August 2024

My kids spend two weeks at my parents house, but we usually go over to drop them off. This weekend was the August long weekend so we had an extra day to contend with.  A year ago we planted two dwarf apple trees in the back yard so we went to give them a bit of a check up.  Aphids are a bit of a problem, but my dad is treating it with soapy water.

It's not often I find out about a place because of a lawsuit.  Knapp Island is currently being used for a Shinto retreat and they ran into problems with the Canadian Revenue Agency because they disagree about how much tax the owners of the island should pay.  The retreat offers visiting days (with a person to receive you and show you around) they offer to pay for the water taxi to come over.  We paid out own water taxi fare, but were grateful for the opportunity to visit an more obscure Gulf Island.

The water taxi leaves out of Canoe Cove Marina and passes by a number of rocks that happen to be great seal resting habitat.  Our water taxi guy kindly stopped for a minute so we could take some photos.

We passed by the Swartz Bay ferry terminal and Knapp Island quickly came into view.  When you get on a ferry at Swartz bay, you see two islands - Piers Island which is surrounded by docks and Knapp Island which looks like it only has a single house on it.  We quickly crossed the channel and pulled into the inside of Knapp Island.

The caretaker met us at the docks and brought us to the temple building for tea and an orientation.  The temple building was first built to be a martial arts practice studio, but is now used receiving guests.  The building has bathrooms and a kitchen area and follows Japanese expectations (there is a place to take your shoes off and to get into slippers.

This island isn't walked on much so there were some nice examples of lichens, orchids and flowers on the island.
 

In the evening the Williams brothers came over from Vancouver so my parents had the full set of grandkids.  The next day we took a walk on the breakwater.

The Dominion Astrophysical Observatory has a number of Saturday night programs over the summer.  We happened to get tickets for a Saturday night star party and lecture.  The kids really enjoyed the lecture and I did quite like graphics.

Second weekend of August, my Aunt hosts a family get together.  My grandparents had four kids so this is roughly four families coming together for the weekend.  While my grandparents are no longer with us, the number of great grandchildren continues to rise.  This year two kids that were babies last year are this year walking around and looking to have fun.
 

And the older kids continue to get older and play older kids games.

A few families stay local in tents (that would be us), some live close enough that they can go home at night and some family stay in town.  My Aunts family provide us with meals, games and activities that really brings the weekend together.  

This year's theme was Hawaii - and many of the activities had a Hawaii theme.  The first activity of the day was a scavenger hunt for the kids based on trying to find Hawaii themed items hidden around the property.  These were borrowed and purchased items hidden in plain sight and the kids each got a drawing of the item to go find.  The hidden in plain sight part made it quite fun because the kids had to really look to find things.
 
 

Having thirty something guests means there are a lot of mouths to feed.  There is some help, but it still takes a tremendous amount of work for every meal. 

I was hoping to increase my butterfly count this year.  I didn't have much luck in Victoria, but I was pleased to see a new to me butterfly here in the Comox valley.

 
The kids love getting to cool down and they are calmer for dinner and the rest of the days actives.

Most years my aunt sets up games.  This year, in the Hawaii theme, it was a relay race where you had to roll a packed bag to lounge chair, get dressed in a vacation theme, lie down on the chair, get up, get undressed and packaged and return to the next team.  It was a hilarious commentary on vacation culture.  We split into two teams and ran like crazy.

I like to take family portraits every year.  Kids grow up quick and family does change year over year. Finding the best time is tricky - you don't want the sun in peoples faces, but at the same time it is good to still have some light.

Some families brought outfits and their were lots of accessories around to bring a touch of "Hawaii" to the family shots.

We are missing a few people in these shots.  David Jeffries wife and two kids had already gone back to the hotel for a sleep.  Chrissy and her now Husband Andrew (congratulations!) were away in Europe this weekend. 

My sister wanted a more spicy background and light so we went to "Hawaii mode".
  

I didn't actually know the rules of limbo (you have to keep your head straight back) but it was basically "touch and you are out". 

 

Helen won the adult competition and Nara won the kids competition.

 

 
Thanks again for the hosting!  We hall had fun!