The First Trip: part two.

See Previous Post For Part One.

So after hauling ass on the Vancouver Island highway we caught the ferry to Denman Island and actually managed to make the last ferry onto Hornby Island. Babe had her first three ferries in one day! We even saw a pod of dolphins leaping in the waves off the side of the big ferry - a rare sight these days. I think they came out just to help celebrate the occasion for Babe.

When we finally arrived at the cabin it was dark and stormy and I was thoroughly exhausted. So I was irritated to find a big white van blocking the driveway. It turns out that a pipe had burst in the cabin and one of my uncles (who was staying next door) had called an old family friend to come help get the water running again. It was great that the men were trying to fix the problem for us, but it was sucky that after such a long trip we arrived to such chaos. Soaked floors and wet carpets, boxes pulled out and tools everywhere.

And to make matters worse the little bassinet that I brought to put Babe into while I unpacked everything and got her bed set-up had managed to get soaked by the leaky window in the canopy on the truck, so I had no where to put Babe down when we arrived. AAAGH!

But finally the guys managed to get the water running again (thank you, thank you, thank you) and I had dragged all our gear from the truck to the cabin and set up mine and Babe's beds. Babe and I were ready for sleep.

But...I didn't get much sleep. Babe seems to be sleeping less and less as the days go by and on our trip she was waking up every 20 minutes or so all night. Which drove me nuts. On top of her waking up constantly I hadn't packed enough blankets for myself because I had planned on arriving in the daylight and unpacking the extra bedding that I store in "my" little cabin at the back of the property. But when we arrived it was too dark to try to and find the blankets, so I was making do with one thin one and after the fires burnt out I was freezing.

Babe was OK because she had her sleep sack plus some extra blankets but even so her little hands were icy cold and I tried to warm them up every time she nursed.

And as if the cold and the baby weren't enough to keep me out of dreamland the wind was also playing with me. The property is just filled with tall skinny pole trees and in high winds they sway like flowers. I spent almost all of the precious moments that Babe was asleep laying wide awake terrified that a tree would crush us in our beds!

I've spent hundreds, probably thousands of nights on Hornby before and never worried much about the trees, but now with my darling daughter to protect I worry about everything - falling trees included. I'm actually going to talk to my counsellor about how much I am worrying about Babe's safety, I think it's getting too extreme.

Anyway, that first night really kinda sucked. I prayed a lot and the trees on the property were still standing by morning.

Here's some of the trees outside the bedroom Babe and I were in. That's my Grandmother's cabin in the background.

I had a lot of things I wanted to do on the trip: Take Babe on some beach walks. Collect shells at low tide. And take advantage of all the family babysitters on the property to go for some runs by myself. But the weather didn't really co-operate. It was too wet and slippery to walk the rocky beaches and try to bend down to collect treasures with Babe. And I was so tired in the days that I didn't have the energy to go for any runs. I never even unpacked my iPod.

But it was still nice just to hang out on the island with my family and take Babe on some of her first Hornby Island walks.

Here's a pic of Babe trying to keep her eyes open in the high winds at Helliwell Park. The family was doing the whole walk through the forest and out around the cliffs, but because of the nasty winds Babe and I just walked with them through the forest and then back by ourselves.

And Babe asleep on her very first walk on Hornby.

It was also nice to watch all my little cousins play with Babe. She loved listening to their little voices and watching the funny faces they made at her. All in all it was some good family bonding time.

We also visited with my good friends and Babe loved playing with their kids too. We got together to eat Hornby's famous pizza and my friend J knit Babe an adorable hat but it's still a little too big.

The rest of the nights were variations of the first. Cold, windy and a lot of fussing on Babe's side. But it was still great to get out of the city and take Babe to my beloved Hornby for her first visit. I can't wait to go back this summer!

Babe chilln' out on the last ferry home. She's already logged six ferry rides! An old pro, just like her Momma.