We finished our family vacation with a couple of days in Victoria, BC (that's in Canada for those of you with shaky Geography skills).
You can't go to Victoria without also going to see Butchart Gardens (not pronounced "butch art" in case you were wondering...which would be a good name, if the gardens were less elegant and feminine). Butchart is the name of the family who first personally developed the garden. How would you like to call this your backyard?
the famous "sunken gardens" does not refer to a garden in eternal flooding. This garden was apparently originally a quarry pit that the family later renovated. If you have ever owned a garden calendar or been given one for free from your dentist or local mortuary...there is a good chance you have seen a picture of these gardens. It is more amazing in person than any picture you have ever seen.
This trip was partially to celebrate 5 years of marriage for Richard and I. I felt like Victoria was a fitting choice for an anniversary trip.
This is one little person who was not there at the beginning of our marriage, but who now represents the very best of both Richard and I. She didn't quite appreciate the gardens as much as we did...
But Anna does love flowers...especially to pick them and drop the petals all over the place. So we had to watch her carefully. She wanted to pick everything!!
If Dorothy had taken this path to the Emerald City (coincidentally the nickname for Seattle!), she never would have wanted to go back to Kansas.
Everywhere you looked there was a different, beautiful perspective, and hidden gems everywhere!
Before the Bellagio, there was the Butchart Garden fountain
I can't remember what song was playing...probably something by Michael Buble or Celine Dion (Canadians, you know).
Luckily for Anna, there was a beautiful, old Carousel right inside the gardens. She hand picked this horse to ride.
There is probably nothing that makes Anna happy than riding a carousel.
And there is nothing that makes Richard happier than making Anna happy as she is riding a carousel. It's a match made in heaven.
Tulips were definitely the flower d' jour of the gardens. They plan the gardens so there are always beautiful flowers in bloom through every season. Unfortunately, the more than 250 varieties of roses were not yet in bloom, so there is a part of me that wants to come back in a month so I can see that!
At this point, Anna was in "Dinosaur Train" mode. She was pretty tolerant and patient the entire trip, so we didn't feel bad letting her watch her favorite show. She knows almost everything there is to know about Stygimolochs now!
another "we are in Butchart gardens and aren't you excited?" picture. Richard never looks quite as excited as I am...
nearing the end of our garden tour.
This picture cracks me up! Read the comments carefully. Amongst the gushing praise left by every other patron, the comment in the middle says "my garden is nice too!"
It is good luck to touch the snout of a warthog (apparently). This statue is an exact replica of a famous one in Germany.
I had to go back and look at the sunken gardens one last time...
A statue of Queen Victoria in front of the parliament building.
The Empress hotel.
We did not have tea there.
They say that Victoria is a mini England. And I suppose that could be accurate, if you didn't think of England in terms of Oxford and the 14th century (which unfortunately, I do). They sell British candy and there are fudge shops everywhere with all the same kind of fudge. They had a special "buy 2 get 3 free" and I freaked out and we bought a ton of fudge...that ended up being really hard and not that good. It was probably made in the 14th century. Maybe that is what makes it like England...
We were recommended a vegetarian restaurant called
Rebar that was completely awesome and eye-opening. Despite being mostly vegetarian, I still had my carnivorous doubts that a vegetarian restaurant could leave us feeling full and satisfied. We ordered the monk's curry and the almond burger with sweet potato fries. Both were fantastic!!
Anna was so exhausted at this point in the trip that she would sleep anywhere...
in any position...
no matter what the obstacles...
(she slept like this for a long while, actually. We had to walk so we wouldn't kick her in the head).
Anna has a love affair with watering cans. This is the biggest watering can EVER.
We found a great little children's petting zoo that had a goat stampede or "running of the kids" at the end of every day.
Our bed and breakfast in Victoria was very charming...and generous with their sausages.
Many of the B&Bs don't allow kids, so we were glad to find a nice one that didn't mind 3 year olds with sippy cups.
A rare tantrum on the last day. She is assuming the prostrate position. Which would be effective if she were praying.
floating houses down by Fisherman's warf.
You can actually feed the seals there. They are pretty fat because they are really well fed.
Anna was so excited to see the kids feed the seals.
I wouldn't mind getting fat if I didn't get any cellulite either and looked as good as these guys did!
On the ferry ride back to Washington, we found a large puzzle. Anna is so good at puzzles, and her tastes run to the "100 + pieces" category of puzzles. This 500 piece puzzle didn't phase her one bit.
What a wonderful vacation!! Two thumbs up. This was our last vacation just the three of us, and it was memorable indeed.
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