Everyone has fun in Victoria

Through a degree of separation, you could say Victoria, British Columbia, is connected to us. It is home to the developer of Loreto Bay and many other principal players. We got to know many of them well during our time in Loreto. Now that we are here, we are able to visit and get reacquainted. This morning, Ed and Cliff whisked Robert off to a sports bar to watch football. I bid them goodbye knowing full well I wouldn't see or hear from Robert till dark. Beer before noon means makes for a long, long day.

I drove the girls to Cath and Roch's for James' eighth birthday party. Carly, Allison, and James were classmates at Colegio Calafia in Loreto. Allison spent first grade tapping James' shoulder for help since he was a Loreto Bay veteran and she knew no Spanish. I got such a kick from seeing them together again acting like no time had passed between them. I think it is so interesting how fate pulls people together. I can imagine these kids being friends for life. One day, they'll reunite in some city and reminisce about their school days in a small Mexican village.

I left the birthday party after a couple hours to stroll downtown Victoria. The day was sunny which brought out the crowds. I love getting lost in a city by myself. Everything fascinates me: the architecture, the shops, the way people dress and talk--the same things that make cities interesting to everyone, I guess. I shopped a bit before finding myself in a wine bar tasting Canadian ice wine. I walked out knowing more about ice wine than I ever imagined I wanted to know. A half hour earlier, Canadian ice wine hadn't even crossed my mind. I love that phenomenon--subject specific education to an unsuspecting and unprepared brain. It livens a jaded mind.

I finished my outing with a visit to Vic's for fish and chips. At five o'clock I was the only patron there, a bad sign for a restaurant chosen best in Victoria for fish and chips. Still, I ate my greasy cod with a funny satisfaction that I was not the least bit uncomfortable to be eating alone in public. I'm such a big girl doing whatever I feel like. I could just toss my hat to the wind like Mary Tyler Moore. I think cities can make you giddy that way. Along with wine tasting.

I picked the girls up and we went home to find Robert fast asleep. I fed and chaperoned the girls to the campground shower and then watched them play and construct paper dresses for their Webkinz. We watched one hour of Hannah Montana on Disney followed by another of me watching the girls re-enact the episode. It seems I live half my life in child-world which is why wandering alone in a city, drinking ice wine and taking photographs of archways and pediments and flags waving in the wind is a perfect day for me.