heading South, then East...

Since we flew into Victoria and drove to Nanaimo, it was time to check out and head back to the airport. We said our good byes, had lunch, did a couple of touristy things then handed our car back over, and flew home. Sigh... that was fun :-)

bye bye to Gramma Fifi

kisses for Bella, she called Maddie her "friend" all weekend, that or Alice lol

a fruity summer patio drink,

no, that face wasn't for the drink, it was for the seafood that we ordered... lol we started out our first day with a Vegan restaurant, but you have to have seafood on the Oceanside when you're in Victoria... Maddie didn't' approve.

she did approve of the scenery tho.

Maddie made a statue come to life. As soon as she dropped her coin in the hat, he was off that pedestal quick as a wink doing a dance, and giving her a hug.

the Parliament tour was half an hour, so we went on that and learned some fun facts about the building. There was a window given to Queen Victoria and when they built the library addition they had to dismantle it and place it somewhere else. They forgot about it and it sat in the basement lost for 62 years! Also the guy that designed the building, was only 25, and he lied on his resume about the buildings he had designed! But he got the contract and here the Parliament sits still :-)

Dean paid his parking tickets. We were 9 minutes late getting back to our car today, and we all held our breath until we saw there was no new ticket on the windshield.

Maddie and Dean got an icecream....

I wanted a waffle, from "Wannawaffle"

and we went thru the wax museum, how appropriate that they had an Alice display! Now to board the plane and fly home.

8 - 9 - 10

8 9 10 is the magical number of my Brother's wedding. It was magical, and wonderful and tons of fun!! You can see for yourself... this is going to be hard to pick favorite pictures there are SO many great shots thanx to Dean who ran around and took everything he could, between him and my camera and Maddie's camera we should have everything captured!!

the setting....

the guest tables

the potion to make us grow....

Mark and Anitra's toasting glasses

Mark waiting... does he look nervous! lol not one bit!

me sneaking a quick photo with Mark

the girls wait at the top of the hill for their cue.... passing time with bubbles

Isabella walks first, throwing petals as she walks

next Maddie aka; Alice and Zoe

Anitra, Gorgeous! and her dad, Mark had to hold back the tears!!

the ceremony

the happy couple, Mr and Mrs Cantafio..... the (marriage person? ) kept saying CantaFEENO!!

Mark proudly showing that he is in fact, married...

his very awesome ring.....

that matches his very awesome car.

we hung out at the cabin on the resort while they frolicked at the beach for their photos

a quick kiss from Mommy

time to party, the coat is hung....

me and Dean at the reception.... one of the few moments me and Maddie weren't on the dance floor :-)

Mark and Mommy, ( Eva, or as Maddie knows her, Gramma Fifi )

Alice

a few Mad Hatters and Alice....

Maddie and Barbie ( the maid of honor )

it said eat me.......

Anitra and Isabella in Daddy's hat

The White Queen and The Mad Hatter

Good lookin couple!!

time for the Garter to be thrown...

at the end of the night.... Mark and Maddie changed.... we danced all night long

me and my Brother!! :-) Great, great wedding!!!!!

Wedding in Wonderland

Okay, I had to download many pictures, from 2 cameras, and try and find a few favorites to upload, as I know everyone is anxious to see the wedding pix. This is just a quicky, as you can see by the time stamp, it took awhile to upload them all. So here is a sneak peak, more tomorrow when I can sort.... Alice and The Mad Hatter :-) All of Mark's friends will forever call Maddie Alice!

this is the after shot of the reception room a little more magical :-)


all around the table were cakes that said eat me

the Cheshire Cat... OMG this was the kewlest cake in the world!!!

the topsy turvey cake with all the characters surrounding it

Mark and Anitra,

the White Queen and The MAd Hatter

the rehearsal sneak peek

7:00 rehearsal.... 7:15...... 7:28 uhmmmm??? We were told to have Maddie at the cabin room before 7, as rehearsal started then, so at 5 to 7 we knock on the door..... for a large group they were awfully quiet.... knock again.... no answer. ok maybe they went down to the rehearsal spot already, so we went to the wedding hall, we were stopped at the door because we didn't look like we should be attending the wedding in progress, so we asked where the rehearsals were held, they gladly sent us on our way to the gazebo, we get to the gazebo, and there is a lonely lady sitting there. She sees me and hopeful asks if we are with the wedding party. I said yes, and then we questioned each other as to where my brother and Anitra were? I phoned Mark, no service, hmmm. The officiary said she was going to leave at 7:30. At 7:28 we told her to hang on, we were going to find them... so up to the front desk to track down any other room numbers, with only first names of the wedding party it wasn't much to go on. Finally we got the phone number of Anitra's mom, called her, she thot it was weird that they weren't there, because she just heard from Anitra wondering where the officiate was?? So she gave me her cell number that Anitra had, and I called it, all I got out was "where are you"... and her cell died... lol talk about a gong show!!! but all was well, because within seconds Anitra came around the corner, to find out why the hotel was calling her, which was me.... but it turned out, the whole wedding party was sitting in the reception waiting for the officiary!so everyone scrambled down to the gazebo... to rehearse for tomorrow. :-)

things we saw on the highway.... the Nanaimo sign.


an angry car???



and a giant gnome!!

we finally found Mark!!

look at the gorgeous setting !

the vows...

Dean had to step in and play Dad

That's your sneak peek, now off to bed and rest up for the big night!!!