Had a great last day of our vacation. And the weather’s been phenomenal. I expected (and packed for) a lot of rain but it’s only rained a few drops all week.

We had a delicious breakfast at the hotel then ventured thirty minutes north to Butchart Gardens. A beautiful maze of flowers, shrubs, trees, walkways and even a carousel right in the middle of it all.

Then we headed back downtown for some more shopping and snacking. The vintage stores here are unbelievable.

Later in the afternoon we drove up to Duncan, BC to meet up with my three older kids’ older sister and her adorable family , (half sister but we just say sister). Before I met the kids’ dad he already had two kids with two different ladies, so they have an older brother and older sister.

Taz is especially close with his older sister Jess since he lives very close to her out here. He spends a lot of time at her house on weekends hanging out with her and her husband and their two little kids.

But I was also happy for Bella-Lena and Cordelia to get in a visit with them all tonight as well. Jessica is a super nice kid, not a kid anymore I guess, almost thirty-two.

She was just five I think when her dad and I started dating and she actually tagged along on our first date.

Over the years as she was growing up we saw her less and less as she moved further away. But I’m happy to still get to see her every now and then, even though her dad and I are no longer together.

We’ll be up early tomorrow morning to catch our flight back to Winnipeg, not looking forward to the day of travel but it is what it is.

Am I looking forward to going back to below zero temps and metres of snow? No! But that’s home so I’ll take it.