Last weekend, we had the absolute delight of taking it back a few paces to remember what's truly important....family.

My brother has a friend who lives in a small town about 3 hours from here. Water is on a well, and silly things like radios and television are what people worry about 'on the coast'. They own a 5 acre property on a small lake outside of Princeton, in the interior of BC.

The bathtub, which I took the picture of Little Dude in is to the right. Filled with a hose, and a fire lit underneath to warm the water. Once it's warm enough, the fire is put out (much to the thankfulness of Ms. Thang who had visions of being a boiled crab!). As the sun sets over the lake, there is not a more beautiful place around.

It was a very special weekend for other reasons too. For the first time ever, we had my parents join us on the trip. Because of health issues, or timing, it has never happened before. My parents were avid travellers in their RV after my Dad retired. They would drive across the country in a heartbeat and the tales of their adventures were always fodder for many a conversation. But they have aged a lot in the last few years.

The turning point to us was when they were involved in a head-on collision in 2000. An Australian driver, a little jetlagged at the wheel forgot briefly what side to drive on and slammed into them. I will never forget that phonecall. 'I'm in the back on an ambulance. I don't know where your Dad is'. Thankfully, they were not seriously injured...although both had several operations to correct injuries. Nothing was ever the same since and it sped the time up at least a decade. Last year, in a very bittersweet moment, they handed the keys to the motorhome to my brother...effectively passing the torch to him.

Last weekend, however, we convinced them to make the trip. The hospital was only 20 minutes away if needed (thankfully wasn't) and my brother and his wife slept in the house, giving my parents one last time in the motorhome. It nearly broke my heart to hear my Dad say to my Mom, after she was lamenting she couldn't find a certain dish, 'This isn't yours anymore, Mama'.

Sadness and melancholy aside, it was a priceless weekend. The kids were a blast, adding to the moments and finding beauty in the most mundane things. We sat around the campfire, listening to the stories of trips past. We played Scrabble until the wee hours by lantern. (And can anyone tell me why a singular 'vying' is vie and not vy!? I would have WON!)

It was in a word...unforgettable. In a world full of stress and drama, it was just the break we all needed to remember what was truly important.



And in other news, if you build it, they will come. (I hope!)