We didn't have any definite plans of things we wanted to "do" while visiting Washington, except one: leave. :-) My friends, the Gregory family that we lived with for a month in 2009 after returning to Peace River from Arkansas, had moved to Comox, BC, later that same summer, and we had rarely seen them since. When I discovered how "close" we would be to the Island while visiting Logan (which, at nearly a 7-hour-one-way journey, was still not as close as my imagination originally thought when looking at a map), I convinced my mother and brother that a trip to the Island would be a great idea, contacted the Gregorys, and arranged an overnight stay. The best time for all the schedules involved seemed to be the first Sunday night of our visit.

Great! we thought. That will allow us to get a little sight-seeing in before we leave!

Poor Levi's cold had been leaving him pretty tired, and he had a dry cough that seemed almost perpetual at times. I didn't want to tire him out too much, and I didn't want to spread germs more than necessary, so our plans for the moment were constrained to driving around, walking around, or hiking. (On the plus side: Levi got pretty good at covering his mouth with his elbow with this cold!)

After a little bit of shopping for rain gear at Target (yes, SO touristy) and the health food store, Logan took us to the amazing Coho Cafe for supper. My mother's 60th birthday was the next day, and this ended up being our celebration for it, so I am glad it was memorable. WOW! I am salivating just thinking about the Thai Coconut Ginger Curry dish I had.

Unfortunately, we had had to wait for our table for an hour, and by the time we were seated it was already past the time Levi had been putting himself to bed (yes, you read that right) out of sheer exhaustion, so he spent the entire meal laying against me on my lap and whining that he wanted bed. I ate as quickly as I could and opted to have my companions bring dessert and my leftovers out with them and took the munchkin out to the van so he could rest...

I didn't actually eat my Caramel Apple Crisp for another week, as that night, my throat started getting scratchy, and I could feel the exhaustion of a body fighting an invasion coming over me. Logan started showing symptoms that night, too, despite having only been exposed the day before.

By the next morning, there was no mystery--I was sick. I wasn't up for walking, let alone hiking or leaving the house. Logan must have been feeling a little better than me, because he and Mom still went out to the grocery store (which we hadn't managed to hit the previous day) and did a few errands. I napped. Then napped again.

Levi was super-clingy the entire trip, only getting nominally better by the end when he was healthier and more comfortable with the surroundings. At this point, he pretty much had to be glued to my side, so although he was starting to feel a little better at this point, he just cuddled with me during my naps (and benefited from the rest, too.)

The next morning, we got up bright and super-early so we could assess the situation and see if we were well enough to go to the Island. Logan decided he was not. After all that sleep, I was feeling pretty good, and Levi was starting to have some good energy and be a little more back to his normal self. Mom and I decided to go and let Logan rest (and let his cats have a reprieve from Levi's attentions). We would contact the Gregorys on the way to warn them about the germ invasion, and if they would rather not risk it, we could just go do touristy things and head back. (We had hopes of seeing Craigdarroch Castle before heading back, either way.)

Turns out, it takes more than a few little germs to scare these folks. We had a wonderful time with them, and I am SO glad we made the effort to go. I was sad that my older boys couldn't be there to reconnect with their boys, since they were all pretty good friends once upon a time. Their youngest, Zeke, who is the same age as Jabin, reminded me of the latter so much--they were both only 2 when the Gregorys left, but I bet they would be best buddies if they got to hang out now.

After visiting Goose Spit (not exactly a white sandy beach, but it was still an ocean beach!) and the Marina, we had an awesome supper and introduced Mom to Settlers of Catan, stayed up way later than my sick body would have preferred, got to see Erin's new clinic (from the outside) and Jacob's new studio (from the inside), and just generally had fun.

We had thought of trying to get a tour of Craigdarroch Castle on the way home, but it turns out we didn't allow enough time before we left the Gregorys on Monday. So we drove straight through Victoria to the ferry, and put the Castle on our list of things to see next time we go.

Other than the near-perpetual rain on the drive back to Logan's, we had a great time. Thanks, Jake and Erin! So great to see you all again!