you guessed it, it happened! So, I had to direct the cars around me again (how humiliating!) and wait to get jumped again! Finally, I had a running car, and was on my way to meet up Ximena at the hotel! I tell you, the weekend vastly improved from there!

We drove up to Duncan on the Sat. to meet my grandparents for lunch and Menna became an instant member of the family!

Menna also made a friend with our friendly neighbourhood violinist!
We had lunch at a cute little pub!

On the Malahat highway..we decided to be tourists and make a bad left turn into the pullout..Good thing Menna's blind..she missed out on seeing any imminent danger..hehe
Menna has an album in progress, and as she writes her songs, she gets inspiration for photos! And, as her personal photographer, I followed direction! Here, she played her newly purchased kazoo on the street and held out her hat. We were just pretending, of course!
I asked this nice woman if she would pretend to drop money in her hat for a photo.
Go figure, she put in a REAL toonie! hehe

Menna then joined this fellow for an impromptu concert.

I love this photo of Menna..so natural! She's always laughing!

Having fun with the "statue" ladyCherry blossoms, me, Menna, and our paper stick figure Deb! She couldn't really be there for the weekend, so we pretended she was!Leg grounds at night.

The fountain in front of the Leg. buildingBuds!

Shenanigan's are my specialty!

I do like April Fool's! It's the day I look forward to the most all year! I usually plan for it for about 6 months prior to the actual event, but this year I was a bit more spontaneous! And as a result, I was able to pranks at least 40 of my friends! hehe I'm SO excited! Here are a list of my pranks, along with the results:

• I emailed my entire dragon boat team and told them that I was quitting the team to move to Alberta for a great job opportunity. I started getting replies almost immediately! I almost felt guilty for doing it, since they were writing me such wonderful things about how much they would miss me, but I remembered how fun it was so the guilt passed. Until poor Alanna..she had received the message at 8:30am, and I was asleep until 3:30pm, so she spent all day texting, calling, emailing..she was so upset! When I broke the news to her, she was actually crying with relief! Okay..so maybe I felt a bit guilty after that..but not enough to stop me from laughing!
• I changed my relationship status on facebook to "in a relationship" and received at least 30 messages from friends wanting the "scoop"!
• At work, I left a fake poop on a plate in the cupboard, taped the fridge shut, left a note for the manager telling him that the stove caught fire the night before, and rigged the shower to spray the face of the staff who went to turn it on..hehe And I got a call at 7:45am by that staff member telling me that she was NOT impressed that she was now soaking wet! hahah Still not feeling too guilty..
• I called a friend to tell her that I had given my 2 weeks notice at work because I accepted a position elsewhere. She was SO excited for me! Until I told her it was in Ft.St. John..and then she got all quiet and kept saying "I'm TRYING to be happy for you" And then I told her that it was a joke and boy was she ticked! hahahaha (Oh, Karen..you are SO fun to tease!)

Yes, today is the day when lying is acceptable, and admitting to it is even funnier!

Like the good ol' days..

My brother in law came out for a couple of days for work, so we made the most of it and did some of the things we both love! Fish and Chips at Pajo's in Steveston, walking on the beach, people watching, checking out little shops, frozen yogurt, candy shops..it was a great way to spend a sunny Saturday afternoon!

This little guy was one of the many that we kept fed..

One of the swans that we saw down on the pier..it was HUGE!
Stephen taking photos of one of the swans

The pair.

One of the shrimp boats set up to sell us fresh shell fish..mmm

Lots of kites out at Gary's Point! There were 2 really big ones! And this guy hopped up on his sled on wheels and rode the wind all the way across the field and back again!Down on the beachThis photo really catches my eye for some reason..
Smashing rocks!