Vacation Finale

I probably need a whole post to even describe the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. We took the scenic route along the ocean to get to our next destination and both wished we had more time to meander around. This view seems that it could be from a post card. It was so beautiful, that any shot would have worked. We wound our way along through neighborhoods, and small sea towns.I asked Brent to pull over so I could get a shot of this manor. I loved it. Every yard looked well tended and perfect. Many from the Island are descended from England and Scotland, so the street, town and many of the names from the Island reflected that. I think Jayne Eyre could just pop out of this home at any time.
From the moment you approached, the scenery at Butchart Gardens was simply perfect. Words cannot describe its lush beauty.Everything in Butchart Gardens was blooming. The trees, bushes and flowers. Especially every kind of tulip you can imagine. We could not have picked a better time to visit. The gardens above were built in an exhausted rock quarry, so it's sides were sloped, and there were many levels to enjoy.Here I am resting during one of Brent's photo shoots. He was a madman with his camera. Between us, I'm sure we've got more than 400 pictures of just the gardens. Winding my way down into the Japanese garden. It was nice and quiet, and shady and was a great place to escape too.This was such a cool tree, all the crazy twists and turns. Even the bark had been overtaken by moss, which grew on everything it possibly could. Brent's inner gardener wept that his yard could not achieve anywhere near the success of things here. Poor guy. It would be pretty hard to live up to anything here.We were so happy that we were able to get some pictures of us together. Most of them, Brent set his camera timer, and poof! No help needed. Way to go honey!Okay, okay......those were the last two pictures of the gardens. But isn't it unbelievable?

These last two pictures are a hoot! Not to mention our trip faves.Does anyone else think this is silly? Brent and I giggled the whole time we walked. Duh!I can't put into words how hilarious this was. Darth, playing his black violin with if you notice, his light saber. He had somehow cut it out so that his bow fit inside. Also see the guy head banging? He requested a little Black Sabbath song and was going to town, We even caught his hair in motion. The sad thing wasn't that Darth should be embarrassed, but that he sucked. You couldn't make out any tune 'cuz the poor guy was just sawing with his saber. SOOOOOOO FUNNY!
What a great way to end the trip. Nothing as good as a good laugh. This one just lasted a half and hour. We would go in a shop, and then come back out to watch him. Good times, Good times!

Thanks to my mom, and Brent's entire family who kept our kids fed, happy, and saw to their schedules. To be honest, they aren't that excited we are home. Yep, back to the real world for all involved. We appreciate you giving your time so we could have some by ourselves.