Im home!

The second I got off the plane it hit me, I think it was just the smell of the salt and the ocean, Victoria really is the best place on earth! Laying in bed last night, listening to the wind whipping through the house feeling the sound of the steady claming pulse of the ocean, I love BC. I dont really like those sort of plot synopsis posts but this is going to be one of them, vacations make for crappy posts lol!

I spent the last week on a family vacation to Kingston On and Quebec City QC. It was a great week overall. My brother was graduating from RMC, so it was busy, full of official events. Oma and Opa, Grandma and Auntie Marg all met us in Kingston so it was great to be able to have that much of the family there. (Even though HH was in top form the entire weekend)I have to admit I love the official stuff, where you have to be dressed to the nines. I love the whole process, choosing the outfit getting my hair done, makeup the whole girly girl she-bang! Of course Im sure nobody is surprised that I set my pants on fire the very first day while I was ironing them... (Im not actually a complete wash as a woman, I CAN cook pretty well... for the record)

The Convocation was very nice, I sobbed the whole time Nicholas was on the stage saluting the Commadore, and getting his diploma. The convocation is self explanitory... they're all pretty much the same, long winded speeches and all that...

There was a sunset ceremony that evening, On the parade square at RMC, where a bunch of the clubs and groups from the college showed off. Eveything from a Tae Kwon Do demonstration to Fencing, Drill, Band performances, War Games, Boot Camp excersizes, even a battle re-enactment complete with cannon fire, three different fly-by's and a helecopter dropping soldiers out of it. I was seriously impressed. It was pouring rain at the beginning, so Dad had to drive HH back to the hotel but the rest of us stuck it out and eventually the rain cleared, we were lucky Auntie Marg happened to have a few extra jackets in her car, and one of the graduating Cadets gave us his umbrella so we werent too wet and the rain really added to the mood of the 1812 Battle Re-enactment.

The next morning there was a parade first thing in the morning, for the Commisioning. We had planned to leave the hotel at 8:30, Dad and Auntie Marg had to stay behind because HH had to have his pipe and couldnt be bothered to leave until 9:15 for the single most important day in his grandsons life so far, and so because of that Dad and Auntie Marg ended up missing the beginning of the parade, Natasha was great enough to film it though so Daddy did get to see it, but he didnt get to be THERE, which was the important part. I am pretty sure that as long as I live I will never be able to forget that display of selfish arrogant and unacceptable behaviour on HH's part, and I can tell you if it had been me waiting I would have left him and never thought twice. I think you would have to be a saint to forgive that kind of behaviour.

Anyway...it was another one of those sobbing moments for me, watching all the Cadets march onto the feild, receiving their awards. Seeing Nicholas go from OCDT to 2nd LT was great. I am SO proud of him. I cant wait to see how far he will go with his career. I know he will do well!

That night we went to the Military Graduation Ball. There was a live jazz band (I LOVE jazz) and a fantastic buffet with stunning ice sculptures. (It seemed like the entire week was full of fantastic food and drinks I must have gained 5 lbs!) The buffet was unreal, a huge selection of great food. I wasnt really aware that there are people in the world who ACTUALLY stuff food in their pockets at a black tie buffet, I thought that was just a sort of joke, but apparently HH is one of those people. I cant help but laugh, and want to die at the same moment, Auntie Marg and I were joking about trying to set my cousin Ashley up with a new graduate, Bruni, who was chatting us up in the buffet line but we had to scrap that plan as soon as HH stuffed buns and butter in his jacket. Sorry Ashley, we tried!

As great as dinner was (and dessert was even better) I loved the dancing and the music afterward. Daddy danced with me, which seems silly now that I am writing it down, but it really made my day! I tend to forget how much I love dancing. Really dancing. I feel so free and wonderful when Im on the dance floor. Everything will be fine as long as I can still have somebody to dance with.

We didnt know this at the time, but Nicholas also didnt bother to warn us: Mom and Auntie Marg decided we "Have to dance to this!" when Dancing Queen came on, so we jumped up and went to dance, and out of nowhere somebody hit me in the head with his shirt. Apparently all the bars and pubs and parties that the Cadets (now Officers) go to have an unspoken agreement that as soon as the bosses and big wigs leave and they are free to party the DJ plays "Dancing Queen" and the boys strip off their uniform shirts and jackets and swing them over their heads... I cant say as I minded, much, but I definatly wasnt expecting 500 young soldiers to pull a Chip-n-Dales on me! So as much as I wanted to stay until the bitter end at 6AM, we headed back to the hotel at about midnight and said goodbye to Nicholas.

From there we headed out to Quebec City, and basically had a few days doing the tourist thing, visiting the old fort and all the shops and generally hanging around. Basic tourist stuff... Im sure you all know what that means...

Like I said Im sorry it was a bit of a plot synopsis but oh well! Anyway there are more photos up on DevArt, if you want to check them out...