ars gratia artis: {bowen island adventures}

Despite my goals set of recent, I've not posted any new work in a bit...but with good reason.
This past weekend was an amazing time spent at the staff retreat for the theatre company I work for. We went to Bowen Island, which I had, coincidentally visited for the first time only one month before.

Last month my sister visited for the first time ever, and since we considered riding the ferry a quintessential Vancouver experience, we had to take her on one. Taking the big ferry to Victoria would have been best, but much more expensive, so we decided to go explore Bowen Island for the day.

Among our adventures that day, we almost got run over by a male deer on the prowl for food in garbage cans, went down to the beach where there was a half-sunk boat floating out a ways, saw and elusive and shy blue heron,

and met the island's lone swan resident.

My hubby and sis both tossed blackberries off the bush for him to eat...but me having the total lack of sports-like coordination threw one and hit him right between the eyes. Oops.

He didn't like me so much after that.

Then, this past weekend I got to go with my awesome co-workers to a beautiful 'cabin' on the other side of the island. I'm afraid I got very few photos, mostly because I was busy having an awesome time and picking my jaw up off the floor because this place was so stunning.

I couldn't even capture all of the view from the back porch. There were a couple little islands not too far off, and if I'd found the time to go kayaking while there I could have reached them.

We spent our time playing Settlers of Catan, Things (the game), playing on the trampoline and inventing other games for said location, making smores at both the indoor and outdoor fireplaces, sharing deep, dark secrets, having many other wonderful conversations, and consistently eating better than I have in a long time.

The activities, the company, or the location would have each, on their own, been enough to make a fantastic weekend, but the combination of them was unforgettable.