Ninety is Noteworthy

My mom celebrated her 90th birthday on September 16th. I was able to travel up to Victoria to visit her for this big event.  I took the Clipper which is the fastest way to get there. I stayed in the guest suite of their building.

On Saturday (her actual birthday) she had a party (a birthday tea) with ten of her friends. My mom likes to plan her own parties. The party was held in the "multi purpose" room in the building where my parents live.

Mom prepared a 20 question quiz about her life. Several years ago she wrote a book on her life so those who had read that scored higher. She handed out prizes for the best score and for the worst score.

The cake was ordered from the grocery store across the street. It was black forest cake and was delicious. I got her a balloon bouquet from the same store.

My mom requested no gifts or cards. Instead a journal was passed around in which her friends could write down their memories or good wishes. She displayed the scrapbooks that she has made about her life.

Looking through scrapbooks

Mom and I sang the song Surely Goodness and Mercy.  She considers this her testimony song. We sang a cappella and I think we would've sounded better with some accompaniment. During the party my dad was behind the scenes playing butler as he guided the guests in from the front door.

Dad snuck in at the end for a photo

My uncle in Alberta sent my mom a gorgeous bouquet of flowers (in the left corner of the photo above) which she proudly displayed on the shelf outside the door of her apartment.

On Sunday the sermon at my parents' church was about the body of Christ from 1 Corinthians 12. When I returned and asked my family about the sermon I missed at our own church, guess which passage it was on? The same one!

No visit to Victoria is complete without a trip to Tim Hortons, Swiss Chalet, and the White Spot. I made it to all three.

On the way up to Victoria, the Clipper stopped to observe an orca pod. It was very active since the whales had just had a kill and were celebrating but jumping out of the water and flapping their tails. The ride to and from Victoria is beautiful if done during the day.



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Volunteer Park - A Saturday Outing

My father in law has been visiting us this past week. Since the boys are back in school there hasn't been much time to spend together as a family. On Saturday we had a family outing and I picked Volunteer Park in Seattle.

There were unique plants for the parents and grandpa to enjoy (inside the conservatory) and a large park with a tower to climb for the boys. I think that I met the challenge of finding something not too strenuous for my 80 plus year old father in law and something with some interest for my boys.

The conservatory was filled with interesting plants.

This chenille plant was my favourite.

Here's a collage of what also caught my eye.

There is a cactus and succulent room.

I'm a fan of succulents so I enjoyed this section.

We took this photo to show the size of this cactus.

Outside is a dahlia garden which is fully in bloom.

We took some family photos by the dahlia garden.

I recommend this park to other flower and plant lovers.



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The Most Challenging Hike I've Done

Heybrook Lookout along Highway 2.

Two Sundays ago I picked a place for our family to go hiking. I heard about Heybrook Lookout many years ago and I thought it seemed intriguing. We brought A's friend L along with us. A and L are super fit so they ran uphill. !!

The hike is almost constantly uphill. The path is very rocky. You need to check your footing almost all constantly. The hike is actually quite short but I stopped frequently to catch my breath. The elevation increase from the trailhead to the top is 900 feet.

Boys inside the lookout

The lookout tower is impressive. You can't get to the very top.

From the lookout you can see several mountains. I don't know their names.

We didn't see that any people on the trail. Most hikes we go on have plenty of people doing the same.

We stopped at Espresso Chalet coffee shop on the way home. We had ice cream and iced coffee since it was a hot day.

From the cafe, we could see Mt. Index and a waterfall in the distance. I'm surpised this area isn't more developed. The views are so amazing.


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