"I know my name is...."

Alice learned her last name while we were away; Auntie Rene taught Alice that her name is Alice Murray, mommy is Corrie Murray, and daddy is Don Murray. It is very cute to hear her say this, and we think she is so grown up! Alice also likes to sing about her name; she throws her head back, and sings, loudly, " I know my name is Alice"; sometimes there is an alternate name, Joe. We think she got this song from Blue’s Clue’s. Is that show sticky or what!

Wickanninish Day 4

On Sunday, we again had breakfast in our room; I ordered the pancetta and asparagus hash, Don had his usual Pointe Breakfast. Since we didn’t have time to go to SoBo’s today, we decided to yet again put on our rubber boots and go for a walk. I had my spa at 1pm. I was scheduled for a Sacred Sea treatment and a Hot Stone Facial. I thought it would be fun to have lunch there (and since we haden’t yet had the time nor appetite to go to the restaurant for lunch) between my treatments. So while I was having my foot soak in the copper pot with marbels out on the rocky beach, my esthetician brought me a lunch menu. I ordered: Lemon Grilled Albacore Tuna Warm Potato, Fine Beans & Olives Red Pepper Vinaigrette After my sacred sea, I was brought out to the same chair, and by now it was hot and sunny- they brought out a basket of sunglasses for me to choose a pair (how cool is that?), and then a server came down from the restaurant and brought my tray of lunch. I think that was the most fun I’ve ever had! After my facial I walked back to the room in my robe (this is common practice, and no one looks at you funny for walking outside in a spa robe; if anything, they are jealous!). Don had been out taking photos at Schooner’s Cove, a near by rainforest trail. We got processed to go for dinner, our last night at the Inn. Tonight we had the chef’s tasting paired with wine. The first course was a salmon consumme with Salmon Mousse quenelles and sea asparagus, it was delicious. There were 3 courses that followed, and I’ll be darned if I can remember what they were- the chef’s tasting menu isn’t online, so I can’t cut and paste…

Wickanninish Day 2

On Friday, it was raining and we went for a walk on the beach with our rain pants, slickers and rain boots- all courtesey of the Inn. It was awesome to walk along the beach in the rain, nearing high tide and to watch all the surfers. Once coming in from the rain, the decidedly right thing to do was head to the lounge and have a spiked hot chocolate- I had a Polar Bear, Don had a Double Chocolate with some sort of booze/coffee combination.We went to SoBo’s for lunch- a bistro a couple miles from the Inn; it used to be known as the purple bus, but as we discovered, they’ve actually set up shop and parked the bus. The food is as wonderful as we remembered; we had their famous killer fish tacos and a shrimp cake that was large enough to feed a small child. They were both fabulous. We came back to the Inn for our couples hot stone massage in the Cedar Sanctuary- a cedar hut on the rocks built for 2. Don and I both fell asleep… We ate dinner again at the Pointe restaurant. I had:

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Wickanninish Day 3

We had breakfast in our room on Saturday- a rushed affair in order to make it for the guided nature walk. We met a group of about 20 in the Driftwood Coffee Lounge to head out onto the beach to start the walk. It was interesting to learn about such things as bull kelp and buried cars on the beach… After the walk we of course went back to So Bo’s for lunch- this time we were more daring, after having potlatch for dinner the night before, I decided that I was more adventurous in my seafood palate; I had SoBo’s clam chowder and another killer fish taco, Don had deep fried oysters and a taco. At 3pm we went to Jamie’s Whaling station to sign up for our Zodiak ride I’ve been dying to go on; the skipper told us the ocean was too rough that day to make a trip on the Zodiak, so we signed up instead for the 35 foot boat instead, along with 8 others. Of course I was disappointed, but once we got out onto open waters I quickly realized how much fun this would be. The skipper offered the front seats to anyone who wanted the bumpiest ride– which was me, of course. It was a covered boat, but given the rain and wind this was a good thing; we could open the windows if we wanted, which I did much of the time. The butterflies in my stomach soon turned to not-so-great feelings of woozy and I hope no one can see how green I must look…. but there were other passengers literally in the same boat– out on the back hanging over the edge. The skipper told us that Randy Bachman was on the boat the day before and puked; was this information supposed to make me feel better? Yet again we ate at the Pointe Restaurant for dinner; I had: Tofino Dungeness Crab Salad Lime Dressed Mango, Coconut & Vegetable Pakora And

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Alice Missed Us, But....

When we first walked in the door Monday night, Alice was very happy to see us. She gave us great big hugs, and her eyes were welling up with tears. After a minute or so of being held by Mommy, Alice said, “Where’s my cat Chase?” I guess we should have picked him up on our way home from the airport. Auntie Rene has gone back home again, and Alice definitely misses her. The two of them were great pals while Mommy and I were in Tofino.

New things Alice has done since returning home

Nana called last night to ask if we’ve noticed Alice doing or saying anything new since returning from Tofino. I told her no, not really. But wouldn’t you know it, right after getting off the phone Alice started doing this rocket thing I’ve never seen her do. She would say “1, 2 3 go rocket!”, and then run into another room; say the same thing and run back into my arms. How adorable is that? Today in the car, she also said: “My Auntie Rene a good lady”. She also said: “Mommy, I have a question for you. We can go to the park later” At A&W, she held a piece of toast out and said, repeatedly, “round and round, in the tunnel!”, and she made the motions around and around, before putting the toast in her mouth. I’m sure we can expect more new sayings and behaviors to come… oh that nana and auntie!

Sound and Fury Signifying Nothing

This morning, Alice and I went to A&W for breakfast before going to Donna’s. And wouldn’t you know it, there was a Dodge Caliber in front of us in line…the same car we had on our vacation. I told Alice this, and explained how it was an awful car which makes a lot of noise when you step on the gas, but doesn’t seem to do much except guzzle all that gas!!! After telling Alice this, she replied “he should get a better one!” Don and I would fully agree with this statement… sorry Papa, we’re not Dodge fans!

Rain Forest Tea, Sea Asparagus & Sea Legs

So, our dream like vacation has come to an end, we’re back home! We had a wonderful time, and did many fun and also many relaxing things. We went on a guided nature walk, and the naturalist explained what rainforest tea was – sopping puddles of reddish water on the forest floor from heavy rains, with all the tannins and such leached out of the needles and bark from the Sitka Spruce, Hemlock and Western Red Cedar. It really does look like tea! Now Sea Asparagus was a new thing for us, it’s apparently actually a seweed that just looks like asparagus; we had it in the consumme of our chef’s tasting the last night we ate at the Pointe Restaurant; delicious indeed! We’d also eaten clams and oysters for the first time, very delicious. Sea Legs: I don’t have them, Don apparently does. We went whale watching on Saturday, and while we didn’t end up seeing any whales, we sure got the ride of our life on a small motor boat in the great Pacific Ocean- 5 foot swells with turbulent waters and rain. How green did I look? How many of us clambered to the back of the boat, hoping the feeling would pass….

Wickanninish Day 1

Yesterday was primarily a travel day. At 6:15MDT our cab arrived to take us to the airport. Our flight left on time at 8MDT, and arrived in Vancouver at 8:25PDT (9:25MDT). From there we rented a car (a Dodge Caliber – yuck), and caught the 10:15PDT ferry from Tsawwassen (Vancouver) to Duke Point (Nanaimo). Then it was a ~ three hour drive to Tofino. We arrived at the Wick and checked into room 47 – the same room we had three years ago. It was good to be back, and the room was as spectacular as we remembered. We had a 7:30 reso at The Pointe (the restaurant here), and we had a feast. My meal: Pan Seared Duck Foie Gras Kumquat Compote, Honey Thyme Foam Grilled Premium Alberta Ribeye White Bean Ragoût, Qualicum Blue Cheese & Roasted Garlic Rosemary Dijon Sauce Corinna’s meal: Butternut Squash Velouté Cinnamon Marshmallow, Pumpernickel Crouton Braised Veal Breast & Dungeness Crab Mushroom Gratin, Tarragon Hollandaise After supper we came back to our room and phoned Auntie ‘Rene. She sounded really cheerful, and told us all about Alice’s day. When Alice awoke in the morning, and again after her nap, she asked for Daddy. That’s pretty typical, since I usually get her in the morning. Other than that, it sounds like Alice has adjusted quite well. Alice and ‘Rene went to the park for 90 minutes; they played outside for an hour or so; they ran around the island in the kitchen; Alice hid in the pantry. All very typical for our girl. Alice told ‘Rene a couple times, “I like you Auntie ‘Rene.” That’s our girl! For supper Alice had almost a whole chicken burger with about 20 fries (homemade ones that Mommy made before departing for our holiday; these aren’t wimpy fast food fries! I don’t think I could even eat 20 fries with a chicken burger…). That’s a pretty huge meal – all that playing with ‘Rene builds a big appetite.

Auntie 'Rene Coming

First, an unrelated but very cute photo of Alice helping Mommy make cupcakes. If you don’t taste the ingredients, how will you know they’ll have the desired flavours? As most of you know, Corinna and I are headed to The Wickanninish Inn, near Tofino on Vancouver Island. We were there three years ago in April, when we were expecting Alice. This is a vacation for two. Alice is staying at home, and her Great Aunt Irene (‘Rene) is coming to stay with her. Alice has been very excited about Auntie ‘Rene coming to stay with her. Yesterday she announced that she wanted ‘Rene to come, “right now.” On the weekend, Grandma Barb is going to come over too – then the party will really get started! We’ve done our best to make ‘Rene’s stay more comfortable. The housework is all done, Chase is going to the kennel (he’s not a very good host), and Personal Thyme has created a complete menu for ‘Rene and Alice. We’re going on this vacation with mixed feelings. We know we deserve this break, and we know it’s something our parents never had the opportunity to do. We will miss Alice terribly, but know that she’ll have an absolute blast with Auntie ‘Rene and Grandma Barb. We’ve tried to make this a fun vacation for Alice too.